India Inc., NRIs react to Pranab’s budget
Top industrialists, businessmen and NRIs Monday reacted to the federal budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Here are some of the comments:

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Sixty years young India, having a GDP that is touching 9%, is tomorrow’s economic superpower. With all its companies doing decently well, the Indian Share Market has become a hot and favorite destination of investors. Liberal economic policies, an ever-growing GDP, and relatively less competition (relatively less because India, unlike the established markets of USA/Japan, is still in its infancy) – all these factors are driving the potential investors our way.

But these factors are certainly not the ONLY factors responsible for the sudden boom in the number of NRI investors in the Share Market of India. There are other factors as well that has given big reasons to NRIs to start investing in India, and through this article we intend to put some light on the available investment opportunities in India or some best investing options in India available to NRIs, PIOs & OCIs. While stating all may be beyond us and next to impossible (partly because there ARE so many factors involved!) we have tried our best to highlight a few below.

India is synonymous with the word “resilience”. The people are pliant in catastrophe and so is the Indian market. While the world was contemplating the US Market, India, after initial jitters, was back on her feet soon. This is because the Indian market, still in its early years, has not, unlike the American Market, become an umbrella market taking all the major economies in its fold. Investors are still coming in in this growing market. The resilience is mirrored in the fact that since the reformed economic policies of 1991, the economic growth rate has reached new heights. While political power in Delhi changed hands constantly resulting in diverse economic policies, the market did not, even once, even stumble, let alone collapse! Moreover, as India is becoming young day-by-day (and so is the Share Market) we hope and expect the economy to perform even better.

Secondly, since our current PM and the then Finance Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh liberalized the economy, the two sectors that were somewhat left unattended were those of agriculture and infrastructure. But there is good news. For about two-three years now, these sectors have been given their due recognition. This, our experts at NriInvestIndia.com, hope will boost our economy a great deal. While the results are yet to be seen (we hope to see them in a couple of years from now) we are confident that the impact will be huge. Paying more attention to these two fields implies increase in production and consequently, consumption (India is also home to many poor). This will obviously lead to better standard of life and higher income levels for the Indian masses. And guess what? Higher income level means more investment and more money to be made.

Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) has proved to be a boon for the Indian economy. While the inflow of FDI has become less in the recent times, they continue benefiting us immensely. India is still a developing country and a country of many needs. FDI helps us fulfill our wants as it not only augments capital, it also brings with it better (or perhaps, the best) technology, products, services etc. It also creates scope for employment. This, of course, as mentioned earlier, leads to greater productivity and competitiveness, which in turn results in better standard of living, higher income levels and more investments.

We are sure all of you must have heard of BPO – Business Process Outsourcing. A growing fad in India, BPO is, in general, considered to be a call centre. But there is more to this global outsourcing boom than just BPO. These include research and development, manufacturing of various automobile parts etc. And this is primarily due to the increase in the confidence (of the world) in India’s skilled labour and its abilities. Again, as is the case with increased attention to agriculture and infrastructure, and FDI, outsourcing is people-oriented, resulting in better living standard, raised income and higher investments.

Fifthly, India has a strong domestic consumption level. Since majority of the Indian masses come in the “working class” category, they are surely profiting from better (and higher) pay-cheques. According to McKinsey, a consulting firm, the number of households having an average annual income of US$ 10000 is increasing by 20% per annum. The corporate world has emerged as one of the strongest industries. It is said that the Indian economy is all set to benefit in the long run from the nurturing affluence and the willingness to spend of the Indian masses.

Last, but not the least, all the reasons mentioned above will not be as worthwhile if the market is not regulated well. Fortunately, for India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), along with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), regulate the market ably. Be it anything of Indian stock markets: mutual funds, Indian stocks, NRI demat accounts deposits or life insurance, the Indian Share Market has arrived on the global platform. Redressal measures, innumerable choices, no major liquidity concern for the investors and better investment opportunity – all these combined have made India a favorite amongst all. But, having said so, we would also like to inform all of you that like any other market, the Indian Share Market also has its share of ups and downs. While you can minimize your risk by heeding to the advice of a financer, you cannot completely overcome the same.

Thus, all the above dynamics, amongst many more, together, along with the fact that India is the tenth largest economy in the world and fourth largest in terms of PPP (Purchasing Power Parity), have made India a potential destination for NRI. Miscellaneous, but no less important, factors like manpower, literacy level, some of the best educational institutions, strategic location etc adds fuel to the fire. The credibility of India lies in the fact that India has never defaulted from international financial obligations. Small-scale industries and strong English language base have helped India. A recent World Bank report has predicted that Indian economy will become one of the strongest by 2050 A.D.

This is why NRIs- Non Resident Indians and PIOs – Person of India origin invest in India and (we hope) will continue doing so. One of the best brokers in NRI Investment segment is http://www.NriInvestIndia.com/

Parliament passes bill giving NRIs voting rights
Replying to a debate on the Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to allow NRIs to exercise their franchise in Indian elections, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said the government would hold a national consultation on comprehensive electoral reforms in two to three months.The Rajya Sabha had passed the bill on Monday.

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Oil surpasses $140 per barrel, gold slowly heading towards a promising upward move, and to add fire – inflation in India hitting all time highs.

So you as an NRI are confused whether to invest in India at these levels or not?

Well this is the reality of the world we are currently living in. While most people are struggling to make ends meet. NriInvestIndia.com is capitalizing this golden opportunity (current low market levels) to make its non resident clients to make investments in stocks that are trading way low, almost 60% to 70% from where they were trading 6 months back. We assume that the markets are definitely acting pretty volatile with no buying coming in from either the hedge fund or the Indian mutual funds side, but still we believe that these levels are pretty attractive but only for those investors who want to get into the Indian share market with a long term view.

This long term view should be of a minimum of 3-4 years, and one can expect a return of 20-30% on their capital invested. This basically boils down to prudent investing with a long term approach if the investor wants to generate huge profits over a period of 3-4 years in this bearish Indian market, which is totally being dictated by the global slowdown and the US recession (USA – recession).

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be a good NRI investor or stock investors in the stock markets of India (both BSE & NSE) and how you in fact could make some good money or a living by trading such markets, NriInvestIndia.com will not only tell you how you can open an NRI Account and invest using FMPs – fixed income maturity plans or SIPs – systematic investment plans but also assist you in investing in the best and top Indian mutual funds that could yield you high returns when the markets start bottoming out. We ate NriInvestIndia.com pledge to provide the most comprehensive investment advisory services and options to NRIs, PIOs and OCIs that would benefit person of India origin in a long run.

Whether you tend to be conservative or aggressive, NriInvestIndia.com can work hand in hand with your by giving you professional investment advising and financial consultancy to build a solid portfoilio that can give you good returns when you retire.

Please visit www.nriinvestindia.com to learn more about the NRI services like: Demat Account, NRI Trading Account, NRI Banking Services, PAN Card Assistance in India, Portfolio Management Services, Derivative Trading & Indian Mutual Funds assistance.

NRIs: Low rates on deposits disappointing
NRIs: Low rates on deposits disappointing

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With the onset of technology and its augmentation, everything today has become ‘online’ and this includes trading! All non-residents today trade online. Almost all the registered brokers today offer Online Trading facility in Equities for non-residents.But of course, there are certain prerequisites for being able to trade online. The non-resident must have/open: 1. Bank account with a Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) Designated Bank (DB) 2. Demat account with broker 3. Broking account with broker.Before proceeding further, let us tell you what exactly all these accounts are.PIS Account: Portfolio Investment Scheme, better known as PIS, account is mandatory for all Indians living abroad, and enables non-residents to invest in the shares of Indian companies based on repatriation or non-repatriation, in respect of shares or convertible debentures sold or purchased through a registered stock broker on a recognized stock exchange. Please note that other means of acquiring shares (like bonus shares, shares purchased through IPO etc.) is not covered under this scheme.Demat/DMAT Account: Dematerialised or DMAT account is similar to any conventional bank account, the only difference being that the latter deals with money, while the former deals with sale and purchase of stocks. Maintained with a Depository and opened through a Depository Participant (DP), we at nriinvestindia.com help our clients to open such an account in India.Broking/Trading Account: The name might sound complex, but trading account is nothing but an account opened with a stock brokers, enabling you to buy and sell shares or any other financial instruments through them.Now that you know what these accounts mean, we now proceed to tell you how to open these accounts, and the various documents you will need, if any, for the same.Opening a Bank Account with a PIS DB: To invest in the secondary market, non-residents require the permission of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and for this you need to open a bank account with a DB under the PIS. The fund for investment in the market has to be routed through the PIS Bank account. The brokers can have a tie-up with UTI Bank, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank etc for this purpose since these are the DB of the RBI, and can hence issue RBI approval to non-residents. The account can be opened based on whether you want benefits of repatriation upon investing (NRE Account) or do not wants benefits on repatriation upon investing (NRO Account). Brokers will send you a trading account opening kit enclosed with the application forms for opening Bank account as well with any one of the above-referred DB under the Portfolio Investment Scheme. This will facilitate online trading for non-residents around the world.Upon receiving these forms, the DB will open two bank accounts – a PIS account and non-PIS account. All investments and sale proceeds will be done through the PIS account. Please remember that the PIS account needs to be funded before the broker can make investments. The non-PIS account functions like any usual Savings Bank non-resident account, and transactions other than those under the PIS account will be routed through the non-PIS account. In case of NRO accounts, the non-PIS transaction would include payment to IPO and ESOP, dividend payment, amongst others.You need to produce the following documents while opening a PIS account: * Attested copy of Passport. * Attested copy of Valid VISA copy /Work permit (Iqqama for middle east countries). * Details of existing shares holding both in NRI status & resident status duly signed. * 3 Passport size Photographs.The DB shall send the A/c opening intimation directly to the clients & a copy of the RBI approval is delivered to the broker. On receipt of the RBI approval from the DB, the broker proceeds to the next step – opening a Demat and Broking account.Opening a DMAT account with a broker: Based on RBI’s approval, the broker will open the DMAT account in the same status (NRE or NRO) and pattern (Joint or Single) as is the account with the bank. Shares are held here in an electronic form and shares bought by the client get credited on the second working day from the day of purchase. Example: Shares bought on Monday will be credited on Wednesday; those bought on Tuesday will be credited on Thursday, and so on.Opening a Broking/Trading account with a broker: Broking account is a trading account with the help of which the client does the transactions of ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ in the Secondary Market. The broking account is opened after the DMAT account gets opened, and the former is linked with the latter.Now that you know the process of opening the various accounts, we will now inform you, in detail, about the trading process and the transactions of ‘buy’ and ‘sell’.Trading process: To enable the client to trade, the client is given, generally, a Trade Login User ID and a password. All the client has to do is place the “Buy” and “Sell” Orders on the Broker’s Trade Page. Most of the Brokers have user-friendly Trading System thus ensuring that the client has a pleasant trading experience.Buy: By moving funds in her/his PIS account to the broker, the client can initiate a ‘buy’ transaction. The movement of the fund is done in less than a minute and accordingly the Trading Limit is updated facilitating the client to buy shares. Once the NRI has bought and/or sold the balance money, if any, the same has to be transferred by the client from her/his PIS account on receipt of the trade confirmation, and the Broker then sends it after the Market closes for the day. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) settles the delivery for shares bought on the second working day (example: if you bought a share on Monday it will be credited to your account on Wednesday and so on) from the Date of Purchase.Sell: You need to have shares in your DMAT account to initiate a ‘sell’ transaction. The trading system would reject your order otherwise. The shares bought are, as mentioned above, credited to your account on the second working day and available for trade on the third day. The NSE settles the sale proceeds on the second day from the date of sale and the broker wires the money to the client’s PIS account, on the second day itself. The DB credits the proceeds into the client’s PIS account after Calculation Gains and deducting tax if any.The client can get an update on the Broking account by looking at the ‘Accounts Statement’ on the broker’s trading website. The Daily Account Statement gives details of Funds Transfers – both for transfers done by the client to Broker & by Broker to the client’s PIS A/c and the date-wise break-up of shares bought or sold by the client.VALUE ADDED SERVICES RENDERED BY THE BROKER FOR ONLINE NRI CLIENTSA broker will not ONLY take care of your transactions. She/he provides a lot of innumerable services. These include:One-stop shop: Most of the brokers will open all the three accounts for you by coordinating for the same with the DB. So all the applicant has to do is fill up the relevant forms and give it to the broker.Trade confirmations: Brokers will email you the details of the trade done for the day which will include confirmation for the trade done and the brokerage fee charged for the same.Report transaction: Brokers will report every transaction done by a client to RBI by the DB.Contract notes: In addition to the emails, the client can view their Digital Contract notes on the website.PIS account queries/reconciliation: In order to ensure that the PIS account is regular, the broker shall coordinate with the DB and clarify all queries related to PIS transactions. Please note that every transaction done in the Trading account has to be reported through the DB.Offline orders: Some brokers accept offline orders through emails, fax, and even over the phone, after confirming the identity of the client, thus permitting even those who do not have access to Internet/Computer. The brokers may also offer opening an account for liquidating the shares bought in Primary Market. They will also obtain the Auditor’s Certificate for such sales and the proceeds will be credited to your NRE/NRO Account after the tax has been deducted.Processing of IPO Applications: The broker, on behalf of NRI clients, can apply for IPO relieving the client off the paper work. All the client has to do is indicate the number of shares to be applied for, either through an email or by filling the online application available on the broker’s website (most of the brokers provide such services).TIP – Recommendation/Call of Stocks: Thanks to technology, brokers, today, send SMS and/or email alerts keeping their clients updated about the market. Clients having considerable holding in a particular stock also receive price alerts in addition to the latest market news.Online helpdesk: Due to the boom in technology, brokers today are able to assist their clients through an ‘online helpdesk’, hence certifying that suggestions/solutions are provided to the clients immediately.TRADING PROCESSNon-residents require the following documents depending on whether they are NRI, PIO or OCI:Non-Resident Indian (NRI) requires PAN Card and a copy of the Indian Passport.Person of Indian Origin (PIO) requires PIO Card, copy of Foreign Passport showing Indian birthplace and PAN Card.Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) requires copy of OCI Card and PAN Card.For further details please contact us at: contact@nriinvestindia.com or you may checkout the website: www.nriinvestindia.comNon-residents can invest in both Primary and Secondary Markets with the help of a registered broker. These brokers offer a wide range of services warranting that the clients feel at home while making investment decisions.THINGS NON-RESIDENTS CAN DOVis-à-vis trading, non-residents today can do various kinds of trading as per their convenience. Some of them include:Online Trading (stocks and derivatives)Various brokers give you tools used by institutions and professionals for trading in the Capital Market. Many of them provide an Online Trading Platform certifying non-residents to transact paper-free trading in ‘Equities and Derivatives’ segments. Such Online Trading System provides the most distinct services like Streaming Market Watch, Technical Analysis, AMO (After Market Order), Online Funds Transfer and NRI Online Helpdesk facilitating you to have a pleasant trading experience.Offline TradingAs said earlier, brokers, today, allow clients to place orders for trade through phone, email and/or fax.Mutual Fund InvestmentsNon-resident can invest in Indian Mutual Funds with the help of registered distributors or brokers. Some of them also offer simplified process that is free of all paperwork. These distributors also provide updates on the latest top funds, NAV, and new fund offer. They also provide performance report of various funds to ensure smart investments are made in the Mutual Fund segment.Investment in Initial Public Offer (IPO)Investors can make paper-free investments through select brokers in the Primary Market – Initial Public Offer (IPO). Various details such as current and upcoming IPOs, performance of past IPOs, basis of allotment etc are provided by them making possible for their clients to make hassle free IPO investments.ESOP TradingBy offering value added service in the form of ESOP Trading, few good brokerage houses enable clients to liquidate the Stock Option given by their Employers and remit abroad the sale proceeds or reinvest the same in the Secondary Market.Dematerialisation of Shares bought in Primary MarketUsually brokers assist clients to convert their physical share certificates to electronic form (DMAT Form). All that the client has to do is open a NRI account and submit the DMAT Request along with the necessary certificates, and your broker will take care of everything else.Important: The content above provides general information regarding how brokers help non-residents to open a trading account and let them trade. However, services and regulations may differ from broker to broker. Please check with your chosen broker for the same.

NriInvestIndia.com, Timesofmoney.com, ICICI Direct – are you wondering what all these are? These are just a few names of some of the best brokerage houses in India that help non-residents (NRIs) to trade in the Indian Share Market. And thanks to technology, online share trading has become one of the easiest things to do IF you have the right brokers helping you. According to us, the following brokerage houses are the best:

1) nriinvestindia.com

2) timesofmoney.com

3) nricapital.com

4) nriinvestmentsindia.com

5) ICICI Direct

Having said so, we would also like to warn you that we have only taken into account the ONLINE trading resources these companies offer. We do not take any guarantee or responsibility of their OFFLINE trading facilities. However, for investing in Initial Public Offerings (IPO), we feel ’sharekhan’ is best as it allows clients to place orders till 2-3 p.m. on the final day of subscription of IPOs.

Friends and clients alike often ask us as to how they can start investing in the Stock Market directly. Investing in stock market is very simple, more so if you follow the four simple steps given below for the same:

Step 1: Apply for a PAN online if you do not have one and you will get your PAN within a week.

Step 2: You will need a bank account for trading in the stock market. A HDFC Bank NRI Account is recommended.

Step 3: Once you have a PAN card, open a demat account (this is necessary for trading) with any bank or a brokerage firm.

Step 4: Lastly, you need to have an online stock market trading account for investing in the stock market directly.

Please note that its important to link your bank account, demat account and online trading account. The online trading account and demat account may be opened with the same brokerage firm and the firm may be given power of attorney to operate your bank account as this would save you the paperwork. We would also like to warn you about the fact that investment brings with it risks. Please be careful while investing else your entire capital money will be washed away. Investors can now also invest in IPOs by the click of a button thanks to technology. An overview of NRI Services and about the Indian Share market wouldn’t be out of place here.

The Indian Share Market has 22 regional exchanges, in addition to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE) – the two primary and pivotal exchange houses of India. The BSE and NSE together account for almost 80% of the equity trade in India. The average daily turnover has increased from Rs.851 crore in 1997-98 to Rs.2, 273 crore in 1999-2000. While the NSE has a total of 1,500 shares having a market capitalisation of Rs.9, 215 billion, the BSE has a total of 6,000 shares having a market capitalisation of Rs.9, 680 billion! Mostly, almost all the stocks are available on both and hence the investor can buy stock from either. Also both having a different settlement cycle, the investor can shift his position as per convenience. The BSE Sensex (primary index of BSE) comprises thirty stocks while the Nifty (primary index of NSE) comprises fifty. However, it’s the BSE Sensex that’s more widely followed. Both BSE Sensex and Nifty are calculated on the basis of market capitalisation and contain the heavily traded shares from key sectors. Please note that the market is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. For the convenience of investors, both BSE and NSE have switched over to an automated computerised mode of trading known as BSE On Line Trading (BOLT) and National Exchange Automated Trading (NEAT).

The stocks traded on BSE have been classified into the following groups:

Group A: Shares in the carry forward system (Badla)

Group C: Odd securities in group A, B1 and B2 and Rights renunciations.

Group F: Represents debt market segment (fixed income securities)

Group Z: Blacklisted companies

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) governs the stock exchanges, depositories, depository participants, mutual funds, etc.

ROLLING SETTLEMENT CYCLE:
A rolling settlement is typical to each trading day being taken as a trading period. Trades executed during the day are settled based on net obligations for the day. At NSE and BSE, trades in rolling settlement are traded on a T+2 basis, that is the second working day. For example, trades taking place on Monday are settled on Wednesday, those taking place on Tuesday are settled on Thursday and so on. All intervening holidays, Saturdays, Sundays, Bank holidays, Government holidays etc are excluded for arriving at the settlement.

Going Short:
Selling off your shares is known as ‘going short’. Generally an investor would do so if he expects the prices to decline. In a rolling settlement cycle you will have to cover by end of the day on which you have gone short.

Concept of Margin Trading:
To buy share you need money and to sell you need shares in your demat account. But if you do not have the full amount or shares, you have to cover your sale/purchase transaction by a sale/purchase transaction before the close of the settlement cycle. You will make a profit in case the price during the settlement moves in your favour (increases if you are buying the shares and decreases if you are selling) and you will receive the payment from the exchange. If the contrary happens you will suffer a loss and you will have to pay the exchange. It is for this reason that margins (quotes as a percentage of the value of the transaction) are collected to safeguard against any adverse price movement.

The Indian Equity Markets remained subdued throughout the week with indices losing by nearly 5% over the week (June 1st week). The selling pressure from FIIs& NRIs – non resident Indians was seen in heavyweight stocks. At the same time some consolidation was also seen in some selective stocks across the bombay and national stock exchange indexes like the nifty and sensex.

The week started with the important support levels of 16000/4750 getting breached. As mentioned in our previous equity report, the Indian markets saw massive sell-off after this development. The indices reached near the next target support level of 4500. Though markets have fallen sharply there are no clear indication of bottoming out and further downside cannot be ruled out. We feel the next important support level is seen at 14700/4280. But before that big investors like person of india origin and overseas citizen of india can start investing in small quantity in selective stocks, they have to really time the market really well, and they need to diversify their investments between mutual funds and stocks. The support for the week is seen near 15100/4475 while the resistance for the week is seen near 16100/4800. In high volatility this band can stretch further to 14900/4400 and 16400/4850.

We advise our clients to invest in indian stock markets with caution and with a long term view with a portfolio diversification view across various financial products like: stocks, mutual funds, commodities and futures.

Source: http://www.nriinvestindia.com/
NriInvestIndia.com is an emerging NRI, PIO and OCI focused Investment Broker & Mutual fund distributor company from India, offering NRI Services to do Investment in India. Our goal is to guide Non Resident Indians to Trade in Indian Stock Market & Invest in top Mutual Funds of India.

President asks NRIs to participate in India’s ‘unfolding growth story’
NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Patil on Saturday called upon overseas Indians to participate and benefit in India’s “unfolding growth story.”

Read more on The Hindu