First of Things

New Delhi : People will have to wait for one more day to know the outcome of exit polls as the Election Commission on Friday postponed their telecast to March 9 evening after elections to one seat each in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are over. The last phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur is on March 8. But following the demise of two candidates in the Alapur (UP) and the Karnaprayag (Uttarakhand) constituencies, the Commission had postponed elections there and fixed March 9 as the new date. If candidates of recognised parties-- in this case the SP and the BSP-- die before or on polling day, the election is postponed to allow the party field a new person. According to election laws, exit polls can be telecast half-an-hour after the end of polling in all the phases and states.

London:  It seems that 50 is the golden age of happiness, for a new study has found that it's the key to 'content and comfortable' life. Researchers say many of those who have passed their half century are enjoying the best time of their lives - they have the peace of mind of having paid off their mortgage, got the children off their hands or are simply enjoying spending more time with loved ones and friends. The 'age of happiness', in fact, emerged in a survey which questioned almost 1,500 people aged 50 and over. It has found four out of ten were more content with their lives than at any other period, the 'Daily Mail' reported. Many admitted they enjoyed a sense of achievement from their career and pride in having children who were settled in their chosen careers. More time to spend with family and an active social life were also key factors, the survey found. It also emerged that almost two-thirds of those in their fifties feel more confident...

Washington : It may not be a far-fetched idea to replace apple a day with a hug as researchers have found that more frequent hugs protect stressed people from getting sick. The team from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) found that greater social support and more frequent hugs protected people from the increased susceptibility to infection associated with being stressed and resulted in less severe illness symptoms. "We know that people experiencing ongoing conflicts with others are less able to fight off cold viruses. We also know that people who report having social support are partly protected from the effects of stress on psychological states, such as depression and anxiety," said Sheldon Cohen, the Robert E. Doherty University professor of psychology at CMU. Cohen and his team chose to study hugging as an example of social support because hugs are typically a marker of having a more intimate and close relationship with another person. They assessed the perceiv...

Mutual funds ask investors to provide contact details, such as email ID and mobile number, to send across timely alerts and other useful information. Application forms contain fields for filling these critical contact details which investors tend to ignore as these are not mandatory. A number of facilities are available to those who provide their email IDs and mobile numbers. These include: Alerts and confirmations Almost all mutual funds send email alerts for routine transactions, such as SIPs, which serve as a reminder to ensure availability of funds. Transaction confirmation in a particular account sent by email serves as confirmation of transaction initiated by the investor and also alerts the investor in case of any unauthorised activity in the account. Self-management tools Today’s informed investors are keen on updated information regarding their portfolios, require statements to help file returns and want to check the details of transactions in their folios during v...

2016 has been a good year for India's mutual fund sector, reaching an asset size of Rs 13 trillion and seeing a strong return of retail (small) investors. N K Prasad, president and chief executive officer at Computer Age Management Services (CAMS), a prominent transfer agency in the sector, talks about this and his entity's outlook to Chandan Kishore Kant. Edited excerpts: How has 2016 been for MFs? The sector experienced continued growth, with significant inflow from existing and new investors. Assets under management (AUM) touched an all-time high of Rs 13 lakh crore. Growing investor interest is evident in the form of growth in active accounts and increased systematic investment registrations. What have you done on the rising opportunity for providing a smooth experience for investors and distributors? With AMCs (asset management companies) and distributors focused on promoting the awareness about MFs, we are seeing increased contribution from smaller cities and...

How CAMS and the fund houses with operations in Chennai dealt with the recent flood in Chennai to minimise delays and disruptions The extraordinary deluge of rains that Chennai received in the first week of December, the highest in a century, proved to be a trial-by-fire for the city's disaster-management plans. And the government as well as private institutions failed the test. Subscribe to the Value Research Insight newsletter On the critical days from December 2 to 5, airports and stations were shut, ATMs were inoperable and phone and data connections were severed. Power supply failed in many parts of the city. But how did the mutual-fund (MF) industry weather the deluge? Value Research spoke to three well-known entities in the MF industry which run significant operations out of Chennai - CAMS, the registrar and transfer agent (RTA); Franklin Templeton Investments (India), which has key fund-management and investor-servicing operations situated in Chennai; and Sundaram Mutua...

If you have not been investing in direct plans of mutual funds (MF) because of the cumbersome procedure, you can consider doing so now. From January, you can transact in direct plans of MFs online through the MF Utility platform. You can transact in direct plans of up to 25 fund houses, which are linked to MF Utility. Till now, it was possible to invest in direct plans physically. If you wanted to do it online, you had to do it through websites of individual fund houses, which means keeping track of multiple user IDs and passwords. Also, you had to get used to multiple web implementations/procedures of various fund houses. Or you could do it through platforms such as myCAMS. The MF Utility platform is one more option to transact in direct plans online. “Only investors who are educated, understand investment and don't require advisors' advice choose direct plans,” says an industry official. Direct plans have not picked up even two years after they were introduced. Industry...