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— Thulasi Kakkat

Mr Shibunath T. Appu, Manager, Business Development, Central Depository Services Ltd, addressing the Business Line Club at Jayabharat School of Management Studies, Vengola, near Kochi.

V. Sajeev Kumar

Kochi, Sept 19

Growing investment opportunities and greater participation in the stock markets were among the subjects that came up for discussion in the interactive session organised by the Business Line Club at Jayabharat School of Management Studies at Vengola near here.

Heralding the discussions, Mr Shibunath T. Appu, Manager, Business Development, Central Depository Services (India) Ltd, dwelt at length on the subjects of online trading, de-mat accounts, initial public offers, settlement of trades at the stock exchanges, mutual funds etc.

Highlighting the benefits of mutual fund investments in the stock market, he pointed out that the investment of mutual fund industry, which started in 1963, today stood at Rs 5 lakh crore with more number of participation from investors.

Mutual funds are considered to be an ideal option to gain better returns as it less risky. Investors are comparatively safe in mutual fund investments, which will be diversified in various segments. Mutual fund investment is a long term investment and the investor could not expect short term gains, he said.

He pointed out that there are different types of mutual funds investments and SIP’s are one among them providing a monthly investment option route for investors. He also taught the student community the procedure to open a de-mat account. The opening of a de-mat account is as simple as opening a bank account and there are about 447 depository participants and 53 lakh de-mat accounts in India as on today.

Answering a question on the need for holding a de-mat account he replied that the holding of such accounts is to apply for IPO, secondary market delivery and dematerialisation of physical shares into electronic form. He also mentioned about the difference between dematerialisation and re-materialisation of shares.

On the activities of CDSL, he said that it had endeavoured to educate investors by conducting investor awareness programme (IAP) across the country so as to create awareness not only about the depository system but also to educate investors about various market mechanisms, market practices as well as their rights and obligations. These IAP’s reach out to investors not only in the major metros but also in small and medium towns and cities, he said.

Many of the investors may not possess adequate knowledge to take informed decisions, while many may not be fully aware of the different investment options. Further, many may not know the precautions they should take while dealing with various market intermediaries and of their rights and responsibilities, he said.

Earlier, Mr K.P. Narayanan, Assistant Regional General Manager, The Hindu, Kochi. welcomed the gathering at the interactive session.

More Stories on : Events | Education | Mutual Funds | BL Club | Kerala

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