Understand The Basics of Securities Markets - National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM)
Understand The Basics of Securities Markets - National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM)
This tutorial would give you an overview of the Indian Securities Markets, understand the various processes
involved in Primary and Secondary Markets and also the schemes and products in Mutual Funds and Derivatives
Markets in India. It will also help you to know the steps in financial planning process.
Securities are financial instruments issued to raise funds. The primary function of the securities markets is to
enable to flow of capital from those that have it to those that need it. Securities market help in transfer of
resources from those with idle resources to others who have a productive need for them. Securities markets
provide channels for allocation of savings to investments and thereby decouple these two activities. As a result,
the savers and investors are not constrained by their individual abilities, but by the economy’s abilities to invest
and save respectively, which inevitably enhances savings and investment in the economy.
Return refers to the benefit the investor will receive from investing in the security. Risk refers to the possibility
that the expected returns may not materialise. For example, a company may seek capital from an investor by
issuing a bond. A bond is a debt security, which means it represents a borrowing of the company. The security
will be issued for a specific period, at the end of which the amount borrowed will be repaid to the investor. The
return will be in the form of interest, paid periodically to the investor, at a rate and frequency specified in the
security. The risk is that the company may fall into bad times and default on the payment of interest or return of
principal.
The market in which securities are issued, purchased by investors, and subsequently transferred among investors
is called the securities market. The securities market has two interdependent and inseparable segments, viz., the
primary market and secondary market. The primary market, also called the new issue market, is where issuers
raise capital by issuing securities to investors. The secondary market also called the stock exchange facilitates
trade in already-issued securities, thereby enabling investors to exit from an investment. The risk in a security
investment is transferred from one investor (seller) to another (buyer) in the secondary markets. The primary
market creates financial assets, and the secondary market makes them marketable.
Issuers are organizations that raise money by issuing securities. They may have short-term and long-term need
for capital, and they issue securities based on their need, their ability to service the securities. Some of the
common issuers in the Indian Securities Markets are:
Companies issue securities to raise short and long term capital for conducting their business
operations.
Central and state governments issue debt securities to meet their requirements for short and long
term funds to meet their deficits. Deficit is the extent to which the expense of the government is
not met by its income from taxes and other sources.
Local governments and municipalities may also issue debt securities to meet their development
needs. Government agencies do not issue equity securities.
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Financial institutions and banks may issue equity or debt securities for their capital needs beyond
their normal sources of funding from deposits and government grants.
Public sector companies which are owned by the government may issue securities to public
investors as part of the disinvestment program of the government, when the government decides to
offer its holding of these securities to public investors.
Mutual funds issue units of a scheme to investors to mobilise money and invest them on behalf of
investors in securities.
Stock brokers are registered trading members of stock exchanges. They sell new issuance of securities to
investors. They put through the buy and sell transactions of investors on stock exchanges. All secondary market
transactions on stock exchanges have to be conducted through registered brokers. Sub-brokers help in reaching
the services of brokers to a larger number of investors. Several brokers provide research, analysis and
recommendations about securities to buy and sell, to their investors. Brokers may also enable screen-based
electronic trading of securities for their investors, or support investor orders over phone. Brokers earn a
commission for their services.
Asset management company and portfolio managers are investment specialists who offer their services in
selecting and managing a portfolio of securities. Asset management companies are permitted to offer securities
(called units) that represent participation in a pool of money, which is used to create the portfolio. Portfolio
managers do not offer any security and are not permitted to pool the money collected from investors. They act
on behalf of the investor in creating and managing a portfolio. Both asset managers and portfolio managers
charge the investor a fee for their services, and may engage other security market intermediaries such as brokers,
registrars, and custodians in conducting their functions.
Merchant bankers also called as issue managers, investment bankers, or lead managers help an issuer access the
security market with an issuance of securities. They evaluate the capital needs, structure an appropriate
instrument, get involved in pricing the instrument, and manage the entire issue process until the securities are
issued and listed on a stock exchange. They engage other intermediaries such as registrars, brokers, bankers,
underwriters and credit rating agencies in managing the issue process.
Underwriters are primary market specialists who promise to pick up that portion of an offer of securities which
may not be bought by investors. They serve an important function in the primary market, providing the issuer
the comfort that if the securities being offered do not elicit the desired demand, the underwriters will step in and
buy the securities. The specialist underwriters in the government bond market are called primary dealers.
Credit rating agencies evaluate a debt security to provide a professional opinion about the ability of the issuer to
meet the obligations for payment of interest and return of principal as indicated in the security. They use rating
symbols to rank debt issues, which enable investors to assess the default risk in a security.
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Investment adviser work with investors to help them make a choice of securities that they can buy, based on an
assessment of their needs, time horizon return expectation and ability to bear risk. They may also be involved in
creating financial plans for investors, where they define the goals for which investors need to save money and
propose appropriate investment strategies to meet the defined goals.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), a statutory body appointed by an Act of Parliament (SEBI
Act, 1992), is the chief regulator of securities markets in India. SEBI functions under the Ministry of Finance.
The main objective of SEBI is to facilitate growth and development of the capital markets and to ensure that the
interests of investors are protected. The Securities Contracts Regulation Act, 1956 is administered by SEBI.
SEBI has codified and notified regulations that cover all activities and intermediaries in the securities markets.
The Reserve Bank of India regulates the money market segment of securities market. As the manager of the
government’s borrowing program, RBI is the issue manager for the government. It controls and regulates the
government securities market. RBI is also the regulator of the Indian banking system and ensures that banks
follow prudential norms in their operations. RBI also conducts the monetary, forex and credit policies, and its
actions in these markets influences the supply of money and credit in the system, which in turn impact the
interest rates and borrowing costs of banks, government and other issuers of debt securities.
a) Price Earning Multiple: The price-earnings ratio or the PE multiple is a valuation measure that
indicates how much the market values per rupee of earning of a company. It is computed as:
Earnings per share are the profit after taxes divided by the number of shares. It indicates the amount of profit
that company has earned, for every share it has issued. PE is represented as a multiple. When one refers to a
stock was trading at 12x, it means the stocks is trading at twelve times its earnings.
b) Price to Book Value (PBV): The PBV ratio compares the market price of the stock with its book value. It is
computed as market price per share upon book value per share.
The book value is the accounting value per share, in the books of the company. It represents the net worth
(capital plus reserves) per share. If the market price of the stock were lower than the book value and the PBV is
less than one, the stock may be undervalued. In a bullish market when prices move up rapidly, the PBV would
drop, indicating rich valuation in the market.
c) Dividend Yield: Dividend is declared as a percentage of the face value of the shares. A 40% dividend
declared by company will translate into a dividend of Rs.4 per share with a face value of Rs 10 (10*40% =4). If
the share was trading in the stock market for a price of Rs.200 per share, this means a dividend yield of 2%.
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The dividend declared by a company is a percentage of the face value of its shares. When the dividend received
by an investor is compared to the market price of the share, it is called the dividend yield of the share.
A zero coupon bond does not pay any coupons during the term of the bond. The bond is issued at a discount to
the face value, and redeemed at face value. The effective interest earned is the difference between face value and
the discounted issue price. A zero coupon bond with a long maturity is issued at a very big discount to the face
value. Such bonds are also known as deep discount bonds.
Floating rate bonds are instruments where the interest rate is not fixed, but re-set periodically with reference to a
pre-decided benchmark rate. For instance, a company can issue a 5-year floating rate bond, with the rates being
reset semi-annually at 50 basis points above the 1- year yield on central government securities. Every six
months, the 1-year benchmark rate on government securities is ascertained from the prevailing market prices.
The coupon rate the company would pay for the next six months is calculated as this benchmark rate plus
50 basis points.
Floating rate bonds are also known as variable rate bonds and adjustable rate bonds.
15. Do you know what Callable Bonds and Puttable Bonds are?
Callable bonds allow the issuer to redeem the bonds prior to their original maturity date. Such bonds have a call
option in the bond contract, which lets the issuer alter the tenor of the security. For example, a 10-year bond may
be issued with call options at the end of the 5th year such as in the SBI bond illustration below. Such options
give issuers more flexibility in managing their debt capital. If interest rates decline, an issuer can redeem a
callable bond and re-issue fresh bonds at a lower interest rate.
A Puttable bond gives the investor the right to seek redemption from the issuer before the original maturity date.
For example, a 7-year bond may have a put option at the end of the 5th year. If interest rates have risen, Puttable
bonds give investors the ability to exit from low-coupon bonds and re-invest in higher coupon bonds.
a) Repos/reverse repos: A repo is a transaction in which one participant borrows money at a pre-determined
rate against the collateral of eligible security for a specified period of time. A reverse repo is a lending
transaction; a repo in the books of the borrower is a reverse repo in the books of the lender. Eligible collateral for
repos and reverse repos are central and state government securities and select corporate bonds.
b) Collateralized Borrowing and Lending Obligation (CBLO): A Collateralized Borrowing and Lending
Obligation (CBLO) is an instrument used to lend and borrow for short periods, typically one to three days. The
debt is fully secured against the collateral of government securities. CBLO is a standardized and traded repo.
c) Certificates of Deposits (CDs): Certificates of Deposits (CDs) are short term tradable deposits issued by
banks to raise funds. CDs are different from regular bank deposits because they involve creation of securities.
This makes the CD transferable before maturity. However, actual trading in CDs is extremely limited with most
investors preferring to hold them to maturity.
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d) Treasury Bills: The central government borrows extensively in the money market for its daily operations
through the issue of short-term debt securities called Treasury bills (T-bills). T-bills are issued for maturities of
91 days, 182 days and 364 days. They are issued through an auction process managed by the RBI and listed soon
after issue. Banks, mutual funds, insurance companies, provident funds, primary dealers and FIs bid in these
auctions.
e) Commercial Paper: Companies and institutions raise short-term funds in the money market through the issue
of commercial paper (CP). Though CPs are required to have a credit rating, they are unsecured corporate loans
with a limited secondary market. They can be issued for various maturities of up to 364 days, but the 90-day CP
is the most popular.
A rupee in hand today is more valuable than a rupee obtained in future. For example, let us compare receiving
Rs.1000 today, and receiving it after 2 years. If today’s Rs.1000 is placed in a 2 year bank deposit earning simple
interest of 8%, then it will be worth Rs.1080 (principal 1000 + interest 80) at the end of 2 years. This makes
today’s Rs.1000 more valuable than the future Rs.1000. The value of currently available funds over funds
received in the future is due to the return that can be earned by investing current funds. If cash flows that are
receivable at different points in time have to be compared, the time value of money has to be taken into account.
The bond price is the present value of cash inflows from the bond, discounted by the market yield. So bond
price, coupon rate and yield are all connected. Given any two, the third can be easily calculated.
In the bond markets, it is the price of a bond that is known and quoted. Information on coupon rate and
redemption are also available. Given the bond price and its coupon, the yield can be computed.
If the investor purchases the bond at a price lower than the face value, then he has acquired it at a price cheaper
than the originally issued price. As a result yield will be higher than the coupon rate. If the investor purchases
the bond at a price higher than the face value, then he has acquired it at a higher price than the original face
value, so his yield will be lower than the coupon rate.
There is an inverse relationship between yield and price of a bond. As bond price falls, the yield to the investor
goes up. This is because as the discounting rate (or yield) is increased, the final present value (price) reduces.
The rate which equates the present value of future cash flows from a bond with the current price of the bond is
called the Yield to Maturity (YTM) of the bond. As bond price changes, so does the YTM. Thus, YTM is the
discount rate implied in the bond value at a point in time. YTM is a popular and widely used method for
computing the return on a bond investment. Yield quotations in the debt market usually refer to YTM.
The first public offer of shares made by a company is called an Initial Public Offer (IPO). When a company
makes an IPO the shares of the company becomes widely held and there is a change in the shareholding pattern.
The shares which were privately held by promoters are now held by retail investors, institutions, promoters etc.
An IPO can either be a fresh issue of shares by the company or it can be an offer for sale to the public by any of
the existing shareholders, such as the promoters or financial institutions.
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A follow-on public offer is made by an issuer that has already made an IPO in the past and now makes a further
issue of securities to the public. A company can make a further issue of shares if the aggregate of the proposed
issue and all the other issues made in a financial year does not exceed 5 times the pre-issue net worth.
When a company wants additional capital for growth or to redo its capital structure by retiring debt, it raises
equity capital through a fresh issue of capital in a follow-on public offer.
Whenever a company makes a fresh issue of shares, it has an impact on the existing shareholders since their
proportionate holding in the share capital of the company gets diluted. For example, a company may have 10
lakhs shares of Rs.10 each, amounting to an issued and paid-up capital of Rs. 1 crore. If it issues another 10
lakhs shares, to increase its capital, the proportion held by existing shareholders will come down by half, as the
issued and paid up capital has doubled. This is called as dilution of holdings. To prevent this, section 81 of the
Company’s Act requires that a company which wants to raise more capital through an issue of shares must first
offer them to the existing shareholders. Such an offer of shares is called a rights issue.
The Green Shoe Option (GSO) in a public offer is used by companies to provide stability to price of the share in
the secondary market immediately on listing. A company, which opts for Green Shoe option can allot additional
shares not exceeding 15% of the issue size, to the general public who have subscribed in the issue. The proceeds
from this additional allotment will be kept in a separate bank account and used to buy shares in the secondary
markets once the shares are listed, in case the price falls below the issue price. This is expected to provide
support to the price of the shares. This price stabilization activity will be done by an entity appointed for this
purpose.
Mutual fund is a vehicle to mobilize moneys from investors, to invest in different markets and securities, in line
with the investment objectives agreed upon, between the mutual fund and the investors. In other words, through
investment in a mutual fund, a small investor can avail of professional fund management services offered by an
asset management company.
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Equity funds invest in a portfolio of equity shares and equity related instruments. The return and risk of the fund
will be similar to investing in equity. Investors in equity funds seek growth and capital appreciation as the
primary objective and should ideally have a long investment horizon that will allow time for the investment to
appreciate in value and not be affected by short-term fluctuations.
Diversified equity funds invest across segments, sectors and sizes of companies. An index fund is a passive
diversified equity fund, invested in the same stocks in the same weighting as an equity market index. An actively
managed diversified equity fund modifies the weights across sectors, and may also choose non-index stocks to
outperform the index.
Large- cap equity funds invest in stocks of large, liquid blue-chip companies with stable performance and
returns. The performance of a large stock fund is compared with a narrow index such as the Sensex or Nifty,
which the fund seeks to beat.
Mid-cap funds invest in mid-cap companies that have the potential for greater growth and returns. However, the
risk in the funds is higher because the companies they invest in have a greater risk to their revenues and profits.
Small-cap funds invest in companies with small market capitalisation with intent of benefitting from the higher
gains in the price of stocks of smaller companies they may benefit from newer business opportunities. The risks
are also higher in small-cap funds.
Sector funds invest in companies that belong to a particular sector such as technology or banking. The risk is
higher in sector funds because of lesser diversification since such stocks are by definition concentrated in a
particular sector.
Thematic funds invest in stocks of companies which may be defined by a unifying underlying theme. For
example, infrastructure funds invest in stocks in the infrastructure sector, across construction, cement, banking
and logistics. They are more diversified than sector funds but more concentrated than a diversified equity fund.
Equity funds may also feature specific investment strategies. Value funds invest in stocks of good companies
selling at cheaper prices; dividend yield funds invest in stocks that pay a regular dividend; special situation funds
invest in stocks that show the promise of a turnaround.
Debt funds invest in debt securities issued by the government, public sector units, banks and private limited
companies. Debt securities may have different features. They may have credit risk or risk of default, short-term
or long-term duration. Debt funds are offered in three broad categories:
Short term funds:These funds focus primarily on accrual income and shorter maturity, and have a lower risk
and stable return.
Liquid funds can only invest in securities with not more than 91 days to maturity. This is
a regulatory requirement. These funds primarily earn coupon income in line with current
market rates
Ultra-short term funds hold a portfolio similar to liquid funds but with a slightly higher
maturity to benefit from higher coupon income.
Short-term Gilt funds invest in short-term government securities such as treasury bills of
the government.
Short-Term Plan invest in a portfolio of short-term debt securities primarily to earn
coupon income but may also hold some longer term securities to benefit from
appreciation in price.
Long term funds:These funds focus on MTM gains and longer maturity, and have a higher risk and higher
return.
Gilt funds invest in a portfolio of long-term government securities. The coupon income
earned is lower than corporate bonds of comparable tenor since there is no credit risk in
the securities. The MTM gains and losses can be high since these securities have long
tenors.
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Dynamic funds: These funds shift their focus between short and long term debt instruments, depending
on the expectation for interest rate, and provide moderately higher return than short term funds, at a
moderately lower risk than long term debt funds
Fixed Maturity Plans (FMP) are closed-end funds that invest in securities whose maturity matches the term of
the scheme. The scheme and the securities that it holds mature together at the end of the stated tenor. The fund
pays out the maturity proceeds of the portfolio on the closing date. Investors who are able to hold the scheme to
maturity will be able to benefit from the returns of the FMP that are locked in when the portfolio is created.
There is no risk of the value of the securities being lower at the time the fund matures (unless there is a default)
since the instruments will also be redeemed at their face value on maturity.
The time for which the investor is willing to invest must match the term of the fund
The primary risk in FMPs is credit risk from a possible default by the issuer.
As closed-end funds these schemes are listed on stock exchanges where they may be traded at
prices related to the NAV.
Hybrid funds hold a portfolio of equity and debt securities. The investment objective of the fund will determine
the allocation of the portfolio between the two asset classes. A hybrid fund is a debt and an equity fund, rolled
into one. The risk in a hybrid fund will primarily depend upon the allocation between equity and debt, and the
relative performance of these asset classes. The higher the equity component in the portfolio, the greater will be
the overall risk.
Equity Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS) are equity funds that provide tax benefits in the form of deductions
under section 80 (c) for the amount invested.
Exchange traded funds (ETF) are a type of mutual fund that combines features of an open-ended fund and a
stock. Following are its features:
Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are ETFs with gold as the underlying asset. The following are the features:
International funds invest in securities listed on markets outside India. The type of securities that the fund can
invest in is specified by the regulator SEBI and includes equity shares and debt -listed abroad, units of mutual
funds and ETFs issued abroad and ADRs and GDRs of Indian companies listed abroad. The funds can also
invest part of the portfolio in the Indian markets.
FoFs invests in other funds. The FoF selects funds that meets its investment objectives and invests in them. Its
portfolio is not made up of securities, but is a portfolio of other funds. Most FoFs invest in schemes of the same
mutual fund. Some FoFs consider schemes across fund houses which meets the FoFs investment objective for
inclusion in the portfolio.
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