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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News Network
March 18,2020

San Francisco, Mar 18: Facebook said a bug in its anti-spam system temporarily blocked the publication of links to news stories about the coronavirus. Guy Rosen, Facebook's vice president of integrity, said on Twitter Tuesday that the company was working on a fix for the problem.

Users complained that links to news stories about school closings and other information related to the virus outbreak were blocked by the company's automated system.

Later on Tuesday, Rosen tweeted that Facebook had restored all the incorrectly deleted posts, which also covered topics beyond the coronavirus.

Rosen said the problems were unrelated to any changes in Facebook's content-moderator workforce. The company reportedly sent its human moderators home this week because of the coronavirus outbreak.

A representative for Facebook did not immediately respond to questions on the status of Facebook's content moderators, many of whom do not work directly for the company and are not always able to work from home.

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Agencies
January 20,2020

Washington D.C., Jan 20: An American bride asked for money from her invitees so that they can be on the 'exclusive guest list'.

Weddings can be surely expensive. But is it feasible for one to charge the guests to make up for the expenses?

According to Fox News, that is exactly what happened in a recent American wedding. A 19-year-old shared on Reddit that her cousin was getting married on Sunday and announced that she would charge 50 dollars to those who wanted to attend her wedding.

"She said that they can Venmo her money so there won't be no [sic] problems and everyone who paid will be added onto the 'exclusive guest list' which basically means you won't have to wait in line while other guests pay," wrote the user named DaintySheep.

While she refused to pay for entry into her cousin's wedding the bride-to-be contacted the elders in the family which ended up in an embarrassing situation.

"She wanted to get the money she spent on her special day back. I told her I wouldn't be able to come because this was outrageous and that I wish her well on her special day. She contacted my aunt and my aunt called me cheap and rude. My parents offered to pay for my entry, but I refused," continued the disheartened girl.

While in almost every nook and cranny of the world gifting the bride-groom with money is a tradition, asking for money from friends and family to replenish the money spent on a wedding is can be said to be a rare scenario.

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Agencies
May 10,2020

In the wake of the gas leak at a factory in Visakhapatnam, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued detailed guidelines for restarting industries after the lockdown and the precautions to be taken for the safety of the plants as well as the workers.

In a communication to all states and union territories, the NDMA said due to several weeks of lockdown and the closure of industrial units, it is possible that some of the operators might not have followed the established standard operating procedures.

As a result, some of the manufacturing facilities, pipelines, valves may have residual chemicals, which may pose risk. The same is true for the storage facilities with hazardous chemicals and flammable materials, it said.

The NDMA guidelines said while restarting a unit, the first week should be considered as the trial or test run period after ensuring all safety protocols.

Companies should not try to achieve high production targets. There should be 24-hour sanitisation of the factory premises, it said.

The factories need to maintain a sanitisation routine every two-three hours especially in the common areas that include lunch rooms and common tables which will have to be wiped clean with disinfectants after every single use, it added.

For accommodation, the NDMA said, sanitisation needs to be performed regularly to ensure worker safety and reduce the spread of contamination.

To minimise the risk, it is important that employees who work on specific equipment are sensitised and made aware of the need to identify abnormalities like strange sounds or smell, exposed wires, vibrations, leaks, smoke, abnormal wobbling, irregular grinding or other potentially hazardous signs which indicate the need for immediate maintenance or if required shutdown, it said.

At least 11 people lost their lives and about 1,000 others were exposed to a gas leak at a factory in Andhra Pradesh''s Visakhapatnam on May 7.

The incident took place after it restarted operations when the government allowed industrial activities in certain sectors following several weeks of lockdown.

The lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 for 21 days in a bid to combat the coronavirus threat. The lockdown was then extended till May 3 and again till May 17.

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