Latest news with #Thakkar
Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Parag Parikh Mutual Fund's Rajeev Thakkar turns to debt: What's driving the shift in his personal portfolio?
Rajeev Thakkar, chief investment officer of PPFAS Mutual Fund (Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services), oversees assets exceeding ₹1 trillion. Thakkar, 52, has built a solid track record over the years, with the Parag Parikh Flexicap Fund becoming the largest fund in its category. Incidentally, this is also the fund that Thakkar uses for his own equity investments. In this interaction with Mint for the 'Guru Portfolio series', Thakkar shares how he manages his personal investment portfolio and why his equity allocation has reduced. How has your personal investing and portfolio evolved over the past five years? Over the past five years, my portfolio has seen a shift, especially in the last one to two years. We've been cautious as a fund house, largely due to elevated valuations in the market, and this cautious approach has reflected in my personal investments as well. Most of my investments over the past 18–24 months have been in hybrid and arbitrage funds. Given my historically high exposure to equities and the fact that now am in my 50s, I have started rebalancing by allocating more to hybrids and arbitrage products. Also Read: What makes Mirae Asset's Swarup Mohanty paranoid about his retirement corpus Why have you taken a more cautious investment approach recently? Given that valuations are elevated, while stocks may deliver slightly better returns than bonds, I have opted for a more balanced approach. Within hybrids, I have allocated to a dynamic asset allocation fund. It also offers a long-term capital gains tax benefit: if the holding period is more than 24 months, capital gains are taxed at a flat 12.5%. What does your asset allocation look like? On debt allocation, it has increased significantly. It was 4-5% around 2020, but has now grown to around 12-13%. If I include the contingency and retirement funds, the fixed income component moves closer to 20%. Overall, there's been a clear rise in allocations toward hybrids and debt instruments. Gold has largely been in the form of jewellery. I haven't had explicit exposure to gold, but on auspicious days, some buying and some gifting happen for ceremonial reasons. The balance 80% is still in equities. Also Read: How Capitalmind's Deepak Shenoy covered shortfall in his son's education goalWhat did your portfolio look like five years ago? Can you give some context? Five years ago, debt was very limited. That period— around March to May 2020—coincided with the covid lows. Valuations were extremely attractive then, and even some of my debt allocation was tactically moved into equities. At that time, the portfolio was heavily tilted towards equities. How heavy was the equity allocation back then? It was quite high—equity allocation could have been around 95%. How has your portfolio performed? It has delivered 14% returns over the past year and 29% annualized returns over a five-year period. What is the current split between large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap stocks in your equity portfolio? As a fund manager, I have publicly stated that valuations in the small- and mid-cap segments have generally been more elevated compared to large-cap companies. Because of this, the exposure to mid- and small-cap stocks in my equity portfolio, which is through the flexicap fund, is currently in the single digits (4%). The bulk of the fund's portfolio—60%—is invested in large-cap stocks. About 10% is in international stocks, and the balance is in cash. Also Read: Inside Edelweiss MF CEO Radhika Gupta's plan to build over ₹10-crore—and how she's investing to get there How has your international exposure changed? This allocation has been coming down over the years due to the RBI-imposed limits on mutual fund investments abroad. Recently, Parag Parikh Financial Services (PPFAS) set up a subsidiary in the Gift City, which will offer both inbound funds, as well as outbound funds for Indian residents to invest in global stocks. So, hopefully, I will be able to use that and invest some additional money internationally. What has been your approach to insurance? Now that my savings have built up adequately, there's no longer a need to continue term insurance coverage. I am in the last three years of my term cover. Even my health insurance coverage is slightly lower than the typical amount. Given this scenario, I've been building an emergency corpus—particularly for health or unexpected needs in post-retirement period—again through hybrids and arbitrage funds. How much coverage do you want to build for this post-retirement emergency fund? I have reached the basic target to meet my post-retirement lifestlyle needs. But I also need to build a post-retirement contingency fund as my personal medical cover is small in size. I have employer cover, but that would not come in handy in post-retirement period. For this emergency fund, which I am planning for health and other contingencies post-retirement, my goal is to accumulate a corpus of around ₹10 crore. How much is your family involved in investment decisions? My wife is also a finance professional working in the mutual fund industry, but is on the risk-management side. My family is very well aware of what is happening in my investment portfolio, but any investment decisions are largely left to me. My daughter, who is now 20, has also become a keen investor and manages a small portfolio of her own. Since a young age, she has been a regular at our annual general meetings with unitholders. She is an avid reader and also watches investment-related content we put out on YouTube regularly. She has already been to Berkshire Hathaway meetings multiple times, where she has had the opportunity to listen to investing greats such as Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BMO Capital Downgrades Sunrun (RUN) to Underperform After House Passes 'One Big Beautiful Bill'
On May 22, BMO Capital analyst Ameet Thakkar downgraded Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ:RUN) from Market Perform to Underperform. The analyst also reduced the price target on the stock from $9 to $4. The rating comes after the US House of Representatives passed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' today, which now heads to the Senate for consideration. A field of solar panels glistening in the afternoon sun, symbolizing the company's renewable energy ambitions. The firm says that if the bill is adopted it puts Sunrun Inc.'s (NASDAQ:RUN) ability to claim the solar investment tax credit on residential solar leases in jeopardy for fiscal 2026 and beyond. This credit has been a major financial incentive for the company. If the bill passes it will remove the 30% federal solar investment tax credit for taxpayers who install solar rooftop systems, including those on leased residential solar installations. While the bill is under the Senate's consideration and can go through multiple iterations. However, Thakkar notes that there is limited political will to change the residential credit section. The firm notes that 90% of Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ:RUN) customers use third-party ownership structures, through which the company retains tax credits when homeowners lease or rent solar equipment. Therefore, the implementation of this bill causes a material risk to Sunrun Inc.'s (NASDAQ:RUN) business model. While we acknowledge the potential of RUN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than RUN and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the . READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
10cm polyp linked to lacquer fumes removed from worker's nose
Rajkot: A 47-year-old factory worker developed a massive nasal polyp, 10 centimetres long, which doctors attribute to his occupational exposure to lacquer fumes. The growth, which caused severe pain and swelling around his left eye, was accompanied by a white fungal infection around it. Medical professionals successfully removed the mass through endoscopic surgery. In the automotive industry, lacquer is sprayed on after paint as a finishing layer. The patient worked in this area for many years and experts say his continual inhalation of these fumes led to the formation of the abnormal growth. His symptoms included left-sided nasal obstruction, breathing difficulties, persistent headaches and intense pain in his left eye. "After a CT scan and endoscopic examination, we discovered a large nasal polyp and fungal infection in the patient's left nasal cavity, which had encroached dangerously on the eye," said Dr Himanshu Thakkar, who led the surgical team. The polyp, which originated in the maxillary sinus, progressed to the ethmoid sinus and down to the palate. Both the growth and fungal elements were removed in a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trade Bitcoin & Ethereum – No Wallet Needed! IC Markets Start Now Undo The patient's diabetes further compromised his ability to fight the fungal infection. "Had there been a delay in treatment, the infection could have spread to the eye and brain, resulting in the loss of the left eye or life-threatening complications," Dr Thakkar said. "Cases involving nasal polyps of this size are extremely rare." Healthcare professionals emphasized the importance of not ignoring persistent cold-like symptoms, as they may indicate more serious underlying conditions affecting the nose, eyes or throat.
Business Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Blended finance deals in East Asia and the Pacific hit US$4 billion in 2024
[SINGAPORE] Blended finance deals in East Asia and the Pacific surged to US$4 billion in 2024 from US$1.1 billion the year before, an increase of almost four times, according to a Wednesday (May 21) report by blended-finance organisation, Convergence. Most of the sum was channelled to South-east Asia, particularly Indonesia and Vietnam, said Ritesh Thakkar, senior adviser and head of Asia-Pacific at Convergence, who was speaking with The Business Times in a separate interview the same day. This increase was primarily driven by the impact investing arm of private equity firm TPG, which had raised US$1.25 billion for its Global South Initiative. On average, blended finance deals – featuring a mix of grants and concessional loans designed to lower the cost of capital and attract more commercial capital – have been averaging around US$3 billion annually in South-east Asia. And volumes have been trending upwards, said Thakkar. Deals in the region also have the highest median size at US$100 million, compared to US$46 million in sub-Saharan Africa, and US$91.5 million in Europe and Central Asia, stated the report. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 12.30 pm ESG Insights An exclusive weekly report on the latest environmental, social and governance issues. Sign Up Sign Up In total, blended finance volumes fell to US$18.3 billion in 2024, with 123 deals approaching their close, compared to US$23.1 billion the year before. In the five-year period between 2020 and 2024, annual blended finance volumes rose by an average of US$1.7 billion every year, from US$11.5 billion to US$18.3 billion last year. This shows the market's resilience as a countercyclical tool for mobilising capital, even during periods of macroeconomic uncertainty, the report said. Climate-related projects continue to dominate the blended finance landscape, accounting for 49 per cent of deals in 2024. There was a rise in median ticket size of deals in 2024; three transactions exceeded US$1 billion. But while deal sizes have been going up, the reported noted that scaling blended finance entails more than larger deal sizes. 'A lack of structural standardisation continues to slow the rollout and replication of blended structures; in many cases, concessional capital mobilises only sponsor equity or development finance institutions (DFI) and multi-lateral development banks (MDB) commercial funding, rather than attracting new third-party private investors,' read the report. Among private investors, financial institutions are playing a bigger role in blended finance transactions in 2024. The share of commitments from commercial banks and other financial players grew to 55 per cent in 2024, up from 45 per cent. More than half (56 per cent) of the commitments from this investor class were driven by DFI and MDB efforts to support their on-lending activities; 15 per cent were the bank's direct investments in projects, and 14 per cent went to companies. The majority of top private investors are financial institutions, with SMBC leading with 13 committed deals between 2022 and 2024. MUFG was second with eight. Financial institutions accounted for a third of all deals – higher than project transactions (17 per cent) and funds (9 per cent), which have traditionally been the main capital providers. Deals financial institutions are involved in support their own commercial portfolios. This enables them to increase lending to key underserved sectors and diversify their lending operations. While local investors tended to account for only a small component of blended finance deals, the report noted that local capital investments are proportionally higher in East Asia and the Pacific. Transactions in the region with regional investors typically include two or more local investors, signalling that local participation can instill confidence and attract other local investors, said the report. It added that commercial investment from local public investors have been relatively high in South Asia (at 20 per cent) and East Asia (19 per cent). This activity is highly influenced by government blended finance initiatives such as the Self Reliant India Fund in South Asia, and Indonesia's SMI, a state-owned enterprise focusing on infrastructure development. Local investment in the region has also been enabled by the strong presence of public commercial actors, such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency and Singapore's state investor, Temasek.
Economic Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Deploy Bull Call Ladder in Nifty to play index's range
Live Events Bull Call Ladder (Prices as of May 21) Below is the payoff graph of the strategy: (Source: ICICI Securities) (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel The Nifty index has been encountering resistance near the 25,000 mark, and analysts believe that unless this level is decisively breached, the overall trend is expected to remain sideways to has been more than a week since the Index has not been able to close above 25,000 levels and the same strike has got the highest call OI as Jay Thakkar, Head of Derivative and Quantitative Research at ICICI Securities , believes that unless those levels are decisively breached, the short-term trend is likely to remain sideways.'Now, on the lower side, the Index has managed to hold on to 24,700 levels for the past 2 days and there has been aggressive put writing at the lower levels, mainly at 24,800 levels, therefore, either the Index will trade within a range of 24,800 to 25,000 or it will break out of this range,' Thakkar was a good call unwinding as well, which was witnessed from 24,900 and 25,000 strikes, which makes it possible for an upward Index is trading just at 24,800, which is the max pain level, however, it is trading below the 25,068 level, which is the modified max pain level. Based on this, as well as the overall bias appearing to be sideways, is expected to limit the upside till 25,100 such a placement, Jay Thakkar suggests deploying a Bull Call Ladder strategy with a credit spread and limited upside up to 25,100 levels.A bull call ladder spread is an options trading strategy that extends the bull call spread by adding an additional short call at a higher strike price. It involves buying one ATM/ITM call, selling one OTM call, and selling another higher OTM call. This strategy is used when the trader is moderately bullish but wants to benefit from limited risk while also capitalising on a potential price surge. The downside risk is limited, while the upside profit is capped beyond a certain level, and excessive upward movement can lead to losses due to the extra short the index closes below 24,800, the strategy will not incur a loss. On the upside, the maximum gain will be in the range of 24,900 to 25,000, amounting to Rs 7,721 or 102.95 points. The breakeven point on the upside is at 25,102.95, and the position should be exited if the index moves beyond this level. Therefore, 25,103 should be treated as the stop-loss for the strategy.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
