[04:34:44 PM] => Welcome to the live chat session at myiris.com
[04:35:31 PM] => Myiris: Mr. Sandip Sabharwal, Fund Manager, SBI Mutual Fund will be joining us in a few minutes
[04:35:55 PM] => DISCLAIMER:

[04:36:38 PM] => Mr. Sandip Sabharwal is the Fund Manager, SBI Mutual Fund. At the time of this conversation / chat, Mr. Sabharwal may or may not have positions in the stocks mentioned below, although holdings may change at any time.

[04:37:44 PM] => The views expressed by Mr. Sandip Sabharwal is based upon information that he considers reliable, but does not represent that it is accurate or complete, and it should not be relied upon as such. Mr. Sabharwal, his company and its affiliates, officers, directors, partners, and employees may, from time to time, have long or short positions in, buy or sell and deal as principal in the securities, or derivatives thereof, of companies mentioned herein and may take positions inconsistent with the views expressed. None of the information contained herein constitutes, or is intended to constitute a recommendation of any particular security or trading strategy or a determination that any security or trading strategy is suitable for any specific person. To the extent any of the information contained herein may be deemed to be investment advice, such information is impersonal and not tailored to the investment needs of any specific person. You should consult with and rely upon your own advisors whether and how to use such information in making any investment decisions.

[04:39:23 PM] => Lastly the views expressed by Mr. Sabharwal have no bearing whatsoever with that of IRIS Ltd. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website www.myiris.com.

[04:40:42 PM] => Myiris: Welcome to the chat session, Mr. Sabharwal
[04:41:10 PM] => SS: Thank you

[04:42:06 PM] => Neeraj: Would a bond fund or a gilt fund be preferred for a 3 month investment?
[04:43:39 PM] => SS: A gilt fund with a short term maturity profile would be a better investment for the near term given the uncertainty surrounding the interest rate environment and the strong returns that debt funds have given over the last 18 months.

[04:43:59 PM] => Radhika: Where do you see the interest rates in the coming quarter?
[04:45:13 PM] => SS: I see the interest rates being flat to slightly moving up over the next 6 months

[04:46:12 PM] => Sapna: When do you see a reversal in the US economic slowdown happening?
[04:47:10 PM] => SS: I feel that the reversal of the slowdown is already underway and encouraging signs have started coming out from the US. Next year we should see strong growth returning to the US economy

[04:49:15 PM] => Swami: How do you view the downgrading by S&P and Moody’s on the investment climate?
[04:51:18 PM] => SS: Typically investors do not pay too much importance to these ratings and evaluate investment decisions on a stand alone basis. Moreover these ratings are typically reactive and come out after the event has happened.

[04:52:28 PM] => Ulhas: Have we reached the bottom or can the markets go down further from these levels?
[04:53:28 PM] => SS: The market seems to be in the process of bottoming out.

[04:55:25 PM] => Alpana: What are your views on pharma stocks specially Cipla and Aventis Pharma which are amongst your top holdings?
[04:57:54 PM] => SS: Both these stocks present great value at the current price levels and we expect that they will provide good returns to the investors going forward.

[04:58:34 PM] => Renuka: Do you believe in constant churning of the portfolio or do you follow a buy-and-hold strategy?
[05:00:21 PM] => SS: The fund strategies have to keep pace with changing market scenarios. Typically in a strongly trending market as we saw in 1998-2000 the buy and hold strategy was the best idea. However in a scenario where the markets are non trending and listless constant churning would seem to be the best idea.

[05:01:09 PM] => Sudhakar: When do you think we will see action on the disinvestment front?
[05:01:52 PM] => SS: Post the monsoon session, given the fiscal position of the govt. I feel that it will pick up.

[05:03:41 PM] => Kamlesh: Considering the present scenario, does investments in index funds make sense?
[05:04:32 PM] => SS: Investing in index funds is a good idea if you are willing to take a 10% downside

[05:05:21 PM] => Deepa: In which vertical industries do you expect to see growth/turnaround in the next 3-6 months ?
[05:06:08 PM] => SS: Cement and automobiles

[05:07:29 PM] => Santosh: Will the current spell of monsoons actually revive rural demand as widely expected ?
[05:08:59 PM] => SS: It actually will have a very positive impact on the economy as foodgrain production is expected to go up sharply thus boosting rural incomes.

[05:10:15 PM] => Partho: What will be the impact of the interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve on the Indian interest rates market?
[05:11:59 PM] => SS: The impact of the interest rate cuts have already been felt and now we do not expect any further downside to the interest rates.

[05:12:23 PM] => Abhay: When is a good time to invest and redeem from equities or equity funds?
[05:13:52 PM] => SS: The good time to invest is when everyone is telling you to stay away from equities and the best time to exit is when everyone is talking about the stupendous returns they have made out of investing in equities.

[05:15:32 PM] => Gopi: What is your outlook on the present situation in Indian debt market?
[05:16:40 PM] => SS: The Indian debt market is maturing fast and is growing well. The liquidity in the market is also improving and is providing alternative investment opportunities to investors other than bank deposits and stocks.

[05:17:55 PM] => KP: What is the future of mutual fund industry in India?
[05:18:58 PM] => SS: The mutual fund industry in the country is still small by international standards. We expect a strong and rapid growth in the industry as the economy starts performing and funds start flowing into equity funds.

[05:24:54 PM] => Abheek: Earlier only equity markets were volatile. Now debt markets too are volatile. Why is it so when in the past debt meant 100 per cent safety?
[05:25:35 PM] => SS: Earlier debt meant bank deposits where the investor typically takes no interest rate risk.However today although debt funds carry little or no risk there is an interest rate risk they carry as the returns are not fixed.

[05:26:27 PM] => Nisha: What are the distinguishing aspects about investment philosophy and investment style of SBI Mutual Fund?
[05:27:42 PM] => SS: Our distinguishing feature is that typically we have a bottom up approach to investing in which we evaluate the performance of a stock on the basis of its future growth plans and carry out a lot of due diligence which involves meeting a cross section of people in the company, getting a perspective of the industry and competition that the company has to face and evaluate the sustainability of the growth of the company based on its internal and external working environment.
[05:30:00 PM] => Typically we like to buy a company taking a 6-12 months view and have target profit booking and stop loss levels which we evaluate dynamically. We have strict industry exposure norms to ensure diversification in our equity funds.

[05:31:08 PM] => Battingo: SBI MF had subscribed to Jupiter Bio Science last year. Do you still hold the stock? What are its prospects?
[05:32:10 PM] => SS: The company continues to do very well and has been reporting encouraging results. We are still holding on to a major part of our holding in the company.

[05:32:34 PM] => Vinay: What are your preferred investment sectors in the current market conditions?
[05:32:59 PM] => SS: Cement and Automobiles

[05:33:42 PM] => Sanjeev: What are your views on the growth rates in the Indian economy going forward? What steps can revive the economy?
[05:35:17 PM] => SS: This year should be 6-6.5%. The steps that are required are to restore the confidence of the investors which has been shattered due to a lack of political expediency to pass relevant legislations. There is the need of clear-cut policies so that investors can properly evaluate their investment decisions.

[05:35:56 PM] => Jayesh: What are your views on the divergent trends between FIIs and Mutual Funds with respect to the secondary market?
[05:36:45 PM] => SS: This is more to do with the liquidity crunch being faced by the mutual fund industry due to a series of bad news and scandals. Since the market is at low levels and a large number of quality stocks are available at low valuations FII’s are buyers.

[05:37:18 PM] => Baldev:What are your views on the strong bull run seen in the debt markets leading to very high returns by debt funds?
[05:37:41 PM] => SS: We feel that it is unsustainable going forward.

[05:38:12 PM] => Ashok: Corporation Bank is your top holding in Magnum Balanced Fund. What are your views on this bank?
[05:38:40 PM] => SS: We are very positive on the future growth prospects of this bank

[05:40:23 PM] => Anita: Last year people who invested in debt funds had seen erosion in the net asset value in July, but even today investors think that debt funds are completely safe like a bank deposit. Don't you feel that Mutual funds need to educate investor that debt funds are also risky products especially in the current scenario when there have been large inflows into debt schemes based on high returns offered in the past?
[05:40:52 PM] => SS: Answered earlier

[05:41:24 PM] => Anand: SBI had plans to launch Magnum Children Benefit Plan which seems to have been shelved. Why has it been shelved?
[05:41:49 PM] => SS: Market conditions are not conducive

[05:42:32 PM] => Battingo: Who are, in your opinion, India's best investors/fund managers? What do you like about their investing styles?
[05:42:52 PM] => SS: We would like to believe that we are the best fund managers.

[05:43:37 PM] => Ghani: SBI MF recently tied up with post offices to market their schemes? How successful has it been?
[05:44:10 PM] => SS: It is still small but is likely to grow rapidly going forward.

[05:44:42 PM] => Sudhakar: What do you think really went wrong with US-64? What will be the impact of the US-64 crisis on the MF industry?
[05:44:53 PM] => SS: It should make the industry stronger.

[05:46:04 PM] => Myiris: That's all we have time for in today's event

[05:46:25 PM] => Myiris: We thank Mr. Sandip Sabharwal for taking time out to answer investor's queries

[05:46:57 PM] => Myiris: Coming up next on myiris Chat Masala, Mr. Srinivas Rao R. (Head Research - Rooshnil Securities Pvt. Ltd.) on Friday, 31st August

[05:47:19 PM] => Myiris: Thank you once again and good bye for now!