smallcases are Rebalanced

Thematic, model-based and sectoral smallcases with a quarterly schedule have been rebalanced. Regular rebalancing ensures that the smallcases are always true to the underlying theme/idea. You can now invest in newly rebalanced smallcases with a brand new set of stocks and apply updates to your invested smallcases.

4500 km in 2019-20: NHAI’s new target

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has set a construction target of 4,500 km in 2019-20. This is the highest construction target ever for the authority. It had built 3320 km of highways during 2018-19 period and proposes to clock 35% growth over the same, during the current fiscal year. The authority also proposes to award 6000 kms of highway projects during the same period. The authority is projected to get around ₹37,000 crore budgetary support in 2019-20 period.

In related news NDA 2.0 is planning to spend ₹70,000 crore over the next 5 years on road building projects to link villages with nearby mandis, in order to boost the rural economy. This would involve constructing 125,000 km of roads and would be executed under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The Government had built 145,198.44 kms of rural roads between 2016 – 2019 under the scheme.

The Infra Tracker smallcase comprises of construction & engineering, water management, cables, ports and cement companies to allow investors to efficiently track and invest in the infra sector. The smallcase has surged 13% in the last 1 month.

Life Insurance industry grows by 41.2%

The data from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) showed that life insurance industry collected ₹28,396 crore first year premium in April and May of 2019 recording 41.2% growth over the same period previous year. First-year premiums of private life insurers rose to ₹9,631 crore during the period, a growth of 46.9% over the previous year. SBI Life Insurance, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance and HDFC Life Insurance posted a 6.5%, 4.7% and 9.2% YoY growth in their first-year premium collection.

During this period, non life insurance companies collected gross direct premium of ₹28,126.7 up 15.3% YoY.

According to Fitch Solutions, a subsidiary of Fitch Ratings, rising life expectancies combined with a growing middle class are driving demand for life insurance products and presents major opportunities for insurers over the next few years. The agency expects premiums to grow steadily at about 7% in the medium term.

The Insurance Tracker smallcase comprises listed insurance companies to allow investors to efficiently track and invest in the insurance sector. The smallcase has returned 8.3% returns in the last 1 month.

Markets update

After a see-saw trading week, benchmark indices ended the week marginally down. Nifty closed at 11,823.3 down 0.40% and Sensex ended at 39,452.1 down 0.41%

Industrial Production in April 2019 grew by 3.4% on year on year basis. The numbers were substantially higher than street estimates of 0.9%.

Wholesale inflation rate in May 2019 increased by 2.45% below street estimate of 3.4%. Consumer inflation rate for the same period increased by 3.05% above street estimate of 2.9%.  

Investment Insights

ETFs 101 – What is an ETF?

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have suddenly become very popular, receiving a lot of media attention and interest from investors – yet most of us don’t really know what exactly are ETFs & how they function. Read our first post in the ETF education series about the basics of ETF here.