Monday, May 8, 2017

Capital

Tag/ Label showing "Capital"

Capital is the money invested by the owner(s) of the business to meet the requirements of the business.

In the case of proprietary concerns it is called ‘proprietor’s capital’ and if it were a partnership firm it is called ‘partners’ capital’.

Share and Share Capital

During the colonial period businessmen found that it required a lot more capital to organise trade venture to far-off countries. Besides huge financial requirements, the ventures were fraught with a risk that is impossible for one or few individuals to bear. This resulted in the creation of joint stock companies, where the huge capital requirement is split into thousands of small units called shares, so that these small units can be easily sold to many hundreds and thousands of investors. The capital raised by the sale of ‘shares’ is called the ‘share capital’.

Share Certificate of "The Empire Jute Company Limited"



Limited Liability

Considering the large risks involved in the voyages/ ventures, by law the risk also was limited only to the amount invested, leaving the investors’ personal properties safe and untouched in the event the venture/ company failed. This was not and even today is not the case with proprietary concerns and partnership firms. The word 'Limited', 'Ltd.' in the short form are derived from and denote the limited or restricted liability of the shareholders or owners in the case of a joint stock company. 

The East India Company is good example of a joint stock company.
Coat of Arms of East India Company


Equity and Preference Capital and Shares

Later evolution and sophistication resulted into two popular types of share capital, equity and preference (also called preferred).


Picture shows Share, Equity Share and Preference Share
In a nutshell, preference shares enjoy priority in terms of payment dividends as well as repayment of principal over equity shares.

Equity shares though least in priority and more risky nevertheless are bestowed with a feature of participation in the surplus. Equity shares are crafted based on the principle rewards is proportionate to risks.

Capital is a Liability of the Business

In the modern commercial world, the owner(s) of the enterprise and the business are treated as separate entities. Therefore the business treats the money invested by the owners/ shareholders as money it owes to the owners. shareholders and therefore in the account books of the business the capital is shown as a liability. In the balance sheet, capital is listed on the liabilities side.


Conservative Enterprise Limited.
Balance Sheet as at 31st March 2017
Assets
Liabilities
Fixed Assets
3000
Capital
500
Reserves
5000
Net Worth
5500
Loans
0
Inventory
150
Receivables
1500
Trades payable
500
Cash & Cash Equivalents
1350
Total Assets
6000
Total Liabilities
6000
Of course in terms of priority in repayment, in the event of liquidation of the business, capital comes last. This means that when a business is being wound-up, the assets of the business are sold and the proceeds are utilised to repay the sums owed to various parties, including the owners/ shareholders, in the following order of priority:


In conclusion, capital is owner(s) investment in the business. In the case of a company it is called share capital. It is a liability owed to the owners. It is the last item to be repaid in the event of liquidation of a business.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

How to Buy Multiple Mutual Funds from a Single Online Platform?

Actual Question:


What is the best online platform to buy mutual funds? Is it possible to buy multiple mutual funds from a single platform? If yes, how to buy form an online platform?

Answer:

Dear Friend!

Best Online Platform:

It is not possible for me recommend the best online platform for buying mutual funds. In order to do that one should have the personal experience of having used many platforms, which is not practicable. 

In my opinion all major online platforms sponsored by reputed institutions should provide good services. Following platforms I have used and can say are good:
  • Kotak Securities - an offshoot of Kotak Mahindra Bank: https://www.kotaksecurities.com/
  • India Infoline: https://ttweb.indiainfoline.com/trade/Login.aspx 

Is it possible to buy multiple mutual funds from a single online platform?


The answer is a definite YES.

Please see the following screen picture from Kotak Securities:

table listing various mutual fund schemes













How to Buy Mutual Funds Online:

Please note that all the steps described here are as to be followed with Kotak Securities trading account. Other platforms may have different procedures/ steps and screens.

Before you can buy mutual funds online, you should have completed the following prior formalities:
  1. Opened an online trading account with a stock broker.
  2. Opened an account that keeps the mutual funds in a dematerialised form in a special account which is popularly known as demat account.
  3. Your Power of Attorney (POA) in favour of the broker has to be registered with the Registrar and Transfer Agent of all the mutual funds. This your broker will take care of with your consent but the process may take three to four working days. When you are buying for the first time and if you are not so registered, you may see a screen as follows:
notice to register POA first with R&TAs of mutula funds


Now you are ready for buying mutual funds online. lets start.

Step 1/ Screen 1: Login

login screen of trading account

Log in to your trading account using the login ID, password and the transactional one-time-password (OTP). Please note that the OTP requirement may not be involved in a few platforms or there may be any other method of verification.

Step 2/ Screen 2: Select "Trade Now"

"trade now" screen



















On the top lefthand side corner choose the option "Trade Now" and you will enter the following step/ screen.

Step 3/ Screen 3: Select "Place Order"

"Place Order" Screen

















When you click on the option "Place Order" the following menu screen displaying various options like 'Equity', 'Derivatives', 'Mutual Funds' and so on will open.





Step 4/ Screen 4: Select "Purchase"

Mutual fund purchase screen


















Please click on the button "Purchase" listed under the main head, 'Mutual Fund'.

Now the following screen listing various mutual fund categories of various funds will open.


Step 4/ Screen 4: Select "Action"

















Please note that a menu table with five mutual fund types or categories, with various schemes sponsored by multiple funds are listed under each category. You have a really wide variety of schemes to choose from.

Under each  fund scheme you have following two action choices are in front of you:

  1. Buy: This is meant for an one time buying of mutual fund
  2. SIP: Option to subscribe to a systematic investment plan (SIP) - once you choose this you are committing to a regular purchase, usually monthly.


What type of mutual fund to choose?

As I have repeated many times before for real long-term wealth creation you should only choose a well diversified, low-cost, equity, index fund.


Suggested Further Reading:

In conclusion you can indeed invest in multiple mutual fund schemes from a single online platform and we hope you have learnt how to buy from this article.

Thank you,

With Best Regards,

Anand