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7
March 2017
Infusing some amount of secondary
market liquidity can help attract retail investors to enter the corporate bonds
space, a top Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) official said on
Tuesday.
"As retail investor, when I get
into bonds, I also think about liquidity. When I put money in the banks' fixed
deposits, it is not merely for interest I get but also for liquidity it gives
me -- that gives me a tremendous amount of comfort in addition to the return,
though the return is much less. But I am satisfied because the liquidity is
there," whole-time Sebi member G. Mahalingam said. The Total Investment
& Insurance Solutions
Mahalingam was speaking at the
inauguration here of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India
(Assocham) national conference on the bond market.
"If same were to be the case
with the bonds, I am sure it is going to be an important, tempting factor for
retail investors to come into the bonds space; that is where perhaps some
amount of secondary market liquidity is needed," he added.
Mahalingam, however, emphasised the
need to create that liquidity.
"Even with a much lesser
liquidity, we can afford to live within the corporate bond world," he
said.
The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
"If we can open up
connectivity, if the banks can play a role in the exchange traded platform
segment, we are going to have a bond market where perhaps the liquidity will go
unchallenged and perhaps match the liquidity levels in the US," Mahalingam
said.
The Sebi member said that it must be
seen whether regulators like IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority), PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) have
created that kind of a bandwidth for the insurance companies, for the pension
and provident funds to invest in the bond market. The Total Investment
& Insurance Solutions
He said that on an average, the
portfolio return cannot be more than 200-300 basis points in corporate bonds. The Total Investment
& Insurance Solutions
"If we understand this reality,
then we will say that bonds are really-really good investments; if we do not
look at this reality and if we continue to live in an utopia that I am going to
earn a return which is going to be double-triple of the bank deposits, we do
not touch the bonds at all -- this is the problem," he said. The Total Investment
& Insurance Solutions
He lamented that most people do not
realise that bond markets are growing.
"One stark fact now is that
bond markets growth this year has outstripped the bank credit growth, which is
surprising; it has never possibly happened in the past at all."
The bank deposit growth this year is
almost close to about 10 per cent -- bank deposits stand at Rs 105 lakh crore.
The bank credit has grown by an abysmal 4.8 per cent this year -- it is around
Rs 73 lakh crore.
The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
"If you look at correspondingly
the bond market, it has really grown by leaps and bounds."
Talking about government initiatives
to boost corporate bond markets in India, Mahalingam said the insolvency regime
is finally in place; besides, enablers have also been put in place. So, today,
there is no reason why people should feel sceptical about investments in bonds,
he added.
He said that the government's
borrowing budget in the current year has come down by almost Rs two lakh crore,
which is going to be a great enabler for the corporate bonds to come into the picture. The Total Investment
& Insurance Solutions
"There is a Rs 2 lakh crore
space left vacant, which has to be absorbed possibly by the corporate bonds.
Some of it is already in the form of commercial paper. The certificate of
deposits is coming down since obviously the banks are no longer in need of
deposits pouring in since November 9, 2016," Mahalingam said.The Total Investment
& Insurance Solutions
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