The restructure doesn't concern me. Shareholders will continue to own to own the underlying business, just under a new umbrella company.
A bit of rare media coverage in today's AFR:
Those investors who increased their exposure to Indian equities at the start of 2014 have reason to feel smug given stellar gains in the asset class. Those who did not may fear they have already missed the boat, but top India-focused fund managers reckon the bull market has years left to run.
“India’s stockmarket still has a lot of catching up to do,” Fiducian managing director Indy Singh toldAFR Weekend.
Indian shares were a shining star of global equity markets in 2014, as the return to power of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi, buoyed sentiment around the emerging economy’s growth prospects.
With days left before the end of the year, Australian investors are staring down the possibility that their domestic share portfolio could post an annual loss. As of December 27 the broad ASX All Ordinaries Index was basically flat, ahead less than 0.1 per cent year-to-date. Consensus expectations for the year ahead are modest.
In stark contrast, both of India’s major share indices, the Sensex and the Nifty, have climbed by more than 30 per cent in 2014, with analysts predicting another bumper year ahead.
Many global equity funds, particularly emerging market funds, have recently increased their allocations to India.
Exchange-traded fund products (ETFs) that focus on Indian equities are a relatively cheap and easy option for investors who want a pure exposure to the broad market. For those looking for a pure exposure to India who prefer a stock-specific approach, Fiducian is one of two funds management houses, alongside Fidelity, offering a dedicated India fund that is available to Australian retail investors.
ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET
“There has long been a saying that China’s economy grew because of its government, while India’s economy struggled to grow in spite of its. The corruption and bureaucracy has been crippling, but now Prime Minister Modi is telling the world the red tape is being transformed into a red carpet,” Mr Singh said.
The Indian-born Australian fund manager has personal oversight of the Fiducian India Fund which operates as a fund-of-funds with mandates allocated to three India-based managers: SBI Funds Management, Sundaram Asset Management, and HDFC Asset Management. Mr Singh thinks Australians in the accumulation phase of superannuation should consider allocating up to 10 per cent of their equities portfolio into India.
There are a raft of reasons why so many pundits argue now is a good time to put money in Indian shares.
“There are almost 1.3 billion people living in India and the country has an annual gross domestic product a little under what Australia generates with a population of 22 million people. The potential has always been there, and now confidence is building it will finally be realised,” Mr Singh said.
A boost in consumer and business confidence since the election of the new government is tipped to continue.
Mr Modi campaigned on a platform of structural reforms and many changes have already been introduced in the services, finance, agricultural, manufacturing and mining sectors.
Perhaps the most ambitious of Mr Modi’s planned reforms is to introduce a national goods and services tax, replacing disparate taxation policies that make doing business across the nation’s 29 states incredibly arduous.
A TEST OF MODI’S METTLE
“Taxation reform will be a major test of Modi’s mettle as a politician. If he can push that through it will be a very big positive development for India,” Fidelity India Fund portfolio adviser Sandeep Kothari said.
In addition to strengthening the economic backdrop against which companies operate, improving the corporate earnings outlook, some of Mr Modi’s reforms are aimed at increasing financial market participation.
Household savings make up 22 per cent of India’s GDP but as most Indians prefer to store their wealth in property or gold, equity investments account for about only 1 per cent of total household savings.
Institutional investors also have a low allocation to equities, relative to international standards. Just 8.6 per cent of India’s 481 billion rupee ($9.33 billion) National Pension System is invested in stocks.
Meanwhile the rush of capital from offshore that has fuelled much of the gains of the past year, is also forecast to continue. Despite high barriers to entry, more than 30 per cent of India’s equity market is foreign owned. The international appetite for Indian equities is growing as the government moves to make the market more accessible.
Mr Kothari is an Indian national but works out of Singapore in order to comply with the rules around managing foreign money. Other policy initiatives designed to encourage more Indians to open savings accounts have met with early success, leaving Mr Kothari particularly bullish on Indian bank stocks.
The top five holdings in the Fidelity India Fund as at November 30 were HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Power Grid Corp of India, Info Edge India and Motherson Sumi Systems.
