PrimeInvestor - Articles and Reports

5 reasons to avoid PSU ETFs
The list of top performing equity funds for the past year features a couple of unusual entries. With a return of 18-21 per cent, CPSE ETF (managed by Nippon India Mutual Fund for the government of India) and the Bharat 22 ETF (managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund) are top rankers among equity funds.
This has many investors asking if they should add these passive funds to their portfolio. The portfolios of CPSE and Bharat 22 ETFs are made up of the PSU oil, energy and financial giants which are the flavour of the season. These ETFs’ costs are ultra-low because they are used as divestment vehicles. Both ETFs would also seem to be ‘value buys’ if you go by their ultra-cheap valuations. The CPSE ETF trades at a portfolio PE of 7 times and Bharat 22 ETF at about 11 times. This is a fraction of the current Nifty50 PE at over 21 times.
But does this make them worth betting on? There are five good reasons for long-term stock investors to steer clear of these ETFs.

Prime Equity Outlook 2023
In our Prime Equity outlook in 2022 we said “We would expect any correction triggered by global rates to take the Nifty 50 down to the 12,500 to 15,000 range. In this range, investors should deploy cash and swoop in on buying opportunities rather than develop cold feet!”.
The equity market world over did see a correction in 2022 along these lines and as geo-political factors took hold. Indian markets too, experienced a rout in the first half of the year hitting close to our predicted range at 15,200 by mid-June.
Even so, India did a lot better than its emerging market peers. The Nifty 50 closed the year on a positive note, with a modest 4% return. Simply buying the Nifty 50 would have delivered a good 18% from June until December 2022. Our own stock picks delivered well in 2022, too.
But with global recession on the cards, still high Nifty 50 and a hostile rate scenario, can 2023 be better than 2022? For Indian markets, there are some key trends that we think can play out. We look at where the Nifty 50 could be headed, and where opportunities lie.

A new approach to gauge market mood – The Nifty VMI tool
“Is this a good time to invest in the market?” This is a question that many of you ask us when you want to deploy additional money. Gauging market mood is never easy and this is often done mostly by short-term traders. When investing for the long term, we typically tell you that it is best to invest in phases and avoid trying to time the market. Investing in phases (or call it SIP) and holding for the long term can help contain downsides and it is a proven strategy.

Technical outlook – where the Nifty 50 could be headed in 2023
In the previous update on the targets for the Nifty 50, the expectation was that the index could head to the next target at 19,100. Contrary to expectations, the index has been in a correction phase in the past few weeks. In today’s report, thus, we try to assess both the short-term and the medium-term outlook for the Nifty 50 index.

Prime Debt outlook 2023: Handling a rate pause
After bungee jumping off a cliff, it is good to wait for the adrenaline rush to wear off. Indian bond markets are in exactly this situation now. After falling sharply as rates rose, bond prices are pausing to take a breath. In our debt outlook last year we expected rates to continue their upward climb and recommended strategies to play this. During the course of 2023, we think interest rates could top out and stabilise. We tell you what this will mean for your debt portfolio.

Quarterly Review: Prime Portfolios performance review & quarter changes
Prime Portfolios are a set of 19 unique portfolios that meet over 30 different investor timeframes and needs. Prime Portfolios are listed under Ready-to-use-portfolios in the Recommendations dropdown. These portfolios primarily use mutual funds, but where there are better-suited products such as deposits or government schemes, the portfolios include those as well.
We review these portfolios every quarter and make changes to remove underperformers or to include any new investment opportunity or product that may come by. At the end of each year, we review the performance of key portfolios, in addition to discussing the changes we make.

Quarterly review: Changes to recommendations in Prime Funds & Prime ETFs
Prime Funds is our list of recommendations in equity, debt, and hybrid mutual funds that are worth investing in. Prime Funds narrows down your choices from the thousands of funds that there are, into a concise list of funds that span different styles. Prime Funds are selected based on performance, portfolios, and investment strategies.
In this quarter’s review, we have added to equity funds to play themes that are ripe and made changes to the hybrid recommendations to include better return options. We have made minimal changes to our debt fund recommendations.

2023 – The year of the DIY investor
Wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2023 from all of us at PrimeInvestor!
The first month of 2023 marks the completion of three years for us at PrimeInvestor. Thank you all for coming along with us on this journey! We couldn’t have entered the investment marketplace at a better time, and here’s why!

Prime Bond recommendation: A privately placed bond for high-risk investors
With better credit offtake and improving upgrades in credit rating, at PrimeInvestor, we think it may be time to selectively take calls on bonds that compensate well for the risk taken. In this report we cover one such privately placed bond.

Prime Funds performance in 2022
The close of another year means that it’s the time we review how our recommendations have done. We published our Prime Stocks report card a few days ago. In this instalment, we cover Prime Funds performance in 2022

Prime Stocks performance review 2022
In this report, we look at the hits and misses of our Prime Stock calls this year and what we will do to add more value next year.
