Business Today 13 April 2025

A remarkable feature of India’s investment landscape since 2014 has been the rapid growth of the mutual fund industry. This surge has been driven by a fundamental shift in household investment preferences and the increasing financialisation of savings across the country. From the days of a single product offered by one company in the 1960s, to an industry now served by dozens of asset management firms offering over 2,500 schemes to more than 232 million account holders, the mutual fund sector has seen an unprecedented boom. A major driver of this growth has been the growing preference of retail investors for Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs). According to Reserve Bank of India data, the share of mutual funds in the financial assets of Indian households has risen significantly—from just 0.8% in…

FEAR FACTOR MORE THAN 20 MILLION SIPs HAVE BEEN STOPPED SINCE THE CORRECTION BEGAN ON D-STREET IN OCTOBER 2024 NOTE DATA TILL FEBRUARY 2025; STOPPAGE RATIO IS NUMBER OF SIPs DISCONTINUED/COMPLETED DIVIDED BY NEW SIPs; SOURCE CMIE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK, AMFI ₹64.5 LAKH CRORE THE NET AUM OF INDIA’S MUTUAL FUND INDUSTRY IN FEBRUARY 2025. IT WAS ₹27.2 LAKH CRORE IN FEBRUARY 2020, AS PER AMFI 44 THE NUMBER OF MF HOUSES IN INDIA AS OF JANUARY 2025, RUNNING MORE THAN 1,800 SCHEMES, AS PER PRIMEMFDATABASE.COM ₹25,999 CRORE THE SIP AMOUNT COLLECTED IN FEBRUARY 2025 VERSUS ₹26,459 CRORE IN DECEMBER 2024, A THREE-MONTH LOW PATIENCE PAYS TOP EQUITY MFs HAVE DELIVERED ANNUALISED RETURNS OF NEARLY 20% TO SIP INVESTORS OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS NOTE ANNUALISED SIP RETURNS IN %; DATA…

INDIA’S INSURANCE MARKET is at an inflection point. Germany based Allianz ended its long standing partnership, which began in 2001, with Bajaj Life and Bajaj General Insurance companies, selling its 26% stake to Bajaj Finserv for ₹24,180 crore (EUR 2.6 billion). Shortly after this development, Prudential plc, a UK FTSE 100-listed company, announced its plans to set up a joint venture with Vama Sundari Investments (Delhi) Private Limited, a promoter company of the HCL Group, to establish a standalone Indian health insurance business. Insurance penetration in India is at just 3.7%, well below the global average. With 100% foreign direct investments (FDI) now allowed, is the market ripe for global insurers? “We will have to wait and see. Insurance is a long-term business and those with the willingness and capacity…

INDUSIND BANK HASbeen on the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) radar for a while now. In March 2025, IndusInd Bank revealed that its derivatives portfolio had been overvalued by $175 million (₹1,450 crore) due to non-compliant internal transactions. The announcement triggered a sharp decline in its stock price. In 2023, Sumanth Kathpalia, the bank’s managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) got a shorter two-year extension from the RBI. Speculation was rife that Mint Road may not oblige with another extension, especially after the bank’s chief financial officer (CFO) Gobind Jain resigned on January 17. In early March, Mint Road gave him another one-year lifeline, despite the board requesting a three-year appointment. The bank’s board backed its CEO, but the regulator thought otherwise. A limited extension for the CEO, a…

THE RECENT FALL in the domestic equity market echoes the slowdown in earnings growth of India Inc. Hence, all eyes are on the forth coming Q4 financial results, which may set the tone for market sentiment. In the ongoing financial year, the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 index has dropped by 14% from its 52-week high as of March 17, 2025, while the broader Nifty 500 index has fallen by 17% during the same period. There are expectations that corporate performance will continue along a similar trajectory, with profit and revenue growth remaining limited. G. Chokkalingam, Founder, Equinomics Research, says, “Nifty earnings may grow in the range of 8%-10% in Q4 on the back of relatively better performance from the banking and telecom companies.” Aggregate profit after tax (PAT) growth of…

WITH DIABETES AND obesity cases surging in India, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company (India) has launched Mounjaro (tirzepatide), a once-weekly injectable drug for chronic weight management and type 2 diabetes. Approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Mounjaro is the first dual-target therapy that activates both GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptors, helping regulate blood sugar levels while promoting weight loss. The 2.5 mg dose is priced at ₹3,500 per injection, with a monthly cost of ₹14,000, while the 5 mg dose is ₹4,375 per injection. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019-21, obesity is increasing, with 6.5% of Indian adults classified as obese. Unlike conventional diabetes and weight-loss drugs, Mounjaro works by enhancing insulin secretion, reducing glucagon production, slowing gastric emptying,…