SBI GETS is an open ended Gold Exchange Traded Scheme. Even though this is an open-ended scheme, investors need to buy & sell units of the scheme on the stock exchanges where these units are listed for liquidity at the market price, subject to the rules and regulations of the exchange. The Scheme opened on March 30, 2009.The investment objective of the fund is to seek to provide returns that closely correspond to returns provided by price of gold. However, the performance of the scheme may differ from that of the underlying asset due to tracking error. The benchmark is the price of the Gold. Special Products SIP, SWP, STP are not available. No dividend would be declared under the Scheme unlike Reliance Gold ETFThe SBI GETS Expense ratio is 2.5%.This is one of the highest expense ratios in the industry much higher compared to other Gold ETF Fund products like Kotak or Goldman.The reason of this expense ratio is not apparent since passive investment in gold does not require such high expenses.This is a deal killer from SBI Asset Management and I would strongly recommend never to buy SBIGETS unless SBI reduces this expense ratio
Kotak Mahindra which is one of the biggest private banks with operations in almost all aspects of Finance like Investing Banking,Wealth Management has launched a good Gold ETF products as well.It is an open-ended gold Exchange Traded Fund, which invests in physical gold and tracks the domestic spot price of gold as closely as possible. Units of the scheme listed on stock exchanges and can be easily traded in demat form. Each unit of the scheme is approximately equal to 1 gram of gold. Units of the schemes are backed by physical gold held by the Custodian – Scotia Macotta. All physical gold held with Scotia Macotta conforms to the London Bullion Market Association’s (LBMA) rules for Good Delivery.
The investment objective of Kotak Gold ETF is to generate returns that are in line with the returns on investment in physical gold, subject to tracking error.
I had written about the best way to invest in gold in India looking at the different ways of buying physical gold and gold etfs.There was also the option of investing in gold mutual fund which invest in gold mining companies as well as looking at whether to buy gold from banks or you were better off buying gold from your neighbourhood jeweller.Alll the options of buying gold have their advantages and disadvantages.Gold ETFs have become the fastest growing segment of buying gold in India with most people prefering teh convenience and ease of buying gold the demat way.Note only does it have the security and storage advantages,it is also easily saleable without a huge transaction costs.Its no wonder that most asset management companies in India have launched gold etf products to take advantage of the growing trend of buying gold Etfs in India.SBI and UTI,two of the oldest government owned mutual fund houses in the country too have started gold etfs besides the private companies.Benchmark Gold Bees remains the oldest gold etf in the country and is looking to gain marketshare after Goldman Sachs bougth the company.IDBI has joined the gold etf party becoming the latest AMC to start a gold ETF.There is little to distinguish these Gold ETFs from each other since they don’t have any active management and are mostly linked to the price of gold.The best gold etf is the one which has the least tracking error and the lowest expense ratio.I don’t have a favorable opinion of the mutual fund etfs in India since they charge very highly and there is lack of variety and liqudity in the Indian ETF market.
The world has so many beautiful places to visit & see. India itself is full of historical and tourists places. It has variety to offer starting from the adventurous activities in Himalayas such as mountaineering, trekking, skiing, etc. to beach holidays in Goa and Kerala, Jungle Safari through Gir and the water sports in the long stretches of coastline and the backwaters in Kerala. Earlier, it involved lot of stress to plan a trip for one’s family, where one had take the pains for checking availability & making bookings by standing in long queues for travel tickets & hotel stay. Plus, with so much availability in the market, it was also difficult to compare prices & quotes and make a wise decision. But with the advent of online bookings made through these travel sites, the whole scenario changed. Now the whole process is less stressful & more fun. One can easily go online check availability of tickets according to his needs, compare prices, book tickets & enjoy a wonderful holiday time with family & friends. There are a number of online travel agencies which through their online portals in India that help in planning these holidays and booking travel & hotel tickets at suitable & reasonable prices. They manage to aggregate travel information and make it searchable and useful. These companies offer travelers the ability to select and book from a wide selection of hotel accommodation, flights and tourist attractions across the world. They use some technology that brings speed, usability and transparency to the travel world. It also means that travel planning is no more stressful and one can spend less time searching for tickets and more time on planning your holiday.
Sugar is produced by pressing out the juice from sugarcane & then boiling it into crystals. This process was developed in India around 500 BC. The sugarcane cultivation is believed to have originated in New Guinea, and was spread along routes to Southeast Asia and India. Brazil and India are the largest producer and producer-consumer of sugar respectively. India is the second largest producer of sugarcane next to Brazil. In 2008, the production in Brazil was 645,300,182 tonnes & India was 348,187,900 tonnes. India contributes about 12% of world sugar production and has annual sugar production capacity of 23 million tonnes with a total investment of $11000 million. Presently, about 4 million hectares of land is under sugarcane production. The average yield is around 70 tonnes per hectare. India now has 453 working sugar factories with an average capacity of 3500 TCD (tonnes crushed per day). There has been an increase in the volume of free international trade in sugar, which provides an excellent means of increasing exports. In India over 45 million tonnes of sugar is being traded each year. Sugar production is not the only business of the Indian industry, but it also has a diversified business of power generation and ethanol production. The country has been producing about 1.7 billion liters of alcohol utilizing 75-80% molasses, which is a by-product of sugar production in the country. In 1993, Molasses and alcohol-based industries were decontrolled, but currently are being controlled by state governments.
In the past ten years, cement consumption in India grew by approximately 7.5% per year. The building industry developed very dynamically, driven by the strong growth of population and the quick expansion of infrastructure. In 2005, India was after China the second largest cement consumer with around 135 million tonnes.