FUND PHILOSOPHY

Contained headline inflation and slower growth is positive for fixed income market. It will not only help RBI to infuse necessary durable system liquidity but also opens up the possibility of further rate cuts. Global growth inflation dynamics also prompted other key central banks to maintain their growth supportive stance. All these factors are favourable for the domestic fixed income market. Hence, in the near term interest rate movement is likely to be range bound with softer bias. However, over the medium term, Government’s commitment towards fiscal deficit target, crude price movement, progress of monsoon and FII flows are likely to impact the market sentiment.

OVERVIEW OF MARKET

After 4 straight months of positive returnsto start the financial year, August saw the benchmark Nifty take a breather, closing 2.5% lower for the month at 19,254. The index performance was driven by possible profit booking on the back of lifetime highs as well as weaker FPI inflows. The rise in the volatality index indicator (VIX) from 10.4 to 12 reflected concerns around resurgent food inflation on account of continuing geopolitical events and uneven distribution of rainfall. The benchmark 10 Y G-sec paper traded in a narrow range (7.15% to 7.25%) during the period, and closed flat at 7.17%. Global equity markets also showed some fatigue during the period, with S&P 500 down by 1.8%, Nikkei 225 down by 1.7%, Shanghai Composite down by 5.2% and DAX down by 3%. The outlook for major economies remains colored by the trajectory of their respective inflation readings, with an overhang of resurgent food inflation due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The Indian economy continues to stand out for its growth amidst an anemic global economic scenario. The same is reflected in the relative strength of the INR vs the USD. Notwithstanding the above, retail inflation surged to a 15- month high of 7.44% in July, led by food inflation of 11.5%, primarily driven by spiralling vegetable prices. Food inflation constitutes almost half of the consumer price basket, and registered its highest level since the beginning of the Covid-19. The key reason for the food price shocks is the uneven spatial distribution of monsoon, simultaenously creating pockets of flood and drought across the country. The government has restricted exports of certain food items to maintain food security, while the RBI raised its inflation forecast for FY24 to 5.4% (prev: 5.1%.).

On the monsoon front, a wet July was followed by the driest August on record for the country, as the impact of the “ElNino” phenomenon becomes more pronounced. A similarly subdued start to precipitation in September could lead to a longer bout of food inflation, as the rabi sowing would also get impacted. Vegetables and pulses remain the most vulnerable. From a sectoral point of view, all sectors except IT (+4%) and Media (+11%) ended in red, among them, the major losers were BFSI (-4%) and Energy (-3%). During the period, FIIs were net sellers in equities (on net basis) to the tune of ~Rs 20,621 Cr and DIIs were net buyers of equities (on net basis) to the tune of ~Rs 25,017 Cr . In the first 5 months of FY24, FPIs invested Rs 1.6 lac cr as against net outflow of Rs 0.5 lac cr in the corresponding period last year.

EQUITY

Despite a negative return for August, Indian equity markets have outperformed other emerging markets in FY24. Management commentary from Q1 results guided for a revival in rural demand due to low base and upcoming festive season, even as risks remain from a second round of inflation led by spike in food and commodity prices as well as supply chain disruptions from China’s stumbling recovery. Hence, bottom-up stock selection and sector rotation will hold the key to index outperformance. With likely pick up in discretionary spending and inflation fears in commodity prices, sectors like Media, Hospitality, Cement and Metals are likely to do better.

FIXED INCOME

Indian bond markets are likely to monitor the progress of monsoons, August inflation print, half yearly borrowing calendar of the central government, crude price movement and central bank action. The progress and distribution of monsoons in September remain critical for food production. Lower G-Sec supply and higher borrowing through T-bills and small savings may flatten the curve going ahead, while the shorter tenor will continue to be impacted by liquidity measures conducted by RBI. As most of the government capital expenditure is front-end loaded, given that Lok Sabha elections are fast approaching, the market will monitor the fiscal management of the government.

INVESTOR PHILOSOPHY

Provide customers with the best solutions & services

Vision
To be the preferred Life Insurer; to ensure Safety, Liquidity and Profitability of funds, encompassing integrity and transparency in its operations, with an overall objective to meet the Reasonable Expectations of Policyholders.

Objectives

  • To invest the funds in matching assets, to the extent possible, so as to meet the liabilities as and when due
  • To effectively manage the portfolio of investments to yield optimum return
  • To be compliant with all Regulatory norms and to follow prudent practices in operations
  • To carry out the fund management activities in a cost efficient manner

COMPANY INITIATIVE

Constant growth and development

Attract and retain talent and imparts training to the manpower to develop the needed skill sets; In-house Research team and framework for informed fund management decisions. State of the art Investment Management System seamlessly integrating the Front, Mid and Back offices, to effectively manage risks, investment accounting, MIS etc

MODIFIED NAVCOMPUTATION

As per IRDA Circulars ref: IRDA/F&I/CIR/INV/173/08/2011 dated July 29, 2011 and IRDA/F&I/CIR/INV/187/08/2011 dated August 17, 2011, computation of Net Asset Value stands modified with effect from August 18, 2011, as below:

OLD METHOD NEW METHOD

Fund Nav

NAVs (in Rs) as on 29-Sep-2023

  • Sr. No.1

  • Fund

  • Segregated Fund Identification No.

  • NAV

1 Balanced fundULIF 001 18/02/09 SUD-LI-BL1 14234.2405SD001
2 Equity FundULIF 002 25/02/09 SUD-LI-EQ1 14267.1067SD002
3 Bond FundULIF 004 25/02/09 SUD-LI-BN1 14225.7936SD003
4 Growth FundULIF 003 25/02/09 SUD-LI-GR1 14258.2549SD004
5 Individual Pension Fund - EquityULIF 005 31/03/09 SUD-PI-EQ1 14257.4115SD005
6 Individual Pension Fund - BondULIF 008 31/03/09 SUD-PI-BN1 14225.7658SD006
7 Individual Pension Fund - GrowthULIF 006 31/03/09 SUD-PI-GR1 14246.3198SD007
8 Individual Pension Fund - BalancedULIF 007 31/03/09 SUD-PI-BL1 14233.9272SD008
9 Apex Equity FundULIF 009 20/01/10 SUD-LA-EQ1 14238.4011SD009
10 Apex Bond FundULIF 012 20/01/10 SUD-LA-BN1 14225.2888SD010
11 Apex Growth FundULIF 010 20/01/10 SUD-LA-GR1 14235.6643SD011
12 Apex Balanced FundULIF 011 20/01/10 SUD-LA-BL1 14232.9950SD012
13 Individual Pension Fund - Apex EquityULIF 013 20/01/10 SUD-PA-EQ1 14238.6306SD013
14 Individual Pension Fund - Apex BondULIF 016 20/01/10 SUD-PA-BN1 14224.4724SD014
15 Individual Pension Fund - Apex GrowthULIF 014 20/01/10 SUD-PA-GR1 14234.8929SD015
16 Individual Pension Fund - Apex BalancedULIF 015 20/01/10 SUD-PA-BL1 14232.3079SD016
17 Express Balanced FundULIF 017 29/04/11 SUD-LX-BL1 14226.1618SD017
18 Discontinued FundULIF 018 03/06/11 SUD-UL-DP1 14221.0792SD018
19 Individual Life - Bluechip Equity FundULIF 019 11/12/13 SUD-LI-EQ2 14228.7116SD019
20 Individual Life - Income FundULIF 020 11/12/13 SUD-LI-BN2 14218.5990SD020
21 Individual Life - Growth Plus FundULIF 023 11/12/13 SUD-LI-GR2 14226.4495SD023
22 Individual Life - Balanced Plus FundULIF 024 11/12/13 SUD-LI-BL2 14222.4427SD024
23 Unclaimed Policies Unit Linked FundULIF 025 09/11/16 SUD-LN-UUF14214.4736SD029
24 Group Debt FundULGF 003 20/03/15 SUD-GN-BN1 14216.5333SD027
25 Group Money Market FundULGF 004 20/03/15 SUD-GN-MM1 14211.9358SD028
26 Group Balanced FundULGF 002 20/03/15 SUD-GN-BL1 14213.1739SD026
27 Individual Life - Mid Cap FundULIF 026 14/10/19 SUD-LI-MID 14218.3558SD030
28 Individual Life - Gilt FundULIF 027 14/10/19 SUD-LI-GLT 14211.4802SD031
29 Dynamic FundULIF 028 11/06/21 SUD-LI-DYN 14211.3598SD032
30 Money Market FundULIF 029 11/06/21 SUD-LI-MMF 14210.8648SD033
Fund Philosophy

FUND
MANAGEMENT
TEAM

Get to know the
fund management team
at our company

Mr. Prashant Sharma

CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER

Qualifications: CA, CFA

Experience: More than two decades of experience of handling Investments. Prashant has been responsible for overall investment portfolios, formulating investment policies, generating reasonable returns and appropriate risk management. He has been also responsible for Corporate Strategy, Products, MIS and Assurance services in his previous roles and has been an active member of Executive Committee and Steering committees.

Prior to joining the company, he was Chief Investment Officer at Aviva Life Insurance. He was also associated with Max Life Insurance in the capacity of Chief Investment Officer in the past.

Mr. Ram Kamal Samanta

HEAD OF FIXED INCOME

Qualifications: Post--graduation in Economics from JNU, PGDBA with specialisation in Finance, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA – ICFAI India), certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM from GARP USA) and Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers(CAIIB),Fellow of Life Insurance from Insurance Institute of India.

Experience: More than two decades of experience in financial markets (both fixed income and equity) as a research analyst and fund manager. Prior to joining SUD Life, he was with SBI DFHI LTD as Vice President, Investment for 13 years.

Guest speaker at various reputed institutes including Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kolkata, National Institute of Securities Market (NISM) and National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) Pune.

Mr. Jagdish Bhanushali

FUND MANAGER – EQUITY

Qualifications: CFA (CFA Institute) & FRM (Global Association of Risk Professional)

Experience: Greater than 13 years’ of Experience in to Indian Equity Market. Prior joining SUD Life, he worked as Senior Equity Analyst with Florintree Advisors.

Along with being Equity Analyst, he was also associated as Guest Faculty with Mithibai College of Science & Commerce and SIES College of Commerce & Economics.

Mr. Sujay Nimkar

FUND MANAGER - FIXED INCOME​

Qualifications: MBA (Finance) & B.E. (Mechanical)

Experience: 10+ years of experience in fixed income markets across rating agencies and Investment banks.

Prior to joining SUD Life, he was working as senior analyst with ICRA Ltd,He has also been associated with Deutsche bank, Credit Suisse and CRISIL Ltd.

Mr. Jimesh Sanghvi

SR EQUITY RESEARCH ANALYST​

Qualifications: Chartered Accountant

Experience: More than 17 years of experience as an Equity Research Analyst for the Indian markets both on the buy side as well as sell side.

Prior to joining SUD Life, he was a senior Equity Research Analyst with Principal Asset Management covering multiple sectors.

He has also been associated with SBICAP Securities and Avendus Securities in the past..

Awarded Reuters Star Mine award for stock picking in Metals and Mining Sector during 2013 and 2014.

Mr. Hasmukh Vishariya

EQUITY RESEARCH ANALYST​

A qualified Chartered Accountant started his career with the company in October 2017

Mr. Rishav Jain

CREDIT ANALYST​

Qualifications: Chartered Accountant, B.Com(H)

Experience: 3 years post qualification experience, with 1.5 years as macro and credit analyst.

Prior to joining SUD Life, he was associated with PwC.

Mr. Meet Kachhy

LEAD ANALYST ON ALTERNATE ASSETS​

Qualifications: MBA, CFA, B.E. (Hons)

Experience: More than a decade’s experience across investing (public & private markets ), corporate finance & strategy.

Prior experience includes stints at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, VC fund Jupiter Capital and education start-up XSeed.

CHANGE IN VALUATION OF EQUITY

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