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Mumbai: Investors looking to put money in multi-asset allocation funds - a popular category with a mix of stocks, debt and gold - must parse these portfolios before investing in them. This is because various schemes in this category have varying equity exposure that may not be suitable for all.Assets under management (AUM) of 25 multi asset allocation schemes have more than doubled from ₹45,092 crore in October 2023 to ₹1.05 lakh crore in October 2024.Equity exposure in these schemes varies from nil to 70%. "The allocation strategies that exist across 25 multi-asset allocation funds show a huge variation, making it important for investors to choose the right fund," says Juzer Gabajiwala, director, Ventura Securities. A study by Ventura Securities for the period ending September 30, shows that one scheme had no equity exposure and one had less than 35% equity exposure. While 18 schemes had between 35% and 65%, five have an equity exposure higher than 65%.Investment advisors said investors are generally unaware of the wide disparities in the equity allocations in this category "Many investors into these schemes are moving money from FDs or gold," said Harshvardhan Roongta, CFP, Roongta Securities. "They should opt for a scheme with low equity allocation as that would lower risk and volatility in their portfolio."115748914Multi asset schemes with a lower equity allocation could work well for conservative investors who are first-time investors in mutual funds or do not like high volatility.For example, in the period from September 26 to October 31, 2024, when the Nifty 50 lost 7.67%, schemes like SBI Multi Asset Allocation, BOI Multi-Asset, Mahindra Manulife Multi-Asset, Edelweiss and White Oak Multi-Asset with a less than 40% allocation to equity, saw their net asset value (NAV) dip less than 2%."Allocate money to a fund manager with a demonstrated track record, who can understand cycles and increase or reduce allocation to an asset class," said Nikhil Gupta, founder, Sage Capital.Gupta recommends ICICI Prudential Multi-Asset Fund and Whiteoak Multi Asset Fund.The tax angle also comes into play. Those schemes with 65% allocation or more to equity, are eligible for long-term capital gains tax of 12.5%. In comparison, others where equity holding is between 35% and 65% are eligible for long-term capital gains tax after holding for two years.

Mumbai: Adani Group executives haven't been indicted on bribery charges by the US authorities, the conglomerate said on Wednesday, while adding that the action taken by the US authorities has led to "significant repercussions including... international project cancellations, financial market impact and sudden examination from strategic partners, investors, and the public".The clarification on the bribery charge sparked a surge in Adani Group shares.Adani Green Energy Ltd said group founder chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and senior executive Vneet Jaain have not been charged with violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) over bribery, nor is the civil complaint filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) based on this. Instead, they have been charged on three counts in the criminal indictment-alleged securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and securities fraud, the company said in the Adani Group statement that was issued on Wednesday.The corruption matter only applies to Azure Power and CDPQ executives, according to the Adani Group.115748857 Market Capitalisation The group said $55 billion had been wiped out from the market cap of its listed units after the US indictment was made public. After the clarification, some of its stocks rose as much as 20%, lifting Adani Group market capitalisation by Rs 1.22 lakh crore on Wednesday. "Adani Group is India's largest infrastructure player with sizeable operations in the global energy and logistics space... expanding its operations in international markets and directly competes with several US and Chinese entities in Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Israel, and Australia," it said.Overseas ImpactAfter the news became public on November 21, the Kenyan government ordered the cancellation of a 30-year, $736 million deal with Adani Energy Solutions to construct power transmission lines in a public-private partnership with Kenya Electrical Transmission Co. It also directed cancellation of the procurement process to expand the country's main airport for which the government was considering a proposal by the Adani Group.French energy major TotalEnergies, which holds a 19.75% stake in Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) and a 37.4% stake in Adani Total Gas, said it was pausing new financial contributions to Adani-related ventures. AGEL dismissed claims that TotalEnergies' decision would impact its growth plans and said there were no ongoing financial commitments under discussion with the French company."DFC is reviewing its $550 million port development loan to the Adani-led consortium developing CWIT, a container terminal in Colombo Port. The agency says it is assessing the implications of the indictments on the project's integrity and compliance," the Adani Group statement said.Bangladesh's interim government has set up a review committee to investigate energy agreements signed by the previous regime, including a deal involving Adani Power's Godda coal-fired plant, news agency Reuters reported this week.Jefferies, GQGAdani Group said that international investment bank Jefferies Group, which has been a significant supporter, is reconsidering its relationship with the group following the indictment. "This reassessment reflects concerns over reputational risks and compliance issues," it said.Jefferies has been the banker for both the qualified institutional placements (QIPs) by the group this year-Adani Green Energy ($1 billion) and Adani Enterprises ($500 million). It was the only US banker involved in the exercise. Jefferies was also the banker when GQG Partners first invested in the group's companies in February 2023, shortly after the Hindenburg Research report was issued, leading to a crash in Adani Group shares.US-based GQG Partners, which holds investments worth over $8 billion in Adani Group companies, has faced financial setbacks following the US indictment."Shares in GQG Partners have declined sharply, and while the firm has publicly declared its confidence in the Adani Group's resilience, it might nevertheless be compelled to review its investments in Adani in light of the legal developments," said the Adani Group.After the clarification was issued, Adani Power and Adani Total Gas ended 20% higher. Adani Enterprises, the flagship entity, ended 11.56% higher at Rs 2,398.35. Adani Green and Adani Energy Solutions ended 10% higher and Adani Ports and SEZ rose 6.29%.Rohatgi, JethmalaniFormer attorney general and senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi underscored the clarification on bribery charges."Count one and count five are more important than the others but in neither are Adani and his nephew charged," Rohatgi told reporters in New Delhi. "Count one is against certain other persons minus the two Adanis."He said he was speaking about the matter in his individual capacity, adding that the charges do not mention the person or entity that has been bribed, which is a must in a charge sheet."Count one of the indictments, which refers to the corruption and bribery charges, only involves Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra, and Rupesh Agarwal of Azure Power and CDPQ (Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec-a Canadian institutional investor and Azure's largest shareholder). No Adani official has been named by DoJ under this," said AGEL.Separately, senior lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani on Wednesday said that the US indictment against Gautam Adani only has claims and the charges have not been proven. He also attacked the Congress party, asking it to produce evidence before holding press conferences to launch attacks against Adani.

An Indian drone company has alleged copyright infringement of its autopilot technology by Chinese entities and has asked the government to crack down on imports to protect its intellectual property rights. Chennai-based Zuppa Geo Navigation Technology has written to Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), seeking a ban on imports from Chinese companies that, it alleges, have infringed on its patent. In a representation to DGFT, the Indian company has said it was awarded a patent in April this year for a real-time computing architecture called 'system of disseminated parallel control computing in real time'. The patent was granted after a nine-year scrutiny, the company said. The company has petitioned that a Shanghai-based company, JIYI Robot, has been exporting autopilots to India that directly violate this intellectual property rights. Another company named CUAV based out of China too is supplying autopilots that allegedly infringe on its copyright, Zuppa Geo said.