MUTUAL FUND

Expert advice on Savings, Spending & Investment

Budget your savings, not just expenses
In our personal lives, we normally budget our expenses, but not our savings. That’s a mindset change that we need to bring about now. A budget is a plan for saving as well as spending. Here are a few quick tips that will help you maintain a budget and improve your cash flows.

Spend less than you earn: Thinking anything to the contrary seems blasphemous, but try saying this to today’s youngsters. For a start, make an estimate of your monthly expenses, and ensure that you keep a maximum of two months’ expenses in the bank.

Debit not Credit : An ex-colleague of mine once told me: “What you don’t have, you don’t spend.” If you did use only a debit card, you would not be able to swipe it for the new flat screen TV set you saw in the mall the last weekend.

Budget your savings: Instead of starting with a list of expenses (and all seem almost unavoidable, if you have the funds), ensure that you target, say, 30% or 50% of your monthly earnings as savings. Then ensure that this is invested immediately. It may even be prudent not to use your salary account for expenditure; transfer just the amount you need to spend to the other account through which your debit card is linked.

Review expenditure heads: There are certain unavoidable expenses such as house rent, school fees, electricity bills. Then there are some which can be controlled like telephone bills, eating out and gifts. One of my clients actually has separate envelopes for eating out, petrol expenses and the like. If the family falls short on an eating-out budget, it goes to a South Indian fast food joint instead of the boutique Italian restaurant.

Don’t over-speculate: At the other end of the spectrum, there could be some of you who want to make every rupee earn the maximum it can. This obviously means a lots more risk, and the possibility of losses. Take the example of an individual taking home Rs 30,000 per month, but spending Rs 25,000 per month. Instead of trying to invest the net savings of Rs 5,000 per month aggressively, this individual would get a 50% return by cutting his expenditure by only 10% (Rs 2,500 per month).

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-finance/savings-centre/analysis/Expert-advice-on-Savings-Spending-Investment/articleshow/5273220.cms

Investors flee MFs for 'safety' of gold, FDs

MUMBAI: Investors like Nishu Negandhi are turning away from equity schemes of mutual funds even as a record stock market rally boosts returns this year. Fearing a repeat of what happened in 2008, many are salting away the hard-earned money in gold and fixed income securities.

Funds have flown out of equity mutual fund schemes for three straight months and new fund offerings from them have received lukewarm response this time unlike the previous bull runs.

“There is some scepticism and a possibility of another significant downside in the offing, so I have booked profits on my investments and also cut my losses on investments made at the peak,” said Ms Negandhi, an HR professional at the Mumbai-based software developer Patni Computers.

In the past three months, mutual funds have seen a net outflow of Rs 4,000 crore, according to data from Association of Mutual Funds in India. The outflow is despite the fact that the benchmark Sensex is on course for the best performance in a year after more than doubling from its March lows.

New equity fund launches since July including Kotak Mahindra, Franklin Templeton and Shinsei’s have raised Rs 700 crore, compared with Rs 5,600 crore by Reliance Natural Resources Fund and Rs 1,720 crore by HDFC Infrastructure Fund in January 2008.

Investors are turning cautious about nest eggs after their investments in the peak of the previous stock market rally saw their savings plunge more than half. Even the recent initial public offerings by companies such as Indiabulls Power and Adani Power are trading below their IPO prices.

“At the current market level coupled with some expectation on short-term volatility, it is anticipated that customers would want to book profits and switch to other asset classes,” says Vishal Kapoor, head, Wealth Management of Standard Chartered Bank.

Investors are shunning stocks that are trading at about 21 times their earnings as they consider them expensive given that the high rate of profit growth may not return in the near future.

Some are taking a hint from the nation’s most conservative investor, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D Subbarao, who bought 200 tonnes of gold from the International Monetary Fund. They are also buying gold .“Over the past six months, gold has seen a lot of appreciation and is a very stable asset class that has delivered decent returns year on year and so it is a logical investment for me to make,” said Ms Negandhi.

Gold climbed to a record $1,181 an ounce on Wednesday and globally renowned investors such as Jim Rogers are betting that the precious metal may rise to as much as $2,000 as central banks debase their currency to pull out their economies out of recession.

But some say the regulatory arbitrage between the mutual fund industry and insurance has pushed mutual fund industry to a disadvantage. While insurance regulator does not cap commissions, Securities & Exchange Board of India has abolished the so called entry loads which were given away as commissions to distributors.

“As mutual fund sales do not earn sufficient income any more, distributors have begun to advise investors to move their investments from mutual funds to unit linked insurance plans (Ulips), which provide dual benefits of investment and insurance,’’ said Mukesh Chotani, president, Nasik Agent Association.

While a mutual product today earns the distributor an upfront commission of about 0.25%- 0.3%, a single Ulip premium can earn them about 2% and a regular Ulip premium as much as 7.5-8%.

But aren’t the mutual fund companies wooing distributors with additional incentives to sell their NFOs? “Mutual fund companies today are not paying more than 1.25% of the total amount mobilised as commission. However, they do offer to pay marketing expenses to select distributors for some specific schemes,” according to Alok Jalan, a Kolkata-based financial consultant.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/market-news/Investors-flee-MFs-for-safety-of-gold-FDs/articleshow/5269461.cms

Don't get lured by MF schemes' dividends

When Vidhyut Sampath asked his mutual fund distributor for schemes in which he can invest, he was advised two equity-linked savings schemes. When he asked the reason, the agent said these would soon declare dividends. It was almost as if the scheme was giving a bonus to investors. But the reality is far from it.
Like Sampath, many investors are lured with dividends that mutual funds pay, without realising that they are getting their own money back. Hemant Rustagi, CEO, Wiseinvest Advisors, said it was not just gullible investors that get swayed by dividends; even well-informed investors prefer to put their money in schemes that have regularly paid dividends. “Investors tend to think that funds that declare dividends often are better-performing funds and that is the reason for regular payouts,” said Rustagi.
There is a world of difference between dividend declared by companies on their shares and mutual funds on their units. When a company declares dividend, it digs into its coffers to pay investors. For instance, on Thursay, Siemens declared a dividend of Rs 5 per equity share that has a face value of Rs 2. This means an investor will get Rs 5 extra for each share of Siemens.
But when a mutual fund declares a dividend, it gives a part of investors’ money back to them. For example, a fund with a net asset value (NAV) of Rs 100 declares 50 per cent (of the face value of the unit, that is, Rs 10) dividend. The fund manager will take away Rs 5 from the NAV, which will come down to Rs 95.
Mutual funds, on the other hand, also declare dividends to attract fresh inflows into their schemes. Recently, Reliance Vision Fund and Reliance Growth Fund declared a dividend of 50 per cent (or Rs 5) on a face value of Rs 10. Other funds that have declared high dividends recently include SBI Magnum Multiplier Plus (70 per cent) and Birla SL Advantage Fund (75 per cent).
In other words, while these numbers look very impressive, the fact is that they are paying investors from their own funds. And, these dividends make little sense for investors who save for the long term and want to create wealth.
Dividend is essentially meant for investors who are looking for regular income. These include retirees, who should look at debt or monthly income plans.
Also, choosing for the dividend options in tax saving schemes or equity-linked savings schemes make sense because there is a lock-in period of three years in these schemes.
But if an investor has opted for a dividend plan already, he should make a plan to use that money in the best possible way.
One can look at creating a debt portfolio with the dividend. “Just don’t opt for dividends to get some money back. Instead, plough back the money into other schemes so that a portfolio can be created,” said a certified financial planner.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/don/t-get-lured-by-mf-schemes/-dividends/377758/

Fund management fees rise with markets
Management fees to equity fund managers and investment advisors rose 42 per cent, or Rs 224 crore, in the first half of financial year 2009-10.
Fund houses pay management fees on the basis of assets and since assets under management (AUM) of equity schemes have risen 75 per cent, or Rs 83,000 crore, in the first half of the current year, fund managers’ fees have gone up to Rs 759 crore.
The over 100 per cent rise in markets during the period has led to a considerable increase in assets of equity funds. This resulted in higher payment towards management fees, said Anil Chopra, Group CEO, Bajaj Capital.
In the second half of 2008-09, fund houses paid lower fees (Rs 535 crore) to their managers due to the over 50 per cent decline in value of equity portfolios, he added. In the first half of 2008-09, when the market fell off its peak, excessive portfolio churning led to higher administration expenditure. Also, outflow due to management fees stood at Rs 891 crore.
The record shows that fund managers and investment advisers’ remuneration varies in a volatile market. In 2007-08, when the Sensex moved up from 12,000 to 21,000, fund houses paid Rs 1,673 crore to fund managers. Conversely, in the second half of 2008-09, when the Sensex fell to 8,000-10,000, the fees dropped to Rs 535 crore.
During a lean period, inflow into equity funds through new fund offerings (NFOs) and sale of existing schemes fell sharply from Rs 52,701 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 4,084 crore in 2008-09. Mutual fund investors were cautious in the rising market too and subscribed to no more than Rs 5,344 crore of NFOs in the first half of 2009-10.
The turnover of mutual funds on the bourses declined sharply from Rs 2.46 lakh crore in the second half of 2007-08 to Rs 1.61 lakh crore in the first half of 2008-09, and Rs 1.19 lakh crore in the second half of 2008-09. With the BSE-500 index appreciating around 125 per cent from its 52-week low on March 9, 2009, the MFs’ turnover on BSE and NSE has more than doubled to Rs 2.75 lakh crore since April 1.
Reliance MF topped in the list of fees, with payment of Rs 132 crore, followed by UTI MF (Rs 86 crore), HDFC MF (Rs 81 crore), SBI MF (Rs 68 crore) and Franklin Templeton MF (Rs 61 crore).
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/fund-management-fees-risemarkets/377774/

Tata wary of realty; bets on India industrials, IT

Mumbai: Tata Mutual Fund is overweight on industrial capital goods firms in India on hopes a reviving economy will boost order books in the current quarter and the next, lifting corporate earnings, a fund manager said.
M. Venugopal, head of equity, said he also favoured consumer goods and software exporters but was wary of real estate firms as asset prices remain unaffordable for a major chunk of population. The fund manager has dumped almost his entire stake in the real estate sector in 2009 and invested nearly a third of its Tata Pure Equity Fund’s assets in capital goods, technology and consumer sector shares at the end of October.
ITC, Bharat Heavy Electricals and Crompton Greaves were among the fund’s top-10 holdings. “We are set for some bit of ordering activity, which should pick up now,” Venugopal told Reuters in an interview. “Once you see that happening, you will see some upgrades in the infrastructure space,” the fund manager, who manages more than Rs60 billion ($1.3 billion) for the firm, said. He said a pick up in industrial output was not a result of firms restocking inventory but a revival in economic activity. This should lead to a stronger corporate earnings growth in the thirdand fourth quarter of financial year ending March.
The fund manager is expecting at least a 5% corporate earnings growth in fiscal 2009/10 and up to 15% the next year, as the economy bounces back and investments pick up pace. India’s industrial output grew a faster-than-expected 9.1% in September from a year earlier and the finance minister has said the economy could expand 6-7% in FY10. “There is a little bit of confidence which is lacking even now but going forward that will get corrected and private capex will also pick-up,” said Venugopal, who holds Texmaco and engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro.
IT, Consumers
The fund manager, who also holds stakes in Nestle and Hindustan Unilever, said rising income levels and faster economic growth would raise consumption, making it one of the strongest investment themes. “India is on the threshold of very strong growth in terms of consumption,” he said. Venugopal said he was also overweight software exporters as the overall global economic environment was picking up. “This is one sector where we think upgrades are very much possible,” he said. “We think next year should be a much better year for at least the frontline IT companies,” Venugopal, whose portfolios holds shares such as Infosys Technologies, Wipro and Patni Computer Systems, said. The Mumbai-based executive said real estate was one sector he was avoiding as such firms faced pressure on their profit margins and asset prices had not corrected enough to revive demand.
“Companies have got stuck with land banks at higher prices and now there is a mismatch between affordable price level and the price at which they bought,” he said. “It’s not going to be a very easy time for these companies,” he added.

http://www.livemint.com/2009/11/26153815/Tata-wary-of-realty-bets-on-I.html

INSURANCE

Insurance council opposes tax on withdrawals
The Life Insurance Council has opposed a proposal in the Draft Direct Taxes Code which says policy holders be taxed at the time of withdrawal of insurance fund. SB Mathur, Secretary General of the Life Insurance Council, said either the proposal be changed to retain the present system of exempting a life insurance holder from tax at the time of withdrawal, or tax should be levied only on the real value of the withdrawn sum. Constituted under the Insurance Act, the council is a forum that connects various stakeholders in the insurance sector.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/insurance-council-opposes-taxwithdrawals/377755/
Ulips may get costlier starting January
Mumbai: In a bid to maintain the profitability of their lucrative unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips), life insurance companies have sent a proposal to the insurance regulator to hike the minimum premium investors will have to pay on these popular plans, a move that if allowed could make Ulips costlier by between 30% and 60% by January.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) is studying the proposal.
The move follows a July directive by Irda to cap fund management charges on Ulips at 1.35%. The insurers are required to submit their proposals for new premium and cost structures by 30 November.
Ulips are hybrid products. The premiums collected from Ulips are predominantly invested in equities and bonds, while a portion of the fund is kept aside as insurance.
In July, Irda ordered all life insurers to ensure that the difference between gross and net yields in Ulips did not exceed 300 basis points for policies of less than or equal to 10 years, and not cross 225 basis points for products with higher tenures. The regulator said that within these limits, fund management charges should not exceed 135 basis points. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Ulip charges include agent commission, mortality charges, fund management charges, policy or administration fees, unit allocation charges and a surrender charge. Excluding the agent commission, charges currently can add up to 2-4%. Initial expenses, mainly agent commissions, on Ulips are very high, varying between 20% and 60% of the premium.
With Irda capping this, insurers are looking for ways to keep their business profitable. To avoid the resulting increase in expenses, companies can either increase the minimum premium or trim the agent’s commission. Most life insurers, however, have opted for the first option.
Financial services firm Edelweiss had said in June: “For a typical back-loaded policy, the difference between gross and net yields to the policyholder ranges between 2.1% and 4%. This difference is likely to be higher for high-charge, front-loaded policies (4-4.5%). As per the new guidelines, insurers will have to reduce this difference to prescribed range, resulting in lower revenue generation on new business written, in turn, raising dependence on capacity utilization and persistency to generate decent profitability.”
Addressing Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) agents in Kolkata on Saturday, LIC chairman T.S. Vijayan had said that the state-owned insurer was planning to raise minimum premium to Rs40,000 from Rs25,000 for Ulips.
“At least a 30% increase in minimum premium can be expected in Ulips where the ticket size is low. We have five such products, but the minimum ticket sizes vary. Unless the structures are changed, small-ticket policies will not be viable. The changes will be effective January,” Vijayan said.
Other insurers said the hike in premiums could be even higher.
Amish Tripathi, national head of marketing and product management at IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Co. Ltd, said, “For the industry, it may go up from 5% to 50-60% depending on cost structure of individual companies.”
“When allocation and fund management charges are capped, expenses have to be controlled. To adjust the charges, in one of our Ulips called Maha Anand, we have proposed to double the minimum premium from Rs6,000 a year to Rs12,000 a year,” said Sanjeev Pujari, head of actuary, SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
The moves are aimed at protecting the expected returns from investments in Ulips. For example, currently, if Rs100 is the premium, and if the product is expected to fetch a return of 10% over three years, the gross yield is Rs110. If the insurer deducts a 4% management charge, the investor gets Rs105.60 (net yield), which is Rs4.40, or 4%, less than the gross yield. If this difference between gross and net yields is capped at 3%, the gross yield will have to be Rs146 to maintain the charges at Rs4.40. To maintain a 10% return on investments, keeping everything else constant, the minimum premium has to be increased to Rs132.72. This amount changes as the minimum premium and other expenses vary according to companies.
“There were two products where the charges were higher than stipulated. For one such product we have increased the minimum premium from Rs15,000 to Rs18,000 a year. We are expecting an approval from Irda by early December,” said G.N. Agarwal, chief of actuary, Future Generali Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
Irda has said the cap on charges will be based on the difference between the gross return shown in benefit illustrations and the actual return that policyholders get after adjusting for all charges.
Benefit illustrations give policyholders an idea about how much they will receive after accounting all charges.
Anil Singh, head (actuarial and product development) at Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co. Ltd, said, “Bajaj Allianz has carried out a rejig of features in Ulip products that did not comply with the guidelines as we had several products which complied with the guidelines. We have aligned commission rate with term of the policy. We feel that these guidelines are beneficial for customers and thus would benefit the industry”
“For certain products, the minimum premium sizes have been increased by 20-30% to ensure that the returns on these products do not get affected due to the cap on charges,” said an official from a large private insurer who did not want to be named.
Debashis Sarkar, chief marketing officer at Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd, said, “Minimum premiums will go up by 25-30% for the Ulip products. The tenures are likely to increase and there will be some loyalty bonuses for persistent customers. These are the three broad changes I see.”
According to the Life Insurance Council, the representative body of life insurers, the industry collected total renewal premium of Rs62,991 crore during the quarter ended September, of which Rs25,950 crore came from Ulips.
http://www.livemint.com/2009/11/27011744/Ulips-may-get-costlier-startin.html

BANK

Dhanalakshmi Bank ties up with Crisil for SME rating

Our Bureau
Kochi, Nov. 25 Dhanalakshmi Bank has announced its tie-up with CRISIL, India’s premier rating agency, to introduce CRISIL SSI/SME rating for over 500 of its small and medium enterprise (SME) customers.
Mr PG Jayakumar, General Manager, Credit and Operations, said that the tie-up is a part of the renewed focus of Dhanalakshmi Bank on the SME sector. The independent rating by a renowned agency will provide the bank an enhanced analysis of SMEs under its portfolio that will further strengthen its internal rating process.
The CRISIL SSI/SME rating is widely accepted and recognised by the industry and is also accepted by most regulatory authority. The exercise will also help the bank in establishing a defined correlation with its internal credit process and benchmark its portfolio against other banks. Mr Suresh Balasubramanian, Group Head, Trade and Advances, Dhanalakshmi Bank, said engaging an autonomous rating agency for our portfolio firms, like CRISIL, gives us the enhanced confidence in the credit worthiness of the firms and help us build better relationships. As a part of the rating exercise, Dhanalakshmi solution managers will educate the SME clientele on the benefits of the rating and will encourage them to obtain a time bound rating.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/11/26/stories/2009112652261700.htm

SEBI

Extended hours put on back-burner
Most market participants oppose plan to increase timings of stock exchanges.
Strong opposition from market participants has made stock exchanges put their plans to extend trading hours on the back-burner. The National Stock Exchange (NSE), which was advocating extension of trade timings, now says the majority of market players are against the move and a consensus is needed for it to go through. Over 60 per cent brokers, out of the 395 surveyed by the Association of National Stock Exchange Members of India (Anmi), expressed displeasure at the move. Anmi has about 800 members, quite a few of whom are also members of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The findings of the survey were given to both NSE and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Sebi had last month approved the extension, if stock exchanges so chose, of trading timings by two-and-a-half hours (from 9 am to 5 pm). The current market hours are 9.55 am to 3.30 pm. Stock exchanges had sought extended timings to integrate Indian bourses with Singapore and other Asian markets in the morning and European markets in the evening. In Singapore, which is around two-and-a-half hours ahead of India, trading is held between 9 am and 12.30 pm and 2 pm and 5 pm (local time). Due to this mismatch, NSE was losing some derivatives volumes to Singapore, where the Nifty (its benchmark index) is listed. Hedge funds trade Nifty in Singapore prior to the opening of Indian markets. NSE Managing Director Ravi Narain had said that extension of trade timings would increase volumes in domestic stock markets by 20-25 per cent. However, the move has met with strong resistance from stock brokers and traders. “Unless market participants seriously want it, the hours should not be extended. The current trading hours are enough. The longer the trading hours, the lesser will be the depth of the market. Post-trading processing remains a major challenge,” said a former chief executive officer of BSE. However, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have a different view. “Extension of trade timings will make domestic markets more competitive. Soon, domestic traders will have to get accustomed to global trends as financial markets are becoming more integrated,” said a fund manager of a Singapore-based FII. “The derivatives trading in US and European markets is conducted on a 24-hour basis. FII money moves Indian markets and a majority of these institutions are in Hong Kong and Singapore. They trade minute by minute and do not wait for Indian markets to open. India is under threat of losing substantial trading volumes in its most liquid contract to the Singapore market and extension of trading hours could be one way of steming this flow of volumes,” said Saurabh Mukharjea, head of equities at Noble, which provides research advice to FIIs. Domestic stockbrokers say extension of trading hours may put pressure on infrastructure of exchanges as well as market intermediaries and broking companies may have to incur additional costs. Moreover, to obligate margin/collateral requirements of investors, banks/financial institutions may need to keep their offices open for an extended duration. “The domestic banking system is not on a par with the clearing and settlement system. The concept of real-time gross settlement of payments is not available at a lot of bank branches. All this needs to be upgraded before the hours are extended,” said an Anmi official.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/extended-hours-putback-burner/377635/

ITC reviewing options on EIH equity

Counter offer, stake sale being mulled.

Cigarettes-to-hospitality group ITC is reviewing its approach on equity in EIH, which runs the Oberoi chain of hotels.
Speaking to Business Standard, ITC Chairman Y C Deveshwar said, “We are rethinking, which would mean making a counter offer or selling our stake. In both cases, the board will decide. However, I am not disposed towards a hostile takeover.” Earlier, on the sidelines of the CII-ITC Sustainability Summit, Deveshwar said the company was open to increasing stake in EIH. Asked about investor Analjit Singh’s reported plans to buy another 17 per cent stake in EIH, Deveshwar said, “If somebody else is entering the fray I do not discount, we can do our re-thinking. If any new event takes place, I am not saying that we will stop thinking.” An EIH spokesperson said the company would not comment on the basis of speculation. ITC has a 14.98 per cent stake in EIH, a shade less than the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) threshold limit of 15 per cent, that triggers a mandatory open offer for another 20 per cent. ITC has been buying EIH shares through its investment arm, Russell Credit, since 2000. Deveshwar announced at ITC’s last annual general meeting (AGM) that the company was not in favour of a hostile takeover for EIH and even suggested joining hands for a joint ownership or marketing, but that was prior to the news of Analjit Singh buying into EIH. Subsequently, EIH Chairman P R S Oberoi responded at his AGM that it was up to ITC to make a proposal. Last month, news broke that Oberoi had signed a non-disclosure pact for a deal that would see the Oberoi family, which owned a 43 per cent stake in EIH, selling over 17 per cent to Singh for around Rs 1,250 crore. Singh, who already holds a 5 per cent stake in the hospitality major, would have to make a mandatory open offer for an additional 20 per cent stake. This means Singh’s stake will be more than the Oberoi family’s 26 per cent.

Non-cigarette FMCG biz: PTI adds: ITC said it could take a decade for its non-cigarette fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) business to be profitable as it continues to expand product portfolio, thereby requiring fresh investments in brand building. The company saw its non-cigarette FMCG business registering a loss of Rs 184.79 crore in the first half of this fiscal, an improvement from a loss of Rs 239.16 crore in the same period last year.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/itc-reviewing-optionseih-equity/377706/

ECONOMY

Opportunities outweigh risks for private equity: Deloitte

Our Bureau
Kochi, Nov. 26 “In a developing economy like India, the opportunities far outgrow challenges in the private equity space compared to most other economies,” Mr Avinash Gupta, India Leader, Financial Advisory, Deloitte said. However, investment and business plans should be developed with a deep understanding of the issues unique to India, owing to its complex economy, policy and the regulatory framework. Although there are signs of global recovery, businesses are worried about capital and private equity is emerging as a viable option, he pointed out.
At a discussion forum in Kochi, Deloitte shared insights on the scope of PE investments, the opportunities for growth and the potential challenges. It explained the due diligence process, documentation and other basic procedures involved in raising private equity funds.
The forum also discussed issues specific to Indian businesses looking for structured investment and capital. Deloitte announced the findings of its inaugural Emerging Markets Comparative Private Equity survey across eight economies which showed that while long-term investor confidence remains positive, the economic downturn’s impact is still felt across all emerging markets. Short- to medium-term investors, however, display a cautious attitude towards new investment, resulting in decreased competition levels.

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