Wednesday, August 26, 2020

In What Circumstances Can a State Lawfully Resort to the Use of Essay

In What Circumstances Can a State Lawfully Resort to the Use of Military Force in Response to an Attack from a Non-State Actor - Essay Example Understanding the subtleties of the conditions just as how one can react to explicit assaults is basic not just with the mechanics of how to react yet in addition with how this partners with the various impacts which happen when one reacts. This exploration study will research the essential guidelines, exemptions and the various laws which make elective mechanics toward reacting from an assault of a non †state entertainer. Legalities of Military Force Article 51 of the United Nations contract is the essential idea that recognizes when one can react to another with self †resistance. In this article, it expresses that on the off chance that the characteristic privileges of the individual are assaulted, at that point there is simply the option to respond protection toward the non †state on-screen character. In any case, there are likewise ramifications of global harmony and security with the desire that one will go the assault through the UN before starting activity. The need to reestablish and keep universal harmony and security at that point become significant with the self †safeguard and the manner by which this makes a particular option in contrast to the global needs. While there is simply the capacity to act with gathering or self †safeguard, the idea of global harmony and security stay as significant when choosing to utilize military power against an individual1. The principal suggestion which permits one to react with self protection is if the methodology is an equipped assault, which makes one a casualty to the assault. An equipped assault is comprehensive of a military assault or activity that utilizations power in another state. This likewise incorporates barrage with the utilization of weapons, barricades of another express, an assault with military, demonstrations of hostility and soldiers of fortune that are sent to perform military activities. Every one of these cases makes one become a casualty of the activities and establi sh the option to respond with military power against the other state for self protection. It is noticed that there are occurrences which don't comprise of military or equipped assaults, including political missions, digital assaults, supplies of budgetary or knowledge assets or outskirts rates. These don't make one be a casualty of the assault and don't legitimize countermeasures as they are not proportionate with the infringement that happen. There are likewise suggestions that the assault must be toward an area or warships and not toward nationals or representatives as these are not a danger to the self protection of a country2. The utilization of self protection and the legalities which are related with this proceed with the necessities that are met for a response. The first of these is the need, implying that there is no elective methods for review, for example, a settlement or other type of discretion. The second depends on the proportionality. In the event that there is anothe r methods for changing the procedure from self protection, at that point the assault must not be canceled and extents should be modified. The need to have promptness is likewise a piece of the guidelines with the understanding that this should be adaptable until there is authorization to push ahead. It ought to likewise be noticed that the moves can't make place except if an activity has just made the state become a casualty. One can't act preemptively before the danger or the assault happens as there isn't a comprehension of

Saturday, August 22, 2020

How to Survive an Ied Free Essays

Paper †Process Analysis Rough Draft Discussion: Writer’s Workshop †Process Analysis Rough Draft†This point is intended to help you with your composition and altering abilities. At the point when you have finished your work in progress of the Process Analysis paper, post it here. At that point, audit another understudy posting and offer counsel on how the person can improve their section. We will compose a custom exposition test on Step by step instructions to Survive an Ied or then again any comparative theme just for you Request Now For instance, you may take note of that the creator of the section has neglected to help their theme sentence completely. Offer that individual guidance on how the person can include subtleties that will make the passage additionally convincing. Or on the other hand, you may wish to rehearse your sentence structure and accentuation aptitudes on your kindred understudies by assessing a passage or two for mistakes. Paper: Process Analysis †This paper is expected week eight This week you will extend from section to exposition. Since this is a more extended paper, if you don't mind utilize this week and next for composing and changing. If you don't mind make a point to put your last draft in the proper Dropbox preceding the finish of class in week eight. If you don't mind set aside the effort to audit the allocated sections for itemized direction on exposition development. Audit the accompanying sites for more data on paper development: lt;! â€[if ! supportLists]â€gt;? lt;! â€[endif]â€gt;Sheey, Geoff. â€Å"5 Paragraph Essay Construction. †Ã¢ SlideShare. http://www. slideshare. net/sheehy/5-section paper development lt;! â€[if ! supportLists]â€gt;? lt;! â€[endif]â€gt;â€Å"The Five Paragraph Essay. †Ã¢ Guide to Grammar and Writing. Capital Community College Foundation. http://sentence structure. ccc. commnet. edu/GRAMMAR/five_par. htm 1. Utilizing the techniques you read about in Chapters 16, 17, 26 and 30, compose a 500 word exposition dependent on one of the Activities found in Chapter 21 pages 422 †425. For instance, you may decide to compose a paper about â€Å"How to Accomplish a Daily Task† or â€Å"How to Write a School Assignment. †Ã¢ However, any of the points recorded inside the pages are fine. You may choose which subject best suits you. 2. Length:â 500 words †see page 471 for a Step-by-Step way to deal with composing a paper in the Process Analysis style. 3. Ensure your paper position incorporates the accompanying: * Lines †Double dispersed * Name Box †at upper left corner * Page Numbers * Title 4. Over your paper, I need to consider a to be layout as portray on page 11 in Chapter 1. 4. * Conclusion 5. Ensure your paper has a TITLE †see the MLA area in your sentence structure handbook for bit by bit guidelines. You may look for help on MLA by visiting the Columbia College composing site at http://www. ccis. edu/divisions/WritingCenter/composing. html or Purdue’ Online Writing Lab http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/assets/557/01/ 6. Start your paper with an Introduction that catches the reader’s eye. Recollect that you just get one chance to establish a connection. . Proceed onward to the Thesis Statement. Recollect that the Thesis tells the peruser what the general paper will be about. For this paper, a theory that expresses the idea of your thought and the a few regions you intend to cover is a smart thought. See the accompanying sites for more data on theory arrangement: * â€Å"Thesis Statements. †Ã¢ The Writing Center. College of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www. unc. edu/depts/wcweb/gifts/proposal. html * Brunswold, Libby. â€Å"Thesis Statement. †Ã¢ Literacy Education Online. The Write Place. St. Cloud State University. 4 October 2003. http://leo. stcloudstate. edu/acadwrite/thesistatement. html 8. Your paper ought to have at any rate two Body Paragraphs that start with a Topic Sentence that incorporates just a single thought otherwise known as a Controlling Idea. Recollect that a theme sentence should concentrate on a solitary point you wish to pass on to the peruser. Recollect that you bolster your point sentence with detail. Survey the allocated parts in the event that you are experiencing difficulty observing what a subject sentence is. 9. Bolster your Topic Sentence otherwise known as Controlling Idea with sentences that incorporate customized models. These sentences originate from the â€Å"supporting detail† segments inside your layout. 10. Recall a section moves from the general thought (Topic Sentence) to explicit models that help your general idea. Audit Chapters 16 and 17 on the off chance that you are as yet battling. Recall that you are outlining your point for the peruser. 11. At long last, don’t overlook your Conclusion. Basically wrap up your thought by coming back to the point sentence and including a couple of different contemplations or summing up your whole paper. 12. See an example Process Analysis Instructions to refer to How to Survive an Ied, Papers

Monday, August 17, 2020

Style Updates New MindMeister Integrations

Style Updates New MindMeister Integrations Weve just successfully deployed a major update to MindMeister with lots of cool new functions! A stand out feature of this release are the topic boundaries for graphically grouping branches together. The new styles dropdown allows you to quickly assign, customize and save frequently used topic styles to make your maps stand out even more. Improving our MindMeister integrations with other major cloud players, weve added Dropbox and Evernote attachment upload, as well as implemented many more small features and enhancements. Boundaries Boundaries enable you to graphically attract attention to a topic and its children. There are lots of options available for customizing your boundaries. You can select from multiple shapes, border types and styles, and background colors to create visually appealing mind maps. Learn more Quick Topic Styles You can now also quickly change the appearance of your topics using the new styles dropdown in the sidebar. Weve added three extra topic styles to each theme which can be assigned to one or more topics at the click of a button. Use them to make topics stand out, or design your own styles for more on that, scroll down. Learn more Customize and Save Styles In addition to using the predefined topic and boundary styles, you can now design and save your own custom styles. This means you can develop CI-compliant mind map designs which can easily be applied to all your maps. This feature is available to both Business and Pro users. Learn more Evernote and Dropbox Attach files to topics directly from your Evernote and Dropbox accounts. Seamlessly import your important files using the files widget in the sidebar. This increases the options for organizing your most important documents and files in a mind map. You can easily share these files when brainstorming and collaborating on projects, in meetings, assignments etc. Learn more Custom Map Themes Previously this feature was only offered to Business users, but now its also available in the Pro plan. It allows you to design your own map themes in MindMeister and save them to use whenever you want. This will enable you to create an identity for your mind maps that you can use over and over. It will also encourage more creativity when developing your overall mind map and presentations. Learn more Additional Features and Enhancements Upload multiple attachments at once Login via Twitter View notes, links, files and tasks in Presentation Mode Quick assign group icons Copy / Paste style Responsive web UI for small screens Many other bugfixes and enhancements We hope you enjoy using these new features in MindMeister and as always were really interested in hearing your feedback. You can leave us your thoughts in the comments below ?? Style Updates New MindMeister Integrations Weve just successfully deployed a major update to MindMeister with lots of cool new functions! A stand out feature of this release are the topic boundaries for graphically grouping branches together. The new styles dropdown allows you to quickly assign, customize and save frequently used topic styles to make your maps stand out even more. Improving our MindMeister integrations with other major cloud players, weve added Dropbox and Evernote attachment upload, as well as implemented many more small features and enhancements. Boundaries Boundaries enable you to graphically attract attention to a topic and its children. There are lots of options available for customizing your boundaries. You can select from multiple shapes, border types and styles, and background colors to create visually appealing mind maps. Learn more Quick Topic Styles You can now also quickly change the appearance of your topics using the new styles dropdown in the sidebar. Weve added three extra topic styles to each theme which can be assigned to one or more topics at the click of a button. Use them to make topics stand out, or design your own styles for more on that, scroll down. Learn more Customize and Save Styles In addition to using the predefined topic and boundary styles, you can now design and save your own custom styles. This means you can develop CI-compliant mind map designs which can easily be applied to all your maps. This feature is available to both Business and Pro users. Learn more Evernote and Dropbox Attach files to topics directly from your Evernote and Dropbox accounts. Seamlessly import your important files using the files widget in the sidebar. This increases the options for organizing your most important documents and files in a mind map. You can easily share these files when brainstorming and collaborating on projects, in meetings, assignments etc. Learn more Custom Map Themes Previously this feature was only offered to Business users, but now its also available in the Pro plan. It allows you to design your own map themes in MindMeister and save them to use whenever you want. This will enable you to create an identity for your mind maps that you can use over and over. It will also encourage more creativity when developing your overall mind map and presentations. Learn more Additional Features and Enhancements Upload multiple attachments at once Login via Twitter View notes, links, files and tasks in Presentation Mode Quick assign group icons Copy / Paste style Responsive web UI for small screens Many other bugfixes and enhancements We hope you enjoy using these new features in MindMeister and as always were really interested in hearing your feedback. You can leave us your thoughts in the comments below ??

Sunday, May 24, 2020

The Management Of The Walt Disney Company - 1736 Words

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an entertainment company worldwide. The company’s Media Networks segment operates cable programming services, including the ESPN, Disney channels, and Freeform networks; broadcast businesses, which include the ABC TV Network and eight owned television stations; radio businesses consisting of the ESPN Radio Network; and the Radio Disney network. It also produces and sells original live-action and animated television programming to first-run syndication and other television markets, as well as subscription video on demand services and in home entertainment formats, such as DVD, Blu-Ray, and iTunes. It’s Parks and Resorts segment owns and operates the Walt Disney World†¦show more content†¦Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. The company operates in three segments: Domestic streaming, International streaming and Domestic DVD. It offer members with the ability to receive TV shows and movies streaming content, including original series, documentaries, and feature films through a host of Internet-connected screens, such as TVs, digital video players, TV set-top boxes, and mobile devices. The company also provides DVDs-by-mail membership services. Netflix, Inc. is headquartered in Los Gatos, California and has 3,700 full-time employees (Yahoo Finance, 2017). See Appendix Chart #1 for Leadership and Key Players. Disney is one of the strongest media companies in the world with an enviable track record thanks to CEO Bob Iger and a string of smart acquisitions, including Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel. Yet despite that, the company still faces a number of significant challenges. One of the main challenges is the future of ESPN, the sports network that accounts for a significant amount of Disney s profit. 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The thought of being anything but an amusement park probably never even crosses the minds of most people. The Walt Disney Company is an extremely successful and lucrative business though and not just because of their fun amusement parks. Sure at the beginning of the business in 1923, it was all about the park and cartoon studio, but now almost one hundredRead MoreThe Executive Management Team For Walt Disney Company Essay2147 Words   |  9 PagesThe Walt Disney Company have many assets available which include film, television, publishing, the internet, and music. The executive management team for Walt Disney has put Disney on top as one of the world’s top conglomerates, making $14.28 billion in Quarter Three in 2016. 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The company overlooks, â€Å"the movie, TV, toys and theme parks business by owning six of the top ten franchises in the world.† (Disney: The Monopoly of Entertainment.) Through all of their services, The Walt Disney Company has impacted and continues to the impact the lives of both children and adults. Walter Elias Disney and his brother Roy founded The Walt Disney Company on OctoberRead MoreDisney : Disney s Strongest Presence1007 Words   |  5 PagesDisney Offices/Locations Disney’s strongest presence is in the United States. However, with operations in more than 40 countries, approximately 166,000 employees and cast members around the world, Disney sets the standard for the future of entertainment. Whether it s Disney or Marvel, ESPN or PIXAR – in China or the United States, India or Argentina, Russia or the United Kingdom, the people of The Walt Disney Company create content and experiences in ways that are relevant to the many culturesRead MoreThe Walt Disney Company Analysis873 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"The Walt Disney Company is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media.† (The walt disney, n.d.) At year end of 2013, the company had net revenues of $45 billion, up from $42.3 billion the previous year and net income of $6.1 billion, up from $5.7 billion the previo us year. (Walt disney co, 2014) Enterprise Risk Management Risk management

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Acceptance of mnc mutual fund by ifas (individual financial advisors) - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 31 Words: 9187 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Introduction Mutual fund is a trust that pools the savings of a number of investors who share a common financial goal. This pool of money is invested in accordance with a stated objective. The joint ownership of the fund is thus Mutual, i.e. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Acceptance of mnc mutual fund by ifas (individual financial advisors)" essay for you Create order the fund belongs to all investors. The money thus collected is then invested in capital market instruments such as shares, debentures and other securities. The income earned through these investments and the capital appreciations realized are shared by its unit holders in proportion the number of units owned by them. Thus a Mutual Fund is the most suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost. A Mutual Fund is an investment tool that allows small investors access to a well-diversified portfolio of equities, bonds and other securities. Each shareholder participates in the gain or loss of the fund. Units are issued and can be redeemed as needed. The funds Net Asset value (NAV) is determined each day. Investments in securities are spread across a wide cross-section of industries and sectors and thus the risk is reduced. Diversification reduces the risk because all stocks may not move in the same direction in the same proportion at the same time. Mutual fund issues units to the investors in accordance with quantum of money invested by them. Investors of mutual funds are known as unit- holders. ORGANISATION OF MUTUAL FUND Mutual funds have a unique structure not shared with other entities such as companies of firms. It is important for employees agents to be aware of the special nature of this structure, because it determines the rights responsibilities of the funds constituents viz., sponsors, trustees, custodians, transfer agents of course, the fund the Asset Management Company(AMC) the legal structure also drives the inter-relationships between these constituents. The structure of the mutual fund India is governed by the SEBI (Mutual Funds) regulations, 1996. These regulations make it mandatory for mutual funds to have a structure of sponsor, trustee, AMC, custodian. The sponsor is the promoter of the mutual fund, appoints the trustees. The trustees are responsible to the investors in the mutual fund, appoint the AMC for managing the investment portfolio. The AMC is the business face of the mutual fund, as it manages all affairs of the mutual fund. The mutual fund the AMC have to be register ed with SEBI. Custodian, who is also registered with SEBI, holds the securities of various schemes of the fund in its custody. SEBI SEBI regulates mutual funds, depositories, custodians and registrars transfer agents in the country. The applicable guidelines for mutual funds are set out in SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, as amended till date. An updated and comprehensive list of circulars issued by SEBI can be found in the Mutual Funds section of SEBIs website. Some segments of the financial markets have their own independent regulatory bodies. Wherever applicable, mutual funds need to comply with these other regulators also. For instance, RBI regulates the money market and foreign exchange market in the country. Therefore, mutual funds need to comply with RBIs regulations regarding investment in the money market, investments outside the country, investments from people other than Indians resident in India, remittances (inward and outward) of foreign currency etc. Stock Exchanges are regulated by SEBI. Every stock exchange has its own listing, trading and margining rules. Mutual Funds need to comply with the rules of the exchanges with which they choose to have a business relationship. Anyone who is aggrieved by a ruling of SEBI, can file an appeal with the Securities Appellate Tribunal. Sponsor: The sponsor is the promoter of the mutual fund. The sponsor establishes the Mutual fund registers the same with SEBI. He appoints the trustees, Custodians the AMC with prior approval of SEBI, in accordance with SEBI regulations. He must have at least five year track record of business interest in the financial markets. Sponsor must have been profit making in at least three of the above five years. He must contribute at least 40% of the capital of the AMC. Trustees: The Mutual Fund may be managed by a Board of trustees of individuals, or a trust company a corporate body. Most of the funds in India are managed by board of trustees. While the board of trustees is governed by the provisions of the Indian trust act, where the trustee is the corporate body, it would also be required to comply with the provisions of the companies act, 1956. The board of trustee company, as an independent body, act as protector of the unit holders interest. The trustees dont directly manage the portfolio of securities. For this specialist function, they appoint an AMC. They ensure that the fund is managed by AMC as per the defined objectives in accordance with the trust deed SEBI regulations. The trust is created through a document called the trust deed i.e., executed by the fund sponsor in favor of the trustees. The trust deed is required to be stamped as registered under the provision of the Indian registration act registered with SEBI. The trustees begin the pri mary guardians of the unit holders funds assets; a trustee has to be a person of high repute integrity. Custodian: Often an independent organization, it takes custody all securities other assets of mutual fund. Its responsibilities include receipt delivery of securities collecting income-distributing dividends, safekeeping of the unit segregating assets settlements between schemes. Mutual fund is managed either trust company board of trustees. Board of trustees trust are governed by provisions of Indian trust act. If trustee is a company, it is also subject Indian Company Act. Trustees appoint AMC in consultation with the sponsors according to SEBI regulation. All mutual fund schemes floated by AMC have to be approved by trustees. Trustees review ensure that net worth of the company is according to stipulated norms, every quarter. Though the trust is the mutual fund, the AMC is its operational face. The AMC is the first functionary to be appointed, is involved in appointment of all other functionaries. The AMC structures the mutual fund products, markets them mobilizes fund, manages the funds services to the investors. Other Service Providers RTA The RTA maintains investor records. Their offices in various centres serve as Investor Service Centres (ISCs), which perform a useful role in handling the documentation of investors. The appointment of RTA is done by the AMC. It is not compulsory to appoint a RTA. The AMC can choose to handle this activity in house. All RTAs need to register with SEBI. Auditors Auditors are responsible for the audit of accounts. Accounts of the schemes need to be maintained independent of the accounts of the AMC. The auditor appointed to audit the scheme accounts needs to be different from the auditor of the AMC. While the scheme auditor is appointed by the Trustees, the AMC auditor is appointed by the AMC. Fund Accountants The fund accountant performs the role of calculating the NAV, by collecting information about the assets and liabilities of each scheme. The AMC can either handle this activity in-house, or engage a service provider. Collecting Bankers The investors moneys go into the bank account of the scheme they have invested in. These bank accounts are maintained with collection bankers who are appointed by the AMC. Leading collection bankers make it convenient to invest in the schemes by accepting applications of investors in most of their branches. Payment instruments against applications handed over to branches of the AMC or the RTA need to be banked with the collecting bankers, so that the moneys are available for investment by the scheme. Through this kind of a mix of constituents and specialized service providers, most mutual funds maintain high standards of service and safety for investors. Distributors Distributors have a key role in selling suitable types of units to their clients i.e. the investors in the schemes. Distributors need to pass the prescribed certification test, and register with AMFI. Asset Management Company (AMC) Day to day operations of asset management are handled by the AMC. It therefore arranges for the requisite offices and infrastructure, engages employees, provides for the requisite software, handles advertising and sales promotion, and interacts with regulators and various service providers. The AMC has to take all reasonable steps and exercise due diligence to ensure that the investment of funds pertaining to any scheme is not contrary to the provisions of the SEBI regulations and the trust deed. Further, it has to exercise due diligence and care in all its investment decisions. As per SEBI regulations: The directors of the asset management company need to be persons having adequate professional experience in finance and financial services related field. The directors as well as key personnel of the AMC should not have been found guilty of moral turpitude or convicted of any economic offence or violation of any securities laws. Key personnel of the AMC should not have worked for any asset management company or mutual fund or any intermediary during the period when its registration was suspended or cancelled at any time by SEBI. Prior approval of the trustees is required, before a person is appointed as director on the board of the AMC. Further, at least 50% of the directors should be independentdirectors i.e. not associate of or associated with the sponsor or anyof its subsidiaries or the trustees. The AMC needs to have a minimum net worth of Rs10 crores. An AMC cannot invest in its own schemes, unless the intention to invest is disclosed in the Offer Document. Further, the AMC cannot charge any fees for the investment. The appointment of an AMC can be terminated by a majority of the trustees, or by 75% of the Unit-holders. However, any change in the AMC is subject to prior approval of SEBI and the Unit-holders. Asset Management Companies In India INDIAN AMCs Axis Asset Management Company Ltd. Baroda Pioneer Asset Management Company Limited Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co. Ltd. Canara Robeco Asset Management Co. Ltd. DSP BlackRock Investment Managers Ltd. Edelweiss Asset Management Limited Escorts Asset Management Ltd. HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co. Ltd. IDBI Asset Management Ltd. IDFC Asset Management Company Private Limited J.M. Financial Asset Management Private Ltd. LIC Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. LT Investment Management Limited Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co. Ltd. Motilal Oswal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Peerless Funds Management Co. Ltd. Quantum Asset Management Co. Private Ltd. Reliance Capital Asset Management Ltd. Religare Asset Management Company Private Limited Sahara Asset Management Co. Private Ltd. SBI Funds Management Private Ltd. Sundaram Asset Management Company Limited Tata Asset Management Ltd. Taurus Asset Management Co. Ltd. UTI Asset Management Company Ltd. MNC AMCs AIG Global Asset Management Company (India) Private Ltd. Bharti AXA Investment Managers Private Limited BNP Paribas Asset Management India Private Limited Daiwa Asset Management (India) Private Limited Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Ltd. FIL Fund Management Private Ltd. Fortis Investment Management (India) Pvt. Ltd. Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Private Ltd. Goldman Sachs Asset Management (India) Private Limited HSBC Asset Management (India) Private Ltd. ING Investment Management (India) Private Ltd. JP Morgan Asset Management (India) Private Ltd. Mirae Asset Global Investments (India) Private Ltd. Morgan Stanley Investment Management Private Ltd. Principal PNB Asset Management Co. Private Ltd. Pramerica Asset Managers Private Limited Mutual Fund Industry in India The Evolution The formation of Unit Trust of India marked the evolution of the Indian mutual fund industry in the year 1963. The primary objective at that time was to attract the small investors and it was made possible through the collective efforts of the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India. The history of mutual fund industry in India can be better understood divided into following phases: Phase 1. Establishment and Growth of Unit Trust of India 1964-87 Unit Trust of India enjoyed complete monopoly when it was established in the year 1963 by an act of Parliament. UTI was set up by the Reserve Bank of India and it continued to operate under the regulatory control of the RBI until the two were de-linked in 1978 and the entire control was transferred in the hands of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI). UTI launched its first scheme in 1964, named as Unit Scheme 1964 (US-64), which attracted the largest number of investors in any single investment scheme over the years. UTI launched more innovative schemes in 1970s and 80s to suit the needs of different investors. It launched ULIP in 1971 and six more schemes during 1981-84, Childrens Gift Growth Fund and India Fund (Indias first offshore fund) in 1986, Mastershare (Indias first equity diversified scheme) in 1987 and Monthly Income Schemes (offering assured returns) during 1990s. By the end of 1987, UTIs assets under management grew ten times to Rs 6700 crores. Phase II. Entry of Public Sector Funds 1987-1993 The Indian mutual fund industry witnessed a number of public sector players entering the market in the year 1987. In November 1987, SBI Mutual Fund from the State Bank of India became the first non-UTI mutual fund in India. SBI Mutual Fund was later followed by Canbank Mutual Fund, LIC Mutual Fund, Indian Bank Mutual Fund, Bank of India Mutual Fund, GIC Mutual Fund and PNB Mutual Fund. By 1993, the assets under management of the industry increased seven times to Rs. 47,004 crores. However, UTI remained to be the leader with about 80% market share. 1992-93 Amount Mobilised Assets Under Management Mobilisation as % of gross Domestic Savings UTI 11,057 38,247 5.2% Public Sector 1,964 8,757 0.9% Total 13,021 47,004 6.1% Phase III. Emergence of Private Sector Funds 1993-96 The permission given to private sector funds including foreign fund management companies (most of them entering through joint ventures with Indian promoters) to enter the mutual fund industry in 1993, provided a wide range of choice to investors and more competition in the industry. Private funds introduced innovative products, investment techniques and investor-servicing technology. By 1994-95, about 11 private sector funds had launched their schemes. Phase IV. Growth and SEBI Regulation 1996-2004 The mutual fund industry witnessed robust growth and stricter regulation from the SEBI after the year 1996. The mobilisation of funds and the number of players operating in the industry reached new heights as investors started showing more interest in mutual funds. Investors interests were safeguarded by SEBI and the Government offered tax benefits to the investors in order to encourage them. SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 was introduced by SEBI that set uniform standards for all mutual funds in India. The Union Budget in 1999 exempted all dividend incomes in the hands of investors from income tax. Various Investor Awareness Programmes were launched during this phase, both by SEBI and AMFI, with an objective to educate investors and make them informed about the mutual fund industry. In February 2003, the UTI Act was repealed and UTI was stripped of its Special legal status as a trust formed by an Act of Parliament. The primary objective behind this was to bring all mutual fund players on the same level. UTI was re-organised into two parts: The Specified Undertaking, The UTI Mutual Fund Presently Unit Trust of India operates under the name of UTI Mutual Fund and its past schemes (like US-64, Assured Return Schemes) are being gradually wound up. However, UTI Mutual Fund is still the largest player in the industry. Phase V. Growth and Consolidation 2004 Onwards The industry has also witnessed several mergers and acquisitions recently, examples of which are acquisition of schemes of Alliance Mutual Fund by Birla Sun Life, Sun FC Mutual Fund and PNB Mutual Fund by Principal Mutual Fund. Simultaneously, more international mutual fund players have entered India like Fidelity, Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund etc. There were 29 funds as at the end of March 2006. This is a continuing phase of growth of the industry through consolidation and entry of new international and private sector players. Key Developments over the Years The mutual fund industry in India has come a long way. Significant spurts in size were noticed in the late 80s, when public sector mutual funds were first permitted, and then in the mid-90s, when private sector mutual funds commenced operations. In the last few years, institutional distributors increased their focus on mutual funds. The emergence of stock exchange brokers as an additional channel of distribution, the continuing growth in convenience arising out of technological developments and higher financial literacy in the market should drive the growth of mutual funds in future.AUM of the industry, as of February 2010 has touched Rs 766,869 crores from 832 schemes offered by 38 mutual funds. In some advanced countries, mutual fund AUM is a multiple of bank deposits. In India, mutual fund AUM is hardly 10% of bank deposits. This is indicative of the immense potential for growth of the industry. The high proportion of AUM in debt, largely from institutional investors is not in line with the role of mutual funds, which is to channelize retail money into transforming mutual funds into a truly retail vehicle of capital mobilization for the larger benefit of the economy the capital market. Various regulatory measures to reduce the costs and increase the conveniences for investors are aimed at. ADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUND Professional Management Mutual funds offer investors the opportunity to earn an income or build their wealth through professional management of their investible funds. There are several aspects to such professional management viz. investing in line with the investment objective, investing based on adequate research, and ensuring that prudent investment processes are followed. Affordable Portfolio Diversification Units of a scheme give investors exposure to a range of securities held in the investment portfolio of the scheme. Thus, even a small investment of Rs 5,000 in a mutual fund scheme can give investors a diversified investment portfolio. With diversification, an investor ensures that all the eggs are not in the same basket. Consequently, the investor is less likely to lose money on all the investments at the same time. Thus, diversification helps reduce the risk in investment. In order to achieve the same diversification as a mutual fund scheme, investors will need to set apart several lakhs of rupees. Instead, they can achieve the diversification through an investment of a few thousand rupees in a mutual fund scheme. Economies of Scale The pooling of large sums of money from so many investors makes it possible for the mutual fund to engage professional managers to manage the investment. Individual investors with small amounts to invest cannot, by themselves, afford to engage such professional management. Large investment corpus leads to various other economies of scale. For instance, costs related to investment research and office space get spread across investors. Further, the higher transaction volume makes it possible to negotiate better terms with brokers, bankers and other service providers. Liquidity At times, investors in financial markets are stuck with a security for which they cant find a buyer worse; at times they cant find the company they invested in! Such investments, whose value the investor cannot easily realise in the market, are technically called illiquid investments and may result in losses for the investor. Investors in a mutual fund scheme can recover the value of the moneys invested, from the mutual fund itself. Depending on the structure of the mutual fund scheme, this would be possible, either at any time, or during specific intervals, or only on closure of the scheme. Schemes where the money can be recovered from the mutual fund only on closure of the scheme, are listed in a stock exchange. In such schemes, the investor can sell the units in the stock exchange to recover the prevailing value of the investment. Tax benefits Specific schemes of mutual funds (Equity Linked Savings Schemes) give investors the benefit of deduction of the amountinvested, from their income that is liable to tax. This reduces theirtaxable income, and therefore the tax liability. Further, the dividend that the investor receives from the scheme is tax-free in his hands. Investment Comfort Once an investment is made with a mutual fund, they make it convenient for the investor to make further purchases with very little documentation. This simplifies subsequent investment activity. Convenient Options The options offered under a scheme allow investors to structure their investments in line with their liquidity preference and tax position. Regulatory Comfort The regulator, Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has mandated strict checks and balances in the structure of mutual funds and their activities. These are detailed in the subsequent units. Mutual fund investors benefit from such protection. LIMITATIONS OF MUTUAL FUND Lack of portfolio customization Some securities houses offer Portfolio Management Schemes to large investors. In a PMS, the investor has better control over what securities are bought and sold on his behalf. On the other hand, a unit-holder is just one of several thousand investors in a scheme. Once a unit-holder has bought into the scheme, investment management is left to the fund manager (within the broad parameters of the investment objective). Thus, the unit-holder cannot influence what securities or investments the scheme would buy. Large sections of investors lack the time or the knowledge to be able to make portfolio choices. Therefore, lack of portfolio customization is not a serious limitation in most cases. Choice overload Over 800 mutual fund schemes offered by 38 mutual funds and multiple options within those schemes make it difficult for investors to choose between them. Greater dissemination of industry information through various media and availability of professional advisors in the market should help investors handle this overload. No control over costs All the investors moneys are pooled together in a scheme. Costs incurred for managing the scheme are shared by all the Unit holders in proportion to their holding of Units in the scheme. Therefore, an individual investor has no control over the costs in a scheme. SEBI has however imposed certain limits on the expenses that can be charged to any scheme. These limits vary with the size of assets and the nature of the scheme. No guarantees No investment is risk free. If the entire stock market declines in value, the value of mutual fund shares will go down as well, no matter how balanced the portfolio. Investors encounter fewer risks when they invest in mutual funds than when they buy and sell stocks on their own. However, anyone who invests through a mutual fund runs the risk of losing money. Management risk When you invest in a mutual fund, you depend on the funds manager to make the right decisions regarding the funds portfolio. If the manager does not perform as well as we had hoped, we might not make as much money on our investment as we expected. However, if we invest in Index Funds, we forego management risk, because these funds do not employ fund managers. TYPES OF MUTUAL FUND Equity Funds are considered to be the more risky funds as compared to other fund types, but they also provide higher returns than other funds. It is advisable that an investor looking to invest in an equity fund should invest for long term i.e. for 3 years or more. There are different types of equity funds each falling into different risk bracket. In the order of decreasing risk level, there are following types of equity funds: Aggressive Growth Funds In Aggressive Growth Funds, fund managers aspire for maximum capital appreciation and invest in less researched shares of speculative nature. Because of these speculative investments Aggressive Growth Funds become more volatile and thus, are prone to higher risk than other equity funds. Growth Funds Growth Funds also invest for capital appreciation (with time horizon of 3 to 5 years) but they are different from Aggressive Growth Funds in the sense that they invest in companies that are expected to outperform the market in the future. Without entirely adopting speculative strategies, Growth Funds invest in those companies that are expected to post above average earnings in the future. Speciality Funds Speciality Funds have stated criteria for investments and their portfolio comprises of only those companies that meet their criteria. Criteria for some speciality funds could be to invest/not to invest in particular regions/companies. Speciality funds are concentrated and thus, are comparatively riskier than diversified funds. There are following types of speciality funds: i. Sector Funds: Speciality Funds have stated criteria for investments and their portfolio comprises of only those companies that meet their criteria. Criteria for some speciality funds could be to invest/not to invest in particular regions/companies. Speciality funds are concentrated and thus, are comparatively riskier than diversified funds.. There are following types of speciality funds: ii. Foreign Securities Funds: Foreign Securities Equity Funds have the option to invest in one or more foreign companies. Foreign securities funds achieve international diversification and hence they are less risky than sector funds. However, foreign securities funds are exposed to foreign exchange rate risk and country risk. iii. Mid-Cap or Small-Cap Funds: Funds that invest in companies having lower market capitalization than large capitalization companies are called Mid-Cap or Small-Cap Funds. Market capitalization of Mid-Cap companies is less than that of big, blue chip companies (less than Rs. 2500 crores but more than Rs. 500 crores) and Small-Cap companies have market capitalization of less than Rs. 500 crores. Market Capitalization of a company can be calculated by multiplying the market price of the companys share by the total number of its outstanding shares in the market. The shares of Mid-Cap or Small-Cap Companies are not as liquid as of Large-Cap Companies which gives rise to volatility in share prices of these companies and consequently, investment gets risky. iv. Option Income Funds: While not yet available in India, Option Income Funds write options on a large fraction of their portfolio. Proper use of options can help to reduce volatility, which is otherwise considered as a risky instrument. These funds invest in big, high dividend yielding companies, and then sell options against their stock positions, which generate stable income for investors. Diversified Equity Funds Except for a small portion of investment in liquid money market, diversified equity funds invest mainly in equities without any concentration on a particular sector(s). These funds are well diversified and reduce sector-specific or company-specific risk. However, like all other funds diversified equity funds too are exposed to equity market risk. One prominent type of diversified equity fund in India is Equity Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS). As per the mandate, a minimum of 90% of investments by ELSS should be in equities at all times. ELSS investors are eligible to claim deduction from taxable income (up to Rs 1 lakh) at the time of filing the income tax return. ELSS usually has a lock-in period and in case of any redemption by the investor before the expiry of the lock-in period makes him liable to pay income tax on such income(s) for which he may have received any tax exemption(s) in the past. Equity Index Funds Equity Index Funds have the objective to match the performance of a specific stock market index. The portfolio of these funds comprises of the same companies that form the index and is constituted in the same proportion as the index. Equity index funds that follow broad indices (like SP CNX Nifty, Sensex) are less risky than equity index funds that follow narrow sectoral indices (like BSEBANKEX or CNX Bank Index etc). Narrow indices are less diversified and therefore, are more risky. Value Funds Value Funds invest in those companies that have sound fundamentals and whose share prices are currently under-valued. The portfolio of these funds comprises of shares that are trading at a low Price to Earning Ratio (Market Price per Share / Earning per Share) and a low Market to Book Value (Fundamental Value) Ratio. Value Funds may select companies from diversified sectors and are exposed to lower risk level as compared to growth funds or speciality funds. Value stocks are generally from cyclical industries (such as cement, steel, sugar etc.) which make them volatile in the short-term. Therefore, it is advisable to invest in Value funds with a long-term time horizon as risk in the long term, to a large extent, is reduced. Equity Income or Dividend Yield Funds The objective of Equity Income or Dividend Yield Equity Funds is to generate high recurring income and steady capital appreciation for investors by investing in those companies which issue high dividends (such as Power or Utility companies whose share prices fluctuate comparatively lesser than other companies share prices). Equity Income or Dividend Yield Equity Funds are generally exposed to the lowest risk level as compared to other equity funds. Money Market / Liquid Funds invest in short-term (maturing within one year) interest bearing debt instruments. These securities are highly liquid and provide safety of investment, thus making money market / liquid funds the safest investment option when compared with other mutual fund types. However, even money market / liquid funds are exposed to the interest rate risk. The typical investment options for liquid funds include Treasury Bills (issued by governments), Commercial papers (issued by companies) and Certificates of Deposit (issued by banks). Hybrid Funds are those funds whose portfolio includes a blend of equities, debts and money market securities. Hybrid funds have an equal proportion of debt and equity in their portfolio. There are following types of hybrid funds in India: Balanced Funds The portfolio of balanced funds include assets like debt securities, convertible securities, and equity and preference shares held in a relatively equal proportion. The objectives of balanced funds are to reward investors with a regular income, moderate capital appreciation and at the same time minimizing the risk of capital erosion. Balanced funds are appropriate for conservative investors having a long term investment horizon. Growth-and-Income Funds Funds that combine features of growth funds and income funds are known as Growth-and-Income Funds. These funds invest in companies having potential for capital appreciation and those known for issuing high dividends. The level of risks involved in these funds is lower than growth funds and higher than income funds. Asset Allocation Funds Mutual funds may invest in financial assets like equity, debt, money market or non-financial (physical) assets like real estate, commodities etc.. Asset allocation funds adopt a variable asset allocation strategy that allows fund managers to switch over from one asset class to another at any time depending upon their outlook for specific markets. In other words, fund managers may switch over to equity if they expect equity market to provide good returns and switch over to debt if they expect debt market to provide better returns. It should be noted that switching over from one asset class to another is a decision taken by the fund manager on the basis of his own judgment and understanding of specific markets, and therefore, the success of these funds depends upon the skill of a fund manager in anticipating market trends. Debt /Income Funds invest in medium to long-term debt instruments issued by private companies, banks, financial institutions, governments and other entities belonging to various sectors (like infrastructure companies etc.) are known as Debt / Income Funds. Debt funds are low risk profile funds that seek to generate fixed current income (and not capital appreciation) to investors. In order to ensure regular income to investors, debt (or income) funds distribute large fraction of their surplus to investors. Although debt securities are generally less risky than equities, they are subject to credit risk (risk of default) by the issuer at the time of interest or principal payment. To minimize the risk of default, debt funds usually invest in securities from issuers who are rated by credit rating agencies and are considered to be of Investment Grade. Debt funds that target high returns are more risky. Based on different investment objectives, there can be following types of debt funds: Diversified Debt Funds Debt funds that invest in all securities issued by entities belonging to all sectors of the market are known as diversified debt funds. The best feature of diversified debt funds is that investments are properly diversified into all sectors which results in risk reduction. Any loss incurred, on account of default by a debt issuer, is shared by all investors which further reduces risk for an individual investor. Focused Debt Funds Debt funds that invest in all securities issued by entities belonging to all sectors of the market are known as diversified debt funds. The best feature of diversified debt funds is that investments are properly diversified into all sectors which results in risk reduction. Any loss incurred, on account of default by a debt issuer, is shared by all investors which further reduces risk for an individual investor. High Yield Debt funds As we now understand that risk of default is present in all debt funds, and therefore, debt funds generally try to minimize the risk of default by investing in securities issued by only those borrowers who are considered to be of investment grade. But, High Yield Debt Funds adopt a different strategy and prefer securities issued by those issuers who are considered to be of below investment grade. The motive behind adopting this sort of risky strategy is to earn higher interest returns from these issuers. These funds are more volatile and bear higher default risk, although they may earn at times higher returns for investors. Assured Return Funds Although it is not necessary that a fund will meet its objectives or provide assured returns to investors, but there can be funds that come with a lock-in period and offer assurance of annual returns to investors during the lock-in period. Any shortfall in returns is suffered by the sponsors or the Asset Management Companies (AMCs). These funds are generally debt funds and provide investors with a low-risk investment opportunity. However, the security of investments depends upon the net worth of the guarantor (whose name is specified in advance on the offer document). To safeguard the interests of investors, SEBI permits only those funds to offer assured return schemes whose sponsors have adequate net-worth to guarantee returns in the future. In the past, UTI had offered assured return schemes (i.e. Monthly Income Plans of UTI) that assured specified returns to investors in the future. UTI was not able to fulfil its promises and faced large shortfalls in return s. Eventually, government had to intervene and took over UTIs payment obligations on itself. Currently, no AMC in India offers assured return schemes to investors, though possible. Fixed Term Plan Series Fixed Term Plan Series usually are closed-end schemes having short term maturity period (of less than one year) that offer a series of plans and issue units to investors at regular intervals. Unlike closed-end funds, fixed term plans are not listed on the exchanges. Fixed term plan series usually invest in debt / income schemes and target short-term investors. The objective of fixed term plan schemes is to gratify investors by generating some expected returns in a short period. Gilt Funds also known as Government Securities in India, Gilt Funds invest in government papers (named dated securities) having medium to long term maturity period. Issued by the Government of India, these investments have little credit risk (risk of default) and provide safety of principal to the investors. However, like all debt funds, gilt funds too are exposed to interest rate risk. Interest rates and prices of debt securities are inversely related and any change in the interest rates results in a change in the NAV of debt/gilt funds in an opposite direction. Commodity Funds are those funds that focus on investing in different commodities (like metals, food grains, crude oil etc.) or commodity companies or commodity futures contracts are termed as Commodity Funds. A commodity fund that invests in a single commodity or a group of commodities is a specialized commodity fund and a commodity fund that invests in all available commodities is a diversified commodity fund and bears less risk than a specialized commodity fund. Precious Metals Fund and Gold Funds (that invest in gold, gold futures or shares of gold mines) are common examples of commodity funds. Real Estate Funds that invest directly in real estate or lend to real estate developers or invest in shares/securitized assets of housing finance companies, are known as Specialized Real Estate Funds. The objective of these funds may be to generate regular income for investors or capital appreciation. Exchange Traded Funds provide investors with combined benefits of a closed-end and an open-end mutual fund. Exchange Traded Funds follow stock market indices and are traded on stock exchanges like a single stock at index linked prices. The biggest advantage offered by these funds is that they offer diversification, flexibility of holding a single share (tradable at index linked prices) at the same time. Recently introduced in India, these funds are quite popular abroad. Fund of Funds are Mutual funds that do not invest in financial or physical assets, but do invest in other mutual fund schemes offered by different AMCs. They maintain a portfolio comprising of units of other mutual fund schemes, just like conventional mutual funds maintain a portfolio comprising of equity/debt/money market instruments or non financial assets. Fund of Funds provide investors with an added advantage of diversifying into different mutual fund schemes with even a small amount of investment, which further helps in diversification of risks. However, the expenses of Fund of Funds are quite high on account of compounding expenses of investments into different mutual fund schemes. Risk Hierarchy of Different Mutual Funds Thus, different mutual fund schemes are exposed to different levels of risk and investors should know the level of risks associated with these schemes before investing. The graphical representation hereunder provides a clearer picture of the relationship between mutual funds and levels of risk associated with these funds: Risk Associated with the Investment in Mutual Funds Savings are invested in various investment opportunities for earning better returns. The returns of the investment depend upon the risk of such investment. All investments involve some risk. The objective of any investor is to minimize the risk and maximize returns. The value of financial assets depends on their return and risk patterns. Risk can be defined as the chance factor in trading in which expected or perspective advantage, gain, profit or return may not materialize The actual outcome of investment may be less than the expected outcome. The greater is the variability in the possible outcome, the greater is the risk. Generally, the variance and the standard deviation of return are used as the alternative statistical measures of the risk of the financial asset. Similarly, co-variance measured the risk of the assets, relative to other assets in a portfolio. Some risks can be controlled by the investors. Others cannot be controlled, and they are to be borne by the investor compulsorily. Risk is an inherent aspect of every form of investment. For mutual fund investments, risks would include variability, or period-by-period fluctuations in total return. The value of the schemes investment may be affected by factors affecting capital markets such as price and volume, volatility in the stock markets, interest rates, currency exchange rates, foreign investment, changes in government policy, political, economic or other developments. Types of Risks: Market Risk The prices or yields of all the securities in a particular market rise or fall due to broad outside influences. When this happens, the stock prices of both an outstanding, highly profitable company and a fledgling corporation may be affected. This change in price is due to market risk. Inflation Risk Sometimes it is referred to as loss of purchasing power. Whenever the rate of inflation exceeds the earnings on your investment, you run the risk that you will actually be able to buy less, not more. Credit Risk In short, how stable is the company or entity to which you lend your money when you invest? How certain are you that it will be able to pay the interest you are promised, or repay your principal when the investment matures? Interest Rate Risk Changing interest rates affect both equities and bonds in many ways. Bond prices are influenced by movements in the interest rates in the financial system. Generally, when interest rates rise, prices of the securities fall and when interest rates drop, the prices increase. Interest rate movements in the Indian debt markets can be volatile leading to the possibility of large price movements up or down in debt and money market securities and thereby to possibly large movements in the NAV. Investment Risk In the sectored fund schemes, investments will be predominantly in equities of selected companies in the particular sectors. Accordingly, the NAV of the schemes are linked to the equity performance of such companies and may be more volatile than a more diversified portfolio of equities. Liquidity Risk Thinly traded securities carry the danger of not being easily saleable at or near their real values. The fund manager may therefore be unable to quickly sell an illiquid bond and this might affect the price of the fund unfavorably. Liquidity risk is characteristic of the Indian fixed income market. Changes in the Government Policy Changes in government policy especially in regard to the tax benefits may impact the business prospects of the companies leading to an impact on the investments made by the fund. INVESTMENT STRATEGIES Lump-Sum Investment Plan: Many financial advisors recommend this approach above the others, because the market goes up more often than it goes down. Systematic Transfer Plan: Under this an investor invest in debt oriented fund and give instructions to transfer a fixed sum, at a fixed interval, to an equity scheme of the same mutual fund. Systematic Withdrawal Plan: If someone wishes to withdraw from a mutual fund, then he can withdraw a fixed amount each month. Systematic Investment Plan: There are many investors who like to park their money as a lump sum into an asset class and forget about it. They dont want to worry about whats happening to it on a daily basis as long as the investment earns them some returns in the long haul. But there is another way this lump sum can be used by investing a fixed sum at regular intervals. This method eliminates the need to time the market (making an entry or an exit) an area where most investors are prone to go wrong. This method is commonly known as the rupee cost averaging. Under this system, one need not worry about when and how much to invest. A fixed sum of money can be invested regularly and over time it averages out the costs. For instance, if one were to buy units of a mutual fund by following rupee cost averaging, the fixed amount of money will fetch more units when the net asset value of the units are down, and vice versa. What one must remember here is that what price you pay for a single unit does not matter but the average price at the end of purchase is what holds and the returns are based on this average cost. This automatically falls in line with the age-old principle of buy low and sell high. Rupee cost averaging, of course, does not inculcate the selling aspect. It only helps one average the cost of an asset purchase. How it pans out This helps in doing away with the volatility in the market since it smoothens out ups and downs. A look at the table shows how investing regularly can fetch you more shares of a stock through rupee cost averaging. In the above example, when investing in lump sum, the share price was Rs 20 meaning, you end up buying 500 shares. Instead, if one were to invest Rs 1,000 every month for 10 months, the total number of shares purchased adds up to 520, since these were bought at different price levels and the average cost of each share comes down to Rs 19.6. And 520 shares would definitely fetch a higher return than 500 at the end of ten months Time (mths) Fixed amount invested (Rs) Price per share (Rs) Shares purchased 1 1000 20 50 2 1000 21 48 3 1000 24 42 4 1000 19 53 5 1000 16 63 6 1000 17 59 7 1000 16 63 8 1000 23 43 9 1000 18 56 10 1000 22 45 Total 10,000 19.6 520 Company Profile Pramerica Asset Managers Private Limited (the AMC), a private limited company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956, has been appointed as the investment manager of Pramerica Mutual Fund by the Trustee under an Investment Management Agreement between the Trustee and the AMC. Further, the AMC has been approved to act as investment manager for Pramerica Mutual Fund by SEBI, vide SEBIs letter no. OW / 5045 / 2010 dated May 13, 2010. The AMC is wholly owned by PFI, the Sponsor of Pramerica Mutual Fund, through one of PFIs wholly owned step-down subsidiaries, namely, PGLH of Delaware, Inc., a company incorporated and with its principal place of business in the U.S.A. The AMC has been established as a full service asset management company providing investment solutions to both domestic and international retail as well as institutional clients. Pramerica Mutual Fund India (Backed by strong parentage, ready to take big steps) 100 % owned venture by PFI , USA A full service Asset Management Company offering superior investment solutions rather than just products Constructing a basket of products ranging from equity to debt Research driven investment process Strong focus on innovative products solutions Distributor training key focus area Objective of the Project To understand the acceptance level of a MNC based Mutual Fund entity entering into the business. To meet various Individual ARN Holders in Bangalore, introduce and educate them about Pramerica Mutual Fund and complete the survey through questionnaire. Methodology This report is based on primary as well secondary data, however primary data collection will be given more importance since it is overhearing factor in attitude studies. One of the most important users of research methodology is that it helps in identifying the problem, collecting, analyzing the required information data and providing an alternative solution to the problem. It also helps in collecting the vital information that is required by the top management to assist them for the better decision making both day to day decision and critical ones. I have conducted a survey on 150 Individual Financial Advisors in Bangalore. Questionnaire Format-The response format required by a question depends on the nature of the research. The format usually deals with issues relating to the degree of freedom that should be given to respondents while answering question. I have mostly used multiple choice response questionnaires -These questions cover all degrees of response. The respondent has to select an option that best describes their feelings. Limitations ofthe Study Restricting my survey to 150 ARN Holders in Bangalore whos Assets under Management is less than Rupees 5 crores. Data about the ARN Holders was given by Pramerica Mutual Fund with the help of their registrars it was old as 31st December, 2010. Possibility of error in data collection because many of the respondents in the sample collected may not have give actual answers to my questionnaire. Some respondents might be reluctant to divulge personal information which can affect the validity of all responses. Some of the ARN Holders may not be responsive. Acceptance of MNC Mutual Fund by IFAs QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSE How long have you been into this business? Less than a year 1 3 years 3 5 years Above 5 years Which of the following products do you mostly recommend to your clients? Insurance policy Mutual Fund Real Estate Public Provident Fund Post Office Savings Schemes All of the Above What is the share of Mutual Funds among the above products of your business? Less than 20 % 20 30 % 31 40 % Above 40% What type of AMCs you prefer doing business with? Indian AMCs PSU AMCs MNC AMCs All of the Above Which attribute you consider the most while empanelling with an AMC? Brand Relationship Manager Past Performance of Existing Schemes Brokerages and Rewards Fund Managers Background What kind of facilities you receive from the AMCs that you have currently empanelled with? Regular service Technical support Product differentiation Workshops What other facilities do you expect from the AMCs? Better rewards for achieving targets sales Priority in processing of applications, payments etc. Recognition by the AMCs for being a star performer All of the Above How many clients do you manage? Less than 100 101 200 201-300 Above 300 Most of your clients fall under the age of? Less than 30 31 40 41- 50 50 Above Most of your clients are: Corporate Salaried Employees Businessmen Retired Employees What is the level of awareness among your client in relation to Mutual Funds? Excellent Good Fair Poor How many of your clients have already invested in mutual funds on your advice? Less than 100 100 200 201-300 Above 300 How would you rate most of your client in the risk parameter mention below? Aggressive (12-14)% returns Moderate (10 -12) % returns Conservative (8-10) % returns How do clients respond when you introduce and advice them to invest their money in a mutual fund scheme of a new AMC? Very hesitant Agrees after lot of persuasion Asks for a lot of information Trusts you blindly How challenging is the task of convincing a client to invest his money on MNC Mutual Fund today? Very Difficult Difficult Easy Very Easy How many times in a year do you review your clients portfolio? Once in a month Once in 3 months Once in 6 month Depends How do you charge fees from the clients? According to AMFI guidelines Depending upon the corpus of investment Depending upon returns generated As per agreement with the clients With so many MNCs entering in the financial market with their products, has it become very difficult to judge which companys products you should sell? Not really Agree The more the better Disagree Are you aware of Pramerica Asset Managers Pvt. Ltd.? Yes No If yes, how did u get to know about them? Peer Group Brochures Media AMFI Website Findings Crisis in October 2008 The trigger was the real estate crisis and the consequent fall in demand for real estate paper. Corporate clients of FMPs feared that one big player, Unitech, might default. Overnight, portfolios with real estate assets were seen as risky, and a wave of redemptions began. This is where things begin to seem almost surreal. Corporate clients suffered a loss to get out of FMPs, and most of them put the redemption proceeds into the banks. These banks had issued certificates of deposit, which is what most FMPs held. Essentially, the corporate investor made a heavy loss only to invest in the same instrument all over again. Unfortunately, retail investors, who form a minuscule portion of MF investors, decided to follow the example set by their larger peers. Most of them decided to redeem when the panic was at its peak and everybody was scrambling to exit. How It Happened? For Instance, Considering a Mutual fund with Assets of Rs. 1,000 (100 units of Rs. 10 each) and Net Asset Value (NAV) of Rs 10. Assuming that, for whatever reasons, the quality of the assets deteriorates, and is now worth only Rs 880. If the instruments are liquid, the fund will mark its holdings down to market value and the NAV will drop to Rs 8.80. However, if the instruments are illiquid and not well-traded, the fund pretends that all is well and that theres no fall in the value of its assets. On paper, therefore, the NAV remains at Rs 10. The problem occurs when there is a redemption request for, say, 20 units. Because the NAV remains Rs 10 when the assets are worth Rs 8.80, the fund has to borrow to pay Rs 200, and it has only 80 units left to absorb the loss on assets. The true NAV falls to Rs 8.50. What this means is that the other investors who have stayed in the fund lose 30 paisa so that one investor can exit without a loss. Hurt by low fee regime, nearly half of Mutual Fund distributors have quit SEBIs decision to ban entry load on mutual funds has meant lower income for distributors. They will not approach smaller investors as the brokerage they receive from smaller investors will not be worth the effort. Nearly half of the mutual fund distributors opted out of the business, ignoring regulatory need to fulfil some conditions to continue selling schemes; About 40,000 registered mutual fund sellers accounting for about 50% of the fund distribution industry have not completed their Know-Your-Distributor formalities by the mandated March 31, 2011 According to AMFI sources, about 41,000 AMFI Registration Number Holders have completed the KYD process, which includes submission of personal records, distribution business details and bio-metric profiling of the distributor. According to some of these distributors, they are sticking with the business only because they have already built a large base with the big AMCs. The Mutual Fund distribution business is the largest in Mumbai but, out of the 12,000 registered distributors, only 3,000 are actively selling Mutual Fund products. In Delhi-NCR, only 800 of the registered 3,000 are active and in Bangalore, this number stands at 700. AMFI has asked Asset Management Companies to stop paying commissions to non-compliant distributors. The industry has set KYD rules to increase agents accountability. Distributors are now forming a self-regulatory organization that will help them voice their concerns. They want to be heard by AMFI and SEBI on issues like entry load, investor services and investor advisory processes. IFAs find it easier to sell Mutual Funds of Indian Companies compared to selling products of MNC based Mutual Fund entities as it takes a lot of persuasion to convince clients to invest in MNC Mutual Funds. The Relationship Manager is the most vital link that IFAs consider while empanelling with an AMC. The IFAs expect better rewards for achieving target sales. Most of the IFAs` clients are salaried employees they are well informed about Mutual Funds. The IFAs in order to convince a client to invest in MNC Mutual Fund has to first explain about the company then its schemes where as for an Indian AMC, he can directly explain about its schemes close a deal. The problem is that neither the IFA nor the client has time for discussing all these issues. So the investor goes by word-of-mouth or invests in a popular AMC`s Mutual Fund. Due to the crisis in October 2008, the IFAs recommend clients to invest in schemes of popular Asset Management Companies. Hurt by low fee regime, nearly half of Mutual Fund distributors have quit.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Use of Wireless local area network Free Essays

Abstraction In many sectors wireless local country web ( wireless local area network ) has been widely used.mobility, scalability, easiness of installing, reduced cost-of-ownership, installing flexibleness are the grounds were wireless local area network gained popularity.WLAN have some security menaces apart from the benefits mentioned above. We will write a custom essay sample on Use of Wireless local area network or any similar topic only for you Order Now the scenario begins by presenting the construct of WLAN, and how wired tantamount privateness ( WEP ) works, which is the IEEE 802.11b/WIFI standard encoding for radio networking.Examining WEP failing, it is being much less secured than what was orginally intended.further research sing practical solutions in implementing a more secured radio lan.new criterions excessively better the security of wireless local area network such as IEEE 802.1X criterion, comprises of point to indicate protocol ( palatopharyngoplasty ) , Extensile Authentication protocol ( EAP ) and 802.1x itself.802.1x is included in 802.11i, a new criterion for cardinal distribution and encoding that will play of import function in bettering security capablenesss of future and current radio local area network networks.802.11i criterion provides WEP To be replaced by two encoding algorithms, which are ( TKIP ) Temporal cardinal unity protocol, ( CCMP ) cbc-mac protocol. 1.Introduction to WLAN To utilize either infrared or radio frequence engineering to convey and have information over the air, flexible informations communicating system called wireless local country web ( wireless local area network ) is used.802.11 was implemented as the first WLAN criterion in 1997.it has a maximal througput of 1 to 2 mbps and operated in 2.4 gigahertz frequency.IEEE 802.11B is the most dispersed and deployed criterion, was introduced in 1999.the maximal velocity is 11mbps and frequence scope is the same.sectors from instruction, corporate, warehousing, retail, health care, finance WLANS has been used widely.the demand for installing flexibleness, scalability, cost-of-ownership, mobility wireless local area network has been an of import engineering to fulfill. 2.0 Security Threats of WLAN Despite the productiveness, convenience and cost advantage that WLAN offers, the wireless moving ridges used in wireless webs create a hazard where the web can be hacked. This subdivision explains three illustrations of of import menaces: Denial of Service, Spoofing, and Eavesdropping. 2.1 Denial of Service In this sort of onslaught, the interloper floods the web with either valid or invalid messages impacting the handiness of the web resources. Due to the nature of the wireless transmittal, the WLAN are really vulnerable against denial of service onslaughts. The comparatively low spot rates of WLAN can easy be overwhelmed and leave them unfastened to denial of service onslaughts [ 9 ] . By utilizing a powerful plenty transceiver, wireless intervention can easy be generated that would unable WLAN to pass on utilizing radio way. 2.2 Spoofing and Session Hijacking This is where the aggressor could derive entree to favor informations and resources in the web by presuming the individuality of a valid user. This happens because 802.11 webs do non authenticate the beginning reference, which is Medium Access Control ( MAC ) reference of the frames. Attackers may therefore spoof MAC references and highjack Sessionss. Furthermore, 802.11 does non necessitate an Access Point to turn out it is really an AP. This facilitates aggressors who may masquerade as AP? s [ 9 ] . In extinguishing spoofing, proper hallmark and entree control mechanisms need to be placed in the WLAN. Eavesdropping This involves attack against the confidentiality of the information that is being transmitted across the web. By their nature, radio LANs deliberately radiates web traffic into infinite. This makes it impossible to command who can have the signals in any radio LAN installing. In the radio web, eavesdropping by the 3rd parties is the most important menace because the aggressor can stop the transmittal over the air from a distance, off from the premiss of the company. 3.0 Wired Equivalent Privacy Wired Equivalent Privacy ( WEP ) is a standard encoding for radio networking. It is a user hallmark and informations encoding system from IEEE 802.11 used to get the better of the security menaces. Basically, WEP provides security to WLAN by coding the information transmitted over the air, so that merely the receiving systems who have the right encoding key can decode the information. The undermentioned subdivision explains the proficient functionality of WEP as the chief security protocol for WLAN. 3.1 How WEP Works? When deploying WLAN, it is of import to understand the ability of WEP to better security. This subdivision describes how WEP maps accomplish the degree of privateness as in a wired LAN [ 16 ] . WEP uses a pre-established shared secret key called the base key, the RC4 encoding algorithm and the CRC-32 ( Cyclic Redundancy Code ) checksum algorithm as its basic edifice blocks. WEP supports up to four different base keys, identified by KeyIDs 0 thorough 3. Each of these basal keys is a group key called a default key, intending that the base keys are shared among all the members of a peculiar radio web. Some executions besides support a set of unidentified per-link keys called key-mapping keys. However, this is less common in first coevals merchandises, because it implies the being of a key. 3.2 Failings of WEP WEP has undergone much examination and unfavorable judgment that it may be compromised. What makes WEP vulnerable? The major WEP defects can be summarized into three classs [ 17 ] : 3.2.1 No counterfeit protection There is no counterfeit protection provided by WEP. Even without cognizing the encoding key, an antagonist can alter 802.11 packages in arbitrary, undetectable ways, deliver informations to unauthorised parties, and masquerade as an authorised user. Even worse, an antagonist can besides larn more about the encoding key with counterfeit onslaughts than with strictly inactive onslaughts. 3.2.2 No protection against rematchs WEP does non offer any protection once more rematchs. An adversary can make counterfeits without altering any informations in an bing package, merely by entering WEP packages and so retransmitting later. Replay, a particular type of counterfeit onslaught, can be used to deduce information about the encoding key and the informations it protects. 3.2.3 Recycling low-level formatting vectors By recycling low-level formatting vectors, WEP enables an aggressor to decode the encrypted information without the demand to larn the encoding key or even fall backing to hi-tech techniques. While frequently dismissed as excessively slow, a patient aggressor can compromise the encoding of an full web after merely a few hours of informations aggregation. 4.0 Practical Solutions for Procuring WLAN Despite the hazards and exposures associated with radio networking, there are surely fortunes that demand their use. Even with the WEP defects, it is still possible for users to procure their WLAN to an acceptable degree. This could be done by implementing the undermentioned actions to minimise onslaughts into the chief webs [ 5 ] : 4.1 Changing Default SSID Service Set Identifier ( SSID ) is a alone identifier attached to the heading of packages sent over a WLAN that acts as a watchword when a nomadic device attempts to link to a peculiar WLAN. The SSID differentiates one Wireless local area network from another, so all entree points and all devices trying to link to a specific WLAN must utilize the same SSID. In fact, it is the lone security mechanism that the entree point requires to enable association in the absence of triping optional security characteristics. Not altering the default SSID is one of the most common security errors made by WLAN decision makers. This is tantamount to go forthing a default watchword in topographic point. EAP The Extensile Authentication Protocol ( EAP ) is a general hallmark protocol defined in IETF ( Internet Engineering Task Force ) criterions. It was originally developed for usage with PPP. It is an hallmark protocol that provides a generalised model for several hallmark mechanisms [ 15 ] . These include Kerberos, public key, smart cards and erstwhile watchwords. With a standardised EAP, interoperability and compatibility across hallmark methods become simpler. For illustration, when user dials a distant entree waiter ( RAS ) and utilize EAP as portion of the PPP connexion, the RAS does non necessitate to cognize any of the inside informations about the hallmark system. Merely the user and the hallmark server have to be coordinated. By back uping EAP hallmark, RAS waiter does non actively take part in the hallmark duologue. Alternatively, RAS merely re-packages EAP packages to manus off to a RADIUS waiter to do the existent hallmark determination WI-FI PROTECTED ACCESS ( WPA ) The WPA can be expressed as: 802.1x Authentication + TKIP + ( optional ) AES. 802.1x Authentication WPA relies on the 802.1x hallmark described in the old subdivision for authenticating wireless clients via a RADIUS waiter and bring forthing the secret keys which are so used to make encoding keys. This implies that 802.1x must utilize an hallmark method ensuing in the secret key coevals ( such as EAP-TLS or EAPTTLS ) . Because shared secret keys, generated as the consequence of 802.1x hallmark are alone for each client, WPA-enabled APs will manage multiple keys. To do WPA useable by little concerns and place offices, which do non hold RADIUS-based hallmark environment, 802.1x hallmark may be replaced with the shared key hallmark which resembles WEP hallmark. This manner of WPA hallmark is known as Pre-Shared Key ( PSK ) manner ( vs. Enterprise Mode used with the 802.1x hallmark ) [ 22 ] . TKIP TKIP ( Temporal Key Integrity Protocol ) is responsible for bring forthing the encoding key, coding the message and verifying its unity. Although the existent encoding is performed utilizing the same RC4 Cipher algorithm as WEP, specific sweetenings are added to make stronger encoding key and guarantee that it alterations with everypacket is alone for every client A cryptanalytic message unity codification, or MIC, called Michael, to get the better of counterfeits. A new IV sequencing subject, to take rematch onslaughts from the aggressor? s armory. A per-packet key blending map, to de-correlate the public IVs from weak keys. A re-keying mechanism, to supply fresh encoding and unity keys, undoing the menace of onslaughts stemming from cardinal reuse. Encrypted Tunnel or Virtual Private Network ( VPN ) Packages are unbroken private by the usage of encryption.Encryption systems are designed to supply avirtual tunnel that the information base on ballss through as it traverses the protected portion of the network.If the system is decently designed and correctlyimplemented, the contents of the warhead will be indecipherable to those without the proper decoding key. The contents that the receiving system decrypts must non merely be private, but precisely as the senderintended. In other words correct tunnel will notonly maintain the contesnts private, but besides free from alteration. This requires the usage of acryptographic unity checker or checksum. Tunneled Transport Layer Security ( TTLS ) It is non clear whether or non EAP-TLS can be implemented without a public key substructure for certificate exchange. We believe that it ispossible to put in the certifications on the client andserver without utilizing a PKI but we are non perfectly certain that this is the instance. But there isno uncertainty that TTLS does non necessitate a PKI.TTLS differs from EAP-TLS in that it is a two phase protocol. In the first phase an encrypted tunnel is established between the client and waiter. In making so, the waiter presents itscertificate to the client and therefore the client is confident of the waiter? s individuality. In the 2nd stage the client? s certificates are given to thefor proof. These certificates are in theform of attribute-value braces and non digital certifications. [ Gas02 ] All EAP hallmark protocols run into this standard. Because the certificates are passed in an encrypted tunnel a digital certification is non necessary. Protected Extensile Authentication Protocol ( PEAP ) PEAP is really similar to TTLS. It is truly merely a different spirit of TTLS. It is besides a two stage protocol. The first stage is used to authenticatethe waiter and set up an encrypted tunnel between the client and the waiter. Then alternatively ofusing the older attribute-value brace to authenticate the client, hallmark is limited to any EAP method. Since EAP includes a broad array of hallmark protocols this is non a terrible limitation, but it does let less flexibleness than TTLS. [ Gas02 ] How to cite Use of Wireless local area network, Essay examples

Monday, May 4, 2020

E-Business Technology and Application

Question: Write a business report in about 2000 words based on the following: Select a new (developed/implemented from 2012/onwards) E-Business Technology/Application. Discuss the key advantageous features of the technology/application when compared with the alternatives available. As well as the key advantages, identify and discuss key limitations of the technology as well as the risks associated with its implementation. Answer: Introduction Trading of products is one of the major activities for survival of the human being in the civilized society. Advancement of the information and communication technology has facilitated mass adoption of internet in different aspects of personal as well as professional life. It has leaded to a paradigm shift in the procedure of business communication as well as trading. E-commerce has been introduced in the past decade and constantly going through evolution. The major aim of e-commerce is to provide a web platform to the buyers and sellers. E-commerce technology has revolutionized the business world through creation of a global online marketplace. Proper understanding of the technology and its implication for the distinct design preferences for technologies significantly affects functional as well as non-functional aspect of the e-business. Presently, the e-commerce technology is becoming increasingly popular (Carneiro, 2006). Several business houses are focusing on integrating e-comme rce technology as well as internet into their business mechanism across the globe. This paper will focus on discussing the e-commerce technology, its features, and advantages and will compare with the alternative. The major advantages will be identified along with its limitations. E-commerce technology E-commerce can be described as the modern methodology for business which focus on addressing the requirements of the company and customers for cutting cost and at the same time enhancing the quality of products through improving the pace of delivery of service with the aid of internet. The evolution of e-commerce can be referred to the amalgamation of the reform in regulatory framework and the technological innovation. Liberalization of the telecommunication sector followed by the significant innovations has facilitated the procedure of swift development (Feridum, Kropf and Babin, 2002). Architectural Framework The architectural framework of the e-commerce technology must be discussed in order to understand its utility and major advantages. The architectural framework of e-commerce technology refers to the synthesis of several resources such as data repository, DMS, communication protocols, computer languages, application software etc (Laudon and Traver, 2010). the framework is consisted of 6 layers of service or functionality. Six different layers are briefly discussed below: Application Services This layer is associated with the decision of type of e-commerce application which will be suitable for the service. There are three different types of applications in e-commerce depending on the nature of business. Intra-organizational application, business to business and consumer to business application are the three applications in e-commerce (Lin, 2008). Information Brokerage and Transaction Management This is one of the most important layers of e-commerce architecture. It helps in dealing with large amount of data and information within the network. This layer is responsible for acting as an intermediary which helps in integrating the service between the information provider and the customers. It caters to the specific need of the client such as fast service, best value or low price. Additionally, it functions as a major support for managing data as well as traditional services of transactions. Brokerage can be helpful in providing tools for accomplishing sophisticated transactions (Pozzi, 2013). Interface and Support Service The third layer is associated with providing interface for the above mentioned e-commerce applications. For example, the directory supports service and interactive catalogs etc. Directory support service helps in searching relevant information and provides access to it. In e-commerce, the directories are essential as it aim to organize voluminous data as well as transactions which are generated for facilitating e-commerce. On the other hand, interactive catalogs can be defined as customized interface for the customer application. It helps in making the advertisement more appealing with the use of video and graphics (Rajgopal, Venkatachalam and Kotha, 2003). Secure Messaging Electronic messages are the key activity of e-commerce with the aid of EDI and e-mail. The traditional messaging such as fax, phone and courier service have major technical issues and the urgent message delivery service might get interrupted. E-commerce has adopted the electronic messaging system which has the potential to access the correct information at correct time. However the major risk is associated with the privacy and security issues. Data encryption and authentication techniques are implemented for catering the security and confidentiality of data (Rajput, 2000). Middleware Service Significant development and growth of networks and different aspects of communication technology is the major reason for inventing the middleware service. The middleware service is utilized for integrating the distinct software programs(Laudon and Traver, 2011). Network Infrastructure The major aim of e-commerce is to establish an efficient communication system or platform between the supplier and the customers. Hence, it was important to develop an infrastructure for establishing effective network (Syed and Raisinghani, 2000). A centrally controlled circuit switching model was invented for establishing the network with the aid of single connection. Later packet switching was developed where the packets are responsible for travelling from one computer to another along the network till its reaches its destination (Schnaars, 2009). E-commerce Technology E-commerce is undergoing continuous evolution and the technologies are changing. Presently, the principle technologies of e-commerce include Extensible Markup Language, Java Programming Language and Platform, trans- coding etc. It has been observed that Java and XML has been integrating in order to form a strong middleware. For example, IBM has a software platform named WebSphere. The pace of standardizing XML and Java technologies is noteworthy for development of infrastructure in various industries. XML and Trans coding has been used for supporting wide range of customers. The e-commerce technology has shifted from the tightly coupled application to the loosely coupled web services (Walters, 2001). The new version of the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is Open Service Oriented Architecture (OSOA). It basically refers to the informal group of leaders in the industry which has a mutual interest. It focuses on defining a model which will not be dependent upon the language and will satisfy the demand of the project developers who are involved in development of the software through exploitation of advantages of service oriented architecture. Service Component Architecture is a major model which is aiming to cover large range of technologies for different methods of access as well as components of service. In case of components, it is not only a distinct programming language, but also a framework and environment is frequently used in the languages. In case of access procedures, Service Component Architecture composition allows use of different service access and communication technology such as messaging system, web service, remote procedure call etc (Laudon and Traver, 2010). Service Data Objects (SDO) is responsible for providing a set of ability in order to handle the business data in a way which is not dependent on the source as well as destination of the data. Dealing with data is a major concern for the business application. However, in case of the solutions which were using SOA, information might have a broad range of underlying format. It has been observed that data can be held in the relational database (RDB). Additionally, data can be held in XML formal which can be transmitted with the aid of web services. Service Data Objects aim to provide a support for the broad range of various programming languages in order to ensure that the service can be expressed in any languages and they will enjoy the benefits. Advantages of E-commerce E-ecommerce provides various advantages to the business organizations, suppliers and the customers. The increasing dependence on web services and rapid growth of the information and communication technology has encouraged various companies for exploring e-business. The major advantages of e-commerce are discussed in this section considering the perspective of customers as well as business. Benefits to the Customers The cost of goods and services are low in e-commerce as the phases in value chain are lowered. The cost related to intermediaries can be eradicated as the company is directly interacting with the clients without taking aid of the distributor or retailer. Thus, the price of the products reduces (Xu, Li and Ye, 2013). E-commerce has developed a global market place where the customers can purchase products from anywhere in the world. Thus, wide range of products is becoming available to the customers from different backgrounds. The customers are having greater convenience to shop online. They do not need to step into the stores which may seem to be a major barrier for the customers. Additionally, the customers can purchase products from anywhere at any time. The 24 hours access is a major factor for the success of e-commerce (Carneiro, 2006). E-commerce provides various choices to the customers. Additionally the customer can study about various products and brands before making purchasing decision with the aid of information brokerage (Xu, Li and Ye, 2013). The customers can receive detailed as well as relevant information regarding his choice or order within seconds with the aid of secure messaging of e-commerce. E-commerce has provided a common platform to the customers for interacting with other clients through formation of e-communities where they can share ideas regarding different products. Benefits for the Business One of the most important advantage of e-commerce to the business is it helps in increasing the potential market share. E-commerce has enabled the business organization to explore the international markets. Additionally, it has helped in achieving economies of scale quickly (Schnaars, 2009). It has been found that the cost associated with advertising in the print or broadcasting media is higher than internet. Advertising on internet has declined the cost of marketing communication activities. Hence, the cost will be declined. The entry barrier for establishing a business is low and anybody can start its own business on internet. The startup cost for the online businesses are low. Hence, it becomes easy for the new companies to start their new ventures (Laudon and Traver, 2011). E-commerce provides several strategic benefits to the business organization. It helps in declining the cost of labor as well as time for delivering service. Additionally, it has helped in reducing cost regarding the preparation of documents, reconciliation, overtime, cost of supervision etc (Lin, 2008). Comparison between E-commerce and Traditional Business The conventional business process is highly labor intensive which leads to increased cost of operational activities. On the other hand, the e-commerce has enabled to reduce the cost of labor which helps in reducing the price of products. Additionally, e-commerce offers a service which allows the customer to track the shipment of the products. These factors have been enhancing the popularity of e-commerce. However, sale of perishable goods are not very popular in e-commerce. E-commerce allows the customers to browse several products which is limited in case of the traditional brick and mortar stores (Pozzi, 2013). Limitations of E-commerce Though various advantages of e-commerce have been acknowledged in the previous section, some limitations of e-commerce have been identified. It has been found that some hidden costs are associated with e-commerce such as high shipping cost or restocking fee or less warranty coverage etc (Rajgopal, Venkatachalam and Kotha, 2003). The network is overloaded with information and network failure significantly affects the e-commerce. The business loses revenue and the customers cannot access the products as the system is entirely dependent on web technology (Rajput, 2000). Security and privacy are the major issues in e-commerce due to the online transactions. Customers are still worried about the privacy policy and its implementation in e-commerce. Conclusion This paper has provided an insight to the e-commerce technology which has emerged since the past decade and capturing the market rapidly. The beneficial characteristics of the e-commerce have been discussed in this paper by elaborating the architectural framework and the technology and software used in e-commerce. The major advantages of e-commerce have been discussed by considering the point of view of the customer as well as business. It has been found that the cost of product is lowered due to absence of intermediaries. Additionally, convenience has been found to be the major success factor for e-commerce. Moreover, it offers an exposure to the international market. However, the security and privacy has been a major concern for e-commerce. The reliability of the online transaction is questioned by the customers. E-commerce needs to focus on this issue in order to continue its growth in the international market. References Carneiro, A. (2006). Adopting new technologies.Handbook of Business Strategy, 7(1), pp.307-312. Feridum, M., Kropf, S. and Babin, G. (2002).Management technologies for E commerce and E business applications. 13th IFIP/IEEE International Workshop on Distributed Systems: Operations and Management, DSOM 2002 Montreal, Canada, October 2123, 2002 Proceedings. Laudon, K. and Traver, C. (2010).E-commerce 2010. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education. Laudon, K. and Traver, C. (2011).E-commerce 2011. Harlow: Pearson Education. Lin, K. (2008). E-Commerce Technology: Back to a Prominent Future.IEEE Internet Comput., 12(1), pp.60-65. Pozzi, A. (2013). E-commerce as a stockpiling technology: Implications for consumer savings.International Journal of Industrial Organization, 31(6), pp.677-689. Rajgopal, S., Venkatachalam, M. and Kotha, S. (2003). The Value Relevance of Network Advantages: The Case of E-Commerce Firms.Journal of Accounting Research, 41(1), pp.135-162. Rajput, W. (2000).E-Commerce systems architecture and applications. Boston, Mass.: Artech House. Schnaars, S. (2009). Forecasting the future of technology by analogyAn evaluation of two prominent cases from the 20th century.Technology in Society, 31(2), pp.187-195. Syed, M. and Raisinghani, M. (2000).Electronic commerce. Hershey, USA: Idea Group Publishing. Walters, E. (2001).The essential guide to computing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Xu, Y., Li, X. and Ye, P. (2013). How to Establish the Cost Advantage of Business E-Commerce.AMM, 373-375, pp.1735-1738.