Fundraising Spree on for Indian Banks

Profitability and NPA are the two extremes that need to be balanced for banks. Since a long Indian banking sector is on a continuous fight to draw a balance between them. Recently the Central Bank decided to take control over NPAs with a huge capital infusion into the banking sector. But the outbreak of COVID-19 derailed all efforts and the problems of NPAs have been resurfaced and touched the new height which seems to be very difficult for the Indian economy to stand with.

Stress in the Banking Sector

The Indian banking sector is reeling under stress for a long time. Indian banks have been tested over the past few years after the RBI forced them to review their assets under strict criteria that eventually resulted a surge in bad loans. To add their woes, borrowings have also slowed due to lockdown. These stresses are more apparent in state-run banks than in the private sector.

Reason for Stress

According to a few economists, the primary cause of this situation that has slammed all banks are the fall of IL&FS in October 2018 and the ongoing pandemic. India is expected to fall into a recession this fiscal year due to COVID, which has affected over 2.6 million people and caused 70000+ death in the country. It is the most discussed and worrisome topic in the Indian economical circle that there are chances of getting caught in the recession since 1979.

According to RBI, the ratio of non-performing assets total advances could soar to over 12.5% by March 2021 from 8.5% as of end-March this year, prompting the country’s central bank to push banks to raise capital, which now totals over 1 trillion rupees ($13.4billion). Additionally, the Financial Stability Report (FSR), noted the NPA ratio could jump as a high level as 14.7% in the event of severe stress.

Fundraising a Way out

RBI Governor advised all banks to improve their governance and sharpen risk management skills. Banks need to raise capital on an anticipatory basis instead of waiting for an adverse situation. It is necessary for both public and private sector banks to build up adequate capital buffers.

As a result, financial institutions are on a fundraising spree via debt instruments and equity offerings. The latest bank to join the fundraising spree is Axis bank which on said had raised 100 billion rupees by issuing shares to Qualified Institutional Buyers for INR 420.10. Other financial institutions, mortgage lenders, HDFC also closed a deal to raise INR 140 billion via various instruments. At the same time, the largest private bank of India, ICICI bank also wishes to raise INR 150 billion. Later State Bank of India, India’s largest lender also joined the league and announced to raise INR 250 billion to maintain its capital requirement. Not only banks but similar signals are also been sensed from Non-Banking Financial Companies which might have to raise money. In total, it is approximately $13 billion could raise to tackle the NPA challenge.

Governance

At present, Indian banks are in dyeing need for reforms. The Bank exposure to stressed sectors, loan-loss cover, and pre-provision earnings determine the urgency of their capital requirements, which is more pronounced for state banks. Recently 5 members committee has been formed by RBI under the Chairmanship of former CEO of ICICI bank, Mr. KV Kamath. This committee makes recommendations on the required parameters to be factored into the resolution plans. A resolution to the problem of the corporate debtor insolvency and its consequent inability to pay off debts. The committee will submit its recommendation to the RBI. The central bank will then notify the same along with modification including the restructuring of loans if any in 30 days.

Support from Government

Over the last five years until March 2020, India had pumped around 3 trillion rupees into banks to remain capital requirements. In the future, we may expect more infusion of cash from the government eventually to support the banks and consequently to save the economy.

 

Aditya Verma

PGDM 2020-22

IILM, Greater Noida

Dr. Kumar Saurabh

Asst. Prof-Finance

IILM Graduate School of Management, Greater Noida

Will India Emerge as the Global Production Hub?

Will India Emerge as the Global Production Hub?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China, the world is facing a major existential crisis. This virus has led to massive destruction and deterioration of resources across the world. It poses the biggest threat to humanity as the number of deaths is increasing at a rapid pace each day. The Governments of all countries are trying to cope with this crisis in the best possible way.

Shifting of Manufacturing Base

Amid all this, there has been a shift in the mindset where big companies or Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are planning to de-risk their supply chain and shift their manufacturing bases from China. The major reason for this is the massive disruption caused to businesses due to actions taken in the wake of the outbreak. Globally, business houses are considering India as an ideal place for shifting their manufacturing setups. They are exploring the option of relocating their supply chains to diversify their business operations. This could be seen in the case of the tech giant Apple which is planning to shift one-fifth of its production capacity from China to India.

Moving out of China

Even though, India ranks at number 63 on the global index on the ease of doing business and China stands at 31 which is way ahead of India. But still, the Governments of various countries are expressly promoting the idea and encouraging a production shift by including it in their economic packages. They are actively assisting firms that are taking action to move their manufacturing units to other countries. For instance, Japan is ready to spend a hefty amount of around USD 2 Billion to support its firms for changing their locations from China to other countries or Japan itself. Also, as the President of the US has explicitly blamed China for this pandemic and global suffering, so the other countries are also unanimously supporting this view.

India a Favorable Alternative

India is being considered as a favorable alternative to China, and the Indian Government is planning on measures that could be taken to attract foreign investment. For the purpose, a committee of bureaucrats and joint secretaries of various ministries and departments has been set up. The Government had announced various schemes in March 2020 which are inclined to give incentives for boosting manufacturing setup in India. The propaganda is to reap the greatest benefits during this time due to this shift in mindset where India is becoming an upcoming choice for most multinational organizations. Because of its market size and being a potential hub for exports, along with quality personnel and talent India has a golden opportunity to take advantage of such manufacturing migration.

Diversify

There has been a huge dependence by developed countries like Japan, the US, South Korea, etc. in China because of the availability of cheap labor. There is a popular saying that “Never put all your eggs in one basket.” So, these countries are rethinking and reapplying this strategy and are now expected to help India in the forthcoming years. There are almost 1000 foreign firms that are considering India as a potential destination for their manufacturing setups. Most of these firms deal with mobiles, medical devices, electronics, and textiles.

Relaxing the Norms

If India is going to substitute China as a manufacturing hub in the coming years, then major reforms in the structure need to be implemented and relaxing the norms and regulations for carrying out businesses with ease. The problem that India faces is the lengthy rules and red tape that deters potential investors from grabbing opportunities and taking actions for establishing production hubs. It is a time-consuming process for getting licenses and approvals for starting a business in India. Therefore, there is a need for certain relaxations in these proceedings so that there is a fair chance of attracting business opportunities to the entrants and has the scope to expand and diversify existing businesses. This would boost companies in making their businesses flourish.

India, having foreseen this golden opportunity needs to move faster in this direction and must improve the infrastructure that is a pre-requisite for any upcoming development. The authorities can take pro-active and prompt decisions so that India does not lose this fair chance as it is not alone in this race to attract investment. Many other countries are eagerly looking to grab this opportunity. It is the right time for India to sustain and populate its “Make in India” scheme and become self-reliant or “Atmanirbhar” as proposed by our Honorable Prime Minister. This is the time to join hands and fighting this pandemic to come out of it stronger and prosperous. This crisis has pushed the economy by many years but this single chance of reviving it by becoming the global manufacturing hub ought to be grabbed with both hands.

What are your suggestions for India to capitalize on this golden opportunity to attract investment from global MNCs? Do comment.

Deeksha Garg

PGDM Student

Dr. Kumar Saurabh

IILM-GSM

Role of AI in Financial Services

The emergence of automation has shifted the nature of jobs across sectors. So does the financial services. Financial services are also not immune to this development and are impacted by automation and artificial intelligence. Today, financial services are not limited to brick and mortar structure only. Traditionally, financial services used to be the job of a geeky person with a calculator. The financial industry used to be a paper-intensive industry.

But now, things have changed and the nature of the job has changed from bookkeeping to critical financial analysis. Even the Banking sector is technology-driven and gone the digital way. How one usually thinks about jobs in the financial services domain has already changed or in the process. Do you aspire to join financial services in the near future? What are the future job profiles for you? To answer these questions, one needs to understand how the increasing role of Artificial Intelligence will affect the future of financial services and how you can strive to stay relevant.

Impact of AI on jobs

Artificial intelligence AI will be the cause of great disruption for stable career choices of the financial services sector. According to one estimate, across the globe, about 1.3 million bank workers will lose their jobs. Traditional banking jobs like cashier, clerk, etc. are likely to be reduced by automation. All routine jobs are likely to go away with the increased interference of artificial intelligence/automation.

Artificial intelligence with a combination of Big Data is now even affecting jobs involving critical analysis. The combination of Big Data and AI enables us to make decision-based on humongous data and predict the future. This will thus affect the job of a financial planner, tax personnel, and others. One needs to consider this automation as a wakeup call and as an indication of the need to continuously enhance our skills to remain relevant in this fast-evolving dynamic world.

Emerging Profiles in the Financial Services Domain

On one hand, AI will cut routine repetitive jobs; and on the other hand, it will also create several jobs. It is estimated that in India, more than 50 lakh new jobs in the financial services sector will be created in the next ten years. Fintech is the new buzz word today. It is a combination of Finance with Technology. This Fintech sector will provide new job opportunities to aspirants in the future. ‘Finance Engineer’ and ‘Sustainable Wealth Manager’ are some job titles in the future.

Roles for personalized financial guidance will emerge in the future. Financial advisors who have analytical skills and the ability to translate data into relevant and meaningful stories will be in demand. Jobs in the field of blockchain, mobile wallet, and Robo advisors will flourish. Blockchain and apps developers, financial analysts, product managers, compliance experts, cybersecurity analysts, quantitative analysts, business development managers, and data specialists are few profiles that will be in demand.

Skills for Future Financial Services

The need for highly skilled and tech-savvy financial professionals is rising. In-depth and holistic financial knowledge will be the key to career success in this sector. Data analytics and sustainability are other important skills to sustain and thrive in the future market. ‘Superforecasting’ is an ability that is imperative in the domain of ‘Cryptocurrency’. Superforecasting means objective analysis of all present and past events and breaking down complex problems to smaller pieces.  Key requisite skills are business planning, data analytics, along with knowledge of C#, Java language, Murex language, Python, and other programming languages.

Contribution of IILM in your journey

The teaching pedagogy at IILM fosters a learning environment to enhance creativity, originality, critical thinking, and leadership skills in students. It also inculcates and equips students with future scoped skills.  The focus is two-pronged – traditional teaching to develop basics along with new-age electives like Fintech, Data Analytics, Python, R, etc. to give a perfect blend of modern and futuristic courses. IILM thus provides a complete package to students and makes them ready for financial sector jobs and thrive for career success.

How to Make your Virtual Teaching Interesting for Learners

Change always creates anxiety and when this change is rapid then it creates panic too. Recent changes in an environment completely upset the traditional classroom teaching-learning process. It left no other choice but to move on a new platform for learning that is virtual classrooms.  This transition from traditional face to face teaching to virtual teaching was highly unexpected and too quick to absorb hence given a very strong blow on the teaching-learning process. Moreover, neither the teachers nor the students were trained for such a virtual environment. When I thought about learning through virtual teaching, I encounter two questions. Does any scientific method exist to enrich the learning process? Can learner also enhance their learning?

On the lines ‘the show must go on’, one needs to adapt to the virtual teaching-learning model and should make this interesting for learners. Learners are sitting at the comfort of their homes with too many distractions all around. Learning will only happen when they find interest in lectures and feel engaged.

To increase the productivity of the class teachers might consider the following tricks:

Lay down fundamental rules

At the beginning of the class, the teacher should inform the students about few basic etiquettes to be followed in class. Ask the students to mute their microphones to avoid any disturbance. Students will unmute themselves only if they have any questions to ask or if they are asked to do so. If possible, ask the students to switch on their camera which will increase the engagement.

Engage students

On online platform, students have a shorter time span for concentration. By asking questions to random students in every 5-6 minutes will keep them engaged and hence increase the productivity of the class. At every 5-6 minutes keep asking simple questions and for answers ask students to type in the chatbox. Answers could be just ‘yes/no’ type.

Give control to the students

Generally, in classes teachers speak a lot, and students felt left out and learning stops. It is better to give control to students at times and ask them to interact in the form of discussing with each other in class.

Share content in advance

Possibly, share the content to be discussed in class with all the students in advance so that they are prepared well in advance.

Use easily available, copyright-free online resources

Share content with the students which are copyright free and easily available. Although, too many contents are available freely for all but do not expect that students will search on their own. It is better to mention the URL for the resource material as click and use the material for them.

Avoid information overload

Plan your sessions well in advance such that students will not be overloaded and they have time to practice problems on the topic discussed.

Make use of Multimedia

To avoid boredom in the classroom, use multimedia tools to make the classroom interesting enough so that students’ engagement increases and so productivity.

Record live sessions and share

Don’t forget to record your sessions for the benefit of those students who live in the area with bandwidth issues and not able to attend live sessions. Share these videos with all the students so all can revisit in case of doubts.

There are certain basic rules for students also to make learning effective and efficient. First and foremost, students need to have a reliable and stable internet connection to attend the classes in virtual mode. They must find a quiet corner at their respective places to avoid any disturbance during sessions. If possible, they can use headphones instead of earphones to reduce the noise level. Prepare for your class well in advance. Go through with all the resources shared by teachers. Be interactive during sessions but do not disturb the flow of the class. Either raise a hand or use a chat box in case of any query.

The productivity of the teaching-learning process in the management program will surely be enhanced if both the stakeholders follow the aforementioned tricks. Faculty and students of IILM will surely make teaching-learning much more interesting and productive on a virtual platform.

Dancing Market: Optimism or Insanity?

In the era of COVID-19 when WHO has declared it as a pandemic. India is under the lockdown for more than sixty days like all other nations in the world. All the economic activities were shuttered down till lockdown 3.0. The future outlook for the Indian economy is not pleasant. Analysts are expecting negative growth for Financial Year 2021. Almost all medium and small-scale businesses are in crisis. Most of them have shut their shops and laid off their employees. Big business houses have announced a salary cut for their employees. For April, the Auto industry first time have observed zero production output. The unemployment rate is at an all-time high. Scores of migrant laborers have moved back to their native places.

In this gloomy scenario across the nation stock market is dancing like anything. Though, it is not at the record height as it was during February but it is not that bad either. Eventually, soon after the announcement of the lockdown market slumped to almost half but this state did not last long. At present, the market is hovering around the level of 2017 which under the present circumstances is quite amazing.

Barometer of Economy?

It is time to evaluate the phrase ‘SENSEX is the barometer of Indian Economy‘. Is it a barometer to gauge the economic activities anymore? The stock market is considered a leading indicator of the economy. It was believed that there is a high correlation exist between the stock market and economy but this correlation does persist?

Fool’s Paradise!

Though the stock market is not a true representative of the economy nowadays it seems like the market has divorced the economy especially to all whatever is happening around us; whatever is the reality of economic activities. The stock market is not showing any concern to the more than fifty-nine lacs corona positive cases around the world and more than forty-seven hundred deaths in India. Stock market and particularly investors are living in paradise.

Future Outlook

There are various explanations for this insane behavior of stock investors. First and foremost, the explanation is that stock prices are always based on the future outlook, not the present. Present stock prices are the discounted cash flows expected from stock in the future. So, the present stock prices reflect that investors believe that economy will have a speedy recovery shortly.

Expectations from Government

Investor’s expectation of a substantially large stimulus package from the government went in vain. Investors have a strong feeling that the government will be able to overcome all difficulties in the economic front. The historic decision of reducing the corporate tax rates and conceptualizing the idea of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ is giving hope to the investors.

The central government, as well as Reserve Bank, has already taken measures in terms of various fiscal and monetary policies to infuse the liquidity in the system. The financial year which generally ends on March 31 has been extended till June 30 exhibits commitment of government toward economic measures. Investors are betting on such strong interventions of government to boost the profitability of corporate houses in the future. The first year of NDA 2.0 is rated positively by various analysts which is enough to boost the confidence of investors.

Investment Options

Even more, now investors have not left with more options to invest as the prevailing interest rate on government bonds and all small saving schemes have been reduced. If we adjust the returns from these schemes with inflation, we will get negative returns for almost all investment products. So, the stock market is the only option left for investors to park their excess money with.

Optimism for Vaccine

Stock investors are at present feeling more optimistic about the future than the doctors and scientists who are working on the development of a cure for the Corona virus. Investors are expecting that soon enough a vaccine for the same will be discovered on which the whole world is working.

Black-box Theory

Another theory argues that all investors are operating as a black-box process. No one knows about the future of investments or till when this pandemic end and the road to normality be back. It is just the mere expectations which are leading the market at present. Investors are also active because they fear being left behind. New investors are considering this time as an opportunity to enter into the market at this level which may not come around again.

Parallel with Lehman Crisis

If we draw a parallel between the current crisis with the financial crisis of 2009, we get a hint from there also about this euphoria in the market. In November 2009 when the future of economies was pathetic even then the stock market across the world was mostly up by more than 50 percent from the past year while the economies were only growing by 1 percent for that particular one-year period. People were investing based on their expectations not based on ground reality. So, again history is repeating itself in the market.

Advice for Novice Investors

It can be inferred that expectation of the majority is driving the market than reality. Investors are not acting insane rather they have optimist future outlook. For investors, market timing is really important. For a novice investor, it is time to get into the market with a long horizon. If you have missed the wagon in 2017 then prices are again around that level. ‘Buy with caution’ is the mantra for success.

At IILM, students are being prepared to analyse the economic situation and to identify the trend for investments to be successful. We conduct live trading sessions for better understanding of the same. For more information on stock market one can approach at kumar.saurabh@iilmgsm.ac.in.

Seeking a Career in Investment Banking

During this COVID-19 erabusinesses are running losses due to lockdown across the globe,people are losing jobs; new opportunities are not being created even companies are cutting jobs to control the cash outflow. The scenario is the same across sectors and countries. In this present scenario when each of us is constantly living in a fear of losing a job it is the time to build some of the key skills to emerge a winner once this lockdown is over and things came back to normalcy. It is the time when one needs to sharpen one’s axe so that when things get normalized one can emerge as winner.

In the present circumstances’ jobs in the field of Finance are relatively safer as one can work from home instead if we compare it with sales jobs especially which involves face to face interaction. Even Finance has various profiles to offer, in this particular blog we will discuss ‘Investment Banking’ as a job profile for an MBA graduate in detail

Investment Banking is a very fascinating job profile for MBA graduates with Finance and Accounting specialization. At first one needs to understand ‘Investment Banks’, they are financial intermediaries that perform complex financial transactions and is mainly involved in the valuation of businesses related activities. Credit Suisse, Barclays Capital, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs are few of the major investment banks functioning around the world.

Now, coming to investment bankers as they the experts who have in-depth knowledge of current market conditions. The primary role of investment bankers is to advise clients on investments by proper evaluation of risk and return involved in the same. To reach the level of investment banker one need to move in a certain hierarchy as a finance graduate starts his/her career as an analyst with primary responsibility of preparing presentations, setting up conference calls and meetings, etc. With the experience of 3-4 years an analyst moves up in the ladder and reached the position of Associate with the added responsibility of client interaction and managing a team of 4-5 analysts. The next stage in the professional life of an investment banker is the Vice President who is being considered as the expert of the field with the responsibilities like maintaining the client relationship and overlook the operational efficiency at each level of the hierarchy underneath. The ultimate position to reach for an investment banker is to become Managing Director. Managing Director of an investment bank has the responsibility for increasing the business by converting the potential clients.

Investment bankers work on various profiles like Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, Capital Market and Sales and Trading. Corporate Finance is the most widespread profile and is a foundation stone for Investment Banking. In this profile one needs to help clients in capital raising, providing recommendations on restructuring, and help to identify the potential sources of funds. Mergers and Acquisitions profile is built around the valuation of businesses and the negotiation of deals. The Capital Market profile requires a thorough understanding of the capital market and its volatility for both the instruments equity and bond. While the profile of Sales and Trading includes transaction responsibilities in equities, currencies, bonds, etc. on behalf of clients.

To be or not to be an Investment Banker one need to evaluate oneself as if one wishes to have a work-life balance then this profile is not for you. As investment banker profile requires a minimum of 100 hours of workweek along with the ability to perform under extreme pressure to meet multiple deadlines. So, before jumping into the profile need to evaluate yourself on the parameters like skillsets required along with your emotional quotient both of them need to be very high to sustain and perform well in life.

Saquib Akhter
PGDM 2019-21
IILM GSM

Dr. Kumar Saurabh
Assistant Professor-Finance
IILM Graduate School of Management

Consumerism or Spirituality: Learnings of Kabir Das for Gen-Next

According to a Mckinsey report, the spirituality among the Indians is decreasing while consumerism is on a rise. For the very same reason, India is now known as one of the biggest market places in the world. The things which used to be luxury for our grandparents and parents have now become necessities for us. Also, our parents used to buy things for a lifetime but we buy things for just a few years or even for just months. This kind of shift in temperament is visible in various other studies also as when the whole world is now moving towards contentment we are still on the path of dissatisfaction. On the one hand, when the entire world is moving towards spirituality Indians are tilted towards consumerism.

GDP Growth to Happiness Index 

The world has moved beyond mere economic development to the well-being of individuals. Presently, the growth of a nation is just not reflected in terms of GDP growth figures rather it is being measured in terms of happiness index. Since 2012, the United Nations have also come up with a study on the happiness of people across countries each year to recognize the happiness quotient of people and their well-being in place of economic development only. Since the beginning, India consistently ranked at the lower strata of countries in the world’s happiness ranking. The same story continues even in this year also as according to World Happiness Report 2020, the performance of India is very dismal in terms of ranking on Happiness Index as it ranked at 144 out of total 156 nations much below than the neighboring countries like  Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka which are ranked at 66, 92, 107 and 130 respectively.

To be Spiritual Guru

In the World Happiness Report, the main factors considered for the Happiness Index of individuals are the social environment and the ability to make decisions of life.  At present when India is urging to be recognized as the ‘Spiritual Guru’ of the world it is the time when we need to dig out the learnings from our own old and probably forgotten literature to improve our ranking by increasing the well-being of Indians. India, a land of sages has a very rich source of wisdom in the form of religious and philosophical literature. India is a country that had philosophers who themselves have not gone through with any formal schooling and even they don’t know the art of writing but they have given us the mantra for content and satisfying life. Considering Kabir Das, a mystic poet, philosopher and saint of fifteenth-century who himself mentioned as illiterate as in his own words about himself ‘Masi kagad chhuyo nahi, kalam gahyo nahin hath’, he clearly said that he neither touched the paper nor hold the pen in his entire life but have given a wonderful message for a satisfying and happy life.

Consumerism

On consumerism, we can take a lesson from the work of Kabir as ‘Maya mari na man mara, mar mar gaye sharer, asha trushna na mari kah gaye das Kabeer’, the meaning of this verse is very apt that if we go for desires then will never be able to fulfill all instead we will lose ourselves by mere running behind them. Desires are like hallucination and they are never-ending, individuals can keep on fulfilling one the other will keep cropping up the very next moment which leaves us dissatisfied and discontent. So, the lesson which one needs to take that one should always look for needs not for desires because needs are limited which can be fulfilled and can be satisfied while desires are unlimited, and falling prey to your desires is like being in a vicious cycle which has no exit route.

Practice Satisfaction

Furthermore, Kabir also said, “Saain itna deejiye, jaame kutumb samaye. Main bhi bhookha na rahun, sadhu na bhookha jae”, with this he wants to convey that don’t be part of a rat race of earning higher and higher which will keep disturbing you and will not let you be satisfied. The desire for higher earnings will keep you in stress and dissatisfied so instead pray to the almighty for the earnings which are sufficient to meet your needs and to look after the needs of your dependents.

So, if we follow this one simple advice of Kabir to be content and don’t be a victim of our desires then one neither feel dissatisfied by comparing oneself with others nor one feels like losing control on ones’ own life. The aggregate of our feelings of contentment will surely reflect and will have a much-improved ranking on happiness index with the use of learnings of our rich cultural heritage in terms of literature.

Now the biggest question is ‘Which side you want to be?’  To be part of the rat race of consumerism or to follow the path of spirituality, guided by sages for ages. To get more on the subject can approach at kumar.saurabh@iilmgsm.ac.in.

 

Dr. Kumar Saurabh

Assistant Professor-Finance

IILM Graduate School of Management