Journal Press India®
We are happy to present to our readers another issue of MUDRA where we have focused on a lot of diverse issues in the areas of finance and accounting. Banks, stock markets and mutual funds remain the focus of this issue of MUDRA. There are three papers on stock markets. The first paper examines the factors affecting abnormal returns around bonus issue announcements and finds that firm size and promoters’ holdings have an important relationship with abnormal returns. Another paper attempts to understand the role of market value in influencing the capital structure decisions of the manufacturing firms in India. The authors find that market value negatively influences the debt ratio both in short term and long term indicating the practice of market timing. In the section on case study, a paper examines the impact of stock market reforms on investors’ confidence and behaviour in Indian stock market, for the state of Tamil Nadu. The authors suggest that suitably designed educational programmes will instill confidence among the investors with respect to stock market reforms in Indian securities market.
In the area of mutual funds, this issue has two papers. One paper examines the effect of demographic profile and investors preferences on investment in mutual funds. The other paper is an empirical study on the performance of select multicap equity mutual funds in India. The study discusses several industry trends such as increase in mutual fund accounts and schemes, changing consumer preferences towards equity mutual funds and the increasing role of retail investors in the overall mutual fund market.
Banking which is an integral part of the Indian financial system remains an important area of research. An empirical study in this issue examines the customer relationship management practices and customer loyalty in commercial banks for the state of Kerala and finds that there is a good association between CRM practices and customer loyalty in these commercial banks. Another interesting paper conducts a state-wise assessment of banking frauds in India. The author’s analysis reveals that in terms of number and amount, Maharashtra is the most affected state of the economy and in terms of average amount involved in fraud, Chandigarh and West Bengal fall among the most affected states of India.
Other than the above focus areas, an aspect of international finance is covered by the paper that does a comparative analysis of FDI performance and policy of India and China. The analysis reveals that India needs further liberalization of its FDI policy and norms along with developing competitive infrastructure and business-friendly procedures to compete with China in terms of FDI. The paper on ‘Valuation of financial synergies in mergers and acquisitions’ evaluates the actual financial synergy realisations in case of four significant M&A deals in three different sectors in India: automobile, banking, and pharmaceuticals. The subject of Index ETFs and Index Funds that have gained prominence in financial markets is the focus of the paper on ‘Comparative performance analysis of Index ETFs and Index Funds’. The author finds that while index funds are more suited to small retail investors, ETFs are found to be better for institutional and large investors.
We hope this issue of MUDRA makes for an interesting reading and provides new insights into some pertinent issues in finance and accounting.
Prof. Muralidhar A. Lokhande
Dr. Jitendra Janardan Ahirrao
Dr. Pavnesh Kumar
Editors