India's ultra-rich prefer investing in equities, bonds over real estate, gold: Report

Agencies
March 7, 2019

Mumbai, Mar 7: India's "ultra-high net worth individuals" (UHNWI) -- with assets worth $30 million and more -- prefer investing in equities and bonds rather than real estate and gold, a Knight Frank report said on Wednesday.

According to the data provided by The Wealth Report 2019, around 30 per cent of investments by Indian UHNWIs went to equities and 28 per cent to bonds, followed by 24 per cent in properties. Investment in gold was just 4 per cent.

"For the year 2018, Indian respondents gave a thumbs-up to equities and bonds where respondents to the survey said that their clients preferred these high-return investment assets," it said.

In the year ahead, the report projects wealthy Indians would get more inclined towards equities and bonds, while globally investors are likely to go for investments into property and the most liquid asset of cash.

In the Indian market, there is a strong bend towards equities (34 per cent) and private equities (37 per cent), it said on the outlook for 2019. Private equity, which saw only about 4 per cent of wealth allocation in 2018, is set to see a significant rise in 2019, it said.

"Bucking the global trend, Indian UHNWI showed least preference for the most liquid of all assets, i.e. cash, which registered a negative sentiment. A strong trend was also witnessed in bonds investment for which sentiments saw a rise of 20 per cent," said the report.

Commenting on the report, Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said: "While globally UHNWIs are showing affinity towards more liquid investments as it is the most risk-averse asset, Indian counterparts on the other hand are increasing their exposure in the equity and bonds."

"There is a sense of confidence amongst Indian UHNWIs on the strength of the country's economic growth, which is pushing them to invest in higher risk assets for shorter periods of time. Real estate and luxury investments, which are the most illiquid assets, remain largely stable," Baijal said.

Further, the report predicts that India would have the highest growth in the number of ultra-high net worth individuals with a likely 39 per cent growth during 2018-2023, followed by the Philippines (38 per cent) and China (35 per cent).

"Despite the election uncertainties of 2019, India's wealth is expected to charge ahead over the next five years with the number of UHNWIs rising to 2,697. Starting from a low base, the Philippines is projected to have 296 UHNWIs by 2023, less than 2 per cent of the projected ultra-wealthy population of Japan, the most prominent Asian wealth hub," it said.

India's UHNWI population grew by 24 per cent during 2014-18 and accounts for 1,947 UHNWIs whose net worth was over $30 million in 2018. It grew by 7 per cent in 2017-2018, well above the global average (4 per cent) and the Asia average (3 per cent).

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Agencies
January 4,2020

Washington D.C: One of the greatest spectacles of modern art is still thriving in the Australian outback as confirmed by satellite imagery of NASA. The Marree Man is a massive geoglyph depicting an aboriginal hunter, that spans over 2.6 miles in the Southern Australian region.

Discovered by a pilot in 1998, its origin still remains a mystery even to this date.

The Marree Man was given a new lease of life in 2016 when a group of people from the neighboring town of Marree plowed its lines to avert its fading due to erosion.

After NASA shared the image of the art-work that was taken in June, the efforts of the good samaritans turned out to be a total success, reported CNN Travel.

The restoration team believes that the refurbished Marree Man would last longer than its original version.

According to NASA, "They [the team] created wind grooves, designed to trap water and encourage the growth of vegetation. They hope that eventually, the man will turn green."

In a previous article, CNN reported that an entrepreneur by the name of Dick Smith took upon himself to unravel the geoglyph's mystery in 2016. His team combed through all the available evidence but couldn't find anything conclusive.

In 2018 he even offered a 5,000 Australian dollar reward for anyone who knows the identity of its creator.

Nobody turned up with an answer but it was speculated that unknown artist lives in Alice Springs or even might be an American.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Facebook on Monday launched a new consumer marketing campaign in India titled 'More Together'. India is the first country in the Asia Pacific region where such a campaign is being rolled out.

It is also the first time that Facebook is rolling out a 'high decibel campaign of this stature in India', the company said in a statement.

It is also the first time that Facebook is rolling out a 'high decibel campaign of this stature in India', the company said in a statement.

"India is at the heart of Facebook and one of our focus areas this year is to tell the exciting story of a service that is deeply embedded in the fabric of India," said Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director, Facebook India.

The campaign would have multiple campaigns over the next few weeks in eight languages and the one will be set in the context of Holi.

Facebook in 2019 introduced a new company logo to further distinguish the company from the Facebook app.

The company recently announced the appointment of Avinash Pant as the Marketing Director for India operations, to drive the consumer marketing efforts across the family of apps.

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Agencies
May 30,2020

The GST Council is unlikely to make major changes in the indirect tax structure at its next meeting slated mid June.

A top government source said that the Centre is not in favour of increasing tax rates on any goods or service as it could further impact consumption and demand that is already suppressed due the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.

It was widely expected that the GST Council could consider raising tax rates and cess on certain non-essential items to boost revenue for states and the Centre. Several states have reportedly taken an over 80-90 per cent hit in GST collections in April, the official data for which has not yet been released by the Centre.

"The need of the hour is to boost consumption and improve demand. By categorising items into essential and non-essential and then raising taxes on non-essential is not what Centre favours. But, the issue on rates and relief will be decided by the GST Council that is meeting next month," the finance ministry official source quoted above said.

The GST Council is chaired by the Union finance minister and thus the views of the Centre play out strongly in the council meetings.

However, the Council will also have to balance the expectations of the states whose revenues have nosedived after the coronavirus outbreak and wide scale disruption to businesses while they have still not been paid GST compensation since the December-January period.

To the question of wider scale job losses in the period of lockdown as businesses get widely impacted, the official said that the Finance Ministry has asked the labour ministry to collect data on job losses during Covid-19 and is constantly engaging with the ministry to oversee job losses and salary cuts.

On restrictions put on Chinese investment in India, the official clarified that no decision had yet been taken to restrict China through the Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) route.

Asked about monetising government debt, the official said that the issue would be looked at when we reach a stage. It has not come to that stage yet.

In the government's over Rs 20 lakh crore economic package, the official defended its structure while suggesting that comparisons with the economic packages of other countries should not be drawn as India's needs were different from others.

"We have gone in more reforms that is needed to give strength to the economy. This is required more in our country," the official source said.

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