Sunday, 11 June 2017

Fund Accounting Basics - What is Fund Accounting?

Understanding Fund Accounting

Basics Of Fund Accounting


When we see a job-post on any job portals or company’s career website saying they want to hire for “Fund Accounting Process”, or you go to an interview, you get to hear a word from the Human Resource (HR), that, we are hiring for “Investment Banking Fund Accounting Process”. On this juncture, the freshers get confused that, what exactly is “fund accounting”? What would be the fund accounting process? They don’t have any knowledge about this word. It is a “conundrum” for them. They may answer whatever, but we would like to help all of you, who want to make career in the fund accounting profile.

The experienced ones reading this blog post about the fund accounting for investment banking profile may have full knowledge. We would like the experienced ones to share their part of knowledge with us, to improve us, to make us much better in understanding the basics of the fund accounting. (Thanks in advance!)

We would like to go step-by-step in making you understand about the modus operandi of fund accounting. Let’s walk the talk, and not talk the talk.

A graduate/bachelor’s degree in finance is required to go on the road of fund accounting. It will be “cherry on the cake”, if you have master’s degree, as it holds very relevance in this profile.

What is fund accounting?

For a novice, the fund accounting is simply means reconciliation of the funds (whether it is debt or equity). It is a backend part of the investment banking. The fund accounting is also known as FAS (Fund Accounting Services) or FASCASH profile. It comes under the umbrella of BFSI.

What is BFSI?

Banking, Financial services and Insurance (BFSI) is an industry term for companies that provide a range of such financial products/services such as universal banks. BFSI comprises commercial banks, insurance companies, non-banking financial companies, cooperatives, pensions funds, mutual funds and other smaller financial entities.

The fund accounting can be divided in to these functions:-
  • Reconciliation of funds or portfolios
  • Cash Breaks
  • Interest Coupons
  • Hedging

The above points are discussed as below:

Reconciliation:  In simpler terms, fund accounting means reconciliation of the funds (whether it is debt or equity). In professional terms, fund accounting goes for reconciliation of the mutual funds or portfolios – whether they are debt or equity – with trade settlements and updating of the margins balances (which may or may not include these margins, such as, LCH – London Clearing House, CME – Chicago Mercantile Exchange, ICE – Intercontinental Exchange), and accordingly updating the margin interest. There is also position close movement in each margin, which means buying or selling of the securities (or shares) for a specific number of lot.

The margin balances are updated according to the client’s bank statement. Numerous type of movements come into the funds, according to its nature – big sized fund, small sized fund or medium sized fund.

Cash Breaks: In simpler terms, the cash breaks are the custody movement that comes in to the fund. You will find numerous reason codes for the custody movement, which are bank loans (BL), swaps variance (SV), trade variance (TV), interest variance (IV), dividend variance (DV), futures (FV), claims, collaterals variance (CV), paydown (PV) etc.

Interest Coupons: The interest coupons are of 3 types – CME Coupons, LCH Coupons, ICE Coupons.  

We already have discussed the acronym of all the above three with you. These coupons are basically related to the interest of the fund. When these are settled, they may result in positively or negatively effect on the fund’s interest.

There may be one leg or two legs for one security which consist of fixed and float.
 Their time duration varies according to the market. They may come on daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly basis etc.

Hedging: The hedging word simply means “to protect your assets from any loss in the present or future”. So, in fund accounting, the hedging surely comes, as the investor wants to protect its fund from any type of loss – whether it is market loss or business loss, etc.

Every master fund which has hedging, always has its hedge fund. The hedging is done from master fund to hedge fund or vice-versa.

When you will go in a specific profile, you will get to learn many more things about it. The fund accounting is a profile in which you will learn new every day. We can provide you with the interview questions, which could be asked by the interview, who is hiring for the investment banking fund accounting.

If we see from a career-oriented perspective, then, fund accounting holds a pool of great knowledge. Now, we would like you to share your experience with us on the fund accounting profile.

Monday, 29 May 2017

Infosys BPM Limited Reviews & Rating - Gurgaon Location

Honest Employee Reviews of Infosys BPM Limited - Gurgaon Location (Haryana)


Hi there,

Going to join Infosys, as an employee!! First of all, a heartiest congratulation to you!!
Got your offer letter from the Infosys, and you don’t know whether to join it or not? Don’t worry. We are here to clear all of your doubts. We will make you out of the confusion you are in.

Yes, Infosys is a brand name, which prevails in the market. It’s a dream of every person, to join Infosys once in his/her lifetime. Well, you are quite right!!
On this blog, we will discuss true reviews about the internal working environment of the Infosys. We will be candor with you, without any doubt.

It’s exemplary that you got the Infosys offer letter, and you will be labeled as an Infoscion, from day 1 of the joining. But you should ask yourself, do you really want to join Infosys, or you have come here only seeing its brand name?

The honest reviews of the Infosys, we will discuss with you are of Infosys BPM, Gurgaon. The veracity of these talks about the Infosys BPM is 100% genuine.
In first part, we will discuss drawbacks of the Infosys, and then, will go for the master-strokes to join Infosys brand.

PART I
Let’s start in the following sequence:

Training: The training at the Infosys BPM is of poor quality. There won’t be a proper trainer, who will train you, for the work. You are just left alone, to get yourself ready for the day-to-day tasks. You have to learn yourself about everything. No one will be there to help you. You will be placed in the dark, until and unless you raise your voice.

Communication: Communication is the basic need of the company. But, in Infosys BPM, people lack this ability; they don’t know that how to communicate.  Nothing will be communicated to you, on time, about the work-related-matter, whether from the upper management, or from the client’s side.

Salary Hike: Don’t think of any lump sum hike in the Infosys BPM. All you get a yearly hike ranging from 1% to 6% maximum. In that bucket only, the company wants from you – to do overtime (stretch for 2 hours) on weekly basis. They want everything from the employees, but don’t want to give anything, in reverse.

Management: The upper management of Infosys BPM only hears to its client, ignoring the needs of the employees. For them, client is everything, and employees are merely slaves, who have to do everything. The upper management doesn’t have a thin layer of knowledge of the work. All they know how to make their client happy, by crushing the employees.

Infrastructure: The infrastructure of the Infosys BPM, Gurgaon, is OK-OK. As compare to other Infosys DCs, like, in Pune, Mumbai, Mysore, Chandigarh, the Infosys BPM, Gurgaon, stands nowhere in front of them, in terms of infrastructure.

Emphatically speaking, Infosys BPM is a “chocolate-box” company.

PART II
We are not berating the Infosys BPM, Gurgaon, as it not a good company to join. Yes, above we have discussed the company’s drawbacks, but it also holds master-stroke career opportunities.

The advantages of working in Infosys company are as follows:

Brand name: When you will join Infosys, you will tagged be as Infoscion. A brand name, such as, Infosys will glorify your resume. It is true that Infosys has made its level up in the technology world. Infosys always remain in the news for its positive métier to the society. You will learn many things about the parent company, i.e., Infosys Limited, even if you are in the Infosys BPM.

A novice gets many opportunities, when it writes down the name of Infosys on his/her resume.

Career Opportunities: You can take IJP (Internal Job Promotion) to go to another location of the Infosys, after you have spent a prescribed time, as set by the company. For example, if there is an opening in Infosys BPM, Mysore, and you are working in Infosys BPM, Pune, then, you can fill out the IJP form to qualify yourself for the interview of the designated post. If you show performance in your work, you will get a chance for “onsite opportunities” in Infosys.

Basically, Infosys is a coffer of opportunities, where you can shine your career. Grab the opportunity, when it hit you.

Skills: Working at Infosys BPO won’t give you only experience, but also aids in honing your skills. You will get to know various technological and analytical functions, while working in the company. It will be a marvelous chance to groom oneself.

Bench Policy: Unlike the other companies, the bench policy of Infosys is quite good. You won’t get on bench, but unluckily if the company put you on bench, then, don’t get fidgety. The Infosys’ bench policy is very good. You can get a chance to go to other locations of the Infosys, and work there, by filling the IJPs (Internal Job Promotion).

After reading all, it is basically depends on YOU only that you want to join Infosys, or not. Please do a self-test joining the Infosys company, that you are ready for it, or not. In our perspective, we think that you should give yourself a chance in joining the brand name, such as, Infosys BPO.

We would like you views and comments for the above article, whether you like it or not. Please subscribe to our blog for more updates on the company’s interview question and reviews. We assure you that you will get only honest reviews from our side.
We hope best for you and for your career.

Quick Fact: Infosys BPO Limited was renamed as Infosys BPM Limited in 2018.

BEST OF LUCK..!!

Sunday, 1 January 2017

Exclusive Annual Financial Report Writing of Marks & Spencer

Annual Financial Report of Marks & Spencer for Paperpedia Pvt Ltd.


The United Kingdom is a birth-place and home of many Brobdingnagian brands, which are now, nationally and internationally, recognized by the world. Among the gargantuan retail brands of the U.K., Mark & Spencer is an every house-hold name in the United Kingdom, as same as, Walmart in the United States.

Company’s Overview
Originally, Mark & Spencer was established by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds in 1884. Now, the company has moved its headquarter to the City Of Westminster, London. The company was inaugurated with the idea of “only selling British goods”, and eventually made its long-term policy. The company had started their operations with their own manufacturing and selling of the goods, under their brand name, but as the time passed by, the company made more diversification to its brand-umbrella, and include the products of other brands. One of the examples is of selling Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, by the company in 2008.

From the date of foundation stone in 1884, since then, till year 2016, M&S has 852 national and worldwide stores, with most of them internationally in India, Tukey, Russia, Greece, Ireland, France, Poland, Hungary, Finland, and Spain.

Company’s Operations and Strategic
Mark & Spencer, generally, deals in retail sector. It is a public limited company. Mark & Spencer is registered as LON:MKS under London Stock Exchange (LSE), and as MAKSY in the OTC market (OTCQX). The company’s operation model clearly enunciates that, the company serves a particular section - upper and middle class. According to the company policies, it is their “target audience”. The products are manufactured and sold by keeping in mind the “customer baseline”, which means, the company has made its roots in to the “cost conscious segmentation”. It has been seen that the company is trying to make its product to be available to every potential customer as a “high-quality product”, as they want to position their product among its customers.
It is quite fascinating that, in the year 1998, the company had become first company in the whole U.K., to make a pre-tax profit of over £1 billion. But this state of the company did not see the sun for more than a day. A surprise loss to the company made its investor – a colossal loss, from which they all are succumbing of.  This financial position of the company took the company to a graveyard and still, the investor’s hope in the company’s investments is not rekindled.

Financial Position of M&S
M&S has enjoyed its idyllic time to its fullest. The seeds of the M&S were well planted by its founders that, it has grown substantially in a span of time, considering the profits and expansion, nationally and internationally, achieved by Mark & Spencer. If we put a gaze on the financial position of the company from the year 1997, then the company has surely made prodigious growth. The stars of M&S were high, but suddenly slurp in the profits in late 1998, tarnished the company’s image in the eyes of the stakeholders. A colossal loss of £145 million was recorded from year 1998 to 2001. This was the period when the company’s stars were totally shattered.
M&S has gone through many rough patches. The road is not smooth for M&S.
Considering the financial position of M&S in 2015, the company has reported a profit of £10.300 billion, which was 10 times more than the profit in 1998 – a sense of doing remarkably well, if we look at the old book. The operating profit, which is basically earnings before interest and taxes, reported by the company was £762.5 million in 2015.
The number of employees have also rise with the Mark & Spencer. Till 2015, M&S has 83,069 in its boat to row the diversified operations of the company. As at 2nd April 2016, total employees were 80,041, in which 57,841 (72%) were females and 22,200 (28%) were males. Total senior managers were 168, in which 70 (42%) were females and 98 (58%) were males. The Board Of Directors consist of 13 members, in which 5 were female (38%) and 8 (62%) were male.
The price of per share of Mark & Spencer on 24th December, 2016 was 352.00 GBX (Great British Pence). The high was 355.63 and the low was 348.90, with a variance of -0.85%. The P/E ratio, or simply price earning per share, is 22.86.

Investments Thesis
Mark & Spencer had invested £400 million in its IT and supply chain management. M&S spokesperson gave a statement about the investment, "We will spend £400m in 2009/10, shifting the focus of our capital expenditure from our property portfolio, where we have made considerable investment over the last three years, to our IT and supply chain infrastructure."
This investment decision made a significant rise in sales of M&S, by 0.4 percent. This type of investment was the need of hour, as the company’s slow growth in its share market was allaying the investors from investing in the company. A grand amount of £400 million was superfluous to its investors.

Annual Report 2016
According to the Mark & Spencer’s official annual report for 2016, they have published the below report:
·         The operating profit for M&S has increased from 762.5 in 2015 to 784.9 in 2016, means an increase of +22.4 to the company.
·         The profit before tax has also seen a rise from 661.2 in 2015 to 689.6 in 2016, which means +28.4 more profit to the company.
·         The intangible assets have decreased from 858.2 in 2015 to 802.8 in 2016, which means -52.8 in the intangible assets of the company.
·         The current assets have increased from 797.8 in 2015 to 799.9 in 2016, which means an increase of +2.1 to the current assets of the company.
·         The current liabilities have decreased from 1624.6 in 2015 to 1617.7 in 2016, which a decrease of -6.9 to the liabilities of the company.
·         The profit for the year has decreased from 481.7 in 2015 to 404.4 in 2016, which means a decrease of -77.3 from the profits of the company.
·         The profit before taxation has decreased from 600 in 2015 to 488.8 in 2016, which means a decrease of -111.2 to the company.
·         Profit attributable to equity shareholders of the company has decreased from 486.5 in 2015 to 406.9 in 2016, which means -79.6 to the company.
(All the above figures are in GBP Millions)
If we look through a layman’s eye onto the current (2016) financial position of Marks & Spencer, it is seen that, it is not a good option for investors to invest in this company, as we have seen the decrease in the current assets of the company with the decrease in the profits, both – operating profit and profit for the year, has been decreased.

References

Marks & Spencer Group – Regulatory News.