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Mumbai: Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) - a mutual fund equivalent of banks' recurring deposits - may be one of the best ways for retail investors to put money in equity schemes. Those looking to maximise the benefits of this investment method could consider SIP top-up - a system that allows you to increase the SIP amount annually.According to a study by WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund, a SIP top-up can significantly boost absolute returns from equity products.111047378For example, an investor with a SIP of ₹10,000 in the BSE Sensex TRI (Total Returns Index) after 25 years would reach ₹2.71 crore. However, an annual top-up of ₹1,000 on the monthly SIP of ₹10,000 would grow to ₹4.26 crore, while an annual top-up of 10% on the same SIP of ₹10,000 would grow to a substantial ₹5.52 crore,"A SIP top-up helps you extend that discipline to your expected higher future surplus money as well," said the note by WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund.Mutual fund investors have the option of doing a fixed amount top-up every year, wherein you can add amounts like ₹100 or ₹1,000 to your base SIP every year or opt for a variable amount top-up, which can be 10% or 15% of your original SIP amount."This method of topping up SIP can help young savers who have just started their job and expect their salaries to grow over time," said S Shankar, CFP, Credo CapitalFinancial planners said one of the biggest advantages of a SIP top-up is that it helps investors reach their goals sooner.

Mumbai: India Inc was less generous with dividends in FY24 than in previous 9 years amid an increase in capital expenditure with average capacity utilisation exceeding the long-term average. The dividend payout ratio was 34% in FY24, down from 43% in FY23 and 37% in FY22. Including buybacks, the payout was 38% in FY24 compared with 44% in FY23 or 41% in FY22.The dividend payout ratio is the proportion of a company's earnings paid to shareholders as dividends. This payout tends to be lower in times when companies spend more on expansion. Companies with a high cash flow in mature industries tend to have higher dividend payout ratios. About 1,300 companies paid ₹4.15 lakh crore in dividends in FY24, compared with their standalone net profit of ₹12.24 lakh crore. Additionally, 41 companies spent around ₹50,750 crore on share buybacks in FY24. The dividends paid in FY23 amounted to ₹4.44 lakh crore, while money spent on share buybacks was ₹21,500 crore.According to analysts, investments in several new projects are gaining momentum, with companies allocating more funds toward expansion. "After a long time, there is an uptick in capital expansion across many industries in India," said Gaurav Dua, head of capital market strategy, Sharekhan.111047300 What Top 15 Groups Paid "Consequently, it is not surprising to see a decline in dividend outgo as the money would be required to fund the expansion," Dua said.The top 15 industry houses in India paid an average of 43% of their profits as dividends in FY24, significantly lower than the 75% and 44% paid in the prior two fiscal years. The Tata Group led the list with a dividend payment of ₹32,000 crore, though this was 38% less than the previous year. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) paid ₹42,090 crore in dividends in FY23 against ₹26,426 crore in FY24. Shiv Nadar's HCL Group paid ₹14,120 core in FY24, higher than ₹13,035 crore in FY23.Anil Agarwal's Vedanta group paid around ₹11,000 crore in FY24, marking an 84% decrease from the previous year's dividends of ₹69,997 crore. The payout ratio of the Mahindra and Bajaj groups dropped marginally in FY24. On the other hand, those of the Bharti Group, Aditya Birla Group, Sun Pharma, Hinduja Group and Torrent rose substantially."With the stock market creating enormous wealth over the last year, many promoters, instead of giving dividends, allocated more funds for capital expenditure," said G Chokkalingam, founder and CEO, Equinomics Research. "Additionally, some large companies rewarded shareholders through buybacks instead of dividends in FY24."At a recent NCAER event, chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran noted a drawing down of surplus by the private sector, indicating a recovery in private capex. Private investment proposals sanctioned by banks rose by nearly ₹1 lakh crore to ₹3 lakh crore in FY24, according to India Ratings and Research.

Bengaluru: A Pune-based real estate firm was recently duped out of ₹4 crore when cybercriminals, masquerading as its chairman, tricked an accounts officer into transferring company funds into fraudulent bank accounts. At the local unit of a multinational company, the finance controller fell prey to a similar scam running into crores of rupees when the chief financial officer was on a holiday.Phishing attacks have become more sophisticated and cybercrooks are increasingly setting their sights on big targets for bigger payoffs.In the past one year, experts said, they have seen a minimum two to three times increase in incidents of the so-called whaling attacks, or CEO fraud, with scammers using social engineering to impersonate top corporate executives and tricking employees into sending money, providing sensitive data, purchasing gift cards or allowing network access. These incidents often lead to financial losses, data breaches and, in some cases, damage to organisational reputation for companies."It's a big nexus; there are organised criminal gangs at play," said Ranjeeth Bellary, partner at EY India's Forensic & Integrity Services. "We've been investigating social engineering frauds for the last seven-eight years, but those targeting CEO/CXO-level officials have exploded of late."Fraudsters are using artificial intelligence, launching bot-based attacks; studying the social media profiles of the executives and other available content to craft very convincing mails that come across as legitimate.These attacks are effective partly due to low awareness and also because fraudsters have realised that it is easier to get employees to act on emails received from senior executives, said Bellary. "You should not trust a person blindly - that's the first line of defence. Companies are now also making employees go through awareness sessions. But in most cases, it's reactive rather than proactive." Most Attacks may go Unreported In many cases, companies and individuals try to hide the fact that they've been scammed, which means the actual number of cases is likely to be many times those reported.Not just corporate employees, even faculty of educational institutes like IIMs have received emails or WhatsApp messages from hackers impersonating as directors or top officials.An IIM director told ET that mails, purportedly from him, had gone out to several faculty members, asking to buy gift cards and send the details. "It's happened not once but multiple times. We've now put more stringent systems in place," said the director who did not want to be named, apprehensive about being targeted again.Several of his peers at other institutes have also faced the same issue, he said.According to Akshay Garkel, partner and leader-Cyber at Grant Thornton Bharat, sometimes for a large corporate (with annual revenue of Rs 50,000-100,000 crore), the thinking is that it is better to write off small amounts, for instance up to Rs 3-4 crore, that have been siphoned off than take a hit to the employer brand. Having said so, law enforcement agencies must be informed about all the cases, he added.There is a pureplay financial motive behind these incidents, Garkel said. "In the cases we come across, security awareness levels need improvement. There needs to be a lot more sophistication in monitoring and blocking such incidents."High VulnerabilityAlmost everyone is vulnerable to cyberattacks as personal details collected by apps and web sites may get leaked, giving the scamsters access to confidential information.Ashok Hariharan, chief executive of fraud detection company IDfy, said even his company had been targeted.Just a month ago, 50-60 of the company’s 650 employees received an email pretending to be from Hariharan. Being in the business of fraud detection, no one rose to the bait, but such incidents have happened in the past as well, he said.“Personal details are easily available. It could be from apps or data brokers who are selling it; malicious mobile apps downloaded; it’s even available on the dark web for just Rs 100-200,” sad Hariharan. “Also, the fact that the transfer of money has become extremely easy through UPI, has made it the base of most frauds. It’s much easier to run at a mass scale.”Controls need to be put in at multiple stages, including at the KYC level (to stop fraudsters from entering the system). Also, there should be better transaction monitoring — for instance, huge activity to a particular number/account should trigger the system), Hariharan said. “Big organisations are seeing more of these frauds. At a basic minimum, awareness sessions should be conducted for finance teams, those dealing with vendors, etc, as they are among the more vulnerable targets,” he added.

Mumbai: Fortis Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals, Medanta and Max Healthcare are among half-a-dozen companies that have shown preliminary interest in acquiring Jaypee Healthcare, the last of the Jaiprakash Group's priced assets to be admitted into bankruptcy.On Friday, the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) gave an oral order to admit Jaypee Healthcare for corporate insolvency and resolution process on a petition filed by JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction Company.A written order is yet to be uploaded by the tribunal on its website.Manoj Gaur-promoted Jaiprakash Associates was admitted for corporate insolvency process this month, while a Suraksha Realty-led consortium has already taken control of Gaur's other company, Jaypee Infratech, under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.111043094Jaypee Healthcare, a multi-speciality tertiary care hospital located at Jaypee Wish Town in Noida, is a subsidiary of Jaypee Infratech.JC Flowers ARC, Bank of Baroda, Exim Bank, Punjab National Bank and Asset Reconstruction Company of India (Arcil) are among its lenders, according to a disclosure made by Care Ratings. Its total debt (including the interest component) is about ₹1,000 crore.Fortis Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals, Medanta and Max Healthcare did not respond to ET's request for comment.The tribunal has appointed Bhuvan Madan, backed by PwC, as the interim resolution professional for the company, while lenders have appointed Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas as their advisor.Yes Bank had extended a loan to Jaypee Infratech with Jaypee Healthcare shares as security. In March 2023, JC Flowers ARC (which acquired loans from Yes Bank) invoked the share pledge and became a 63.6% stakeholder in the hospital operator. The balance stake was held by Jaypee Infratech.The hospital chains interested in acquiring Jaypee Healthcare had earlier approached both the ARC and Suraksha Realty that had acquired Jaypee Infratech, said people familiar with the development.Last month, Suraksha, with a 36% equity stake, pleaded before the NCLT that it was in talks with Jaypee Healthcare's lenders for an out-of-court debt settlement. However, the settlement did not materialise, said a person familiar with the development.Earlier, Yes Bank had filed a petition to admit Jaypee Healthcare. In June 2022, the tribunal kept the matter in abeyance until it passed a resolution plan for Jaypee Infratech.The tribunal passed an order based on NBCC's plea that there is a possibility of an amicable solution of debts between the winning bidder of Jaypee Infratech and the hospital's lenders. NBCC was also in the fray for Jaypee Infratech, the parent company of Jaypee Healthcare.The hospital has 504 beds (300 operational beds) with 18 operation theatres and 35 specialities.