NEW DELHI: With the completion of computerization of 117 of the 120 provident fund offices across the country, PF account holders who have sought a transfer can now track the progress of their applications online. The step, officials in the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) say, is aimed as much at user convenience as to infuse transparency in the working of the organization. The facility was started last week and officials say that though the transfer deadline is a month, unofficially they are looking at a window of one week within which effort will be made to complete the transfer. The system of electronic transfer of PF money was put in place from January, which is when the deadline was brought down to one month from a year that it used to take earlier. For online tracking of the application status, the applicants can visit the ...

TUTICORIN : Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd and Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund have signed an MoU to market mutual fund products. The MOU for a strategic alliance to distribute and market Mutual Fund products through branches of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank was signed at Mumbai on March 3, S Selvan Rajadurai , General Manager, Business Development, TMB said in a press release S Selvan Rajadurai, General Manager, Business Development of TMB said in a press release here today that the strategic alliance to distribute and market mutual fund products through TMB's branches was signed in Mumbai on March 3. A Balasubramanian , CEO of Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund claimed their mutual fund offers innovative investment solutions across asset classes well recognized for their performance. Rajadurai said TMB is ...

MUMBAI: Returns on Unit-linked pension products are set to rise to 6% next fiscal after the central bank raised benchmark policy rates in 2010-11 to combat inflation. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority , or Irda, the insurance watchdog had benchmarked that returns on these products should be 0.5%, or 50 basis points, over the reverse repo rate, the rate at which the Reserve Bank of India absorbs funds from banks. The re-verse repo rate is now 5.75% after a series of rate increases. The Irda had mandated a 4.5% return on unit-linked pension plans last year and had also said that rates would be reviewed annually and vary between 3-6%. Insurance companies are unhappy with the mandated returns saying that offering a guarantee will hurt their profitability. The share of unit-linked pension products in ...

Charity and doing good is the new cause that our denizens have taken a fancy to. Almost every second or third person we do a plan for, wants to keep aside a decent pile for charity . That itself is a heart-warming trend considering the number of organisations and worthy causes that need financial assistance. There are again many of them who take it one step further... they want to take up some social causes and work in the villages. Again, this is an admirable trend which requires to be applauded . For most people, it means going and teaching in a village school. That could be the problem. Imagine a technocrat in top management going and teaching in villages... there is nothing wrong there. But, it is wasted talent. For instance, in the IT industry itself, there is a dearth of top-notch talent as the industry has been growing at a break-neck pace. Now, would it not be a great idea for this technocrat to be part of this ecosystem... train, mentor an...

NEW DELHI: Companies managing the retirement savings of their employees through own provident fund trusts have been given more time to seek licences that make them eligible for tax exemption on contributions. The Budget 2011-12 has allowed firms to obtain the exemption licence from the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) till March 31 next year. The earlier deadline line expired on December 31. Contributions made by employers to PF accounts of employees is exempt up to 12% of salary, and interest credited is fully exempt if it does not exceed the rate notified by the government. In 2006, the finance ministry had directed companies managing their own retirement funds to get an exemption licence from the EPFO after satisfying the government that they were following all rules and guidelines. A o...

MUMBAI: Private insurer Birla Sun Life Insurance Company , a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Nuvo , today announced the launch of BSLI Foresight Plan - a unit-linked plan . BSLI Foresight Plan provides customers the upside of market returns, while shielding their investments from downside risks, its Chief Actuarial Officer Fabien Jeudy said here. This medium-term unit linked savings plan is apt for a volatile market providing the perfect blend of guarantee, flexibility and liquidity options, he told reporters. "Equity markets have a huge potential towards meeting customer's long-term wealth creation needs. However, many customers tend to stay away from this attractive opportunity due to lack of knowledge on timing the market and the resultant fear of loosing their money," he said. Keeping thi...

NEW DELHI: India's diversified stock funds lagged the benchmark index in February, as exposure to mid- and small-cap shares and sectors like capital goods hurt net asset values. Diversified funds fell 4.66 percent on an average during the month, compared with a 2.75 percent fall in the benchmark, data from global fund tracker Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company, showed. "There is no predictability at all, there are no sectoral moves... sometimes it (market) is getting impacted by global cues," said T P Raman, Managing Director at Sundaram Mutual Fund. Equity diversified funds with significant exposure to mid- and small-cap firms bore the brunt as the BSE Mid-cap index declined 7.2 percent and the small-cap index dropped 7.8 percent in February. Though money managers have reduced exposure to such stocks in recent months, these companies still accounted for more...

MUMBAI: The cost of providing group health insurance is set to go up by 25% to 50% for majority of the corporates that provide this benefit as insurance companies prepare to hike rates in April when most policies come up for renewal. More than half of the companies that buy group health insurance for their employees have ended up claiming more for employee treatments than what they had paid as premium. This has resulted in what insures describe as an underwriting loss in their group health insurance business . Many multinationals buy group health policies which coincide with the calendar year and premium under these policies have gone up by 5% to 10%. However, the larger policies which are purchased by big employers like IT companies will come up for renewal in April and insurers say that prices will rise for those companies with an adverse claims ratio. ...

As life becomes complex, there are financial needs that one cannot anticipate in totality. Be it a medical emergency or some unexpected expenses at a wedding, one needs a lifeline in terms of quick access to money. Personal loans do just that. It is a loan where the borrower need not disclose the end use of the money borrowed. There is no restriction or compliance with specific conditions of usage for the borrower. It is a loan which can be used to raise money at a comparatively short notice for any purpose, making it a rather convenient option for the borrower. These are relatively small-tenure loans, typically for less than five years. Personal loans also come with a whole host of charges. The borrower has to pay the processing fee while applying for the personal loan in the range of 1-2 % of the entire loan amount. Then, there are late payment charges (1-2 %) and pre-payment penalties (2-5 %) along with any other charges applicable from...

NEW DELHI: Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate led by billionaire Warren Buffett , today said it plans to enter the Indian non-life insurance sector as a corporate agent of leading player Bajaj Allianz General. The move would mark the foray of Berkshire Hathaway's direct entry into the Indian market, where the billionaire investor Buffett is yet to make substantial investments. As part of its planned India entry, the US conglomerate has incorporated Berkshire India to sell and distribute general insurance products in India. Berkshire India would directly sell insurance to consumers through the portal 'berkshireinsurance.com' and by way of telemarketing, it said in a statement. Initially, the focus would be on motor insurance but the company would continuously update its business model. ...

MUMBAI: US-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc, the firm run by billionaire Warren Buffett , said on Wednesday it aims to enter the Indian insurance sector as a corporate agent of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance . Berkshire India, a majority-owned unit of Berkshire Hathaway will sell and distribute general insurance products in India through its online distribution portal, the company said in a statement. Berkshire's initial focus will be on motor insurance, but the company will continuously update its business model to meet the needs of the fast evolving Indian insurance sector, it said. "If the market proves receptive, the company will seek to expand its products to include health insurance, life and travel insurance and other personal lines, as well," the statement added. Omaha, Nebraska-bas...

After a 400% rally in gold and 480% in silver in the past 10 years, we are seeing a pause amid the magnificent rise in precious metals. The price rise started as part of the liquidity-driven rally in all asset classes, and built pace after the credit crisis in the US, supported by safe-haven demand in the aftermath of the European sovereign debt crisis. It is now taking a breather. Low interest rates, high liquidity (stimulusdriven ), macro-economic uncertainty and lack of investor confidence in other asset classes were primary drivers of the rally in gold, with a little extra in silver in recent times as golds cheaper cousin. The recovery in the US macroeconomic environment and an increasing risk appetite prompted profit-taking in bullion. But larger uncertainties continue and high unemployment rates in developed countries prompt them to keep the easy monetary policy and feed the economy with high liquidity. Both these factors allow investors to chase high...

The Budget has left the insurance players a bit disappointed. They were expecting the finance minister to earmark a separate tax exemption limit for the life insurance premium. This was in addition to Section 80C which permits tax deductions up to Rs 1 lakh. However, the finance minister didnt play the ball. Availability of separate tax ex-emption for life Insurance premium would have encouraged penetration of a long term product such as life insurance. Currently, tax savings products such as PPF, life insurance premiums, PF contributions and National Savings Certificates are covered under the Rs 1-lakh limit under Section 80C of the Income-Tax Act, says Amitabh Chaudhary, MD & CEO, HDFC Life . Another cause for concern is the move to tax the proceeds from life insurance policies under the proposed DTC regime. The budget reaffirms the FMs intent to adher...

After a 400% rally in gold and 480% in silver in the past 10 years, we are seeing a pause amid the magnificent rise in precious metals. The price rise started as part of the liquidity-driven rally in all asset classes, and built pace after the credit crisis in the US, supported by safe-haven demand in the aftermath of the European sovereign debt crisis. It is now taking a breather. Low interest rates, high liquidity (stimulusdriven ), macro-economic uncertainty and lack of investor confidence in other asset classes were primary drivers of the rally in gold, with a little extra in silver in recent times as golds cheaper cousin. The recovery in the US macroeconomic environment and an increasing risk appetite prompted profit-taking in bullion. But larger uncertainties continue and high unemployment rates in developed countries prompt them to keep the easy monetary policy and feed the economy with high liquidity. Both these factors allow investors to chase high...

After a 400% rally in gold and 480% in silver in the past 10 years, we are seeing a pause amid the magnificent rise in precious metals. The price rise started as part of the liquidity-driven rally in all asset classes, and built pace after the credit crisis in the US, supported by safe-haven demand in the aftermath of the European sovereign debt crisis. It is now taking a breather. Low interest rates, high liquidity (stimulusdriven ), macro-economic uncertainty and lack of investor confidence in other asset classes were primary drivers of the rally in gold, with a little extra in silver in recent times as golds cheaper cousin. The recovery in the US macroeconomic environment and an increasing risk appetite prompted profit-taking in bullion. But larger uncertainties continue and high unemployment rates in developed countries prompt them to keep the easy monetary policy and feed the economy with high liquidity. Both these factors allow investors to chase high...

NEW DELHI: A day after the federal budget, senior citizens practicing laughter therapy at the Nehru Park in the capital's diplomatic enclave had real reasons to laugh, at the welcome income tax sops given them. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech Monday proposed a special category of very senior citizens of those above 80 and giving them an exemption limit of Rs.5 lakh per annum. The threshold age for senior citizens, who enjoy a tax-exemption limit of Rs 2.4 lakh, was lowered from 65 to 60 years. "I am very happy with the proposal. At this stage of my life, when I have to pay for my medical expenses which is more than my total expense every month, this measure comes as a boon to me," 82-year-old Alok Kumar Srivastava told IANS. Srivastava added that "he could think of saving some money in the future". T.V. Venkitachalam, ...

The Union Budget 2011-12 can be viewed as market neutral but growth oriented, with a positive bias. With the focus being, very clearly, on growth combined with inflation containment and an overall stronger fiscal position, we are fairly positive about the policies announced by the Finance Minister in his Budget. The highlight was the Fiscal Deficit target that showed a meaningful decline. The FM has brought down the fiscal deficit from 5.5% to 5.1% of GDP for 2010-11 and for FY12, the deficit target has also been improved to 4.6%, which provided considerable cheer to the markets. GDP growth targets for the economy at a strong 9% for FY12 and 8.6% for FY11 also provided comfort to the markets and indicated that Indias growth trajectory was intact. An announcement that was keenly watched was the targeted borrowing programme of the Government for FY12, which again surprised positively with a target net borrowing of Rs. 3.4 trillion...