Smart Spending: You can rent a yacht and live a day like a billionaire

Boats are a billionaire pursuit, but rigs can also be leased for parties, the weekend or quick jaunts.

Finance News : Any mention of yachts evokes images of the luxury boats owned by the wealthiest men in the world – the size of their ships directly proportional to the amount of money that’s spent on them. In that world, bigger is better; and around the globe, yachts have been a billionaire pursuit – from Aristotle Onassis’s 99-metre superyacht ‘Christina O’ to absconding billionaire Vijay Mallya’s 95-metre ‘Indian Empress’.

But what most may not know is that it’s possible to sail like a billionaire even if for a day or two because most owners lease their boats out when they aren’t using them. Case in point – can you rent ‘Ashena’ – a 45-metre superyacht with five cabins owned by Raymond’s boss Gautam Singhania? It’s possible if you cough up Rs 800,000 a day, and if that’s too steep for the wallet, there are other options that cater to every budget.

In the island metropolis of Mumbai, the business of boats is a less flashy affair with most owners being avid sailors as opposed to grandstanding tycoons who throw champagne parties for hundreds of people after an F1 race when docked in Monte Carlo or Barcelona. Which also means that ‘Ashena’ is an exception, and most of the boats range between 10 metres and 20 metres. A 20-metre boat can host a party for two dozen people with ease.

Also Read : To earn higher interest income, you have to take some measured risks

These boats can be leased for an evening or a weekend from any one of the couple dozen companies such as Gateway Charters, Sailing Stuff and Yacht Charters India in Mumbai. The upside: it’s cheaper than shelling out a few lakhs for a ballroom at a five-star hotel in the city.

Aashim Mongia, managing director of West Coast Marine Yacht Services in Mumbai says that there are at least fifty professionals who own boats and many do lease them out. The average cost of renting a yacht hinges on size and ranges from between Rs 20,000 for a few hours to a million rupees, depending primarily on size and amenities. He points to two broad sets of clients – those who throw corporate events such as TCS or Axis Bank, or then as a celebration for their clients or themselves.

“We’ve had finance companies bring 25 top-end clients, and they use the boat and for around Rs 300,000 for 25 people in an ambience that is far more unique than anything on land. The only catch is that the gateway of India shuts at 11 pm, so you have to return by then,” Mongia says.

Read More About → Smart Spending

To earn higher interest income, you have to take some measured risks

For fixed-income investors, this is undoubtedly good news, as interest rates will go up. Banks like State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and others are slowing raising deposit rates.

Finance News : Interest rates in India are on the upswing. The benchmark 10-year G-Sec bond yield is up around 81 basis points over the past year. Currently, it stands at 7.77 per cent. And, there are expectations that yields would harden further in the second half of the year because the central government’s borrowing programme has been pushed back.

As a result, borrowing will be higher in the second half of the year. State governments, too, are also likely to borrow heavily. Given that 2019 general elections are fast approaching, there could also be some surprise expenses from the government.

For fixed-income investors, this is undoubtedly good news, as interest rates in India will go up. In fact, they already are. Banks like State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and others are slowing raising deposit rates. But, instead of just looking at fixed deposits from banks or non-banking financial companies, investors could earn higher interest income from other instruments, such as non-convertible debentures, fixed maturity plans and such.

Also Read : Smart spending: You can rent a yacht and live a day like a billionaire

For starters, if you want to wait and lock yourself into higher rates in the future, the strategy should be to be in shorter-term deposits or funds. Vishal Dhawan, chief financial planner, Plan Ahead Wealth Advisors, says: “If you decide to invest in fixed deposits, go for a tenure of six to nine months. This will allow you to move to deposits offering higher interest rates if rates continue to rise in the near future.”

Deepesh Raghaw, founder, PersonalFinancePlan.in, adds: “At this point in time, however, investors should stick largely to shorter-duration debt funds that are not subject to duration risk.”

However, if you want to invest now, there are some options:

• Non-convertible debentures
• Accrual funds
• Opt for FMPs to circumvent interest-rate volatility
• Keep an eye on your hybrid funds

Exploring Untapped Potential of Mutual Funds

 

The Mutual Fund industry has seen unprecedented growth in the past 3 years. In November 2016, total assets managed by mutual funds touched a record high of ?16.5 lakh crores rupees, a year on year growth of 27%.

Total number of folios in India also reached a record number of 4.7 crore. However, mutual funds still suffer extremely low penetration in India. A 7% share of Assets under Management (AUM) of Mutual Funds to GDP is significantly lower than some other emerging economies like Brazil (42%) and South Africa (33%).

Introducing Direct plans of mutual funds

MoneyFront aims to highlight the true potential of mutual funds to investors by firstly adopting the no-conflict option of direct plan of mutual funds. Direct plans are an alternative to the regular plans of mutual funds where you can skip the distributors and agents and invest directly with the Fund House.

Exploring Untapped Potential of Mutual Funds A direct consequence of this is an increase in returns by up to 1.5% annually, as the commissions paid to the distributors/agent are not charged to the scheme. MoneyFront, in its endeavour to provide maximum benefits to clients offers only ‘Direct Plans’.

For investors who are not well-versed about mutual funds or who need help with their asset allocation, MoneyFront also offers investment advisory that provides model portfolios and scheme recommendations tailor-made to the investor’s financial goals and risk tolerance levels. Over and above that, the investors have access to a vast library of news, views, developments, and statistics related to mutual fund schemes and everything else that impacts them.(read more...)

7 out of top 10 fund picks rise 17%

Seven out of top 10 stock picks by India’s equity fund managers have gained 17 per cent so far in 2016. This has helped equity schemes outperform the key indices. 

Notably, fund managers have not churned their top holdings in their schemes’ portfolios. They continued to have the same set of stocks on their top list, although the position of the stocks changed a bit.

HDFC Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Axis Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), Maruti Suzuki, Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, and Sun Pharmaceuticals are the most-owned stocks by fund managers. These counters have cornered nearly Rs 1.05 lakh crore of the total assets of open-end equity schemes.

At a time when benchmark key indices have gained 9.3 per cent, a majority of the top stock picks have outperformed with a wide margin.

Axis Bank has emerged the biggest hit among the top holdings. The stock has gained a hefty 33.3 per cent in 2016. It was followed by IndusInd Bank (22.5 per cent), HDFC Bank (18.6 per cent) and  read more..