New Delhi: Sitting on a huge cash pile, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has parked close to Rs 1,300 crore in mutual funds of Reliance-ADAG as part of its investment portfolio. This marks a significant increase of investments worth Rs 691 crore as on March 31, 2013 in select schemes of Reliance Mutual Fund, which is run by Anil Ambani-led business conglomerate’s financial services arm Reliance Capital and is one of the top fund houses in the country. RIL’s total investments in select Reliance MF schemes, mostly Fixed Maturity Plans (FMPs), rose to Rs 1,290 crore as on March 31, 2014, shows the company’s latest annual report for the financial year 2013-14. Equity MF investor base grew by around 4 lakh in April New Delhi: Equity mutual funds registered a surge of nearly four lakh investors — measured in terms of individual accounts or folios — in April mainly on account of sharp rise in stock market. This was the first increase in equity MF investor base in more than four years. Folios are numbers designated to individual investor accounts, although one investor can have multiple folios. According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) data on total investor accounts with 44 fund houses, the number of equity folios rose to 2,9,566,660 (over 29.56 million) at the end of April 2014, from 2,9,180,922 at the end of last fiscal (March 31, 2014) — a gain of 3,85,738. The additions came at a time when the market was scaling new highs. FIIs pumped R14,000 crore in Indian stocks in May New Delhi: Overseas investors have pumped in over Rs 14,000 crore in Indian stocks so far this month as the new BJP government, which is to take charge on Monday, is seen as being reforms-oriented. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 84,777 crore and sold equities amounting to Rs 70,553 crore, a net inflow of Rs 14,224 crore ($2.4 billion) from May 2-23, according to data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. At the same time, foreign investors have infused a net amount of Rs 12,037 crore ($2.03 billion) in the debt market. Market analysts said that foreign investors are betting on the new government under the Narendra Modi-led BJP as they see it initiating reforms to spur economic growth. Aditya Birla Nuvo to invest R350 cr into financial services in FY15 New Delhi: Diversified conglomerate Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd (ABNL) will invest Rs 350 crore in its financial services business in the current fiscal. “For 2014-15, ABNL has earmarked a capital expenditure plan of around Rs 460 crore. The company plans to invest about Rs 350 crore in the financial services business,” the company said in an investor update. The company, however, has not specified which segments in its financial arm — Aditya Birla Financial Services (ABFS) — will receive capital infusion.
