Let’s begin. Net equity inflows into mutual funds for March were the highest in a year, while SIP contributions touched a new high, topping Rs 14,000 crore in March. Data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed net inflows for March stood at Rs 20,534 crore, compared to Rs 15,686 crore in February. The highest inflows were recorded by sectoral/ thematic schemes at Rs 3,929 crore, a category increasingly finding favour as investors seek value creation. The dividend yield category also gave a leg-up to equity schemes, thanks to the strong Rs 3,716-crore inflow primarily on account of SBI MF’s NFO last month. The fund house had mobilised Rs 3,600 crore for the SBI Dividend Yield Fund back in March. In February, the category had shown inflows of just Rs 48 crore. SIP contributions for the month stood at Rs 14,276 crore, a new high. The SIP AUM stood at Rs 6.83 trillion in March, compared to Rs 6.74 trillion in February. Meanwhile, India’s merchandise exports plunged 13.9% on year in March to $38.4 billion, and imports contracted by 7.9% to $58.1 billion, official data showed on Thursday. Both onward and inward shipments have been in the negative zone in the final four months of the year, but the pace of contraction sharpened for exports in March, indicating that the global demand slump and trade headwinds have started to take a toll on India’s foreign trade. At $447.5 billion, goods exports for the whole of the last financial year were, however, still up 6% on year, thanks to strong growth registered in the initial four months of the year. Merchandise imports grew 16.5% $714 billion in 2022-23. Moving on. Government agencies and the ministry of corporate affairs will await the findings of the probe by the Sebi into the allegations around Adani Group before deciding on a further course of action. A senior government official said, quote, “As of now, the matter is with the Supreme Court, which has set up an expert committee to investigate the matter. Sebi is also probing the allegations,” unquote. He added that any further investigations will depend on the course of action decided by the Supreme Court and what the Sebi report unearths. Further all agencies of the government, including those connected with financial regulation, fiscal and law enforcement, have been directed to co-operate with the expert committee. The market regulator will conclude its investigations and submit its report by May 2. Next up industry, State-run NTPC has dropped the plan to rope in Malaysian energy giant Petronas as a strategic investor in its green energy subsidiary before its listing. NTPC Green Energy will hit the market with an initial public offering in the current fiscal with a plan to divest 25% of its stake. The stake sale to the public would be through the book building route. The state-run power company had late last fiscal got the government’s approval for inducting a strategic investor in NGEL. The country’s largest power producer, which is focusing big on the green energy business, changed its strategy on funding NGEL, as it did not find the Petronas offer much attractive, an official source said, on condition of anonymity. NTPC has already transferred 15 of its renewable energy assets of 2,861 MW. In some more industry news, Mining major Vedanta Ltd, a subsidiary of London-headquartered Vedanta Resources, has approved raising of up to Rs 2,100 crore through issuance of non‐convertible debentures through private placements. The NCDs would be raised in one or more tranches, the company said in a stock exchange update. The move comes at a time when its parent VRL is seeking to shore up funds to trim debt. Earlier in March, Vedanta had approved its fifth interim dividend of Rs 20.50 per share or a total of Rs 7,621 crore for Financial Year 23. With this, the total outgo by way of dividends for Financial Year 23 was at about Rs 37,733 crore. Lastly, Asset management companies are likely to pay 20-40% of their annual salaries as bonuses to their employees this year, in line with the previous year, industry officials said. Bonuses will vary from firm to firm, with the larger asset managers likely to be more generous in their payouts. G Pradeepkumar, chief executive of Union AMC, said, quote, “Net-net, average bonuses could range from 30-40% of a fixed salary and 75-80% of last year,” unquote. The investment teams, especially the top performers, may still be getting a fairly decent bonus. But for sales and other support functions, the bonuses could be more modest. Bonuses for sales and business development teams are typically proportionate to growth in assets and investor folios. Fund managers’ compensation, on the other hand, will largely be linked to schemes’ performance.
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