Author: Vaishali Karulkar

Flurry of NFOs in 2021: Expert view on the best products

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Year 2021 has been one of new fund offerings (NFOs). There were about 70 NFOs in the mutual fund world in FY22 and for the calendar year the count touched over 100.

To make sense of this big flurry of NFOs and talk about the good products out of these 70 odd launches, which investors can look to add to their portfolios, CNBC-TV18 spoke with Ashish Shanker, MD and CEO, Motilal Oswal Private Wealth.

Shanker said the bulk of the NFOs have happened in the equity space and a few in the international space, which tells us what investors want. Since fixed income returns have collapsed, more investors are looking towards equity to get that extra return in their portfolios and most of the mutual funds are following that trend. Moreover, these NFOs are happening parallel to the IPO frenzy, he said.

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

High number of mutations in COVID-19 variant Omicron a concern, says Dr Gagandeep Kang

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The big concern for the economy is the new virus variant called the Omicron, whose scientific name is B.1.1.529. Gagandeep Kang, Professor of Microbiology at Christian Medical College in Vellore, said the important thing to remember is that this is not unexpected.

Kang said the new variant has a lot of mutations- about 50 mutations, 30 plus in the spike protein region and this is a concern, because ordinarily if you are tracking systems and you are sequencing systems good enough then you should be picking up mutations as they are added to the virus.

“Now we are in a situation where we have got a jump in the number of mutations and the question really is why are we seeing this jump – so is this a virus that potentially was developing in Africa by acquiring sequential mutations and we didn’t detect until it got to Botswana and South Africa where they have good sequencing facilities or is this a virus that developed in somebody who was immunocompromised therefore had only a partial immune response and therefore, the virus could set up a chronic infection that acquires mutations over time, before coming back into the population, she said, adding that these are all possibilities and until we have more sequencing data, it will be very difficult for us to tell.”

She further specified that early data seems to indicate that in people in whom it has been seen so far, they have been largely asymptomatic or have had mild symptoms. Now, the numbers are very small. So will this pattern hold over time? We don’t know. And we need to make sure that we continue to track whoever is infected with this variant so that we understand the clinical consequences of this infection.

“Most viruses that evolve in populations do evolve to become less virulent and not more virulent. Is that what is happening with SARS COV2? So, until we have a lot more clinical information than we have today that is very hard for us to say,” said Kang.

Also Read: India revises COVID-19 guidelines for international arrivals amid Omicron concerns

Omicron was identified by the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA). South Africa reported a four-fold rise in new cases in two weeks, and that coincided with the emergence of the Omicron. It is also seen in countries like Botswana, Hong Kong, and Belgium. The NGS-SA says Omicron has an unusually high constellation of over 30 plus mutations. Some of these mutations are ensuring high transmit transmissibility, however, there is actually the absence of one mutation (NSP), which helps it to evade the human immune system, while some other mutations like R230K, G204R are associated with increased infectivity. Some positive is that it is an easily identifiable mutation and so the current RT-PCR tests are valid, we don’t need to change that.

The WHO says it may take weeks to understand the new virus. So the big questions for the world and that we will also be asking constantly, will the current treatment protocols medicines like remdesivir, etc. work for this variant and the current vaccines provide any protection against this? Or do we have to improvise the vaccines?

Kang said genomic sequencing is very helpful in understanding what effect potential mutations might have. We know that the mutations exist, we know that the mutations are associated with certain features of the virus in terms of its ability to spread, its ability to evade the immune response. But until we have clinical confirmation from patients, the sequence data cannot be taken as a guarantee that we will see those features of the virus and of the disease. So sequencing is helpful, but not confirmatory, she said adding that in terms of what stays effective and what doesn’t stay effective, we need a lot more studies before we can confirm that.

Also Read: COVID-19: Government to review decision on restarting international flights, SOP for incoming passengers

“Now on the question whether drugs work or will vaccines work – among the drugs that we have as a separate out monoclonal antibodies because monoclonal antibodies essentially act to neutralize the virus before they get inside the cell. But if we look at the drugs that we have, there is no reason why dexamethasone, which is given to hospitalised patients, there is no reason why they should not work because the mutations that we are seeing, by and large are the mutations that are responsible for the spread of the virus and the entry of the virus and these drugs really act once the infection has already happened,” she said.

Click here: For Coronvairus LIVE updates

She further added that we also have the drugs that are available or are going to be available soon and there is no reason to think that those drugs are not going to work. Because they act by suppressing viral replication once the virus is inside cells, so the drugs should work, Kang specified.

For the full discussion, watch the video

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India’s fertility rate down; world population will fall significantly after 2050: Sanjeev Sanyal

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Amid all the uncertainty sparked by COVID and cryptocurrencies, there’s one bright, long-term trend that’s hugely positive for the Indian economy — India’s fertility rate is down to 2, says the latest survey. This means if one couple is producing only two children that is enough to replace themselves. Although the population of the country may still rise for some time because people are likely to live longer, it will rise much more slowly and peak off much earlier.

It also means “our efforts at improving jobs, housing, and health education, with which so far we have been getting depressed by the sheer numbers, could now start showing a quantum increase”. Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviser, Government of India, has written a lot about the rapidity with which the global population is declining and its consequences. In 2011, his piece criticised a report by the United Nations, which said the world population will rise all the way up to 2100.

India’s numbers show that Sanyal had got it right way back. The fertility rate is down to 2. So, what does this mean in terms of numbers for the Indian economy? Will the per capita income start rising faster than it used to?

Sanyal said this is something he has argued for quite some time, and not just for India, but globally too, fertility rates have been falling for a while. Therefore, the UN forecast, which is commonly used worldwide, has been overemphasising population growth, particularly in the second half of the century. “I have written before that certainly by around 2050, world population will begin to stabilise, and then in the second half will fall quite significantly,” he said.

“India’s fertility rate has been declining for quite some time and is now below the replacement rate. In fact, the replacement rate of 2.1 per woman of childbearing age is usually taken as being the replacement rate. But for a country like India, this level is probably somewhat higher at around 2.2 because infant mortality is higher, and so on. So, we are now well below the replacement rate,” said Sanyal, adding that this doesn’t mean that India’s population will begin declining since people are living longer thanks to rising longevity. “So, for some time, there is a momentum that will allow our population to keep growing,” he said.

Also Read: GDP growth to accelerate further to 9.8% in FY23: Goldman Sachs

“Let me say that even if the population doesn’t begin to decline for another, say 25-odd years, certainly within 10 to 15 years, the rate of growth of the overall population will come down to somewhere near zero,” he said, adding that India is now coming to the phase where the denominator will no longer be the reason for per capita income not rising fast.

In India, the male-female ratio is currently at 1,020 females to 1,000 men. Is that an indicator of something being right?

Sanyal said the debate is about skewed ratios at birth and that is slightly different from the overall ratio now because the skewed ratio at birth is so strong that the overall number would end up skewed.

The gender ratio is a lot better now than it used to be but is not yet what is usually considered the normal ratio, explained Sanyal.

In the normal course, more men are born than women, it is just that their death rate is higher. So, it is not a case of 1:1. “What happens is that women dominate in the long run because they tend to survive better.”

The sex ratio at birth has improved from 919 girls to 1,000 boys to 929 girls for 1,000 boys. According to Sanyal, it will never be equal because even naturally it is not equal.

For the entire discussion, watch the video

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Market seeing healthy correction; if Nifty breaks 17,250, it could fall to 15,500 levels, say experts

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Nilesh Shah, MD, Kotak Mahindra AMC is of the view that it is the nature of the market to correct and looks like a part and parcel of a normal market correction. According to him, a mid-double digit correction could be likely. However, this is a healthy correction and will provide an opportunity to invest in the market subject to the new COVID variant.

He is also of the view that this correction is not a beginning of a deeper move like that of March 2020. Although there are concerns about the new COVID variant today, both the world healthcare system and the Indian healthcare systems are better equipped to handle this crisis, he said.

When asked if the correction seen in the banking sector would be a good opportunity to buy, Shah said, here onwards in the banking sector if you can pick up a bank, which is technologically savvy, which is owning the customer, and expanding the credit book without creating potential future NPAs then you have a winner.

Renewed fears on a new COVID variant saw the markets tumble on Friday. Nifty and Sensex recorded their biggest single-day falls since early April. Except for pharma, all sectoral indices ended in the red. BSE companies erased a market cap of over Rs 7 lakh crore on Friday alone. For the week, the market recorded their biggest weekly fall since January.

Meanwhile, Jai Bala of Cashthechaos.com is of the view that the market has seen a stellar move for several months and is likely to experience a bull market correction but it could be a very deep one.

Also Read: Be wary of anything expensive in the market: Avendus Wealth Management

According to Bala, the Nifty should not have gone below 17,250 and a break of 17,250 signals that the market could drop even as deep as 15,500. However, the first checkpoint would be at about 16,750, which is an important support level but if the market breaks 16,750 then it could head to 15,500.

He said although giving a timeframe is difficult, 15,000 could come as quickly as in four weeks and if it were to come that quickly, the market could be in for a bigger drop.

Also Read: Worst day for D-Street since April as new COVID variant spooks investors; here’s what else is hurting market

However, the positive for the market is that Reliance Industries is holding above Rs 2,274 and as long as Reliance can manage to hold above that, it can try to hold back the bearishness. On Thursday, Reliance climbed 6 percent and the rest of the market hardly contributed to the move.

According to him, the market has been struggling for the last few weeks because of weakness in HDFC, Axis Bank and while SBI was doing reasonably well, it seems to have also turned lower. So, banks are definitely an avoid.

“Moreover, FMCG is also exhibiting weakness. Also, we don’t want the metals index to drop below 5,200. So, these are the important sectors to watch out for,” said Bala.

For more, watch the video

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Looking to buy more cos in Rs 100-800 cr range: TTK Prestige’s Jagannathan

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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TTK Prestige has acquired 51 percent stake in modular kitchen maker Ultrafresh for a sum of Rs 30 crore. TT Jagannathan, chairman of the company, told CNBC-TV18 that they are looking at acquiring more companies that are operating in the same space.

“We are looking at several acquisitions starting from about Rs 100 crore to Rs 800 crore,” said Jagannathan. However, he said that he would not be able to give any further details since the company has signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with all the companies that it is in talks with.

The company had earlier said their revenue growth target was Rs 5,000 crore by FY25. Last year, they did close to Rs 2,000 crore. So, when asked by FY25 how much of the Rs 5,000 crore target would be organic and how much would be through acquisitions, Jagannathan said, “Our projections show that organic growth would be about Rs 4,000 crore and the balance Rs 1,000 crore would come from acquisitions.”

Throwing light on Ultrafresh acquisition, he said, “Ten years back when we started our exclusive stores, the inside decor was like a kitchen and a lot of the customers wanted to buy the kitchens. So we had got into the modular kitchen business but later got out of it because we did not have any end-to-end control over the business.”

We were looking for a partner who could give end-to-end control because the market for that exists. We believe we could do to around Rs 50 crore in the first year and go up to Rs 500 crore in five years, he added.

Also Read: TTK Prestige Q2FY22: Net profit jumps 58%; acquisition likely by year end, says management

He said Ultrafresh did not make any profits last year because of COVID but the year before that, it had made marginal profits. Going forward, the projections look good and over time, they would acquire 100 percent stake in the company, he confirmed.

For the full discussion, watch video

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Young Turks: Here’s how Riyaaz Amlani of ‘Impresario’ built a restaurant empire

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Walking in the lanes of Mumbai, the young Riyaaz Amlani, who was out on a date, could not find a cosy coffee. The cafes, so ubiquitous today, were absent back then and, that was Amlani’s first taste of an opportunity. Years later, while working as an executive who helped set up bowling alleys, Amlani decided to pick up the cup of entrepreneurship.

In 2001, he started Mocha, a cafe styled on the Moroccan public coffee houses. Twenty years later, that coffee house called Mocha near Churchgate in Mumbai has transformed into a house of brands — Impresario — which now operates a network of 57 restaurants across 16 cities in indie.

The list of brands started by Amlani is too many to name at one go. From the popular hangout for millennials —‘Social’, and fine-diner Smoke House Deli to even a cafe run by staff with hearing and speech impairment ‘Iishaara’. Amlani has mastered the psychology behind how young India wants to eat out.

In 2017, L Catterton, a global private equity firm backed by luxury multinational company Louis Vuitton, acquired a majority stake in Impresario. The investment helped Amlani expand at a faster clip especially in tier 2 & 3 towns. But, the pandemic arrived to pull the tablecloth from under the plates, and so it did!

However, as home-delivery kept the taste buds going, Amlani set up cloud kitchens for delivery-only brands She, Lucknowee and Goodness To Go. More such brands are on the way. From hiring dabbawalas in Mumbai to home deliver food to launching an outlet in Dehradun. There is a lot of cooking at Impresario.

When asked over the last two decades, what have been the big shifts that have shaped where the industry is today? Amlani said there has been a sea of change, “When I started off in 2001 when you couldn’t find a really great restaurant outside five-star hotels. So if you wanted to go somewhere between lunch and dinner, your options were either to go to a five-star coffee shop or to go to Udipi restaurant, there was nothing else around. There were maybe one or two fine dining restaurants that were existing outside five stars.”

However, in the last 20 years, there has been a revolution, and customers are now spoilt for choice. There’s more of everything. There is a super specialisation in every cuisine that you can think of, said Amlani.

Click here: For all the latest news on Young Turks

On the ease of doing business, he said, “It is still one of the most regulated businesses that you could hope to be in, or hope not to be. We still need about 26 different licences and NOCs just to be able to sell a sandwich. A few years ago, we were dealing with about 36 but now, it’s down to about 24 to 26, depending on the city you are in.”

“One of our challenges is we don’t have a uniform code for restaurants – it differs from state to state city to city municipal limit to municipal limits. It is still a very complex, regulatory framework to navigate but hopefully, things will get a little easier in the future as we continue to lobby as an industry to get a single-window clearance is and ease up on the regulations a little bit,” he said.

For the entire interesting conversation, watch the video.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow