Street signs: Thrust for disinvestment, wealth managers' woes, and more

The Sensex is down 3,000 points or over 8% from its August high

Fresh thrust for disinvestment 

Buoyed by the enthusiastic response for Bharat 22 ETF (exchange traded fund) and sale of SUUTI’s stake in Axis Bank, the government might push for more offer for sales (OFS) and an initial public offering of a public sector undertaking before the end of March. Last week, the government mopped up about Rs 15,000 crore through these two deals despite the benchmark indices ending in the red in all the five sessions. The government had set a disinvestment target of Rs 80,000 crore, and so far it has collected Rs 53,558 crore.

Sundar Sethuraman

Wealth managers' woes

Wealth management firms had been having a good run in the last few years. Hiring seemed at a high, and poaching seemed almost commonplace. Those charging clients a portion of their assets as fees saw incomes soar. But now, some blips. The Sensex is down 3,000 points or over 8 per cent from its August high. The mid-cap and small-cap indices are down 24 per cent and 34 per cent, respectively. Adding to the woes is talk that two well-known firms, one domestic and one foreign, have both seen their employees' resumes circulating in other firms in the last few months. Whether its regular spring-cleaning or because of deeper issues at play, only time can tell.

Sachin P Mampatta

Truncated sales for major fund house

The recent troubles in the fixed income space seems to have roiled one major mutual fund (MF) house quite a bit. It had exposure to troubled groups and now investors are said to be closely examining schemes and its underlying securities before investment, unlike earlier when the brand alone may have been enough. Investors are said to have expressed reluctance on allocating fresh funds citing the kind of paper the fund house's schemes hold. The sales team is said to be down to restricting activities to the fund's liquid schemes.

Sachin P Mampatta