China’s tech services are a top investment pick amid decoupling with the US, says CITIC Capital CEO

Consumption, healthcare and technology are three sector picks for investing in China, said CITIC Capital’s top executive on Tuesday. “For us, the top priority … is still on consumption, because it’s still growing at a higher rate than GDP growth,” said Zhang Yichen, chairman and CEO at CITIC Capital, the flagship investment arm of Chinese state-owned conglomerate CITIC Group. China’s GDP growth was 6.1%, down from 6.6% in 2018 as the economy took a hit from its bitter trade war with the U.S. Speaking to CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zhang said health care is…

Read More

Why we need government schools: They are the only educational lifeline for 60% of India’s children

There is change in our government schools if one cares to look for it. In a survey my colleagues conducted in 2005 in northeast Karnataka, only four out of ten schools had obtained uniforms and books in time for the start of the academic year. Today, this number has more than doubled. Nearly every school I visited had planned and procured books and uniforms well in time, even if it meant that their teachers had to sacrifice some holidays. In most schools that we visited, attendance was over 90 per…

Read More

Growth pangs vs investment: 4 factors that are likely to chart market direction in 2020

Karthikraj Lakshmanan We see that the earnings growth is likely to be more in the mid-teens for the Nifty50 index. Considering the growth slowdown, market leaders with healthy balance sheets and good free cash flow generation at the broader market level are better positioned to grow faster than the industry and the economy. Earnings growth is more likely to pick-up towards the second half of 2020 as one sees the fruit of the recent steps taken by the Government and how some of the strategic divestments pan out to provide…

Read More

Are You Paying Higher Premium For Your Health Insurance?

Health is considered to be the most important asset of any individual. But in India, the statistics on health insurance are shocking. The recently released National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) by the ministry of health and family welfare shows that less than one-third (29 per cent) of households have at least one usual member covered under health insurance or the health scheme. Also, from a motivation for the customer point of view, in an age where customisation is demanded in every purchase decision, the health insurance options available in the…

Read More

There Are Black Friday Type Deals On Small Business Saturday: $17.8 Billion Spent In 2018

In the midst of Black Friday and Cyber Monday planning and shopping, there are two additional “shopping” days you may want to know about. Small Business Saturday and Giving Tuesday. Each one came about, partly as a counter-movement to the big box retailer pushes to get people to spend. Note: I explore where to find Saturday specials here and “GivingTuesday” in a separate post that I will publish this weekend. NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 25: Lin-Manuel Miranda lights the Empire State Building blue in … [+] GETTY IMAGES If…

Read More

Here Are Seven Interesting Startups That Deliver Lifestyle Gains In The Residential Space

We’ve discussed the topic of real estate-as-a-service in this column enough that all readers will by now know what I’m talking about. Providing the right services to end users of real estate (be they residential tenants, office workers, or shoppers) has two very positive outcomes: greater customer satisfaction which increases their retention rates and possibly also the asset’s rent roll, as well as the possibility to tap into new revenue streams by bringing other services the customers also desire in situ. In the past, we looked at a few ways successful startups are leveraging…

Read More