Unit – 1: Investments

INVESTMENT:

 It is the commitment of funds made in the expectation of some positive rate of return
 It is a sacrifice of current money or other resources for future benefits.

Characteristics of Investment:

 Rate of return – It is income on investment. It depends on nature of investment, maturity

period.
 Risk – Variability in returns is called risk. It depends on credit worthiness, maturity
period and nature of investment
 Marketability or Liquidity – An investment is highly liquid if -The liquidity depends
upon the marketing and trading facility. If a portion of the investment could be converted
into cash without much loss of time ,it would help the investor meet the emergencies.
 It can be transacted quickly
 The transaction cost if low
 Safety-the safety of investment is identified with the certainty of return of capital without
loss of time or money. safety is another feature that an investor desires from investments.
Every investor expects to get back the initial capital on maturity without loss and delay.
The selected investment avenue should be under the legal & regulatory frame work.
Eg.Bank deposits, Govt Bonds etc..

Objectives of investment:
 Maximization of return

 Minimization of risk

 Hedge against inflation

Points of difference Investor Speculator

Planning horizon An investor has a A speculator has a very

relatively longer short planning horizon.
planning horizon. His His holding may be a
holding period is few days to a few
usually at least one months. A speculator is
 year. ordinarily willing to
assume high risk.

Risk An investor doesn’t A speculator ordinarily

take more than takes high risk.
moderate risk. Rarely
does he takes high risk.

Return expectation An investor usually A speculator looks for

seeks a modest rate of a high rate of return in
return which is equal to exchange for the high
the limited risk risk borne by him.
assumed by him

Basis for decisions An investor gives A speculator relies

greater importance to more on hearsay.
fundamental factors Technical charts and
and careful evaluation market.
of the prospects of the
firm.

Leverage An investor uses his A speculator normally

own funds through uses his own funds and
savings. borrowed funds.

Gambling: A Gamble is usually a very short term investment in a game or chance. Gambling is
different from speculation and investment. The time horizon involved in gambling is shorter than
speculation and investment. The results are determined by the roll of dice or the turn of a card.
Secondly, people gamble as a way to entertain themselves, earning incomes would be the
secondary factor. Thirdly, the risk in gambling is different from the risk of the investment.
Gambling employees artificial risks whereas commercial risks

Investment Gambling

Investment is planned and scientific Gambling is unplanned and non

- scientific
Investment involves taking calculated Gambling involves taking high risks
not only for high returns but also for
risk with the expectation of moderate thrill and excitement.
and continuous return over a long

period of time

In investment there is no artificial risks In gambling artificial risks are created

for increasing the returns

Investment Alternatives or Avenues:

Investment

Alternatives

Non – Marketable
Equity shares
Financial Assets

Money
Bonds
Market

Mutual Fund

Schemes Life insurance

Real Estate Precious

Objects
Financial Derivatives

Non-Marketable Financial Assets:

Bank Deposits:
  It is the simple investment avenue open for the investors. He has to open an A/c and
deposit the money. Traditionally the banks offered current a/c , savings a/c & Fixed
deposit a/c. Current a/c does not offer any interest rate. The drawback of having large
amts in savings a/c is that the return is just 4.5 %.The savings a/c int rate is regulated by
the Reserve bank of India and kept low because of the high cost of servicing them. The
savings a/c is more liquid and convenient to handle.
 The interest rate on fixed deposits varies with the term of the deposit. In general, it is
lower for fixed deposits of shorter term and higher for fixed deposits of longer term.
 If the deposit period is less than 90 days the interest is paid on maturity; otherwise it is
paid quarterly
 Bank deposits are highly liquid as they can be enchased prematurely by incurring a small
penalty
 Loans can be raised against bank deposits
 Most banks calculate interest on the minimum deposit between 10th and the last date of
the month.

Post Office Time Deposits (POTDs):

 Deposits can be made in multiple of Rs.50 without any limit

 The interest rates on POTDs are slightly higher than those on bank deposits
 No withdrawal is permitted up to six months
 Post office monthly income scheme is a popular scheme for the retired. An interest rate
of 8% payable monthly .the term of the scheme is 6years, at the end of which a bonus of
10% is paid.
 There is a facility of premature withdrawal after one year , with 5% deduction before
3years.

Monthly Income Scheme of the Post Office:

 It is a popular scheme of the post office meant to provide regular monthly income to the
depositors.
 The term of the scheme is 6 years
 The minimum amount of investment is Rs.1000. The maximum investment can be
Rs.300000 in a single account or Rs.600000 in a joint account.
 The interest rate is 8% payable monthly. A bonus of 10% is payable on maturity.
 There is no tax deduction at source
 There is a facility of premature withdrawal after one year, with 5 % deduction before 3
years.

Kisan Vikas Patra:

 The minimum amount of investment is Rs.1000.There is no maximum limit.
 The investment doubles in 8 years and 7 months. Hence the compound interest rate works
out to 8.4 %
 There is no tax deduction at source
 KVPs can be pledged as a collateral security for raising loans
 There is a withdrawal facility after 21/2 years.

National Savings Certificate:

  This scheme is offered or issued by the post office .
 It comes in denominations of Rs.100,Rs.500, Rs.1000,Rs.5000 and Rs.10000
 It has a term of 6 years. Over this period Rs.100 becomes Rs. 160.1. hence the compound
rate of return works out to 8.16 %
 It can be pledged as a collateral for raising loans.

Company Deposits:

 Many companies large and small solicit fixed deposits from the public.
 Fixed deposits mobilised by manufacturing companies are regulated by Company Law
Board and fixed deposits mobilised by finance companies are regulated by Reserve Bank
of India.
 For a manufacturing company the term of deposits can be 1 to 3 years whereas for a non-
banking finance company it can vary between 25 months to 5 years.
 The interest rates on company deposits are higher than those on bank fixed deposits.
 Company offer some incentives like facility for premature withdrawal or free personal
accident insurance cover to attract deposits.

Employee Provident Fund Scheme:

 Each employee have a separate provident fund account in which both the employer and
employee contribute certain minimum amount on a monthly basis
 Employee can contribute additional amounts subject to certain restrictions
 The contribution made by the employer is fully tax exempt and the contributions made by
the employee can be deducted before computing the taxable income under section 80 C.
 Currently an interest rate of 9.5% per annum is paid on provident fund contributions. It is
totally exempt from taxes. It is accumulated and not paid annually to the employee.
 The balance in the provident fund account is fully exempt from wealth tax
 Employee is eligible to take loan against provident fund balance pertaining to his
contributions only.
Public Provident Fund Scheme:
 Individuals and HUFs can participate in this scheme. A PPF account may be opened at
any branch of the State Bank of India or its subsidiaries or at specified branches of other
nationalised banks
 The minimum deposit in PPF is Rs. 100 per year and maximum deposit is Rs.70000 per
year.
 A compound interest of 8 % per annum is paid on PPF which is totally exempt from
taxes.

Equity shares:

 Equity share holders will earn dividend from there shares.

 Equity share holders elect the board of directors and have the right to vote on every
resolution placed before the company
  They have the residual claim over the assets of the company in the event of liquidation

Bonds:
 Bonds are long term debt instruments .Bonds are similar to the debentures but they are
issued by the public sector undertakings.
 Value of the bond in the market depends upon the interest rate and the maturity period.
 A periodic interest is paid over the life of the bond and principle is paid at the time of
redemption
Money Market instruments:
 Debt instruments which have a maturity period of less than one year at the time of issue
are called money market instruments.
 Highly liquid and negligible risk
 Major players in the money market are government, financial institutions, banks and
corporates.
 The different types of money market instruments are –
 Treasury bills
 Certificates of deposits
 Commercial paper
 Treasury bills :
 A Treasury bill is basically an instrument of short term borrowing
by the Govt of India
 Maturity period of 91 days to 364 days
 Easy available
 Interest rates are offered on the treasury bills are very low,
individuals very rarely invest in them.
 Certificates of deposits
 Short term deposits which are transferable from one party to another
 Banks and financial institutions are major issuers
 Principle investors in CDs are banks, financial institutions, corporates
.
 Maturity period of 3 months to 1 year
 Carry interest rate higher than that of treasury bills.
 Commercial papers
 Short term unsecured promissory note issued by the financially strong
firms
 Has maturity period of 90 to 180 days
Banker‘s acceptances are the vehicles created to facilitate commercial trade
transactions. These vehicles are called bankers acceptances because a bank accepts the
responsibility to repay a loan to the holder of the vehicle in case the debtor fails to perform.
Banker‘s acceptances are short-term fixed-income securities that are created by non-
Banker‘s acceptances are the vehicles created to facilitate commercial trade transactions.
These vehicles are called bankers acceptances because a bank accepts the responsibility to
repay a loan to the holder of the vehicle in case the debtor fails to perform. Banker‘s
acceptances are short-term fixed-income securities that are created by non-financial firm
whose payment is guaranteed by a bank. This short -term loan contract typically has a higher
interest rate than similar short –term securities to compensate for the default risk. Since
bankers’ acceptances are not standardized, there is no active trading of these securities.

Repurchase agreement (often referred to as a repo) is the sale of security with a

commitment by the seller to buy the security back from the purchaser at a specified price at
a designated future date. Basically, a repo is a collectivized short-term loan, where collateral
is a security. The collateral in a repo may be a Treasury security, other money-market
security. The difference between the purchase price and the sale price is the interest cost of
the loan, from which repo rate can be calculated. Because of concern about default risk, the
length of maturity of repo is usually very short. If the agreement is for a loan of funds for
one day, it is called overnight repo; if the term of the agreement is for more than one day, it
is called a term repo. A reverse repo is the opposite of a repo. In this transaction a
corporation buys the securities with an agreement to sell them at a specified price and time.
Using repos helps to increase the liquidity in the money market.

Our focus in this course further will be not investment in short-term vehicles but it
is useful for investor to know that short term investment vehicles provide the possibility for
temporary investing of money/ funds and investors use these instruments managing their
investment portfolio.

Fixed-income securities are those which return is fixed, up to some redemption date
or indefinitely. The fixed amounts may be stated in money terms or indexed to some
measure of the price level. This type of financial investments is presented by two different
groups of securities:
• Long-term debt securities
• Preferred stocks.

Long-term debt securities can be described as long-term debt instruments

representing the issuer’s contractual obligation. Long term securities have maturity longer
than 1 year. The buyer (investor) of these securities is landing money to the issuer, who
undertake obligation periodically to pay interest on this loan and repay the principal at a
stated maturity date. Long-term debt securities are traded in the capital markets. From the
investor’s point of view these securities can be treated as a “safe” asset. But in reality the
safety of investment in fixed –income securities is strongly related with the default risk of an
issuer. The major representatives of long-term debt securities are bonds, but today there are
a big variety of different kinds of bonds, which differ not only by the different issuers
(governments, municipals, companies, agencies, etc.), but by different schemes of interest
payments which is a result of bringing financial innovations to the long-term debt securities
market. As demand for borrowing the funds from the capital markets is growing the long-
term debt securities today are prevailing in the global markets. And it is really become the
challenge for investor to pick long-term debt securities relevant to his/ her investment
expectations, including the safety of investment. We examine the different kinds of long-
term debt securities and their features important to understand for the investor in Chapter 5,
together with the other aspects in decision making investing in bonds.

Preferred stocks are equity security, which has infinitive life and pay dividends. But
preferred stock is attributed to the type of fixed-income securities, because the dividend for
preferred stock is fixed in amount and known in advance.

Though, this security provides for the investor the flow of income very similar to that of the
bond. The main difference between preferred stocks and bonds is that for preferred stock the
flows are for ever, if the stock is not callable. The preferred stockholders are paid after the
debt securities holders but before the common stock holders in terms of priorities in
payments of income and in case of liquidation of the company. If the issuer fails to pay the
dividend in any year, the unpaid dividends will have to be paid if the issue is cumulative. If
preferred stock is issued as noncumulative, dividends for the years with losses do not have
to be paid. Usually same rights to vote in general meetings for preferred stockholders are
suspended. Because of having the features attributed for both equity and fixed-income
securities preferred stocks is known as hybrid security. A most preferred stock is issued as
noncumulative and callable. In recent years the preferred stocks with option of convertibility
to common stock are proliferating.

The common stock is the other type of investment vehicles which is one of most popular
among investors with long-term horizon of their investments. Common stock represents the
ownership interest of corporations or the equity of the stock holders. Holders of common
stock are entitled to attend and vote at a general meeting of shareholders, to receive declared
dividends and to receive their share of the residual assets, if any, if the corporation is
bankrupt. The issuers of the common stock are the companies which seek to receive funds in
the market and though are “going public”. The issuing common stocks and selling them in
the market enables the company to raise additional equity capital more easily when using
other alternative sources. Thus many companies are issuing their common stocks which are
traded in financial markets and investors have wide possibilities for choosing this type of
securities for the investment.

Speculative investment vehicles following the term “speculation” (see p.8) could
be defined as investments with a high risk and high investment return. Using these
investment vehicles speculators try to buy low and to sell high, their primary concern is with
anticipating and profiting from the expected market fluctuations. The only gain from such
investments is the positive difference between selling and purchasing prices. Of course,
using short-term investment strategies investors can use for speculations other investment
vehicles, such as common stock, but here we try to accentuate the specific types of
investments which are more risky than other investment vehicles because of their nature
related with more uncertainty about the changes influencing the their price in the future.

Speculative investment vehicles could be presented by these different vehicles:

• Options;
• Futures;
• Commodities, traded on the exchange (coffee, grain metals, other commodities);

Options are the derivative financial instruments. An options contract gives the
owner of the contract the right, but not the obligation, to buy or to sell a financial asset at a
specified price from or to another party. The buyer of the contract must pay a fee (option
price) for the seller. There is a big uncertainty about if the buyer of the option will take the
advantage of it and what option price would be relevant, as it depends not only on demand
and supply in the options market, but on the changes in the other market where the financial
asset included in the option contract are traded. Though, the option is a risky financial
instrument for those investors who use it for speculations instead of hedging.

Futures are the other type of derivatives. A future contract is an agreement between
two parties than they agree tom transact with the respect to some financial asset at a
predetermined price at a specified future date. One party agree to buy the financial asset, the
other agrees to sell the financial asset. It is very important, that in futures contract case both
parties are obligated to perform and neither party charges the fee.

There are two types of people who deal with options (and futures) contracts:
speculators and hedgers. Speculators buy and sell futures for the sole purpose of making a
profit by closing out their positions at a price that is better than the initial price. Such people
neither produce nor use the asset in the ordinary course of business. In contrary, hedgers buy
and sell futures to offset an otherwise risky position in the market.

Transactions using derivatives instruments are not limited to financial assets. There
are derivatives, involving different commodities (coffee, grain, precious metals,and other
commodities). But in this course the target is on derivatives where underlying asset is a
financial asset.
Other investment tools:
Various types of investment funds;
Investment life insurance;
Pension funds
Hedge funds.

Investment companies/ investment funds. They receive money from investors with
the common objective of pooling the funds and then investing them in securities according
to a stated set of investment objectives. Two types of funds:

1. open-end funds (mutual funds) ,

2. closed-end funds (trusts).

Open-end funds have no pre-determined amount of stocks outstanding and they can
buy back or issue new shares at any point. Price of the share is not determined by demand,
but by an estimate of the current market value of the fund’s net assets per share (NAV) and a
commission.

Closed-end funds are publicly traded investment companies that have issued a
specified number of shares and can only issue additional shares through a new public
issue. Pricing of closed-end funds is different from the pricing of open-end funds: the
market price can differ from the NAV.

Insurance Companies are in the business of assuming the risks of adverse events
(such as fires, accidents, etc.) in exchange for a flow of insurance premiums. Insurance
companies are investing the accumulated funds in securities (treasury bonds, corporate
stocks and bonds), real estate. Three types of Insurance Companies: life insurance; non -life
insurance (also known as property-casualty insurance) and re-insurance. During recent years
investment life insurance became very popular investment alternative for individual
 investors, because this hybrid investment product allows to buy the life insurance policy
together with possibility to invest accumulated life insurance payments or lump sum for a
long time selecting investment program relevant to investor‘s future expectations.

Pension Funds are an asset pools that accumulates over an employee’s working
years and pays retirement benefits during the employee’s nonworking years. Pension funds
are investing the funds according to a stated set of investment objectives in securities
(treasury bonds, corporate stocks and bonds), real estate.

Hedge funds are unregulated private investment partnerships, limited to institutions and
high-net-worth individuals, which seek to exploit various market opportunities and thereby
to earn larger returns than are ordinarily available. They require a substantial initial
investment from investors and usually have some restrictions on how quickly investor can
withdraw their funds. Hedge funds take concentrated speculative positions and can be very
risky. It could be noted that originally, the term “hedge” made some sense when applied to
these funds. They would by combining different types of investments, including derivatives,
try to hedge risk while seeking higher return. But today the word “hedge’ is misapplied to
these funds because they generally take an aggressive strategies investing in stock, bond and
other financial markets around the world and their level of risk is high

Financial markets: Financial markets are the other important component of investment
environment. Financial markets are designed to allow corporations and governments to raise
new funds and to allow investors to execute their buying and selling orders. In financial markets
funds are channeled from those with the surplus, who buy securities, to those, with shortage,
who issue new securities or sell existing securities. A financial market can be seen as a set of
arrangements that allows trading among its participants.
Financial market provides three important economic functions (Frank J. Fabozzi,1999):

1. Financial market determines the prices of assets traded through the interactions
between buyers and sellers;
2. Financial market provides a liquidity of the financial assets;

3. Financial market reduces the cost of transactions by reducing explicit costs, such
as money spent to advertise the desire to buy or to sell a financial asset.

Financial markets could be classified on the bases of those characteristics:

• Sequence of transactions for selling and buying securities;
• Term of circulation of financial assets traded in the market;

• From the perspective of a given country.

By sequence of transactions for selling and buying securities:

Primary market
Secondary market
All securities are first traded in the primary market, and the secondary market
provides liquidity for these securities.

Primary market is where corporate and government entities can raise capital and
where the first transactions with the new issued securities are performed. If a company’s
share is traded in the primary market for the first time this is referred to as an initial public
offering (IPO).
Investment banks play an important role in the primary market:
• Usually handle issues in the primary market;

• Among other things, act as underwriter of a new issue, guaranteeing the

proceeds to the issuer.

Secondary market - where previously issued securities are traded among investors.

Generally, individual investors do not have access to secondary markets. They use security
brokers to act as intermediaries for them. The broker delivers an orders received form
investors in securities to a market place, where these orders are executed. Finally, clearing
and settlement processes ensure that both sides to these transactions honor their
commitment. Types of brokers:
• Discount broker, who executes only trades in the secondary market;
 • Full service broker, who provides a wide range of additional services to
clients (ex., advice to buy or sell);
• Online broker is a brokerage firm that allows investors to execute trades
electronically using Internet.
Types of secondary market places:
1. Organized security exchanges;
2. Over-the-counter markets;
3. Alternative trading system.

An organized security exchange provides the facility for the members to trade
securities, and only exchange members may trade there. The members include brokerage
firms, which offer their services to individual investors, charging commissions for executing
trades on their behalf. Other exchange members by or sell for their own account,
functioning as dealers or market makers who set prices at which they are willing to buy and
sell for their own account. Exchanges play very important role in the modern economies by
performing the following tasks:
a. Supervision of trading to ensure fairness and efficiency;

b. The authorization and regulation of market participants such as brokers and

market makers;

c. Creation of an environment in which securities’ prices are formed efficiently and

without distortion. This requires not only regulation of an orders and transaction
costs but also a liquid market in which there are many buyers and sellers,
allowing investors to buy or to sell their securities quickly;
d. Organization of the clearing and settlement of transactions;

e. The regulation of he admission of companies to be listed on the exchange and the

regulation of companies who are listed on the exchange;

f. The dissemination of information (trading data, prices and announcements of

companies listed on the exchange). Investors are more willing to trade if prompt
and complete information about trades and prices in the market is available.

The over-the-counter (OTC) market is not a formal exchange. It is organized

network of brokers and dealers who negotiate sales of securities. There are no membership
requirements and many brokers register as dealers on the OTC. At the same time there are
no listing requirements and thousands of securities are traded in the OTC market. OTC
stocks are usually considered as very risky because they are the stocks that are not
considered large or stable enough to trade on the major exchange.

An alternative trading system (ATS) is an electronic trading mechanism developed

independently from the established market places – security exchanges – and designed to
match buyers and sellers of securities on an agency basis. The brokers who use ATS are
acting on behalf of their clients and do not trade on their own account. The distinct
advantages of ATS in comparison with traditional markets are cost savings of
transactions, the short time of execution of transactions for liquid securities, extended
hours for trading and anonymity, often important for investors, trading large amounts.

Investment management process

Investment management process is the process of managing money or funds. The

investment management process describes how an investor should go about making
decisions.

Investment management process can be disclosed by five-step procedure, which

includes following stages:
1. Setting of investment policy.
2. Analysis and evaluation of investment vehicles.
3. Formation of diversified investment portfolio.
4. Portfolio revision
5. Measurement and evaluation of portfolio performance.

Setting of investment policy is the first and very important step in investment management
process. Investment policy includes setting of investment objectives. The investment policy
should have the specific objectives regarding the investment return requirement and risk
tolerance of the investor. For example, the investment policy may define that the target of
the investment average return should be 15 % and should avoid more than 10 % losses.
Identifying investor’s tolerance for risk is the most important objective, because it is
obvious that every investor would like to earn the highest return possible. But because there
is a positive relationship between risk and return, it is not appropriate for an investor to set
his/ her investment objectives as just “to make a lot of money”. Investment objectives
should be stated in terms of both risk and return.

The investment policy should also state other important constrains which could
influence the investment management. Constrains can include any liquidity needs for the
investor, projected investment horizon, as well as other unique needs and preferences of
investor. The investment horizon is the period of time for investments. Projected time
horizon may be short, long or even indefinite.

Setting of investment objectives for individual investors is based on the assessment

of their current and future financial objectives. The required rate of return for investment
depends on what sum today can be invested and how much investor needs to have at the end
of the investment horizon. Wishing to earn higher income on his / her investments investor
must assess the level of risk he /she should take and to decide if it is relevant for him or not.
The investment policy can include the tax status of the investor. This stage of investment
management concludes with the identification of the potential categories of financial assets
for inclusion in the investment portfolio. The identification of the potential categories is
based on the investment objectives, amount of investable funds, investment horizon and tax
status of the investor. From the section 1.3.1 we could see that various financial assets by
nature may be more or less risky and in general their ability to earn returns differs from one
type to the other. As an example, for the investor with low tolerance of risk common stock
will be not appropriate type of investment.

Analysis and evaluation of investment vehicles. When the investment policy is set
up, investor’s objectives defined and the potential categories of financial assets for inclusion
in the investment portfolio identified, the available investment types can be analyzed. This
step involves examining several relevant types of investment vehicles and the individual
vehicles inside these groups. For example, if the common stock was identified as investment
vehicle relevant for investor, the analysis will be concentrated to the common stock as an
investment. The one purpose of such analysis and evaluation is to identify those investment
vehicles that currently appear to be mispriced. There are many different approaches how to
make such analysis. Most frequently two forms of analysis are used: technical analysis and
fundamental analysis.

Technical analysis involves the analysis of market prices in an attempt to predict

future price movements for the particular financial asset traded on the market.
This analysis examines the trends of historical prices and is based on the assumption that
these trends or patterns repeat themselves in the future. Fundamental analysis in its simplest
form is focused on the evaluation of intrinsic value of the financial asset. This valuation is
based on the assumption that intrinsic value is the present value of future flows from
particular investment. By comparison of the intrinsic value and market value of the financial
assets those which are under priced or overpriced can be identified. Fundamental analysis
will be examined in Chapter 4.

This step involves identifying those specific financial assets in which to invest
and determining the proportions of these financial assets in the investment portfolio.

Formation of diversified investment portfolio is the next step in investment

management process. Investment portfolio is the set of investment vehicles, formed by the
investor seeking to realize its’ defined investment objectives. In the stage of portfolio
formation the issues of selectivity, timing and diversification need to be addressed by the
investor. Selectivity refers to micro forecasting and focuses on forecasting price movements
of individual assets. Timing involves macro forecasting of price movements of particular
type of financial asset relative to fixed-income securities in general. Diversification involves
forming the investor’s portfolio for decreasing or limiting risk of investment. 2 techniques of
diversification:
• random diversification, when several available financial assets are put to the
portfolio at random;
• objective diversification when financial assets are selected to the portfolio
following investment objectives and using appropriate techniques for analysis
and evaluation of each financial asset.
Investment management theory is focused on issues of objective portfolio diversification
and professional investors follow settled investment objectives then constructing and
managing their portfolios.

Portfolio revision. This step of the investment management process concerns the periodic
revision of the three previous stages. This is necessary, because over time investor with
long-term investment horizon may change his / her investment objectives and this, in turn
means that currently held investor’s portfolio may no longer be optimal and even contradict
with the new settled investment objectives. Investor should form the new portfolio by
selling some assets in his portfolio and buying the others that are not currently held. It could
be the other reasons for revising a given portfolio: over time the prices of the assets change,
meaning that some assets that were attractive at one time may be no longer be so. Thus
investor should sell one asset ant buy the other more attractive in this time according to his/
her evaluation. The decisions to perform changes in revising portfolio depend, upon other
things, in the transaction costs incurred in making these changes. For institutional investors
portfolio revision is continuing and very important part of their activity. But individual
investor managing portfolio must perform portfolio revision periodically as well. Periodic
re-evaluation of the investment objectives and portfolios based on them is necessary,
because financial markets change, tax laws and security regulations change, and other
events alter stated investment goals.

Measurement and evaluation of portfolio performance. This the last step in

investment management process involves determining periodically how the portfolio
performed, in terms of not only the return earned, but also the risk of the portfolio. For
evaluation of portfolio performance appropriate measures of return and risk and benchmarks
are needed. A benchmark is the performance of predetermined set of assets, obtained for
comparison purposes. The benchmark may be a popular index of appropriate assets – stock
index, bond index. The benchmarks are widely used by institutional investors evaluating the
performance of their portfolios.

It is important to point out that investment management process is continuing

process influenced by changes in investment environment and changes in investor’s
attitudes as well. Market globalization offers investors new possibilities, but at the same
time investment management become more and more complicated with growing
uncertainty.
Relationship between the primary and secondary Market

1. The primary/new issue market cannot function without the secondary market. The
secondary market or the stock market provides liquidity for the issued securities. The issued
Securities are traded in the secondary market offering liquidity to the stocks at a fair price.

2. The new issue market provides a direct link between the prospective investors and the
company. By providing liquidity and safety, the stock markets encourage the public to
subscribe to the new issues. The marketability and the capital appreciation provided in
the stock market are the major factors that attract the investing public towards the stock
market. Thus, it provides an indirect link between the savers and the company.

3. The stock exchanges through their listing requirements, exercise control over the
primary market. The company seeking for listing on the respective stock exchange has to
comply with all the rules and regulations given by the stock exchange.

4. Though the primary and secondary markets are complementary to each other, their
functions and the organisational set up are different from each other. The health of
the primary market depends on the secondary market and vice versa.

Underwriting
Origination do not guarantee that the issue will be successful, i.e., will get fully subscribed.
In case the issue is not well received in the market, the plans of the company/promoters
receive a setback and all expenses incurred in origination get wasted. To ensure success of
an issue the company/promoters get the issue underwritten. Underwriter guarantees that he
would buy the portion of issue not subscribed by the public. Such service is called
underwriting and is always rendered for a commission. Under-writing guarantees success of
the issue and benefits the issuing company, the investing public and capital market in
general.
Distribution
The success of an issue mainly depends on its subscription by the investing public. Sale of
securities to ultimate investors is called distribution. It is a specialised actively rendered by
brokers, subbrokers and dealers in securities.

Managers to the issue: Lead managers are appointed by the company to manage the public
issue programmes. Their main duties are
(a) drafting of prospectus
(b) preparing the budget of expenses related to the issue
(c) suggesting the appropriate timings of the public issue
(d) assisting in marketing the public issue successfully
(e) advising the company in the appointment of registrars to the issue, underwriters,
brokers, bankers to the issue, advertising agents etc. and
(f) directing the various agencies involved in the public issue.
Registrar to the issue: In consultation with the lead manager, the Registrar to the issue is
appointed. Quotations containing the details of the various functions they would be
performing and charges for them are called for selection. Among them the most suitable one
is selected. It is always ensured that the registrar to the issue has the necessary infrastructure
like computer, internet and telephone.
Underwriters: Underwriter is a person/organisation who gives an assurance to the issuer to
the effect that the former would subscribe to the securities offered in the event of non -
subscription by the person to whom they were offered. They stand as back -up supporters
and underwriting is done for a commission.
Bankers to the issue: The responsibility of collecting the application money along with the
application form is on bankers to the issue. The bankers charge commission besides the
brokerage, if any. Depending upon the size of the public issue more than one banker to the
issue is appointed. When the size of the issue is large, three or four banks are appointed as
bankers to the issue. The number of collection centres is specified by the central
government. The bankers to the issue should have branches in the specified collection
centres.
The financial institutions: The function of underwriting is generally performed by
financial institutions. Therefore, normally they go through the draft of prospectus, study the
proposed programme for public issue and approve them. IDBI, IFCI, ICICI, LIC, GIC and
UTI are the some of the financial institutions that underwrite and give financial assistance.
The lead manager sends copy of the draft prospectus to the financial institutions and
include their comments, if any in the revised draft.

Issue mechanism

New issues can be made in any of the following ways:

1. Public issue through prospectus,
2. Through offer for sale,
3. Through placement of securities— private placement and
stock exchange placing,
4. Issue of bonus shares,
5. Book-building, and
6. Stock option.
Margin Trading
Buying on margin is borrowing money from a broker to purchase stock. You can think of it
as a loan from your brokerage. Margin trading allows you to buy more stock than you'd be
able to normally. To trade on margin, you need a margin account. This is different from a
regular cash account, in which you trade using the money in the account. By law, your
broker is required to obtain your signature to open a margin account. The margin account
may be part of your standard account opening agreement or may be a completely separate
agreement. An initial investment of at least $2,000 is required for a margin account, though
some brokerages require more. This deposit is known as the minimum margin. Once the
account is opened and operational, you can borrow up to 50% of the purchase price of a
stock. This portion of the purchase price that you deposit is known as the initial margin. It's
essential to know that you don't have to margin all the way up to 50%.
 SECURITY ANALYSIS

Security analysis is the analysis of tradable financial instruments called securities. These are
usually classified into debt securities, equities, or some hybrid of the two. Tradable credit
derivatives are also securities. Commodities or futures contracts are not securities.

They are distinguished from securities by the fact that their performance is not dependent on
the management or activities of an outside or third party. Options on these contracts are
however considered securities, since performance is now dependent on the activities of a
third party. The definition of what is and what is not a security comes directly from the
language of a United States Supreme Court decision in the case of SEC v. W. J. Howey Co..
Security analysis is typically divided into fundamental analysis, which relies
upon the examination of fundamental business factors such as financial statements, and
technical analysis, which focuses upon price trends and momentum. Quantitative analysis
may use indicators from both areas.
Types of securities
1. Shares A share is an equity security. Its owner owns one part of the capital of the
company which has issued the shares in question. The shares enable the shareholder the
right to take part in the decision-making in the company. If the latter operates with profit,
the owners of shares may receive dividends. The amount of the dividend is decided upon
by the shareholders at a General Meeting of the Shareholders.
2. Bonds A bond is a debt security. When purchasing a bond, you have no right to
participate in the company's decision making but are entitled to the reimbursement of the
principal and the interest. There are several ways of repayment as the companies may
decide that the principal be paid in regular annual installments or on the maturity of
bonds. The interest may be refunded in a fixed amount or may be variable (inflation rate
or foreign currency). The issuers pay the interest once every year or once every half-year
(on the coupon maturity date).

3. Open-end funds An open-end fund stands for a diversified portfolio of securities and
similar investments, chosen and professionally managed by a fund management
company. Since the fund does not have fixed capital but is rather 'open ended', it grows
together with new investors joining and thus funding it. Open-end funds can invest in
domestic and international securities, in either shares, bonds or other investment vehicles.
 Depending on the portfolio, the fund's risk and returns vary accordingly.

3.1. Trading in open-end funds Open-end funds do normally not trade on exchanges, and there
are indeed few exchanges worldwide where open-end fund shares can be bought; but there are
exceptions. Usually, open-end funds are bought through fund management companies. Investors
can invest into the fund via a postal or a standing order, being charged with an entry fee upon
each new purchase and with an exit fee when they decide to sell their fund units. The other
option, however, is to buy through a brokerage firm; trading in open-end fund shares on an
exchange involves no entry or exit fees for investors, as they are only bound by broker's fees.

4. Index open-end funds With an index open-end fund, fund management companies allot
investors’ assets to a basket of securities making up a chosen index that thus tracks the
yield of the mentioned index. While the big investors may invest directly into a fund,
minor investors can only trade in fund shares on stock exchanges. Due to the possibility
of arbitrage, the market price of index open-end fund shares does usually not stray from
its NAV for more than 1%.

4.1. Trading in index open-end fund shares on primary market before purchasing
index open-end fund units, a declaration of accession must be signed. After
that, assets are transferred to a special fund account, open at a custodian
bank. Upon each purchase and sale, the fund charges appropriate entry and
exit fees (max 3% from purchase/sale). Fund investors are also charged a
management fee (0.5% of the average annual fund NAV) and the costs of
custodian services (0.1% of the average annual fund NAV). Each purchase or
sale within the fund on the primary market results in a changed number of
index open-end fund shares, which in turn affects the changes in the size of
fund's assets. Index open-end fund shares are purchased and sold at NAV, as
calculated by the management company.

4.2. Trading in index open-end fund shares on secondary market Minor investors
can buy index open-end fund shares on the exchange at the price that forms
on the market, without entry or exit fees, being charged solely brokerage
fees. Exchange trading of index open-end fund shares does not affect the size
of capital; while the owners of index open-end fund shares change, the fund’s
assets remain unaffected.
5. Close-end funds (ID) ID are a close-end investment fund investing its capital into
securities by other issuers. Investment company is managed by a management company
(DZU) which decides which securities to include in the fund's portfolio. The DZU is
paid a management fee by the investment company; it usually amounts to 1 -2% per year
in Slovenia. The value of shares of the close-end funds is closely correlated to the value
of the company's

6. Investment certificates Investment certificates are debt securities issued by a bank, and
are designed to offer the investor an agreed yield under pre-defined conditions stipulated in
the prospectus. Issuers are mainly large banks, and an important criterion in selecting the
bank in whose investment certificates you would like to invest is its credit rating. Investment
certificates represent an investment directly linked to an index, share price, raw material
price, exchange rate, interest, industry, and other publicly available values. The holder of an
investment certificate does thereby not become an indirect owner of the assets underlying
the certificate. A certificate ensures the investor a guaranteed manner of payment.
Investment certificates are predictable and the investor can always anticipate their yield (or
loss) in a specific situation, which makes them a successful investment vehicle in times of
heavy market losses. There are different types of investment certificates – some guarantee
yields no matter what the situation on the market, while others yield profit only when the
prices fall, etc.

7. Warrants Warrants are options issued by a joint-stock company, which give holders the
right to purchase a certain quantity of the respective company’s shares at a pre-determined
price. After a certain period, the right to purchase shares terminates. financial firm whose
payment is guaranteed by a bank. This short -term loan contract typically has a higher
interest rate than similar short –term securities to compensate for the default risk. Since
bankers’ acceptances are not standardized, there is no active trading of these securities.

Repurchase agreement (often referred to as a repo) is the sale of security with a

commitment by the seller to buy the security back from the purchaser at a specified price at
a designated future date. Basically, a repo is a collectivized short-term loan, where collateral
is a security. The collateral in a repo may be a Treasury security, other money-market
security. The difference between the purchase price and the sale price is the interest cost of
the loan, from which repo rate can be calculated. Because of concern about default risk, the
length of maturity of repo is usually very short. If the agreement is for a loan of funds for
one day, it is called overnight repo; if the term of the agreement is for more than one day, it
is called a term repo. A reverse repo is the opposite of a repo. In this transaction a
corporation buys the securities with an agreement to sell them at a specified price and time.
Using repos helps to increase the liquidity in the money market.

Our focus in this course further will be not investment in short-term vehicles but it
is useful for investor to know that short term investment vehicles provide the possibility for
temporary investing of money/ funds and investors use these instruments managing their
investment portfolio.

Fixed-income securities are those which return is fixed, up to some redemption date
or indefinitely. The fixed amounts may be stated in money terms or indexed to some
measure of the price level. This type of financial investments is presented by two different
groups of securities:

• Long-term debt securities

• Preferred stocks.
Long-term debt securities can be described as long-term debt instruments
representing the issuer’s contractual obligation. Long term securities have maturity longer
than 1 year. The buyer (investor) of these securities is landing money to the issuer, who
undertake obligation periodically to pay interest on this loan and repay the principal at a
stated maturity date. Long-term debt securities are traded in the capital markets. From the
investor’s point of view these securities can be treated as a “safe” asset. But in reality the
safety of investment in fixed –income securities is strongly related with the default risk of an
issuer. The major representatives of long-term debt securities are bonds, but today there are
a big variety of different kinds of bonds, which differ not only by the different issuers
(governments, municipals, companies, agencies, etc.), but by different schemes of interest
payments which is a result of bringing financial innovations to the long-term debt securities
market. As demand for borrowing the funds from the capital markets is growing the long-
term debt securities today are prevailing in the global markets. And it is really become the
challenge for investor to pick long-term debt securities relevant to his/ her investment
expectations, including the safety of investment. We examine the different kinds of long-
term debt securities and their features important to understand for the investor in Chapter 5,
together with the other aspects in decision making investing in bonds.
 Preferred stocks are equity security, which has infinitive life and pay dividends. But
preferred stock is attributed to the type of fixed-income securities, because the dividend for
preferred stock is fixed in amount and known in advance.

Though, this security provides for the investor the flow of income very similar to that of the
bond. The main difference between preferred stocks and bonds is that for preferred stock the
flows are for ever, if the stock is not callable. The preferred stockholders are paid after the
debt securities holders but before the common stock holders in terms of priorities in
payments of income and in case of liquidation of the company. If the issuer fails to pay the
dividend in any year, the unpaid dividends will have to be paid if the issue is cumulative. If
preferred stock is issued as noncumulative, dividends for the years with losses do not have
to be paid. Usually same rights to vote in general meetings for preferred stockholders are
suspended. Because of having the features attributed for both equity and fixed-income
securities preferred stocks is known as hybrid security. A most preferred stock is issued as
noncumulative and callable. In recent years the preferred stocks with option of convertibility
to common stock are proliferating.

The common stock is the other type of investment vehicles which is one of most popular
among investors with long-term horizon of their investments. Common stock represents the
ownership interest of corporations or the equity of the stock holders. Holders of common
stock are entitled to attend and vote at a general meeting of shareholders, to receive declared
dividends and to receive their share of the residual assets, if any, if the corporation is
bankrupt. The issuers of the common stock are the companies which seek to receive funds in
the market and though are “going public”. The issuing common stocks and selling them in
the market enables the company to raise additional equity capital more easily when using
other alternative sources. Thus many companies are issuing their common stocks which are
traded in financial markets and investors have wide possibilities for choosing this type of
securities for the investment.

Speculative investment vehicles following the term “speculation” (see p.8) could
be defined as investments with a high risk and high investment return. Using these
investment vehicles speculators try to buy low and to sell high, their primary concern is with
anticipating and profiting from the expected market fluctuations. The only gain from such
investments is the positive difference between selling and purchasing prices.

Speculative investment vehicles following the term “speculation” could be defined

as investments with a high risk and high investment return. Using these investment vehicles
speculators try to buy low and to sell high, their primary concern is with anticipating and
profiting from the expected market fluctuations. The only gain from such investments is the
positive difference between selling and purchasing prices. Of course, using short-term
investment strategies investors can use for speculations other investment vehicles, such as
common stock, but here we try to accentuate the specific types of investments which are
more risky than other investment vehicles because of their nature related with more
uncertainty about the changes influencing the their price in the future.

Options are the derivative financial instruments. An options contract gives the
owner of the contract the right, but not the obligation, to buy or to sell a financial asset at a
specified price from or to another party. The buyer of the contract must pay a fee (option
price) for the seller. There is a big uncertainty about if the buyer of the option will take the
advantage of it and what option price would be relevant, as it depends not only on demand
and supply in the options market, but on the changes in the other market where the financial

asset included in the option contract are traded. Though, the option is a risky financial
instrument for those investors who use it for speculations instead of hedging.

Futures are the other type of derivatives. A future contract is an agreement between
two parties than they agree tom transact with the respect to some financial asset at a
predetermined price at a specified future date. One party agree to buy the financial asset, the
other agrees to sell the financial asset. It is very important, that in futures contract case both
parties are obligated to perform and neither party charges the fee.

There are two types of people who deal with options (and futures) contracts:
speculators and hedgers. Speculators buy and sell futures for the sole purpose of making a
profit by closing out their positions at a price that is better than the initial price. Such people
neither produce nor use the asset in the ordinary course of business. In contrary, hedgers buy
and sell futures to offset an otherwise risky position in the market.

Transactions using derivatives instruments are not limited to financial assets. There
are derivatives, involving different commodities (coffee, grain, precious metals, and other
commodities). But in this course the target is on derivatives where underlying asset is a
financial asset.
 Investment companies/ investment funds. They receive money from investors with
the common objective of pooling the funds and then investing them in securities according
to a stated set of investment objectives. Two types of funds:

1. open-end funds (mutual funds) ,

2. closed-end funds (trusts).

Open-end funds have no pre-determined amount of stocks outstanding and they can
buy back or issue new shares at any point. Price of the share is not determined by demand,
but by an estimate of the current market value of the fund’s net assets per share (NAV) and a
commission.

Closed-end funds are publicly traded investment companies that have issued a

specified number of shares and can only issue additional shares through a new public issue.
Pricing of closed-end funds is different from the pricing of open-end funds: the market price
can differ from the NAV.

Insurance Companies are in the business of assuming the risks of adverse events
(such as fires, accidents, etc.) in exchange for a flow of insurance premiums. Insurance
companies are investing the accumulated funds in securities (treasury bonds, corporate
stocks and bonds), real estate. Three types of Insurance Companies: life insurance; non -life
insurance (also known as property-casualty insurance) and re-insurance. During recent years
investment life insurance became very popular investment alternative for individual
investors, because this hybrid investment product allows to buy the life insurance policy
together with possibility to invest accumulated life insurance payments or lump sum for a
long time selecting investment program relevant to investor‘s future expectations.

Pension Funds are an asset pools that accumulates over an employee’s working
years and pays retirement benefits during the employee’s nonworking years. Pension funds
are investing the funds according to a stated set of investment objectives in securities
(treasury bonds, corporate stocks and bonds), real estate.

Hedge funds are unregulated private investment partnerships, limited to institutions and high-
net-worth individuals, which seek to exploit various market opportunities and thereby to earn
larger returns than are ordinarily available. They require a substantial initial investment from
investors and usually have some restrictions on how quickly investor can withdraw their funds.
Hedge funds take concentrated speculative positions and can be very risky. It could be noted
that originally, the term “hedge” made some sense when applied to these funds. They would by
combining different types of investments, including derivatives, try to hedge risk while seeking
higher return. But today the word “hedge’ is misapplied to these funds because they generally
take an aggressive strategies investing in stock, bond and other financial markets around the
world and their level of risk is high.

Financial markets

Financial markets are the other important component of investment environment.

Financial markets are designed to allow corporations and governments to raise new funds
and to allow investors to execute their buying and selling orders. In financial markets funds
are channeled from those with the surplus, who buy securities, to those, with shortage, who
issue new securities or sell existing securities. A financial market can be seen as a set of
arrangements that allows trading among its participants.

Financial markets could be classified on the bases of those characteristics:

• Sequence of transactions for selling and buying securities;

• Term of circulation of financial assets traded in the market;
• From the perspective of a given country.
•
By sequence of transactions for selling and buying securities:

 Primary market
 Secondary market

All securities are first traded in the primary market, and the secondary market
provides liquidity for these securities.

Primary market is where corporate and government entities can raise capital and
where the first transactions with the new issued securities are performed. If a company’s
share is traded in the primary market for the first time this is referred to as an initial public
offering (IPO).

Investment banks play an important role in the primary market:

 Usually handle issues in the primary market;

 Among other things, act as underwriter of a new issue, guaranteeing the proceeds to the
issuer.
Secondary market - where previously issued securities are traded among investors.
 Generally, individual investors do not have access to secondary markets. They use security
brokers to act as intermediaries for them. The broker delivers an orders received form
investors in securities to a market place, where these orders are executed. Finally, clearing
and settlement processes ensure that both sides to these transactions honor their
commitment. Types of brokers:

• Discount broker, who executes only trades in the secondary market;

• Full service broker, who provides a wide range of additional services to
clients (ex., advice to buy or sell);
• Online broker is a brokerage firm that allows investors to execute trades
electronically using Internet.

The over-the-counter (OTC) market is not a formal exchange. It is organized

network of brokers and dealers who negotiate sales of securities. There are no membership
requirements and many brokers register as dealers on the OTC. At the same time there are
no listing requirements and thousands of securities are traded in the OTC market. OTC
stocks are usually considered as very risky because they are the stocks that are not
considered large or stable enough to trade on the major exchange.

An alternative trading system (ATS) is an electronic trading mechanism developed

independently from the established market places – security exchanges – and designed to
match buyers and sellers of securities on an agency basis. The brokers who use ATS are
acting on behalf of their clients and do not trade on their own account. The distinct
advantages of ATS in comparison with traditional markets are cost savings of
transactions, the short time of execution of transactions for liquid securities, extended
hours for trading and anonymity, often important for investors, trading large amounts.
 UNIT-II
Portfolio Analysis
Introduction

Portfolio is a combination of securities such as stocks, bonds and money market

instruments. The process of blending together the broad asset classes so as to obtain
optimum return with minimum risk is called portfolio construction. Individual securities
have riskreturn characteristics of their own. Portfolios may or may not take on the aggregate
characteristics of their individual parts.

Diversification of investment helps to spread risk over many assets. A diversification of

securities gives the assurance of obtaining the anticipated return on the portfolio. In a
diversified portfolio, some securities may not perform as expected, but others may exceed
the expectation and making the actual return of the portfolio reasonably close to the
anticipated one.

Approaches in portfolio construction

has to be carried out. Finally relative portfolio weights are assigned to securities like
bonds, stocks and debentures and then diversification is carried out

Steps in traditional approach

(a) Need for current income: The investor should establish the income which the portfolio
should generate. The current income need depends upon the entire current financial plan of
the investor. The expenditure required to maintain a certain level
of standard of living and all the other income generating sources should be determined.
Once this information is arrived at, it is possible to decide how much income must be
provided for the portfolio of securities.

(b) Need for constant income: Inflation reduces the purchasing power of the money.
Hence, the investor estimates the impact of inflation on his estimated stream of income and
 tries to build a portfolio which could offset the effect of inflation. Funds should be invested
in such securities where income from them might increase at a rate that would offset the
effect of inflation. The inflation or purchasing power risk must be recognised but this does
not pose a serious constraint on portfolio if growth stocks are selected.

2. Determination of objectives

Portfolios have the common objective of financing present and future expenditures from a
large pool of assets. The return that the investor requires and the degree of risk he is willing
to take depend upon the constraints. The objectives of portfolio range from income to
capital appreciation.

The common objectives are stated below:

 Current income

 Growth in income

 Capital appreciation

 Preservation of capital

The investor in general would like to achieve all the four objectives, nobody would like to
lose his investment. But, it is not possible to achieve all the four objectives simultaneously.
If the investor aims at capital appreciation, he should include risky securities where there is
an equal likelihood of losing the capital. Thus, there is a conflict among the objectives.

3. Selection of portfolio

The selection of portfolio depends on the various objectives of the investor. The selection of
portfolio under different objectives are dealt subsequently.

Objectives and asset mix- If the main objective is getting adequate amount of current
income, sixty per cent of the investment is made on debts and 40 per cent on equities. The
proportions of investments on debt and equity differ according to the individual’s
preferences. Money is invested in short term debt and fixed income securities. Here the
growth of income becomes the secondary objective and stability of principal amount may
become the third. Even within the debt portfolio, the funds invested in short term bonds
depends on the need for stability of principal amount in comparison with the stability of
income. If the appreciation of capital is given third priority, instead of short term debt the
investor opts for long term debt. The period may not be a constraint.

4. Risk and return analysis: The traditional approach to portfolio building has some basic
assumptions. First, the individual prefers larger to smaller returns from securities. To
achieve this goal, the investor has to take more risk. The ability to achieve higher returns is
dependent upon his ability to judge risk and his ability to take specific risks. The risks are
namely interest rate risk, purchasing power risk, financial risk and market risk. The investor
analyses the varying degrees of risk and constructs his portfolio. At first, he establishes the
minimum income that he must have to avoid hardships under

most adverse economic condition and then he decides risk of loss of income that can be
tolerated. The investor makes a series of compromises on risk and non-risk factors like
taxation and marketability after he has assessed the major risk categories, which he is trying
to minimise

5. Diversification: Once the asset mix is determined and the risk and return are analysed,
the final step is the diversification of portfolio. Financial risk can be minimised by
commitments to top-quality bonds, but these securities offer poor resistance to inflation.
Stocks provide better inflation protection than bonds but are more vulnerable to financial
risks. Good quality convertibles may balance the financial risk and purchasing power risk.

According to the investor’s need for income and

risk tolerance level portfolio is diversified. In the bond portfolio, the investor has to strike a
balance between the short term and long term bonds. Short term fixed income securities
offer more risk to income and long term fixed income securities offer more risk to principal.
 Modern approach:

The traditional approach is a comprehensive financial plan for the individual. It takes
into account the individual needs such as housing, life insurance and pension plans. But
these types of financial planning approaches are not done in the Markowitz approach.
Markowitz gives more attention to the process of selecting the portfolio. His planning can be
applied more in the selection of common stocks portfolio than the bond portfolio. The stocks
are not selected on the basis of need for income or appreciation. But the selection is based
on the risk and return analysis. Return includes the market return and dividend. The investor
needs return and it may be either in the form of market return or dividend .

In the modern approach, the final step is asset allocation process that is to choose the
portfolio that meets the requirement of the investor. The risk taker i.e. who are willing to
accept a higher probability of risk for getting the expected return would choose high risk
portfolio. Investor with lower tolerance for risk would choose low level risk portfolio. The
risk neutral investor would choose the medium level risk portfolio

Portfolio risk/return

As mentioned earlier, an investment decision involves selection of a combination or group

of securities for investment. This group of securities is referred to as a portfolio. The
portfolio can be a combination of securities irrespective of their nature, maturity,
profitability, or risk characteristics. Investors, rather than looking at individual securities,
focus more on the performance of all securities together. While portfolio returns are the
weighted returns of all securities constituting the portfolio, the portfolio risk is not the
simple weighted average risk of all securities in the portfolio. Portfolio risk considers the
standard deviation together with the covariance between securities. Co-variance measures
the movement of assets together.

Markowitz Portfolio Selection

Markowitz Portfolio Selection Method identifies an investor’s unique risk-return

preferences, namely utilities. The Markowitz portfolio model has the following assumptions:

 Investors are risk averse

  Investors are utility maximisers than return maximisers


 All investors have the same time period as the investment horizon
 An investor who is a risk seeker would prefer high returns for a certain level of risk
and he is willing to accept portfolios with lower incremental returns for additional risk levels.
 A risk averse investor would require a high incremental rate of return as
compensation for every small amount of increase in risk.
 A moderate risk taker would have utilities in between these two extremes.
Markowitz H.M. (1952) introduced the term ‘risk penality’ to state the portfolio selection rule.
A security will be selected into a portfolio if the risk adjusted rate of return is high compared to
other available securities. This risk adjusted rate of return is computed as: Risk adjusted return
utility) = Expected return – Risk penality

Risk penalty is computed as:

Risk Penalty = Risk squared/Risk tolerance

Risk squared is the variance of the security return and risk tolerance is a number between 0
and 100. Risk tolerance of an investor is stated as a percentage point between these
numbers and a very high risk tolerance could be stated as 90 or above and a very low risk
tolerance level could be stated as between 0 and 20.

Markowitz portfolio theory

The author of the modern portfolio theory is Harry Markowitz who introduced the
analysis of the portfolios of investments in his article “Portfolio Selection” published in the
Journal of Finance in 1952. The new approach presented in this article included portfolio
formation by considering the expected rate of return and risk of individual stocks and,
crucially, their interrelationship as measured by correlation. Prior to this investors would
examine investments individually, build up portfolios of attractive stocks, and not consider
how they related to each other. Markowitz showed how it might be possible to better of
these simplistic portfolios by taking into account the correlation between the returns on
these stocks.
 The diversification plays a very important role in the modern portfolio theory.
Markowitz approach is viewed as a single period approach: at the beginning of the period
the investor must make a decision in what particular securities to invest and hold these
securities until the end of the period. Because a portfolio is a collection of securities, this
decision is equivalent to selecting an optimal portfolio from a set of possible portfolios.
Essentiality of the Markowitz portfolio theory is the problem of optimal portfolio selection.

The method that should be used in selecting the most desirable portfolio involves the use
of indifference curves. Indifference curves represent an investor’s preferences for risk and
return. These curves should be drawn, putting the investment return on the vertical axis
and the risk on the horizontal axis. Following Markowitz approach, the measure for
investment return is expected rate of return and a measure of risk is standard deviation
(these statistic measures we discussed in previous chapter, section 2.1). The exemplified
map of indifference curves for the individual risk-averse investor is presented in Fig.3.1.
Each indifference curve here (I1, I2, I3 ) represents the most desirable investment or
investment portfolio for an individual investor. That means, that any of investments (or
portfolios) ploted on the indiference curves (A,B,C or D) are equally desirable to the
investor.

Features of indifference curves:

 All portfolios that lie on a given indifference curve are equally desirable
to the investor. An implication of this feature: indifference curves cannot
intersect.


 An investor has an infinitive number of indifference curves.



 Every investor can represent several indifference curves (for different

investment tools).


 Every investor has a map of the indifference curves representing his or

her preferences for expected returns and risk (standard deviations) for
each potential portfolio.
Two important fundamental assumptions than examining indifference curves and applying
them to Markowitz portfolio theory:
 The investors are assumed to prefer higher levels of return to lower levels of return,
because the higher levels of return allow the investor to spend more on consumption at
the end of the investment period. Thus, given two portfolios with the same standard
deviation, the investor will choose the portfolio with the higher expected return. This is
called an assumption of no satiation.
 Investors are risk averse. It means that the investor when given the choise, will choose
the investment or investment portfolio with the smaller risk. This is called assumption
of risk aversion.
 Efficient set of portfolios involves the portfolios that the investor will find optimal ones. 
 These portfolios are lying on the “northwest boundary” of the feasible set and are called
an efficient frontier. The efficient frontier can be described by the curve in the risk-
return space with the highest expected rates of return for each level of risk.
 Feasible set is opportunity set, from which the efficient set of portfolio can be
identified. The feasibility set represents all portfolios that could be formed from the
number of securities and lie either or or within the boundary of the feasible set.
 The feasible and efficient sets of portfolios are presented. Considering the assumptions
of non siation and risk aversion discussed earlier in this section, only those portfolios
lying between points A and B on the boundary of feasibility set investor will find the
optimal ones. All the other portfolios in the feasible set are are inefficient portfolios.
Furthermore, if a risk -free investment is introduced into the universe of assets, the
efficient frontier becomes the tegmental line shown in Fig. 3.3 this line is called the
Capital Market Line (CML) and the portfolio at the point at which it is tangential (point
M) is called the Market Portfolio.
 The Expected Rate of Return and Risk of Portfolio
Following Markowitz efficient set portfolios approach an investor should evaluate
alternative portfolios inside feasibility set on the basis of their expected returns and
standard deviations using indifference curves. Thus, the methods for calculating
expected rate of return and standard deviation of the portfolio must be discussed.

The expected rate of return of the portfolio can be calculated in some alternative ways. The
Markowitz focus was on the end-of-period wealth (terminal value) and using these expected
end-of-period values for each security in the portfolio the expected end-of-period return for the
whole portfolio can be calculated. But the portfolio really is the set of the securities thus the
expected rate of return of a portfolio should depend on the expected rates of return of each
security included in the portfolio. This alternative method for calculating

the expected rate of return on the portfolio (E(r)p) is the weighted average of the
expected returns on its component securities:

E(r)p = Σ wi * Ei (r) = E1(r) + w2 * E2(r) +…+ wn * En(r),

 i=1

here
wi - the proportion of the portfolio’s initial value invested in security i;
Ei(r) - the expected rate of return of security I; n - the number of
securities in the portfolio.
 Because a portfolio‘s expected return is a weighted average of the expected

returns of its securities, the contribution of each security to the portfolio‘s expected rate of
return depends on its expected return and its proportional share from the initial portfolio‘s
market value (weight). Nothing else is relevant. The conclusion here could be that the
investor who simply wants the highest posible expected rate of return must keep only one
security in his portfolio which has a highest expected rate of return. But why the majority of
investors don‘t do so and keep several different securities in their portfolios? Because they
try to diversify their portfolios aiming to reduce the investment portfolio risk.

Risk of the portfolio. As we know from chapter 2, the most often used measure for
the risk of investment is standard deviation, which shows the volatility of the securities
actual return from their expected return. If a portfolio‘s expected rate of return is a weighted
average of the expected rates of return of its securities, the calculation of standard deviation
for the portfolio can‘t simply use the same approach. The reason is that the relationship
between the securities in the same portfolio must be taken into account. As it was discussed
in section 2.2, the relationship between the assets can be estimated using the covariance and
coefficient of correlation. As covariance can range from “–” to “+” infinity, it is more useful
for identification of the direction of relationship (positive or negative), coefficients of
correlation always lies between -1 and +1 and is the convenient measure of intensity and
direction of the relationship between the assets.

Risk of the portfolio, which consists of 2 securities (A ir B):

δp = (w²A . δ²A + w²B ²B + 2 wA . wB . kAB δA B)1/2,

here: wA ir wB - the proportion of the portfolio’s initial value invested in security A

and B ( wA + wB = 1);

δA ir δB - standard deviation of security A and B;

kAB - coefficient of coreliation between the returns of security A and B

Sharpe’s Single Index Portfolio Selection Method

Sharpe W.E. (1964) justified that portfolio risk is to be identified with respect to their
return co-movement with the market and not necessarily with respect to within the security
co-movement in a portfolio. He therefore concluded that the desirability of a security for its
inclusion is directly related to its excess return to beta ratio, i.e., R i- Rf/βi

Where

Ri = expected return on security i

Rf = return on a riskless security

I = beta of security i

This ranking order gives the best securities that are to be selected for the portfolio.

Cut-off Rate

The number of securities that are to be selected depends on the cutoff rate. The cut-off rate
is determined such that all securities with higher ratios are included into the portfolio.

Managing the portfolio

After establishing the asset allocation, the investor has to decide how to manage the
portfolio over time. He can adopt passive approach or active approach towards the
management of the portfolio. In the passive approach the investor would maintain the
percentage allocation for asset classes and keep the security holdings within its place over
the established holding period. In the active approach the investor continuously assess the
risk and return of the securities within the asset classes and changes them accordingly.

He would be studying the risks (1) market related (2) group related and (3)security
specific and changes the components of the portfolio to suit his objectives.

Portfolio performance measures

Portfolio performance evaluation involves determining periodically how the

portfolio performed in terms of not only the return earned, but also the risk experienced by
the investor. For portfolio evaluation appropriate measures of return and risk as well as
relevant standards (or “benchmarks”) are needed.

In general, the market value of a portfolio at a point of time is determined by

adding the markets value of all the securities held at that particular time. The market value
of the portfolio at the end of the period is calculated in the same way, only using end-of-
period prices of the securities held in the portfolio.

The return on the portfolio (rp):

rp = (Ve - Vb) / Vb,

here: Ve - beginning value of the portfolio;

Vb - ending value of the portfolio.

The essential idea behind performance evaluation is to compare the returns which
were obtained on portfolio with the results that could be obtained if more appropriate
alternative portfolios had been chosen for the investment. Such comparison portfolios ar e
often referred to as benchmark portfolios. In selecting them investor should be certain that
they are relevant, feasible and known in advance. The benchmark should reflect the
objectives of the investor.

Relationship between risk and return

The expected rate of return and the variance or standard deviation provide investor
with information about the nature of the probability distribution associated with a single
asset. However all these numbers are only the characteristics of return and risk of the
particular asset. But how does one asset having some specific trade-off between return and
risk influence the other one with the different characteristics of return and risk in the same
portfolio? And what could be the influence of this relationship to the investor’s portfolio?
The answers to these questions are of great importance for the investor when forming his/
her diversified portfolio. The statistics that can provide the investor with the information to
answer these questions are covariance and correlation coefficient. Covariance and
correlation are related and they generally measure the same phenomenon – the relationship
between two variables. Both concepts are best understood by looking at the math behind
them.

Covariance

Two methods of covariance estimation can be used: the sample covariance and the
population covariance.
 The sample covariance is estimated than the investor hasn‘t enough information
about the underlying probability distributions for the returns of two assets and then the
sample of historical returns is used.

Sample covariance between two assets - A and B is defined in

∑ [( rA,t - ŕA ) . ( rB,t - ŕB)]

t=1

Cov (ŕA, ŕB) = -----------------------------------------, (2.9)

n–1

here rA,t , rB,t - consequently, rate of return for assets A and B in the time period t, when t
varies from 1 to n;

ŕA, ŕB - sample mean of rate of returns for assets A and B consequently.

As can be understood from the formula, a number of sample covariance can range from “–” to
“+” infinity. Though, the covariance number doesn’t tell the investor much about the relationship
between the returns on the two assets if only this pair of assets in the portfolio is analysed. It is
difficult to conclud if the relationship between returns of two assets (A and B) is strong or weak,
taking into account the absolute number of the sample variance. However, what is very important
using the covariance for measuring relationship between two assets – the identification of the
direction of this relationship. Positive number of covariance shows that rates of return of two
assets are moving to the same direction:

when return on asset A is above its mean of return (positive), the other asset B is tend
to be the same (positive) and vice versa: when the rate of return of asset A is negative or
bellow its mean of return, the returns of other asset tend to be negative too. Negative number
of covariance shows that rates of return of two assets are moving in the contrariwise
directions: when return on asset A is above its mean of return (positive), the returns of the
other asset - B is tend to be the negative and vice versa. Though, in analyzing relationship
between the assets in the same portfolio using covariance for portfolio formation it is
important to identify which of the three possible outcomes exists:

positive covariance (“+”)

 negative covariance (“-”) or zero

covariance (“0”).

If the positive covariance between two assets is identified the common

recommendation for the investor would be not to put both of these assets to the same
portfolio, because their returns move in the same direction and the risk in portfolio will be
not diversified.

If the negative covariance between the pair of assets is identified the common
recommendation for the investor would be to include both of these assets to the portfolio,
because their returns move in the contrariwise directions and the risk in portfolio could be
diversified or decreased.

If the zero covariance between two assets is identified it means that there is no
relationship between the rates of return of two assets. The assets could be included in the
same portfolio, but it is rare case in practice and usually covariance tends to be positive or
negative.

For the investors using the sample covariance as one of the initial steps in analyzing
potential assets to put in the portfolio the graphical method instead of analytical one (using
formula 2.9) could be a good alternative. In figures 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 the identification of
positive, negative and zero covariances is demonstrated in graphical way. In all these figures
the horizontal axis shows the rates of return on asset A and vertical axis shows the rates of
return on asset B. When the sample mean of return for both assets is calculated from
historical data given, the all area of possible historical rates of return can be divided into
four sections (I, II, III and IV) on the basis of the mean returns of two assets (ŕA, ŕB
consequently). In I section both asset A and asset B have the positive rates of returns above
their means of return; in section II the results are negative for asset A and positive for asset
B; in section III the results of both assets are negative – below their meansof return and in
section IV the results are positive for asset A and negative for asset B.

When the historical rates of return of two assets known for the investor are marked
in the area formed by axes ŕA, ŕB, it is very easy to identify what kind of relationship
between two assets exists simply by calculating the number of observations in each: if the
number of observations in sections I and III prevails over the number of observations in
sections II and IV, the covariance between two assets is
 positive (“+”);

if the number of observations in sections II and IV prevails over the

number of observations in sections I and III, the covariance between two assets
is negative(“-”);

if the number of observations in sections I and III equals the number of

observations in sections II and IV, there is the zero covariance between two
assets (“0”).

The population covariance is estimated when the investor has enough information
about the underlying probability distributions for the returns of two assets and can identify
the actual probabilities of various pairs of the returns for two assets at the same time.

Similar to using the sample covariance, in the population covariance case the
graphical method can be used for the identification of the direction of the relationship
between two assets. But the graphical presentation of data in this case is more complicated
because three dimensions must be used (including the probability). Despite of it, if investor
observes that more pairs of returns are in the sections I and III than in II and IV, the
population covariance will be positive, if the pairs of return in II and IV prevails over I and
III, the population covariance is negative.

2. Correlation and Coefficient of determination.

Correlation is the degree of relationship between two variables.

The correlation coefficient between two assets is closely related to their covariance.
The correlation coefficient between two assets A and B (kAB) can be calculated using the
next formula: kA,B =

Cov(rA,rB)

------------------- ,

δ(rA) . δ(rB)

here δ (rA) and δ(rB) are standard deviation for asset A and B consequently.
 Very important, that instead of covariance when the calculated number is
unbounded, the correlation coefficient can range only from -1,0 to +1,0. The more close the
absolute meaning of the correlation coefficient to 1,0, the stronger the relationship between
the returns of two assets. Two variables are perfectly positively correlated if correlation
coefficient is +1,0, that means that the returns of two assets have a perfect positive linear

relationship to each other , and perfectly negatively correlated if correlation coefficient is -

1,0, that means the asset returns have a perfect inverse linear relationship to each other . But
most often correlation between assets returns is imperfect . When correlation coefficient
equals 0, there is no linear relationship between the returns on the two assets .Combining
two assets with zero correlation with each other reduces the risk of the portfolio. While a
zero correlation between two assets returns is better than positive correlation, it does not
provide the risk reduction results of a negative correlation coefficient.

It can be useful to note, that when investor knows correlation coefficient, the
covariance between stocks A and B can be estimated, because standard deviations of the
assets’ rates of return will already are available:

Therefore, as it was pointed out earlier, the covariance primarily provides

information to the investor about whether the relationship between asset returns is positive,
negative or zero, because simply observing the number itself without any context with
which to compare the number, is not very useful. When the covariance is positive, the
correlation coefficient will be also positive, when the covariance is negative, the correlation
coefficient will be also negative. But using correlation coefficients instead of covariance
investor can immediately asses the degree of relationship between assets returns.

The coefficient of determination (Det.AB) is calculated as the square of

correlation coefficient:

Det.A, B = k²A,B

The coefficient of determination shows how much variability in the returns of one
asset can be associated with variability in the returns of the other. For example, if correlation
coefficient between returns of two assets is estimated + 0,80, the coefficient of
determination will be 0,64. The interpretation of this number for the investor is that
 approximately 64 percent of the variability in the returns of one asset can be explained by
the returns of the other asset. If the returns on two assets are perfect correlated, the
coefficient of determination will be equal to 100 %, and this means that in such a case if
investor knows what will be the changes in returns of one asset he / she could predict
exactly the return of the other asset.

Relationship between the returns on stock and market portfolio

When picking the relevant assets to the investment portfolio on the basis of their risk and return
characteristics and the assessment of the relationship of their returns investor must consider to
the fact that these assets are traded in the market.

The characteristic line and the Beta factor

Before examining the relationship between a specific asset and the market portfolio
the concept of “market portfolio” needs to be defined. Theoretical interpretation of the
market portfolio is that it involves every single risky asset in the global economic system,
and contains each asset in proportion to the total market value of that asset relative to the
total value of all other assets (value weighted portfolio). But going from conceptual to
practical approach - how to measure the return of the market portfolio in such a broad its
understanding - the market index for this purpose can be used. Investors can think of the
market portfolio as the ultimate market index. And if the investor following his/her
investment policy makes the decision to invest, for example, only in stocks, the market
portfolio practically can be presented by one of the available representative indexes in
particular stock exchange.

The most often the relationship between the asset return and market portfolio return
is demonstrated and examined using the common stocks as assets, but the same concept can
be used analyzing bonds, or any other assets. With the given historical data about the returns
on the particular common stock (rJ) and market index return (rM) in the same periods of
time investor can draw the stock’s characteristic line

Stock’s characteristic line: describes the relationship between the stock and the
market;shows the return investor expect the stock to produce, given that a particular rate of
return appears for the market; helps to assess the risk characteristics of one stock relative to
the market. Stock’s characteristic line as a straight line can be described by its slope and by
point in which it crosses the vertical axis - intercept (point A in Fig. 2.8.).

The slope of the characteristic line is called the Beta factor. Beta factor for the

stock J and can be calculated using following formula:

Cov (rJ,rM)

βJ = ------------------- , (2.14)

δ²(rM)

here: Cov(rJ,rM) – covariance between returns of stock J and the market portfolio;
δ²(rM) - variance of returns on market portfolio.

The Beta factor of the stock is an indicator of the degree to which the stock reacts to
the changes in the returns of the market portfolio. The Beta gives the answer to the investor
how much the stock return will change when the market return will change by 1 percent.
Further in Chapter 3 the use of Beta factor in developing capital asset pricing model will be
discussed.

Intercept AJ (the point where characteristic line passes through the vertical

axis) can be calculated using following formula:

AJ = rJ - βJ . rM, (2.15)

rJ - rate of return of stock J;

βJ - Beta factor for the stock J; rM - rate of return of the

here: market.

The intercept technically is a convenient point for drawing a characteristic line. The
interpretation of the intercept from the investor’s point of view is that it shows what would
be the rate of return of the stock, if the rate of return in the market is zero.

2.3.2. Residual variance

The characteristic line is a line-of-best-fit through some data points. A characteristic

line is what in statistics is called as time-series regression line. But in
reality the stock produce returns that deviate from the characteristic line (see Fig. 2.8). In
statistics this propensity is called the residual variance.

To calculate residual variance the residual in every period of observations must be

identified. Residual is the vertical distance between the point which reflect the pair of
returns (stock J and market) and the characteristic line of stock J.

It is useful for the interpretation of residual to investor to accentuate two

components in formula of residual

• Component 1 reflects the return actually generated by the stock J during period t;

• Component 2 (in the bracket) represents investor’s expectations for The variance
describes the deviation of the asset returns from its expected value ; The residual
variance describes the deviation of the asset returns from its characteristic line.
stock’s return, given its characteristic line and market’s returns.Note the
difference between the variance and the residual variance:

Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT)

APT was propsed ed by Stephen S.Rose and presented in his article „The arbitrage
theory of Capital Asset Pricing“, published in Journal of Economic Theory in 1976. Still
there is a potential for it and it may sometimes displace the CAPM. In the CAPM returns on
individual assets are related to returns on the market as a whole. The key point behind APT
is the rational statement that the market return is determined by a number of different
factors. These factors can be fundamental factors or statistical. If these factors are essential,
there to be no arbitrage opportunities there must be restrictions on the investment process.
Here arbitrage we understand as the earning of riskless profit by taking advantage of
differential pricing for the same assets or security. Arbitrage is is widely applied investment
tactic.

APT states, that the expected rate of return of security J is the linear function from
the complex economic factors common to all securities and can be estimated relating
diversified portfolios, on assumption that the asset unsystematic (specific) risks are
negligable compared with the factor risks.
 ¶ Unit-III

BOND ANALYSIS AND VALUATION AND MANAGEMENT

Introduction
Fixed income financial instruments which, traditionally, have been identified as a long -term
source of funds for a corporate enterprise are the cherished conduit for investor’s money. An
assured return and high interest rate are responsible for the preference of bonds over
equities. The year 1996-97 witnessed hectic trading in the debt market, as resource
mobilization reached a record level of almost Rs. 25,000 crores which was much above the
equity segment. In the first seven months of the fiscal year 1998-99, the funds mobilized by
ICICI (Four debt issues) and IDBI have accounted for 90 per cent of Rs. 3,175 Crores
mopped in the primary market. Financial institutions, banks and corporate bodies are
offering attractive bonds like retirement bonds, education bonds, deep discount bonds,
encash bonds, money multiplier bonds and index bonds. Knowing how to value fixed
income securities (bonds) is important both for investors and managers. Such knowledge is
helpful to the former in deciding whether they should buy or sell or hold securities at prices
prevailing in the market.

Bond valuation-Terminology
A bond or debenture is a debt instrument issued by the government or a government agency
or a business enterprise
Par Value- It is the value stated on the face of the bond. It represents the amount the firm
borrows and promises to repay at the time of maturity. Usually the par or face value of
bonds issued by business firms is Rs. 100. Sometimes it can be Rs. 1000.
Coupon Rate and Interest- A bond carries a specific interest rate which is called the coupon
rate. The interest payable to the bond holder is simply par value of the bond × coupon rate.
Most bonds pay interest semi-annually. For example, a GOI security which has a par value
of Rs. 1000 and a coupon rate of 11 per cent pays an interest of Rs. 55 every six months.
Maturity Period- Typically, bonds have a maturity period of 1 -10 years; sometimes they
have a longer maturity. At the time of maturity the par (face) value plus perhaps a nominal
premium is payable to the bondholder.
The time value concept
The time value concept of money is that the rupee received today is more valuable than a
rupee received tomorrow. The investor will postpone current consumption only if he could
earn more future consumption opportunities through investment. Individuals generally
prefer current consumption to future consumption. If there is inflation in the economy, a
rupee today will represent more purchasing power than a rupee at a future date. Interest is
the rent paid to the owners to part their money. The interest that the borrower pays to the
lender causes the money to have a future value different from its present value. The time
value of money makes the rupee invested today grow more than a rupee in the future. To
quantify this concept mathematically compounding and discounting principles are used. The
one period future time value of money is given by the equation:

Future Value = present value (1 + interest rate). If hundred rupees are put in a savings bank
account in a bank for one year, the future value of money will be:
Future Value = Rs. 100 (1.0 + 6%)
= 100 × 1.06 = Rs. 106.

If the deposited money is allowed to cumulate for more than one time, the period exponent
is added to the previous equation.

Future value = (Present Value) (1 + interest rate)t

t- the number of time periods the deposited money accumulates as interest.

Suppose Rs. 100 is put for two years at the 6% rate of interest, money will grow to be
Rs.112.36.

Future Value = Present value (1 + interest rate)2

= 100 (1 + 0.06)2

= 100 (1.1236)

= 112.36.
 Bonds classification by their key features:

By form of payment:

1 Nonintersecting bearing bonds - bonds issued at a discount. Throughout the bond’s

life its interest is not earned, however the bond is redeemed at maturity for face
value.
2 Regular serial bonds - serial bonds in which all periodic installments of principal
repayment are equal in amount.
3 Deferred –interest bonds –bonds paying interest at a later date;
4 Income bonds – bonds on which interest is paid when and only when earned by the
issuing firm;
5 Indexed bonds - bonds where the values of principal and the payout rise with
inflation or the value of the underlying commodity;
6 Optional payment bonds – bonds that give the holder the choice to receive payment
on interest or principal or both in the currency of one or more foreign countries, as
well as in domestic currency.

Coupon payment:

• Coupon bonds – bonds with interest coupons attached;

• Zero-coupon bonds – bonds sold at a deep discount from its face value and
redeemed at maturity for full face value. The difference between the cost of the bond
and its value when redeemed is the investor’s return. These securities provide no
interest payments to holders;
• Full coupon bonds – bonds with a coupon rate near or above current market interest
rate;
• Floating-rate bonds – debt instruments issued by large corporations and financial
organizations on which the interest rate is pegged to another rate, often the Treasury-
bill rate, and adjusted periodically at a specified amount over that rate.

Collateral:

7.Secured bonds – bonds secured by the pledge of assets (plant or equipment), the title
to which is transferred to bondholders in case of foreclosure;
• Unsecured bonds – bonds backed up by the faith and credit of the issuer instead of
the pledge of assets.
• Debenture bonds – bonds for which there is no any specific security set aside or
allocated for repayment of principal;
• Mortgage bonds (or mortgage-backed securities) – bonds that have as an underlying
security a mortgage on all properties of the issuing corporation;
• Sinking fund bonds – bonds secured by the deposit of specified amounts. The
issuing corporation makes these deposits to secure the principal of the bonds, and it is
sometimes required that the funds be invested in other securities;
• Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) – similar to mortgage bonds, but they are backed by a
pool of bank loans, leases and other assets. The ABS are related with the new
market terminology – securitization which understood as the process of
transforming lending vehicles such as mortgages into marketable securities. The
main features of ABS for investor: relatively high yield, shorter maturities (3 -5
years) and monthly, rather than semiannual principal/ interest payments. From their
introducing to the market they were ranked as high credit quality instruments. But
the recent financial crises showed that these debt instruments could be extremely
risky investment when banks loans portfolios as a guarantee of ABS become
worthless causing banks’ insolvency problems.
• General obligation bonds – bonds, secured by the pledge of the issuer’s full faith
and credit, usually including unlimited tax-power;

• Guaranteed bonds – bonds which principal or income or both are guaranteed by

another corporation or parent company in case of default by the issuing corporation;

• Participating bonds – bonds which, following the receipt of a fixed rate of periodic
interest, also receive some of the profit generated by issuing business;

• Revenue bonds – bonds whose principal and interest are to be paid solely from
earnings.

Bond analysis: structure and contents

• Similar to analysis when investing in stocks investor before buying bonds must
evaluate a wide range of the factors which could influence his/ her investment
results. The key factors are related with the results of the performance and the
financial situation of the firm which is issuer of the bonds. Various indicators are
used for the evaluation of these factors.
Bond analysis includes:

 Quantitative analysis.
 Qualitative analysis.

Quantitative analysis.
Quantitative indicators – the financial ratios which allows assessing the financial
situation, debt capacity and credibility of the company –issuer of the bonds.

Since the bonds are debt instruments and the investor in bonds really becomes the
creditor the most important during analysis is the assessment of the credibility of the firm –
issuer of the bonds. Basically this analysis can be defined as the process of a ssessment the
issuer’s ability to undertake the liabilities in time. Similar to the performing of fundamental
analysis for common stock, bond analysis (or credit analysis) uses financial ratios. However
the analysis of bonds differs from the analysis of stock, because the holder of the regular
bonds has not any benefit of the fact that the income of the firm is growing in the future and
thus the dividends are growing – these things are important to the share holder. Instead of
this investor in bonds is more interested in the credibility of the firm, its financial stability.
Estimation of financial ratios based on the main financial statements of the firm (Balance
sheet; Profit/ loss statement; Cash flow statement, etc.) is one of the key instruments of
quantitative analysis. Some ratios used in bond analysis are the same as in the stock
analysis. But most important financial ratios for the bond analysis are:

1. Debt / Equity ratio;

2. Debt / Cash flow ratio;

3. Debt coverage ratio;

4. Cash flow / Debt service ratio.

Qualitative analysis

Qualitative indicators are those which measure the factors influencing the
credibility of the company and most of which are subjective in their nature and
valuation, are not quantifiable.

Although the financial ratios discussed above allows evaluating the credit situation of
the firm, but this evaluation is not complete. For the assessment of the credibility of the
firm necessary to analyze the factors which are not quantifiable. Unfortunately the
 nature of the majority of these factors and their assessment are subjective wherefore it is
more difficult to manage these factors. However, this part of analysis in bonds based on
the qualitative indicators is important and very often is the dividing line between
effective and ineffective investment in bonds.

Groups of qualitative indicators/ dimensions:

Economic fundamentals (the current economic climate – overall economic and industry-wide
factors);

Market position (market dominance and overall firm size: the larger firm– the stronger is its
credit rating);

Management capability (quality of the firm’s management team); Bond market factors (term
of maturity, financial sector, bond quality, supply and demand for credit);

Bond ratings (relationship between bond yields and bond quality).

Analysis of Economic fundamentals is focused on the examining of business

cycle, the macroeconomic situation and the situation of particular sectors / industries in the
country’s economy. The main aim of the economic analysis is to examine how the firm
would be able to perform under the favorable and unfavorable conditions, because this is
extremely important for the investor, when he/ she is attempting to evaluate his/ her risk
buying the bonds of the firm.

Market position is described by the firm’s share in the market and by the size of the
firm. The other conditions being equal, the firm which share in the market is lager and
which is larger itself generally has credit rating higher. The predominance of the firm in the
market shows the power of the firm to set the prices for its goods and services. Besides, the
large firms are more effective because of the effect of the production scale, their costs are
lower and it is easier for such firms overcome the periods of falls in prices. For the smaller
firms when the prices are increasing they are performing well but when the markets are
slumping – they have the problems. Thus it is important for the creditor to take it in mind.

Management capability reflects the performance of the management team of the

firm. It is often very difficult to assess the quality of the management team, but the result of
this part of analysis is important for the investor attempting to evaluate the quality of the
 debt instruments of the firm. The investors seeking to buy only high quality (that means –
low risk) bonds most often are choosing only those firms managers of which follow the
conservative policy of the borrowing. Contrary, the risk-taking investors will search for the
firms which management uses the aggressive policy of borrowing and are running with the
high financial leverage. In general the majority of the holders of the bonds first of all are
want to know how the firm’s managers control the costs and what they are doing to control
and to strengthen the balance sheet of the firm (for this purpose the investor must analyze
the balance sheet for the period of 3-5 years and to examine the tendencies in changes of the
balance sheet main elements.

Bond market factors (term of maturity, financial sector, bond quality, supply and demand for
credit); The investor must understand which factors and conditions have the influence on the
yield and the prices of the bonds. The main factors to be mentioned are:

1. Term to maturity. Generally term to maturity and the interest rate (the yield) of
the bond are directly related; thus, the bonds with the longer term to maturity
have the higher yield than the bonds with shorter terms to maturity.

2. The sector in the economy which the issuer of the bonds represents. The yields
of the bonds vary in various sectors of the economy; for example, generally the
bonds issued by the utility sector firms generate higher yields to the investor than
bonds in any other sector or government bonds.

3. The quality of the bonds. The higher the quality of the bond, the lower the
yield. For the bonds with lower quality the yield is higher.

• The level of inflation; the inflation decreases the purchasing power of the future
income. Since the investors do not want to decrease their real yield generated
from the bonds cash flows, they require the premium to the interest rate to
compensate for their exposure related with the growing inflation. Thus the yield
of the bond increases (or decreases) with the changes in the level of inflation.

• The supply and the demand for the credit; The interest rate o the price of
borrowing money in the market depend on the supply and demand in the credit market; When
the economy is growing the demand for the funds is increasing too and the interest rates
generally are growing. Contrary, when the demand for the credits is low, in the period of
economic crises, the interest rates are relatively low also.
• Bond ratings. The ratings of the bonds sum up the majority of the factors which
were examined before. A bond rating is the grade given to bonds that indicates their
credit quality. Private independent rating services such as Standard & Poor's, Moody's
and Fitch provide these evaluations of a bond issuer's financial strength, or it’s the
ability to pay a bond's principal and interest in a timely fashion. Thus, the role of the
ratings of the bonds as the integrated indicator for the investor is important in the
evaluation of yield and prices for the bonds. The rating of the bond and the yield of the
bond are inversely related: the higher the rating, the lower the yield of the bond. Bond
ratings are expressed as letters ranging from 'AAA', which is the highest grade, to 'C'
("junk"), which is the lowest grade. Different rating services use the same letter grades,
but use various combinations of upper - and lower-case letters to differentiate
themselves (see more information about the bond ratings in Annex 1 and the relevant
websites of credit ratings agencies).

Market interest rates analysis

It s very important for the investor to the bonds to understand what causes the changes in the
interest rates in the market in the different periods of time. We could observe frequent
changes in the interest rates and the wide amplitude of it fluctuations during last decade,
thus the interest rates became the crucial factor in managing fixed income securities
portfolios as well as stock portfolios. The understanding of the macroeconomic processes
and the causality of the various economic factors with the interest rates helps the investors
to forecast the direction of the changes in interest rates. At the macroeconomic level the
relationship between the interest rate and the level of savings and investments, changes in
government spending, taxes, foreign trade balance is identified.

Macroeconomic factors with positive influence to the interest rates (from the investors in
bonds position - increase in interest rates):

• Increase in investments;
 • Decrease in savings level;
• Increase in export;
• Decrease in import;
• Increase in government spending;
• Decrease in Taxes.

Macroeconomic factors with negative influence to the interest rates (from

the investors in bonds position - decrease in interest rates):

• Increase in investments;
• Decrease in savings level;
• Increase in export;
• Decrease in import;
• Increase in government spending;
• Decrease in Taxes.

Macroeconomic factors with negative influence to the interest rates (from

the investors in bonds position - decrease in interest rates):

• Decrease in investments;
• Increase in savings level;
• Decrease in export;
• Increase in import;
• Decrease in government spending;
• Increase in Taxes.
By observing and examining macroeconomic indicators presented above the investors can assess
the situation in the credit securities market and to revise his/ her portfolio
Investment in bonds decision making process:

1. Selection of bond’s type according to the investor’s goals (expected income

and risk).
2. Bond analysis (quantitative and qualitative).
3. Bond valuation.
4. Investment decision making.

There are three widely used measures of the yield:

 Current Yield
 Yield-to-Maturity
  Yield- to- Call

Current yield (CY) is the simples measure of bond‘s return and has a imitated
application because it measures only the interest return of the bond. The interpretation of
this measure to investor: current yield indicates the amount of current income a bond
provides relative to its market price. CY is estimated using formula:

CY = I / Pm ,

here: I - annual interest of the bond;

Pm - current market price of the bond

Yield- to- Maturity (YTM) is the most important and widely used measure of the
bonds returns and key measure in bond valuation process. YTM is the fully
compounded rate of return earned by an investor in bond over the life of the security,
including interest income and price appreciation. YTM is also known as the
promised-yield-to- maturity. Yield-to-maturity can be calculated as an internal rate of
return of the bond or the discount rate, which equalizes present value of the future
cash flows of the bond to its current market price (value). Then YTM of the bond is
calculated from this equation:

P = Σ Ct / (1 + YTM) t + Pn / (1 + YTM)ⁿ ,
t=1
here: P - current market price of the bond;
n - number of periods until maturity of the bond;
Ct - coupon payment each period;
YTM - yield-to-maturity of the bond;
Pn - face value of the bond.

As the callable bond gives the issuer the right to retire the bond prematurely, so the issue may or
may not remain outstanding to maturity. Thus the YTM may not always be the appropriate
measure of value. Instead, the effect of the bond called away prior to maturity must be estimated.
For the callable bonds the yield-to-call (YTC) is used. YTC measures the yield on the bond if the
issue remains outstanding not to maturity, but rather until its specified call date. YTC can be
calculated similar to YTM as an internal rate of return of the bond or the discount rate, which
equalizes present value of the future cash flows of the bond to its current market price (value).
Then

YTC of the bond is calculated from this equation:

P =Σ Ct / (1 + YTC)t + Pc / (1 + YTC)m,

Σ Ct / (1 + YTC) t + Pc / (1 + YTC)
 here: P- current market price of the callable bond;

n - number of periods to call of the bond;

Ct - coupon payment each period before the call of the bond;
YTC - yield-to-call of the bond;
Pc - call price of the bond.
But the result from the estimation of the yields using the current market price could
be a relevant measure for investment decision making only for those investors who
believe that the bond market is efficient (see chapter 3.4). For the others who do not
believe that market is efficient, an important question is if the bond in the market is
over valuated or under valuated? To answer this question the investor need to
estimate the intrinsic value of the bond and then try to compare this value with the
current market value. Intrinsic value of the bond (V) can be calculated from this
equation:
V = Σ C t / (1 + YTM*) t + Pn / (1 + YTM*)ⁿ,
t=1
here: YTM* - appropriate yield-to-maturity for the bond, which depends on the
investor’s analysis – what yield could be appropriate to him/ her on this
particular bond;
n - number of periods until maturity of the bond;
Ct - coupon payment each period;
Pn - face value of the bond.

The decision for investment in bond can be made on the bases of two alternative
approaches: (1) using the comparison of yield-to-maturity and appropriate yield-to-maturity
or (2) using the comparison of current market price and intrinsic value of the bond (similar
to decisions when investing in stocks). Both approaches are based on the capitalization of
income method of valuation.

(1) approach: If YTM > YTM* - decision to buy or to keep the bond as it is under
valuated; If YTM < YTM * - decision to sell the bond as it is over valuated;

If YTM = YTM * - bond is valuated at the same range as in the market and its
current market price shows the intrinsic value.

(2) approach:
P > V - decision to buy or to keep the bond as it is under valuated;
 P < V - decision to sell the bond as it is over valuated;
P = V - bond is valuated at the same range as in the market and its
Current market price shows the intrinsic value.

Strategies for investing in bonds:Immunization Two types of strategies investing in bonds:

 Passive management strategies;
 Active management strategies.

Passive bond management strategies are based on the proposition that bond prices are
determined rationally, leaving risk as the portfolio variable to control.

The main features of the passive management strategies:

1. They are the expression of the little volatile in the investor’s forecasts regarding interest rate
and/ or bond price;
2. Have a lower expected return and risk than do active strategies;
3. The small transaction costs.
The passive bond management strategies include following two broad classes of
strategies: Buy and hold strategies; Indexing strategies.
Buy and hold strategy is the most passive from all passive strategies. This is strategy for any
investor interested in no active investing and trading in the market. An important part of this
strategy is to choose the most promising bonds that meet the investor’s requirements. Simply
because an investor is following a buy-and-hold strategy does not mean that the initial
selection is unimportant. An investor forms the diversified portfolio of bonds and does not
attempt to trade them in search for the higher return. Following this strategy, the investor has
to make the investment decisions only in these cases:
• The bonds held by investor lost their rating, it decreases remarkably;
• The term to maturity ended;
The bonds were recalled by issuer before term to maturity Using Indexing strategy the
investor forms such a bond portfolio which is identical to the well diversified bond market
index. While indexing is a passive strategy, assuming that bonds are priced fairly, it is by no
means a simply strategy. Each of the broad bond indexes contains thousands of individual
bonds. The market indices are continually rebalanced as newly issued bonds are added to the
index and existing bonds are dropped from the index as their maturity falls below the year.
Information and transaction costs make it practically impossible to purchase each bond in
proportion to the index. Rather than replicating the bond index exactly, indexing typically
uses a stratified sampling approach. The bond market is stratified into several subcategories
based on maturity, industry or credit quality. For every subcategory the percentage of bonds
 included in the market index that fall in that subcategory is computed. The investor then
constructs a bond portfolio with the similar distribution across the subcategories.

There are various indexing methodologies developed to realize this passive strategy.
But for all indexing strategies the specific feature is that the return on bond portfolio
formed following this strategy is close to the average bond market return.

Active bond management strategies are based on the assumption that the bonds
market is not efficient and, hence, the excess returns can be achieved by forecasting future
interest rates and identifying over valuate bonds and under valuated bonds.

There are many different active bond management (speculative) strategies. The main
classes of active bond management strategies are:
The active reaction to the forecasted changes of interest rate; Bonds swaps;
Immunization.
The essentiality of the active reaction to the anticipated changes of interest rate
strategy: if the investor anticipates the decreasing in interest rates, he / she is attempting to
prolong the maturity of the bond portfolio or duration, because long-term bonds’ prices
influenced by decrease in interest rates will increase more than short -term bonds’ prices; if
the increase in interest rates is anticipated, investor attempts to shorten the maturity of the
bond portfolio or duration, by including more bonds with the shorter maturity of the
portfolio.

The essentiality of bond swaps strategies is the replacement of the bond which is in
the portfolio by the other bond which was not in the portfolio for the meantime. The aim of
such replacement - to increase the return on the bond portfolio based on the assumptions
about the tendencies of changes in interest rates. There are various types of swaps, but all
are designed to improve the investor’s portfolio position. The bond swaps can be:
1. Substitution swap;
2. Interest rate anticipation swap. Swaps when various bond market segments are used.
The essentiality of substitution swap: one bond in the portfolio is replaced by the
other bond which fully suits the changing bond by coupon rate, term to maturity, credit
rating, but suggests the higher return for the investor. The risk of substitution swap can be
determined by the incorrect rating of the bonds and the exchange of the unequal bonds
causing the loss of the investor.
Interest rate anticipation swap is based on one of the key features of the bond
– the inverse relationship between the market price and the interest rate (this means that
when the interest rates are growing, the bonds prices are decreasing and vice versa. The
investor using this strategy bases on his steady belief about the anticipated changes of
interest rates and attempts to change frequently the structure of his/ her bond portfolio
seeking to receive the abnormal return from the changes in bonds’ prices. This type of swaps
is very risky because of the inexact and unsubstantiated forecasts about the changes in the
interest rates.
Swaps when various bond market segments are used are based on the assessment of
differences of yield for the bonds in the segregated bond market segments.
The differences of the yields in the bond market are called yield spreads and their existence
can be explained by differences between

• Quality of bonds credit (ratings);

• Types of issuers of the bonds (government, company, etc.);

• The terms to maturity of the bonds (2 years, 5 years, etc.).

This strategy is less risky than the other swaps’ strategies; however the return
for such a portfolio is lower also.

Duration is the present value weighted average of the number of years over which investors
receive cash flow from the bond. It measures the economic life or the effective maturity of a
bond (or bond portfolio) rather than simply its time to maturity. Such concept, called
duration (or Macaulay's duration) was developed by Frederick Macaulay. Duration
measures the time structure of a bond and the bond’s interest rate risk. The time structure
ways. The common way to state is how many years until the bond matures and the principal
money is paid back. This is known as asset time to maturity or its years to maturity. The
other way is to measure the average time until all interest coupons and the principal is
recovered. This is called Macaulay’s duration. Duration is defined a s the weighted average
of time periods to maturity, weights being present values of the cash flow in each time
period.
Duration and price changes-
The price of the bond changes according to the interest rate. Bond’s price changes are
commonly called bond volatility. Duration analysis helps to find out the bond price changes
as the yield to maturity changes. The relationship between the duration of a bond and its
price volatility for a change in the market

Immunization:
Immunization is a technique that makes the bond portfolio holder to be relatively certain
about the promised stream of cash flows. The bond interest rate risk arises from the changes
in the market interest rate. The market rate affects the coupon rate and the price of the bond.
In the immunization process, the coupon rate risk and the price risk can be made to offset
each other. Whenever there is an increase in the market interest rate, the prices of the bonds
fall. At the same time the newly issued bonds offer higher interest rate. The coupon can be
reinvested in the bonds offering higher interest rate and losses that occur due to the fall in
the price of bond can be offset and the portfolio is said to be immunized.
 Unit-IV

Equity valuation &Security Analysis

Share valuation
Share valuation is the process of assigning a rupee value to a specific share. An ideal share
valuation technique would assign an accurate value to all shares. Share valuation is a
complex topic and no single valuation model can truly predict the intrinsic value of a share.
Likewise, no valuation model can predict with certainty how the price of a share will vary in
the future. However, valuation models can provide a basis to compare the relative merits of
two different shares. Common ways for equity valuations could be classified into the
following categories:

• Earnings valuation

• Cash flow valuation

• Asset valuation

• Dividend-discount model

Earnings valuation
Earnings (net income or net profit) is the money left after a company meets all its
expenditure. To allow for comparisons across companies and time, the measure of earnings
is stated as earnings per share (EPS). This figure is arrived at by dividing the earnings by the
total number of shares outstanding. Thus, if a company has one crore shares outstanding and
has earned Rs. 2 crore in the past 12 months, it has an EPS of Rs. 2.00. Rs.
20,000,000/10,000,000 shares = Rs. 2.00 earnings per share EPS alone would not be able to
measure if a company’s share in the market is undervalued or overalued. Another measure
used to arrive at investment valuation is the Price/Earnings (P/E) ratio that relates the market
price of a share with its earnings per share. The P/E ratio divides the share price by the EPS
of the last four quarters. For example, if a company is currently trading at Rs. 150 per share
with a EPS of Rs. 5 per share, it would have a P/E of 30. The P/E ratio or multiplier has
been used most often to make an investment decision. A high P/E multiplier implies that the
market has overvalued the security and a low P/E multiplier gives the impression that the
market has undervalued the security. When the P/E multiple is low, it implies that the
earnings per share is comparatively higher than the prevailing market price. Hence, the
conclusion that the company has been ‘undervalued’ by the market. Assume a P/E multiplier
of 1.0. The implication is that the earnings per share is equal to the prevalent market price.
While market price is an expectation of the future worth of the firm, the earnings per share is
the current results of the firm. Hence, the notion that the firm has been ‘undervalued’ by the
market. On the other hand, a high P/E ratio would imply that the market is ‘overvaluing’ the
security for a given level of earnings.

Earnings forecast
 Earnings can be forecast through the forecasts of the rates resulting in the earnings. The
variables that can be considered for forecasting earnings can be the future return on assets,
expected financial cost (interest cost), the forecasted leverage position (debt equity ratio),
and the future tax obligation of the company. The formula for forecasting the earnings could
be stated as follows:

Forecasted earnings (value) = (1-t)*[ROA + (ROA-I)*(D/E)]*E

Where,

ROA = Forecasted return on assets

I = Future interest rate

D = Total expected long term debt

E = Expected equity capital

t = Expected tax rate

can use without any constraints. Free cash flows are computed as cash from operations
less capital expenditures, which are invested in property, plant and machinery and so on.

EBDIT is relevant since interest income and expense, as well as taxes, are all ignored
because cash flow is designed to focus on the operating business and not secondary costs or
profits. Taxes especially depend on the legal rules and regulation of a given year and hence
can cause dramatic fluctuations in earning power. The company makes tax provisions in the
year in which the profits accrue while the real tax payments will be made the following
year. This is likely to overstate/ understate the profit of the current year.
Depreciation and amortisation, are called non-cash charges, as the company is not actually
spending any money on them. Rather, depreciation is an accounting allocation for tax
purposes that allows companies to save on capital expenditures as plant and equipment age
by the year or their use deteriorates in value as time goes by.
Amortisation is writing off a capital expenses from current year profit. Such amortised
expenses are also the setting aside of profit rather than involving real cash outflows.
Considering that they are not actual cash expenditures, rather than accounting profits, cash
profits will indicate the real strength of the company while evaluating its worth in the
market.
 Cash flow is most commonly used to value industries that involve tremendous initial
project (capital) expenditures and hence have large amortisation burdens. These companies
take a longer time to recoup their initial investments and hence tend to report negative
earnings for years due to the huge capital expense, even though their cash flow has actually
grown in these years.
Asset valuation
Expectation of earnings, and cash flows alone may not be able to identify the correct
value of a company. This is because the intangibles such as brand names give credentials for
a business. In view of this, investors have begun to consider the valuation of equity through
the company’s assets.
Asset valuation is an accounting convention that includes a company’s liquid assets such
as cash, immovable assets such as real estate, as well as intangible assets. This is an overall
measure of how much liquidation value a company has if all of its assets were sold off. All
types of assets, irrespective of whether those assets are office buildings, desks, inventory in
the form of products for sale or raw materials and so on are considered for valuation.
Asset valuation gives the exact book value of the company. Book value is the value of a
company that can be found on the balance sheet. A company’s total asset value is divided by
the current number of shares outstanding to calculate the book value per share. This can also
be found through the following method- the value of the total assets of a company less the
long-term debt obligations divided by the current number of share outstanding. The
formulas for computing the book value of the share are given below:
Book value = Equity worth (capital including reserves belonging to shareholders)/Number
of outstanding shares
Book value = (Total assets – Long-term debt)/Number of outstanding shares
Book value is a simple valuation model. If the investor can buy the shares from the
market at a value closer to the book value, it is most valuable to the investor since it is like
gaining the assets of the company at cost. However, the extent of revaluation reserve that
has been created in the books of the company may distract the true value of assets. The
revaluation reserve need not necessarily reflect the true book value of the company; on the
other hand, it might be depicting the market price of the assets better.
Dividend discount model: According to the dividend discount model, conceptually a very
sound approach, the value of an equity share is equal to the present value of dividends
expected from its ownership plus the present value of the sale price expected when the
equity share is sold. For applying the dividend discount model, we will make the following
assumptions:
1. dividends are paid annually- this seems to be a common practice for business
firms in India; and

2. The first dividend is received one year after the equity share is bought.

Single-period valuation model

Let us begin with the case where the investor expects to hold the equity share for one year.
The price of the equity share will be:
P0 =D/(1 + r) +P/(1 + r)
Where, P0 = current price of the equity share;
D1 = dividend expecteda year hence;
P1 = price of the share expected a year hence;
and r =rate of return required on the equity share.
 Expected rate of return
In the preceding discussion we calculated the intrinsic value of an equity share, given
information about (i) the forecast values of dividend and share price, and (ii) the required
rate of return. Now we look at a different question: What rate of return can the investor
expect, given the current market price and forecast values of dividend and share price The
expected rate of return is equal to:

R = D1/P0 + g

Example. The expected dividend per share of Vaibhav Limited is Rs. 5.00. The dividend is
expected to grow at the rate of 6 per cent per year. If the price per share now is Rs. 50.00, what
is the expected rate of return?

Applying Equation, the expected rate of return is:

R = 5/50 + 0.06 = 16 per cent

Multi-period valuation Model

Since equity shares have no maturity period, they may be expected

to bring a dividend stream of infinite duration. Hence the value of
an equity share may be put as:

P0 =D/(1 + r)1+D/(1 + r)2+ ... +D/(1 + r)n+P/(1 + r)n

= Σn t=D/(1 + r)t+P/(1 + r) n

Zero Growth model

If we assume that the dividend per share remains constant year after year at a value of
D P0 =D/r

Constant growth model

One of the most popular dividend discount models assumes that the dividend per share
grows at a constant rate (g). The value of a share, under this assumption,

P0 =D/r - g

Two stage growth model

The simplest extension of the constant growth model assumes that extraordinary growth
(good or bad) will continue for a finite number of years and thereafter normal growth rate
will prevail indefinitely.

Impact of growth on price, returns, and P/E Ratio

The expected growth rates of companies differ widely. Some companies are expected to
remain virtually stagnant or grow slowly; other companies are expected to show normal
growth; still others are expected to achieve supernormal growth rate. Assu ming a constant
total required return, differing expected growth rates mean differing stock prices, dividend
yields, capital gains yields, and price-earnings ratios.

Multi-factor share valuation

Quantitative approaches convert a hypothetical relationship between numbers into a unique
set of equations. These equations mostly consider company-level data such as market
capitalisation, P/E ratio, book-to-price ratio, expectations in earnings, and so on.
Quantitative methods assume that these factors are associated with shares returns, and that
certain combinations of these factors can help in assessing the value and, further, predict
future values. When several factors are expected to influence share price, a multi- factor
model is applied in share valuation. The choice of the right combination of factors, and how
to weigh their relative importance (that is, predicting factor returns) may be achieved
through quantitative multivariate statistical tools. Many factors that have been considered
individually can be combined to arrive at a best-fit model for valuing equity shares. Value
factors such as price to book, price to sales, and P/E or growth factors such as earnings
estimates or earnings per share growth rates, can be used to develop the quantitative model.
These quantitative models help to determine what factors best determine valuation during
certain market periods.
These multifactor share valuation models can also be used to forecast future share values.

Factors influence risk: What makes financial assets risky. Traditionally, investors have
talked about several factors causing risk such as business failure, market fluctuations,
change in the interest rate inflation in the economy, fluctuations in exchange rates changes
in the political situation etc. Based on the factors affecting the risk the risk can be
understood in following manners-
Interest rate risk: The variability in a security return resulting from changes in the level of
interest rates is referred to as interest rate risk. Such changes generally affect securities
inversely, that is other things being equal, security price move inversely to interest rate.
Market risk: The variability in returns resulting from fluctuations in overall market that is,
the agree get stock market is referred to as market risk. Market risk includes a wide range of
factors exogenous to securities themselves, like recession, wars, structural changes in the
economy, and changes in consumer preference. The risk of going down with the market
movement is known as market risk.

Inflation risk: Inflation in the economy also influences the risk inherent in investment. It
may also result in the return from investment not matching the rate of increase in general
price level (inflation). The change in the inflation rate also changes the consumption pattern
and hence investment return carries an additional risk. This risk is related to interest rate
risk, since interest rate generally rises as inflation increases, because lenders demands
additional inflation premium to compensate for the loss of purchasing power.
Business risk: The changes that take place in an industry and the environment Causes risk
for the company in earning the operational revenue creates business risk. For example the
traditional telephone industry faces major changes today in the rapidly changing
telecommunication industry and the mobile phones. When a company fails to earn through
its operations due to changes in the business situations leading to erosion of capital, there by
faces the business risk.

Financial risk: The use of debt financing by the company to finance a larger proportion of
assets causes larger variability in returns to the investors in the faces of different business
situation. During prosperity the investors get higher return than the average return the
company earns, but during distress investors faces possibility of vary low return or in the
worst case erosion of capital which causes the financial risk. The larger the proportion of
assets finance by debt (as opposed to equity) the larger the variability of returns thus lager
the financial risk.

Liquidity risk: An investment that can be bought or sold quickly without significant price
concession is considered to be liquid. The more uncertainty about the time element and the
price concession the greater the liquidity risk. The liquidity risk is the risk associated with
the particular secondary market in which a security trades.

Exchange rate risk: The change in the exchange rate causes a change in the value of
foreign holdings, foreign trade, and the profitability of the firms, there by returns to the
investors. The exchange rate risk is applicable mainly to the companies who operate
oversees. The exchange rate risk is nothing but the variability in the return on security
caused by currencies fluctuation.

Political risk: Political risk also referred, as country risk is the risk caused due to change in
government policies that affects business prospects there by return to the investors. Pol icy
changes in the tax structure, concession and levy of duty to products, relaxation or
tightening of foreign trade relations etc. carry a risk component that changes the return
pattern of the business.

TYPES OF RISK
Thus far, our discussion has concerned the total risk of an asset, which is one important
consideration in investment analysis. However modern investment analysis categorizes the
traditional sources of risk identified previously as causing variability in returns into two
general types: those that are pervasive in nature, such as market risk or interest rate risk, and
those that are specific to a particular security issue, such as business or financial risk.
Dividing total risk in to its two components, a general (market) component and a specific
(issue ) component, we have systematic risk and unsystematic risk which are additive: Total
risk = general risk + specific risk

• market risk + issuer risk

 • systematic risk + non systematic risk

Systematic risk: Variability in a securities total return that is directly associated with
overall moment in the general market or economy is called as systematic risk. This risk
cannot be avoided or eliminated by diversifying the investment. Normally diversification
eliminates a part of the total risk the left over after diversification is the non-diversifiable
portion of the total risk or market risk. Virtually all securities have some systematic risk
because systematic risk directly encompasses the interest rate, market and inflation risk. The
investor cannot escape this part of the risk, because no matter how well he or she
diversifies, the risk of the overall market cannot be avoided. If the stock market declines
sharply, most stock will be adversely affected, if it rises strongly, most stocks will
appreciate in value.

Systematic risk: Variability in a securities total return that is directly associated with
overall moment in the general market or economy is called as systematic risk. This risk
cannot be avoided or eliminated by diversifying the investment. Normally diversification
eliminates a part of the total risk the left over after diversification is the non-diversifiable
portion of the total risk or market risk. Virtually all securities have some systematic risk
because systematic risk directly encompasses the interest rate, market and inflation risk. The
investor cannot escape this part of the risk, because no matter how well he or she diversifies,
the risk of the overall market cannot be avoided. If the stock market declines sharply, most
stock will be adversely affected, if it rises strongly, most stocks will appreciate in value.

Systematic risk: Variability in a securities total return that is directly associated with
overall moment in the general market or economy is called as systematic risk. This risk
cannot be avoided or eliminated by diversifying the investment. Normally diversification
eliminates a part of the total risk the left over after diversification is the non-diversifiable
portion of the total risk or market risk. Virtually all securities have some systematic risk
because systematic risk directly encompasses the interest rate, market and inflation risk. The
investor cannot escape this part of the risk, because no matter how well he or she diversifies,
the risk of the overall market cannot be avoided. If the stock market declines sharply, most
stock will be adversely affected, if it rises strongly, most stocks will appreciate in value.

Non-systematic risk: Variability in a security total return not related to overall market
variability is called un systematic (non market) risk. This risk is unique to a particular
security and is associated with such factors as business, and financial risk, as well as
liquidity risk. Although all securities tend to have some non-systematic risk, it is generally
connected with common stocks.
The terms multiplier and price earnings ratio (P/E) are used interchangeably.
Thus:
Earnings multiplier = P/E ratio = Current market price/ Estimated earnings per share
Fundamental Analysis:
Fundamental analysis is primarily concerned with determining the intrinsic value or the true
value of a security. For determining the security’s intrinsic value the details of all major
factors (GNP, industry sales, firm sales and expense etc) is collected or an estimates of
earnings per share may be multiplied by a justified or normal prices earnings ratio. After
making this determination, the intrinsic value is compared with the security’s current
market price. If the market price is substantially greater than the intrinsic value the security
is said to be overpriced. If the market price is substantially less than the intrinsic value, the
security is said to be under priced. However, fundamental analysis comprises:
1. Economic Analysis
2. Industry Analysis
3. Company Analysis

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: For the security analyst or investor, the anticipated economic
environment, and therefore the economic forecast, is important for making decisions
concerning both the timings of an investment and the relative investment desirability among
the various industries in the economy. The key for the analyst is that overall economic
activities manifest itself in the behavior of the stocks in general. That is, the success of the
economy will ultimately include the success of the overall market.

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

The mediocre firm in the growth industry usually out performs the best stocks in a stagnant
industry. Therefore, it is worthwhile for a security analyst to pinpoint growth industry,
which has good investment prospects. The past performance of an industry is not a good
predictor of the future- if one look very far into the future. Therefore, it is important to
study industry analysis. For an industry analyst- industry life cycle analysis, characteristics
and classification of industry is important.
 INDUSTRY LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS

Many industrial economists believe that the development of almost every industry may be
analyzed in terms of following stages

1. Pioneering stage: During this stage, the technology and product is relatively new. The
prospective demand for the product is promising in this industry. The demand for the
product attracts many producers to produce the particular product. This lead to severe
competition and only fittest companies survive in this stage. The producers try to develop
brand name, differentiate the product and create a product image. This would lead to non-
price competition too. The severe competition often leads to change of position of the firms
in terms of market share and profit.

2. Rapid growth stage: This stage starts with the appearance of surviving firms from the
pioneering stage. The companies that beat the competition grow strongly in sales, market share
and financial performance. The improved technology of production leads to low cost and good
quality of products. Companies with rapid growth in this stage, declare dividends during this
stage. It is always adisable to invest in these companies.
3. Maturity and stabilization stage: After enjoying above-average growth, the industry now
enters in maturity and stabilization stage. The symptoms of technology obsolescence may
appear. To keep going, technological innovation in the production process should be
introduced. A close monitoring at industries events are necessary at this stage.

4. Decline stage: The industry enters the growth stage with satiation of demand, encroachment
of new products, and change in consumer preferences. At this stage the earnings of the industry are
started declining. In this stage the growth of industry is low even in boom period and decline at a
higher rate during recession. It is always advisable not to invest in the share of low growth
industry.
CLASSIFICATION OF INDUSTRY

Industry means a group of productive or profit making enterprises or organizations that

have a similar technically substitute goods, services or source of income. Besides Standard
Industry Classification (SIC), industries can be classified on the basis of products and
business cycle i.e. classified according to their reactions to the different phases of the
business cycle.

These are classified as follows:

1. Growth Industries: These industries have special features of high rate of earnings and
growth in expansion, independent of the business cycle. The expansion of the
industry mainly depends on the technological change or an innovative way of doing
or selling something. For example-in present scenario the information technology
sector have higher growth rate. There is some growth in electronics, computers,
cellular phones, engineering, petro-chemicals, telecommunication, energy etc.

2. Cyclical Industries: The growth and profitability of the industry move along with the
business cycle. These are those industries which are most likely to benefit from a
period of economic prosperity and most likely to suffer from a period of economic
recession. These especially include consumer goods and durables whose purchase
can be postponed until persona; financial or general business conditions improve.
For example- Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) commands a good market in
the boom period and demand for them slackens during the recession.
3. Defensive Industries: Defensive industries are those, such as the food processing
industry, which hurt least in the period of economic downswing. For example- the
industries selling necessities of consumers withstands recession and depression. The
stock of defensive industries can be held by the investor for income earning purpose.
Consumer nondurable and services, which in large part are the items necessary for
existence, such as food and shelter, are products of defensive industry.

4. Cyclical-growth Industries: These possess characteristics of both a cyclical industry

and a growth industry. For example, the automobile industry experiences period of
stagnation, decline but they grow tremendously. The change in technology and
introduction of new models help the automobile industry to resume their growing
path.
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

In an industry analysis, the following key characteristics should be considered by

the analyst. These are explained as below:

1. Post sales and Earnings performance: The two important factors which play an
important role in the success of the security investment are sales and earnings. The
historical performance of sales and earnings should be given due consideration, to
know how the industry have reacted in the past. With the knowledge and
understanding of the reasons of the past behavior, the investor can assess the relative
magnitude of performance in future. The cost structure of an industry is also an
important factor to look into. The higher the cost component, the higher the sales
volume necessary to achieve the firm’s break-even point, and vice-versa.

2. Nature of Competition: The numbers of the firms in the industry and the market
share of the top firms in the industry should be analyzed. One way to determine
competitive conditions is to observe whether any barriers to entry exist. The demand
of particular product, its profitability and price of concerned company scrip’s also
determine the nature of competition. The investor before investing in the scrip of a
company should analyze the market share of the particular company’s product and
should compare it with other companies. If too many firms are present in the
organized sector, the competition would be severe. This will lead to a decline in
price of the product.

3. Raw Material and Inputs: Here, we have to look into the industries, which are
dependent upon imports of scarce raw material, competition from other companies
and industries, barriers to entry of a new company, protection from foreign
competition, import and export restriction etc. An industry which has a limited
supply of materials domestically and where imports are restricted will have dim
growth prospects. Labour is also an input and industries with labour problems may
have difficulties of growth.
4. Attitude of Government towards Industry: It is important for the analyst or
prospective investor to consider the probable role government will play in industry.
Will it provide financial support or otherwise? Or it will restrain the industry’s
development through restrictive legislation and legal enforcement? The government
policy with regard to granting of clearance, installed capacity and reservation of the
products for small industry etc. are also factors to be considered for industry
analysis.

5. Management: An industry with many problems may be well managed, if the

promoters and the management are efficient. The management likes Tatas, Birlas,
Ambanies etc. who have a reputation, built up their companies on strong
foundations. The management has to be assessed in terms of their capabilities,
popularity, honesty and integrity. In case of new industries no track record is
available and thus, investors have to carefully assess the project reports and the
assessment of financial institutions in this regard. A good management also ensures
that the future expansion plans are put on sound basis.

6. Labour Conditions and Other Industrial Problems: The labour scenario in a

particular industry is of great importance. If we are dealing with a labour intensive
production process or a very mechanized capital intensive process where labour
performs crucial operations, the possibility of strike looms as an important factor
to be reckoned with. Certain industries with problems of marketing like high
storage costs, high transport costs etc leads to poor growth potential and investors
have to careful in investing in such companies.

7. Nature of Product Line: The position of the industry in the life cycle of its growth-
initial stage, high growth stage and maturing stage are to be noted. It is also
necessary to know the industries with a high growth potential like computers,
electronics, chemicals, diamonds etc., and whether the industry is in the priority
sector of the key industry group or capital goods or consumer goods groups. The
importance attached by the government in their policy and of the Planning
Commission in their assessment of these industries is to be studied.
8. Capacity Installed and Utilized: The demand for industrial products in the economy
is estimated by the Planning Commission and the Government and the units are
given licensed capacity on the basis of these estimates. If the demand is rising as
expected and market is good for the products, the utilization of capacity will be
higher, leading to bright prospects and higher profitability. If the quality of the
product is poor, competition is high and there are other constraints to the availability
of inputs and there are labour problems, then the capacity utilization will be low and
profitability will be poor.

9. Industry Share Price Relative to Industry Earnings: While making investment the
current price of securities in the industry, their risk and returns they promise is
considered. If the price is very high relative to future earnings growth, the
investment in these securities is not wise. Conversely, if future prospects are dim but
prices are low relative to fairly level future patterns of earnings, the stocks in this
industry might be an attractive investment.

10. Research and Development: For any industry to survive in the national and
international markets, product and production process have to be technically
competitive. This depends upon the research and development in the particular
industry. Proper research and development activities help in obtaining economic of
scale and new market for product. While making investment in any industry the
percentage of expenditure made on research and development should also be
considered.

11. Pollution Standards: These are very high and restricted in the industrial sector.
These differ from industry to industry, for example, in leather, chemical and
pharmaceutical industries the industrial effluents are more.

COMPANY ANALYSIS:

THE STUDY OF FINANCIALS STATEMENTS

Financial statement means a statement or document which explains necessary financial

information. Financial statements express the financial position of a business at the end of
accounting period (Balance Sheet) and result of its operations performed during the year
(Profit and Loss Account). In order to determine whether the financial or operational
performance of company is satisfactory or not, the financial data are analyzed. Different
methods are used for this purpose. The main techniques of financial analysis are:

1. Comparative Financial Statements

2. Trend Analysis

3. Common Size Statement

4. Fund Flow Statement

5. Cash Flow Statement

6. Ratio Analysis

1) Comparative Financial Statements: In comparative financial statement, the financial

statements of two periods are kept by side so that they can be compared. By preparing
comparative statement the nature and quantum of change in different items can be calculated
and it also helps in future estimates. By comparing with the data of the previous years it can
be ascertained what type of changes in the different items of current year have taken place
and future trends of business can be estimated.

2) Trend Analysis: In order to compare the financial statements of various years trend
percentages are significant. Trend analysis helps in future forecast of various items on the
basis of the data of previous years. Under this method one year is taken as base year and on
its basis the ratios in percentage for other years are calculated. From the study of these ratios
the changes in that item are examined and trend is estimated. Sometimes sales may be
increasing continuously and the inventories may also be rising. This would indicate the loss
of market share of a particular company’s product. Likewise sales may have an increasing

trend but profit may remain the same. Here the investor has to look into the cost and
management efficiency of the company.

3) Common Size Statement: Common size financial statements are such statements in which
items of the financial statements are converted in percentage on the basis of common base.
In common size Income Statement, net sales may be considered as 100 percent. Other items
are converted as its proportion. Similarly, for the Balance sheet items total assets or total
liabilities may be taken as 100 percent and proportion of other items to this total can be
calculated in percentage.
4) Fund Flow Statement: Income Statement or Profit or Loss Account helps in ascertainment
of profit or loss for a fixed period. Balance Sheet shows the financial position of business on
a particular date at the close of year. Income statement does not fully explain funds from
operations of business because various non-fund items are shown in Profit or Loss Account.
Balance Sheet shows only static financial position of business and financial changes
occurred during a year can’t be known from the financial statement of a particular date.
Thus, Fund Flow Statement is prepared to find out financial changes between two dates. It is
a technique of analyzing financial statements. With the help of this statement, the amount of
change in the funds of a business between two dates and reasons thereof can be ascertained.
The investor could see clearly the amount of funds generated or lost in operations. These
reveal the real picture of the financial position of the company.

5) Cash Flow Statement: The investor is interested in knowing the cash inflow and outflow
of the enterprise. The cash flow statement expresses the reasons of change in cash balances
of company between two dates. It provides a summary of stocks of cash and uses of cash in
the organization. It shows the cash inflows and outflows. Inflows (sources) of cash result
from cash profit earned by the organization, issue of shares and debentures for cash,
borrowings, sale of assets or investments, etc. The outflows (uses) of cash results from
purchase of assets, investment redemption of debentures or preferences shares, repayment of
loans, payment of tax, dividend, interest etc. With the help of cash flow statement the
investor can review the cash movement over an operating cycle. The factors responsible for
the reduction of cash balances in spite of increase in profits or vice versa can be found out.

6) Ratio Analysis: Ratio is a relationship between two figures expressed mathematically. It is

quantitative relationship between two items for the purpose of comparison. Ratio analysis is
a technique of analyzing financial statements. It helps in estimating financial soundness or
weakness. Ratios present the relationships between items presented in profit and loss
account and balance sheet. It summaries the data for easy understanding, comparison and
interpretation.

Meaning of Technical Analysis

Technical analysis involves a study of market-generated data like prices and volumes to
determine the future direction of price movement. It is a process of identifying trend reversal
at an earlier stage to formulate the buying and selling strategy. With the help of several
indicators, the relationship between price –volume and supply-demand is analyzed for the

overall market and individual stocks. The basic premises, on which technical analysis is
formulated, are as follows:
 1. The market value of the scrip is determined by the interaction of demand and supply.

2. Supply and demand is governed by numerous factors, both rational and irrational. These
factors include economic variables relied by the fundamental analysis as well as opinions,
moods and guesses.

3. The market discounts everything. The price of the security quoted represents the hope,
fears and inside information received by the market players. Insider information regarding
the issuance of bonus shares and right issues may support the prices. The loss of earnings
and information regarding the forthcoming labor problem may result in fall in price. These
factors may cause a shift in demand and supply, changing the direction of trends.

4. The market always moves in the trends except for minor deviations.

5. It is known fact that history repeats itself. It is true to stock market also. In the rising
market, investors’ psychology has upbeats and they purchase the shares in great volumes
driving the prices higher. At the same time in the down trend, they may be very eager to get
out of the market by selling them and thus plunging the share price further. The market
technicians assume that past prices predict the future.

Tools of Technical Analysis

Generally used technical tools to analyze the market data are as follows:

Dow theory
Originally proposed in the late nineteenth century by Charles H Dow, the editor of Wall
Street Journal, the Dow theory is perhaps the oldest and best-known theory of technical
analysis. Dow developed this theory on the basis of certain hypothesis, which are as
follows: a. No single individual or buyer or buyer can influence the major trends in the
market. However, an individual investor can affect the daily price movement by buying or
selling huge quantum of particular scrip.
b. The market discounts everything. Even natural calamities such as earth quake, plague and
fire also get quickly discounted in the market. The world trade center blast affected the share
market for a short while and then the market returned back to normalcy.

c. The theory is not infallible and it is not a tool to beat the market but provides a way to
understand the market. Explanation of the Theory Dow described stock prices as moving in
trends analogous to the movement of water.
He postulated three types of price movements over time:

(1) major trends that are like tide in ocean,

(2) intermediate trends that resemble waves,

(3) short run movements that are like ripples.

Followers of the Dow theory hope to detect the direction of the major price trend (tide)
known as primary trend, recognizing the intermediate movements (waves) or secondary
trends that may occasionally move in the opposite direction. They recognize that a primary
trend does not go straight up, but rather includes small price declines as some investors
decide to take profits. It means share prices don’t rise or fall in a straight t manner. Every
rise or fall in price experiences a counter move. If a share price is increasing, the counter
move will be a fall in price and vice-versa. The share prices move in a zigzag manner. The
trend lines are straight lines drawn connecting either the top or bottoms of the share price
movement. To draw a trend line, the analyst should have at least two tops or bottoms.

Primary Trend
The price trend may be either increasing or decreasing. When the market exhibits the
increasing trend, it is called bull market. The bull market shows three clear -cut peaks. Each
peak is higher than the previous peak and this price rise is accompanied by heavy trading
volume. Here, each profit taking reversal that is followed by an increased new peak has a
trough above the prior trough, with relatively light trading volume during the reversals,
indicating that there is limited interest in profit taking at these levels. And the phases leading
to the three peaks are revival, improvement in corporate profit and speculation. The revival
period encourages more and more investors to buy scrips, their expectations about the future
being high. In the second phase, increased profits of corporate would result in further price
rise. In the third phase, prices advance due to inflation and speculation.

Secondary Trend
The secondary trend moves against the main trends and leads to the correction. In the bull
market, the secondary trend would result in the fall of about 33-66 percent of the earlier rise.
In the bear market, the secondary trend carries the price upward and corrects the main trend.
Compared to the time taken for the primary trend, secondary trend is swift and quicker.

Minor Trends
Minor trends are just like the ripples in the market. They are simply the daily price
fluctuations. Minor trend tries to correct the secondary price movement. It is better for the
investor to concentrate on the primary or secondary trends than on the minor trends
The efficient market hypothesis (EMH)
Efficient market theory states that the price fluctuations are random and do not follow any
regular pattern. Fama suggested that efficient market hypothesis can be divided into three
categories.
They are: (1) the weak form,
(2) The semi strong form,
(3) The strong form.
The level of information being considered in the market is the basis for this segregation.

Weak form of EMH

The weak form hypothesis says that the current prices of stocks already fully reflect all the
information that is contained in the historical sequence of prices. Therefore, there is no
benefit in examining the historical sequence of prices forecasting the future. This weak form
of the efficient market hypothesis is popularly known as the random-walk theory. Clearly, if
this weak form of the efficient market hypothesis is true, it is a direct repudiation of
technical analysis. If there is no value in studying past prices and past price changes, there is
no value in technical analysis. As we saw in the preceding chapter, however, technicians
place considerable reliance on the charts of historical prices that they maintain even though
the efficient-market hypothesis refutes this practice.

Empirical tests of the weak form

Over the years an impressive literature has been developed describing empirical tests of
random walk (Paul H. Cootner, 1967). This research has been aimed at testing whether
successive or lagged price changes are independent. In this section we will review briefly
some of the major categories of statistical techniques that have been employed in this
research, and we will summarize their major conclusions. These techniques generally fall
into two categories: those that test for trends in stock prices and thus infer whether profitable
trading systems could be developed and those that test such mechanical systems directly.
Although certain of these studies were conducted many years ago, they are the basis upon
which research on the efficient-market theory has been based, and are included here to
provide the necessary conceptual basis for the theory and its evolution.

Semi strong form of EMH

The semi strong form of the efficient-market hypothesis says that current prices of stocks not
only reflect all informational content of historical prices but also reflect all publicly
available knowledge about the corporations being studied. Further-more, the semi strong
form says that efforts by analysts and investors to acquire and analyze public information
will not yield consistently superior returns to the analyst.
Examples of the type of public information that will not be of value on a consistent basis to
the analyst are corporate reports, corporate announcements, information relating to corporate
dividend policy, forthcoming stock splits, and so forth. In effect, the semi strong form of the
efficient market hypothesis maintains that as soon as information becomes publicly
available, it is absorbed and reflected in stock prices. Even if this adjustment is not the
correct one immediately, it will in a very short time be properly analyzed by the market.
Thus the analyst would have great difficulty trying to profit using fundamental analysis

Strong form of EMH

we have seen that the weak\ form of the efficient-market hypothesis maintains that past
prices and past price changes cannot be used to forecast future price changes and future
prices. Semi strong form of the efficient-market hypothesis says that publicly available
information cannot be used to earn consistently superior investment returns. Some studies
that tend to support the semi strong theory of the efficient-market hypothesis were cited.
Finally, the strong form of the efficient-market hypothesis maintains that not only is publicly
available information useless to the investor or analyst but all information is useless.
Specifically, no information that is available, be it public or ‘inside’, can be used to earn
consistently superior investment returns. The semi strong form of the efficient-market
hypothesis could only be tested indirectly- namely, by testing what happened to prices on
days surrounding announcements of various types, such as earnings announcements,
dividend announcements, and stock-split announcements. To test the strong form of
efficient-market hypothesis, even more indirect methods must be used. For the strong form,
as has already been mentioned, says that no information is useful. This implies that not even
security analysts and portfolio managers who have access to information more quickly than
the general investing public are able to use this information to earn superior returns.
Therefore, many of the tests of the strong form of the efficient market hypothesis deal with
tests of mutual-fund performance.

The efficient-market hypothesis and mutual-fund performance

It has often been said that large investors such as mutual funds perform better in the market
than the small investor does because they have access to better information. Therefore, it
would be interesting to observe if mutual funds earned above-average returns, where these
are defined as returns in excess of those that can be earned by a simple buy-and-hold
strategy. The results of such an investigation would have interesting implications for the
efficient market hypothesis.
Researchers have found that mutual funds do not seem to be able to earn greater net
returns (after sales expenses) than those that can be earned by investing randomly in a large
group of securities and holding them. Furthermore, these studies indicate, mutual funds are
not even able to earn gross returns (before sales expenses) superior to those of the native
buy-and-hold strategy. These results occur not only because of the difficulty in applying
fundamental analysis in a consistently superior manner to a large number of securities in an
efficient market but also because of portfolio over diversification and its attendant problems-
two of which are high book-keeping and administrative costs to monitor the investments,
and purchases of securities with less favorable risk-return characteristics. Therefore, it
would seem that the mutual-fund studies lend some credence to the efficient-market
hypothesis.
 Unit-V

Mutual Funds

Introduction
As you probably know, mutual funds have become extremely popular over the last 20 years.
What was once just another obscure financial instrument is now a part of our daily lives. More
than 80 million people, or one half of the households in America, invest in mutual funds. That
means that, in the United States alone, trillions of dollars are invested in mutual funds.

Definition of 'Mutual Fund'

An investment vehicle that is made up of a pool of funds collected from many investors for the
purpose of investing in securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments and similar
assets. Mutual funds are operated by money managers, who invest the fund's capital and attempt
to produce capital gains and income for the fund's investors. A mutual fund's portfolio is
structured and maintained to match the investment objectives stated in its prospectus.

Types of mutual funds

A scheme can also be classified as growth scheme, income scheme, or balanced scheme
considering its investment objective. Such schemes may be open-ended or close-ended schemes
as described earlier. Such schemes may be classified mainly as follows:

1. Growth / Equity Oriented Schemes

The aim of growth funds is to provide capital appreciation over the medium to long- term. Such
schemes normally invest a major part of their corpus in equities. Such funds have comparatively
high risks. These schemes provide different options to the investors like dividend option, capital
appreciation, etc. and the investors may choose an option depending on their preferences. The
investors must indicate the option in the application form. The mutual funds also allow the
investors to change the options at a later date. Growth schemes are good for investors having a
long-term outlook seeking appreciation over a period of time.

Equity funds

As explained earlier, such funds invest only in stocks, the riskiest of asset classes. With share
prices fluctuating daily, such funds show volatile performance, even losses. However, these
funds can yield great capital appreciation as, historically, equities have outperformed all asset
classes. At present, there are four types of equity funds available in the market. In the increasing
order of risk, these are:
Index funds

These funds track a key stock market index, like the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) Sensex or
the NSE (National Stock Exchange) S&P CNX Nifty. Hence, their portfolio mirrors the index
they track, both in terms of composition and the individual stock weightages. For instance, an
index fund that tracks the Sensex will invest only in the Sensex stocks. The idea is to replicate
the performance of the benchmarked index to near accuracy.

Investing through index funds is a passive investment strategy, as a fund’s performance will
invariably mimic the index concerned, barring a minor “tracking error”. Usually, there’s a
difference between the total returns given by a stock index and those given by index funds
benchmarked to it. Termed as tracking error, it arises because the index fund charges
management fees, marketing expenses and transaction costs (impact cost and brokerage) to its
unit holders. So, if the Sensex appreciates 10 per cent during a particular period while an index
fund mirroring the Sensex rises 9 per cent, the fund is said to have a tracking error of 1 per cent.

To illustrate with an example, assume you invested Rs 1,000 in an index fund based on the
Sensex on 1 April 1978, when the index was launched (base: 100). In August, when the Sensex
was at 3.457, your investment would be worth Rs 34,570, which works out to an annualised
return of 17.2 per cent. A tracking error of 1 per cent would bring down your annualised return to
16.2 per cent. Obviously, the lower the tracking error, the better the index fund.

Diversified funds

Such funds have the mandate to invest in the entire universe of stocks. Although by definition,
such funds are meant to have a diversified portfolio (spread across industries and companies), the
stock selection is entirely the prerogative of the fund manager.

This discretionary power in the hands of the fund manager can work both ways for an equity
fund. On the one hand, astute stock-picking by a fund manager can enable the fund to deliver
market-beating returns; on the other hand, if the fund manager’s picks languish, the returns will
be far lower.

The crux of the matter is that your returns from a diversified fund depend a lot on the fund
manager’s capabilities to make the right investment decisions. On your part, watch out for the
extent of diversification prescribed and practised by your fund manager. Understand that a
portfolio concentrated in a few sectors or companies is a high risk, high return proposition. If you
don’t want to take on a high degree of risk, stick to funds that are diversified not just in name but
also in appearance.

Tax-saving funds

Also known as ELSS or equity-linked savings schemes, these funds offer benefits under Section
88 of the Income-Tax Act. So, on an investment of up to Rs 10,000 a year in an ELSS, you can
claim a tax exemption of 20 per cent from your taxable income. You can invest more than Rs
10,000, but you won’t get the Section 88 benefits for the amount in excess of Rs 10,000. The
only drawback to ELSS is that you are locked into the scheme for three years.

In terms of investment profile, tax-saving funds are like diversified funds. The one difference is
that because of the three year lock-in clause, tax-saving funds get more time to reap the benefits
from their stock picks, unlike plain diversified funds, whose portfolios sometimes tend to get
dictated by redemption compulsions.

Sector funds

The riskiest among equity funds, sector funds invest only in stocks of a specific industry, say IT
or FMCG. A sector fund’s NAV will zoom if the sector performs well; however, if the sector
languishes, the scheme’s NAV too will stay depressed.

Barring a few defensive, evergreen sectors like FMCG and pharma, most other industries
alternate between periods of strong growth and bouts of slowdowns. The way to make money
from sector funds is to catch these cycles–get in when the sector is poised for an upswing and
exit before it slips back. Therefore, unless you understand a sector well enough to make such
calls, and get them right, avoid sector funds.

2. Income / Debt Oriented Scheme

The aim of income funds is to provide regular and steady income to investors. Such schemes
generally invest in fixed income securities such as bonds, corporate debentures, Government
securities and money market instruments. Such funds are less risky compared to equity schemes.
These funds are not affected because of fluctuations in equity markets. However, opportunities
of capital appreciation are also limited in such funds. The NAVs of such funds are affected
because of change in interest rates in the country. If the interest rates fall, NAVs of such funds
are likely to increase in the short run and vice versa. However, long term investors may not
bother about these fluctuations.

Such funds attempt to generate a steady income while preserving investors’ capital. Therefore,
they invest exclusively in fixed-income instruments securities like bonds, debentures,
Government of India securities, and money market instruments such as certificates of deposit
(CD), commercial paper (CP) and call money. There are basically three types of debt funds.

Income funds

By definition, such funds can invest in the entire gamut of debt instruments. Most income funds
park a major part of their corpus in corporate bonds and debentures, as the returns there are the
higher than those available on government-backed paper. But there is also the risk of default–a
company could fail to service its debt obligations.

Gilt funds
They invest only in government securities and T-bills–instruments on which repayment of
principal and periodic payment of interest is assured by the government. So, unlike income
funds, they don’t face the spectre of default on their investments. This element of safety is why,
in normal market conditions, gilt funds tend to give marginally lower returns than income funds.

Liquid funds

They invest in money market instruments (duration of up to one year) such as treasury bills, call
money, CPs and CDs. Among debt funds, liquid funds are the least volatile. They are ideal for
investors seeking low-risk investment avenues to park their short-term surpluses.

The ‘risk’ in debt funds

Although debt funds invest in fixed-income instruments, it doesn’t follow that they are risk-free.
Sure, debt funds are insulated from the vagaries of the stock market, and so don’t show the same
degree of volatility in their performance as equity funds. Still, they face some inherent risk,
namely credit risk, interest rate risk and liquidity risk.

 Interest rate risk: This is common to all three types of debt funds, and is the prime
reason why the NAVs of debt funds don’t show a steady, consistent rise. Interest rate risk
arises as a result of the inverse relationship between interest rates and prices of debt
securities. Prices of debt securities react to changes in investor perceptions on interest
rates in the economy and on the prevelant demand and supply for debt paper. If interest
rates rise, prices of existing debt securities fall to realign themselves with the new market
yield. This, in turn, brings down the NAV of a debt fund. On the other hand, if interest
rates fall, existing debt securities become more precious, and rise in value, in line with
the new market yield. This pushes up the NAVs of debt funds.

 Credit risk: This throws light on the quality of debt instruments a fund holds. In the case
of debt instruments, safety of principal and timely payment of interest is paramount.
There is no credit risk attached with government paper, but that is not the case with debt
securities issued by companies. The ability of a company to meet its obligations on the
debt securities issued by it is determined by the credit rating given to its debt paper. The
higher the credit rating of the instrument, the lower is the chance of the issuer defaulting
on the underlying commitments, and vice-versa. A higher-rated debt paper is also
normally much more liquid than lower-rated paper. Credit risk is not an issue with gilt
funds and liquid funds. Gilt funds invest only in government paper, which are safe.
Liquid funds too make a bulk of their investments in avenues that promise a high degree
of safety. For income funds, however, credit risk is real, as they invest primarily in
corporate paper.

 Liquidity risk: This refers to the ease with which a security can be sold in the market.
While there is brisk trading in government securities and money market instruments,
corporate securities aren’t actively traded. More so, when you go down the rating scale–
there is little demand for low-rated debt paper. As with credit risk, gilt funds and liquid
risk don’t face any liquidity risk. That’s not the case with income funds, though. An
 income fund that has a big exposure to low-rated debt instruments could find it difficult
to raise money when faced with large redemptions.

3. Balanced Fund

The aim of balanced funds is to provide both growth and regular income as such schemes invest
both in equities and fixed income securities in the proportion indicated in their offer documents.
These are appropriate for investors looking for moderate growth. They generally invest 40-60%
in equity and debt instruments. These funds are also affected because of fluctuations in share
prices in the stock markets. However, NAVs of such funds are likely to be less volatile compared
to pure equity funds.

As the name suggests, balanced funds have an exposure to both equity and debt instruments.
They invest in a pre-determined proportion in equity and debt–normally 60:40 in favour of
equity. On the risk ladder, they fall somewhere between equity and debt funds, depending on the
fund’s debt-equity spilt–the higher the equity holding, the higher the risk. Therefore, they are a
good option for investors who would like greater returns than from pure debt, and are willing to
take on a little more risk in the process.

4. Money Market or Liquid Fund

These funds are also income funds and their aim is to provide easy liquidity, preservation of
capital and moderate income. These schemes invest exclusively in safer short-term instruments
such as treasury bills, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and inter-bank call money,
government securities, etc. Returns on these schemes fluctuate much less compared to other
funds. These funds are appropriate for corporate and individual investors as a means to park their
surplus funds for short periods.

The benefits of investing in mutual funds are:

1. Professional management of the investments: Each Mutual fund appoints an

experienced and professional funds manager and several research analyst, who research
before investing, thus adding value to the common investor. These professional
constantly keep track of the market changes and news, predict the impact they will have
on the investments and take quick decision regarding the adjustments to be made in the
portfolio.
2. Low costs of Investments: Due to the large amount of funds manages, very low costs
accrue per investor. Mutual fund achieves economics of scales in research, transactions
and investments. It lowers the cost of brokerage, custodial and other charges.
3. Diversification : A common investor has limited money, which he can invest only in a
few securities and faces a great risk. If their values go down, the investor loses all his
money. Since Mutual Funds have huge amounts of funds to invest, the Fund manager
invests in the securities of many industries and sectors; ( called diversifying the risk ).
This diversification reduces the risk involved because all the sectors and industries will
never go down at the same time. Investors get this diversification by investing a small
amount in Mutual Funds.
4. Convenient record keeping and administration: Mutual funds take care of all record
keeping including paperwork. It also deals with the problem of bad deliveries, broker’s
commission etc.
5. Various types of Schemes: Mutual Funds offer various types of schemes such as regular
income plan, growth plan, equity funds, debt Funds, and balanced Funds. So an investors
can select a plan according to his needs.
6. Flexibility: Mutual funds offers various schemes, giving the investor the option to shift
from one scheme to another at various times depending on his needs, the risk he is
willing to take, and the type of return the wants.
7. Scope for good return: Mutual fund invest in various industries and sectors, therefore
the portfolio gets diversified, resulting in mutual funds generating equitable return.
8. Enables investing in high value stocks: The individual investors have less money to
invest and cannot invest in high value stocks such as Infosys. With Rs 12000 an investors
can purchase only 2 shares of infosis, which is like putting all his eggs in one basket.
Mutual funds have huge amount of funds and can invest in these high value stocks. The
benefits from this high value stock can pass on to all the investors.
9. Easy liquidity: Mutual fund provides easy liquidity. In the case of open-ended scheme
units can be purchased/sold at NAV from/to the mutual fund on any day. In the case of
closed-ended funds units are traded on the stock exchange at the market prices, or the
investors can repurchase the units from the mutual fund at the prevailing NAV related
prices.
10. Tax benefits: There are certain schemes that offer tax benefits o the customers. So the
investor also tax benefits from mutual fund.
11. Provides transparency: Mutual funds keep the customers informed about the
competition of all the investments in various asset classes from time to time. During the
launch of the mutual fund the offer document provides information on the objective of
the funds, cost to be incurred, entry/exist load to be charged to the investor, risk
associated with the funds, & detail about the fund mariners, sponsors, members of trust
etc.
12. Regulated by SEBI: Just like equities, mutual funds are also regulated by the SEBI. This
is to safeguard the interests of investor.

PORTFOLIO EVALUATION:

Portfolio evaluation is the last step in the process of portfolio management. It

is the stage when we examine to what extent the objective has been achieved. It is
basically the study of the impact of investment decisions. Without portfolio
evaluation, portfolio management would be incomplete. It has evolved as an
important aspect of portfolio management over the last two decades.

Evaluation of mutual funds:

In India, at present, there are many mutual funds as also investment companies
operating both in the public sector as well as in the private sector. These compete
with each other for mobilising the investment funds with individual investors and
other organisations by offering attractive returns, minimum risk, high safety and
prompt liquidity. Investors and organisations desirous of placing their funds with
these mutual funds would like to know the comparative performance of each so as to
select the best mutual fund or investment company. For this, evaluation of the
performance of mutual funds and their portfolios becomes necessary.

Evaluation Perspective:

A portfolio comprises several individual securities. In the building up of the

portfolio several transactions of purchase and sale of securities take place. Thus,
several transactions in several securities are needed to create and revise a portfolio of
securities. Hence, the evaluation may be carried out from different perspectives or
viewpoints such a transactions view, security view or portfolio view.
Transaction view:
An investor may attempt to evaluate every transaction of purchase and sale of
securities. Whenever a security is bought or sold, the transaction is evaluated as
regards its correctness and profitability.

Security view:

Each security included in the portfolio has been purchased at a particular price. At
the end of the holding period, the market price of the security may be higher or lower
than its cost price or purchase price. Further, during the holding period, interest or
dividend might have been received in respect of the security. Thus, it may be
possible to evaluate the profitability of holding each security separately. This is
evaluation from the security viewpoint.

Portfolio view:
A portfolio is not a simple aggregation of a random group of securities. It is a
combination of carefully selected securities, combined in a specific way so as to
reduce the risk of investment to the minimum. An investor may attempt to evaluate
the performance of the portfolio as a whole without examining the performance of
individual securities within the portfolio. This is evaluation from the portfolio view.
 Measuring Portfolio Return:
The first step in portfolio evaluation is calculation of the rate of return earned
over the holding period. Return may be defined to include changes in the value of the
portfolio over the holding period plus any income earned over the period. However,
in the case of mutual funds, during the holding period, cash inflows into the fund and
cash withdrawals from the fund may occur. The unit-value method may be used to
calculate return in this case.

Net Asset Value (NAV) Rp= (NAVt-NAVt-1)+ Dt+ Ct /NAVt-1

= Cash disbursements per unit during the holding period.

= Capital gains disbursements per unit during the holding period.

NAVt =NAV per unit at the end of the holding period. NAVt-
1= NAV per unit at the beginning of the holding period

Risk adjusted Returns:

One obvious method of adjusting for risk is to look at the reward per unit of
risk. We know that investment in shares is risky. Risk free rate of interest is the
return that an investor can earn on a riskless security, i.e. without bearing any risk.
The return earned over and above the risk free rate is the risk premium that is the
reward for bearing risk. If this risk premium is divided by a measure of risk, we get
the risk premium per unit of risk. Thus, the reward per unit of risk for different
portfolios or mutual funds may be calculated and the funds may be ranked in
descending order of the ratio. A higher ratio indicates better performance.

Portfolio Beta can be used as an indication of the amount of market risk that the
portfolio had during the time interval. It can be compared directly with the betas of other
portfolios.

You cannot compare the ex post or the expected and the expected return of two
portfolios without adjusting for risk. To adjust the return for risk before comparison of
performance risk adjusted measures of performance can be used:
1. Sharpe’s ratio;
 2. Treynor’s ratio;
3. Jensen’s Alpha.

Sharpe’s ratio shows an excess a return over risk free rate, or risk premium, by unit
of total risk, measured by standard deviation:

Sharpe’s ratio = (řp– řf) / σp,

here: řp - the average return for portfolio p during some period of time; řf
- the average risk-free rate of return during the period;
σp - standard deviation of returns for portfolio p during the period.
Treynor’s ratio shows an excess actual return over risk free rate, or risk premium,
by unit of systematic risk, measured by Beta:

Treynor’s ratio = (řp –řf) / βp,

here: βp – Beta, measure of systematic risk for the portfolio p.

Jensen‘s Alpha shows excess actual return over required return and excess of
actual risk premium over required risk premium. This measure of the portfolio manager’s
performance is based on the CAPM
Jensen’s Alpha = (řp– řf) – βp (řm –řf),

here: řm - the average return on the market in period t;

(řm –řf) - the market risk premium during period t.
It is important to note, that if a portfolio is completely diversified, all of these
measures (Sharpe, Treynor’s ratios and Jensen’s alfa) will agree on the ranking of the
portfolios. The reason for this is that with the complete diversification total variance is equal
to systematic variance. When portfolios are not completely diversified, the Treynor’s and
Jensen’s measures can rank relatively undiversified portfolios much higher than the Sharpe
measure does. Since the Sharpe ratio uses total risk, both systematic and unsystematic
components are included.
Decomposition of Performance:
The performance measures access the overall performance of a portfolio or
fund. Eugene Fama has provided an analytical framework that allows a detailed
breakdown of a fund‘s performance into the source or components of performance.
This is known as the Fama decomposition of total return.
 The total return on a portfolio can be firstly divided into two components,
namely risk free return and the excess return. Thus,

Total risk = Risk free return + Excess return

TRENDS IN INDIAN MUTUAL FUNDS

• Mutual funds in India began in 1964

• Unit Trust of India (UTI) was the first MF company

• Remains the market leader even today, Having about 68% of the market share
• Lost monopoly in 1987 With entry of public sector mutual funds Promoted by public
sector banks and insurance companies
• Industry was open to foreign institutions in 1993
• In 1963, finance minister Shri T. Krishnaswami gave the idea of mutual funds.
• The origin of mutual fund industry in India is with the introduction of the concept of
mutual fund by UTI in the year 1963.
• The first scheme launched by UTI was Unit Scheme in 1964.

At the end of 1988 UTI had Rs.6,700 crores of assets under management

• Though the growth was slow, but it accelerated from the year 1987 when non-UTI
players entered the industry.
• SBI Mutual Fund was the first non- UTI Mutual Fund established in June 1987
– followed by:-
Punjab National Bank Mutual Fund (Aug 89),
Indian Bank Mutual Fund (Nov 89),
Bank of India (Jun 90),
Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund (Oct 92)
• The private sector entry to the MF rose the AUM to Rs. 470 bn in March 1993.
• The 1993 SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations were substituted by a more
comprehensive and revised Mutual Fund Regulations in 1996.
• The industry now functions under the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations 1996.
 • The number of mutual fund houses went on increasing, with many foreign mutual
funds setting up funds in India.
• The industry has also witnessed several mergers and acquisitions.
• At the end of January 2003, there were 33 mutual funds with total assets of Rs.
1,21,805 crores.

• The Unit Trust of India was having highest Rs.44,541 crores of assets under
management in year 2003.
• SEBI Removed Entry Load in MF on 1 August, 2009
• Introduction of Purchase/Sale facility through Stock Exchanges November, 2009
• National Stock Exchange (NSE) launched India's first Mutual Fund Service System
(MFSS) on November 30, 2009 through which an investor can subscribe or redeem
units of a mutual fund scheme.

Meaning of Portfolio Revision: A portfolio is a mix of securities selected from a vast

universe of securities. Two variables determine the composition of a portfolio; the first is the
securities included in the portfolio and the second is the proportion of total funds invested in
each security. Portfolio revision involves changing the existing mix of securities. This may
be effected either by changing the securities currently included in the portfolio or by altering
the proportion of funds invested in the securities. New securities may be added to the
portfolio or some of the existing securities may be removed from the portfolio. Portfolio
revision thus leads to purchases and sales of securities. The objective of portfolio revision is
the same as the objective of portfolio selection, i.e. maximising the return for a given level
of risk or minimising the risk for a given level of return. The ultimate aim of portfolio
revision is maximisation of returns and minimisation of risk.
Portfolio revision strategies: Two different strategies may be adopted for portfolio
revision, namely an active revision strategy and a passive revision strategy. The choice of
the strategy would depend on the investor‘s objectives, skill, resources and time.

Active revision strategy involves frequent and sometimes substantial adjustments to the
portfolio. Investors who undertake active revision strategy believe that security markets are
not continuously efficient
Passive revision strategy, in contrast, involves only minor and infrequent adjustment to
the portfolio over time. The practitioners of passive revision strategy believe in market
efficiency and homogeneity of expectation among investors. They find little incentive for
actively trading and revising portfolios periodically. Under passive revision strategy,
adjustment to the portfolio is carried out according to certain predetermined rules and
procedures designated as formula plans. These formula plans help the investor to adjust his
portfolio according to changes in the securities market.