Axis Mutual Fund Launches ‘Axis Special Situations Fund’ in India

Highlights: -

·         An open ended equity scheme that follows a special situations theme focusing on disruptive growth opportunities

·         Disruption is all around us and is accelerating and is leading to massive innovation – creating an opportunity for significant long term value creation

·         The fund will capture opportunities across the disruption value chain in both domestic and global markets and across the market cap spectrum

·         Benchmark: Nifty 500 TRI

·         NFO date: December 4, 2020 to December 18, 

The Indian equity market has witnessed some of the most dramatic swings since the beginning of the pandemic, hitting unprecedented highs and lows. The pandemic has also been notable for how it has forced all of us to embrace significant change in our daily lives and caused innovation from companies responding to the stay at home/ work from home economy. As business models reconfigure themselves, there is also an increasing acceptance of technology and the transformative role that it is playing across multiple sectors.

The changes wrought by the pandemic have only accelerated the disruptive trends that have been around us both in India and globally and we fully expect these trends to sustain in the post pandemic economy as well. A combination of government push, global investments and domestic ingenuity and focus on low cost, wide adoption models have already seen us coming up with unique transformative solutions in India such as Aaadhar, UPI etc.

So while disruption and the resulting innovation itself is not new and we have seen multiple waves of it through history - right from the industrial revolution – what is different this time is the pace of change and the presence of well-funded disruptors in every sector that are up-ending the traditional ways of doing business.

What does this mean for investors?

At one glance all this change around us can seem unsettling, however there is also a significant opportunity for us as investors to benefit from these changes. Financial markets are usually slow to recognize disruptive innovation and the impact of unanticipated change is often overlooked by investors. This can lead to a significant gap between market expectations and the actual growth potential of the disruptive change.

Axis Special Situations Fund is a unique attempt by Axis AMC to create a dedicated equity fund that focuses and invests in these opportunities both across India and global markets.

Axis Special Situations Fund

Axis AMC has been at the forefront of product innovation and creating a robust investment process that has the potential to deliver long term performance for its investors. While Axis has a number of large successful traditional equity strategies, good quality thematic funds can complement these from an investor’s perspective.

Thematic funds target specific themes or segments of the market and allow investors greater ability to access those themes (such as sustainability or disruption) that they strongly believe in or which can complement their traditional equity allocations.

Axis AMC is thus excited to announce the launch of the Axis Special Situations Fund, an open ended equity scheme that follows a special situations theme focusing on investing in disruptive growth opportunities. The fund will allow investors to capture opportunities across the entire disruption value chain. Further the fund will be investing across both domestic and global markets as well as across the market cap spectrum – thus allowing the investors to participate in relevant opportunities in any of the segments of the market. Overseas investments will be advised by Schroder* (which is around 25% shareholder in Axis AMC).

Salient Features of Axis Special Situations Fund

·         The fund offers Indian investors an opportunity to invest in stocks that are participating in or enabling disruption

·         Its multi-sector and multi-cap asset allocation strategy along with exposure to global equities ensures that it is beneficiary to not only the disruptor but also companies which are adapter or enablers of disruption

·         Overseas investments will be advised by Schroder Investment Management Limited based on their disruption philosophy

Mr. Chandresh Kumar Nigam, MD & CEO, Axis AMC said, ‘Axis AMC has always tried to bring innovative new fund ideas for our investors that we believe can help in long term wealth generation. Our product development is backed by our unique and time tested philosophy of responsible investing with an unflinching focus on quality. The introduction of the Axis Special Situations Fund also continues our journey towards creating an industry leading asset management platform that can service needs for all our investors. As the world transforms around us led by ever accelerating technological change and innovation, investors need to be able to allocate to and benefit from this theme – whether in Indian or global markets’.

The new fund offers (NFO) opens for subscription from December 4th to 18th 2020.

Global Streaming Service Starz Launches Premium Direct to Consumer OTT App ‘Lionsgate Play’ in India

Starz, one of the leading premium global streaming platforms, has launched its independent direct to consumer OTT app ‘Lionsgate Play’ in India, the company announced today at a virtual press conference in the presence of Mr. Jeffrey A. Hirsch, President and Chief Executive Officer, Starz and Mr. Rohit Jain, Managing Director, Lionsgate South Asia. Building on its reputation for disruption, Lionsgate Play is committed to innovation in its content, technology, pricing, and accessibility by making premium Hollywood content available in multiple Indian languages.  

The service has launched with a new price point in India, making the app available as part of two subscription models, INR 699 for a year and INR 99 per month, attractive price points that give Indian consumers the opportunity to enjoy the best of global entertainment affordably and at their convenience. In India the app will be available to download across a broad array of platforms and devices including Google Play store, Apple app store and Amazon firestick. 

Starz first launched internationally with its Starzplay international premium streaming platform in 2018. This month it will expand  its global footprint into 55 countries throughout Europe, Latin America, Canada, Japan and India, scaling to become one of the most widely distributed and fastest growing premium OTT services worldwide while entertaining millions of users with bold and curated content.  

The platform anticipates continued strong growth in the Indian OTT ecosystem and is capitalizing on this opportunity by bringing a host of new, provocative, and edgy movies and web series to India with the launch of direct to consumer video streaming service Lionsgate Play. 

The Lionsgate Play app features a broad portfolio of content ranging from the best of original feature film and television dramas, romances, comedies, thrillers and action favourites and premieres, bringing world cinema and television series directly to Indian audiences. 

New content available at launch includes: 

The Anna Kendrick starrer Love Life, a fresh take on a romantic comedy anthology series about the journey from first love to lasting love.  

No Man’s Land a Syrian civil war series that resonates with relatable themes like first love, fear of loss and family sacrifice set against the backdrop of war; and 

The Goes Wrong Show, a laugh out loud comedy series with each episode having a different theme, including a period romance, spy thriller, a Deep South melodrama, and a Christmas fable.  

The streaming giant will also premiere movies such as the Jennifer Lopez starrer Hustlers, Gerald Butler’s action thriller Angel Has Fallen, the fantasy thriller Hellboy, and the action comedy The Gentlemen, starring Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant, just to name a few, with something for every audience. 

Commenting on the launch Mr. Jeffrey A. Hirsch, President and Chief Executive Officer, Starz said, “India has always been a key market for us. The large and diverse population, increased data usage in urban and rural markets, and adoption of OTT across all demographics created an exciting opportunity for us to launch Lionsgate Play. We’re confident that our unique, exclusive and exceptionally curated content will generate a great response from Indian audiences.” 

Mr. Rohit Jain, Managing Director, Lionsgate South Asia, added, “We are thrilled to launch the much-awaited Lionsgate Play app in India. We want to provide the finest, never seen before content that will captivate our audiences with bespoke entertainment drawing on the most exciting current releases and our premium library.” 

“We will also be launching Indian originals in the coming months, featuring untold edgy urban stories from some of the best creative minds in the Indian film industry” continued Mr. Jain.  “And we will continue our Lionsgate Play journey by adding to our deep roster of premium content through partnerships with exciting millennial stars like Kriti Sanon, Tiger Shroff and Sanjana Sanghi increasing the breadth and scope of entertainment for our subscribers.” 

Doctors at Fortis Performs Complex Small Bowel Transplant to Save 19-Year-Old Yemeni Woman

* COVID-19 delayed the process of allocation by almost 9 months before a 29-year-old male’s small bowel was allocated

A team of doctors at Fortis Hospital in BG Road performed a complex & rare small bowel transplant to save the life of a 19-year-old woman from Yemen here recently. The lady was suffering from short bowel syndrome and was dependent on Intravenous (IV) fluids for survival. The team of doctors was led by Dr Mahesh Gopasetty, Senior Consultant, Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary and Liver Transplant Surgery and Dr Ravindra BS- Director - Gastroenterology / Hepatobiliary Sciences at Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road.

Patients with Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS) require Intravenous (IV) fluids to maintain appropriate nutrition and hydration status.

The patient arrived at a critical stage in Bengaluru with her father in March this year before COVID 19 lockdown. Severely malnourished at 28 kgs of body weight, she was clinically depressed when she came to seek small bowel transplant at Fortis BG Road hospital. It was imminent after she underwent an abortion and resection of the most of the small bowel in order to be treated for blood vessel clot in the small intestine and gangrene of small bowel. The procedure left only 10 cms of proximal jejunum which was connected to large intestine. Consequently, she developed short bowel syndrome as well as multiple central line sepsis and was put on Intravenous (IV) fluids for survival.

Dr Ravindra BS- Director - Gastroenterology / Hepatobiliary Sciences, Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore, said, “An acute pain in the abdominal need not be always related to gastric problem, sometimes it can also be due to blood clot in intestine blood vessels. Similarly, in this case also, the lady was experiencing acute pain in the abdominal and was found have a blood vessel clot in the small intestine. Therefore, if one experiences an acute pain in the abdominal, they should consult a gastroenterologist. If diagnosed and treated early, clot can be removed, however if diagnosed late intestine revision or a small bowel transplant is required.

Dr Mahesh Gopasetty, Senior Consultant - Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary and Liver Transplant Surgery, Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, said, “When she consulted us first time she was malnourished with just 28 kg weight and was on continuous Total Parental Nutrition (TPN) through a chemo port. She was also found to be in clinical depression. We evaluated her thoroughly and kept her on the supplements to replenish her stores. We also encouraged her to consume food orally as much as possible. Meanwhile, we counselled her along with her regularly to bring them out of depression and develop a hope of small bowel transplant. We had put her on the waiting list in March 2020 for the small bowel transplant. We advised her to visit the surgeons, dietician and physician regularly along with the translator in order to monitor her condition. Gradually her nutrition improved and her weight reached 36kg. As the country entered into covid pandemic, the number of organ donations dropped significantly making the wait for too long. Although donor was available, she missed getting the small bowel in two occasions due to administrative problems.”

After waiting for a period of nine months, she was allocated small bowel from a 29 years old male donor. The whole process of organ retrieval, transportation of small bowel and transplantation surgery took nearly 16 hrs. A team of surgeons from Liver Transplant Surgery, Gastroenterology & Anaesthesia team performed transplant successfully however there were many challenges during and after surgery.

After the small bowel implantation, her abdomen could not be closed as her abdominal cavity was smaller compared to the graft. The graft had also swollen and was oedematous (fluid-filled).  Abdomen was temporarily closed using sterile plastic bag and she was put on ventilator support for next 48 hrs. After that she was taken to OR and abdomen closed by component separation technique and by incising anterior rectus sheath on its lateral border and reflecting it medially. She was extubated on the next day and was shifted to ward on 5th post-operative day. She was monitored and discharged in a healthy condition” he added.

About Fortis Healthcare

Fortis Healthcare Limited – an IHH Healthcare Group Company – is a leading integrated healthcare services provider in India. It is one of the largest healthcare organisations in the country with 36 healthcare facilities (including projects under development), 4000 operational beds and over 400 diagnostics centres (including JVs). Fortis is present in India, United Arab Emirates (UAE) & Sri Lanka. The Company is listed on the BSE Ltd and National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India. It draws strength from its partnership with global major and parent company, IHH, to build upon its culture of world-class patient care and superlative clinical excellence. Fortis employs 23,000 people (including SRL) who share its vision of becoming the world’s most trusted healthcare network. Fortis offers a full spectrum of integrated healthcare services ranging from clinics to quaternary care facilities and a wide range of ancillary services.

Dell is India’s Most Trusted Brand for Second Time, Mi Mobiles Rises to 2nd, Samsung Mobiles is 3rd Ranked: TRA Report

Dell has achieved top slot as India’s Most Trusted Brand second year in a row in TRA’s Brand Trust Report (BTR) 2020, the tenth edition in its series. It is followed in second place by Mi Mobiles, which also leads the Mobile Phone Category for the first time this year. Samsung Mobiles secures the 3rd place, followed by Apple iPhone and LG Televisions taking 4th and 5th ranks, respectively. 

Oppo is at 6th spot on the trust ranks this year. Sony Entertainment Television, the Hindi GEC ranks 7th, featuring among the top ten for the first time in ten years. Maruti Suzuki, the Four-Wheeler manufacturer makes to 8th rank and is also the leader in the Automobile Super-Category. The 9th Most Trusted Brand rank is held by Samsung Televisions and is followed by Vivo mobile phones at the 10th slot. Five mobile phone brands make it to the top-ten list from among the twenty listed, making it the largest category in the report.

TRA Research has completed its 10th year in the field of Consumer Insights and Brand Analytics and counts among India’s top brands as its clients. TRA’s Brand Trust Report 2020 is the result of a comprehensive primary research conducted on TRA’s proprietary 10-Brand Behaviours which make up the Brand Trust Matrix. This year’s study had 1,711 consumer-influencers across 16 cities as respondents and over 8,000 unique brands were analyzed, from which the top 1000 brands have been listed in this year’s report. The report lists 323 Categories and 41 Super-Categories and F&B and FMCG. 

The categories with the largest number of brands are F&B (151 brands) and FMCG (144 brands) contributing to 29.5% of the total brands. LG secures a grand slam with leadership in Televisions (All-India Rank 5), Refrigerators (All-India Rank 14), Washing Machines (All-India Rank 26). Some other Category leaders in TRA’s Brand Trust Report 2020 are Patanjali Dant Kanti (All-India Rank 15) from Toothpaste Category which has broken the nine-year winning streak of Colgate, and Airtel (All-India Rank 20) from Mobile Service Providers. 

Other category leaders include, Tanishq (All-India Rank 48) in Jewellery, Euro Kids (All-India Rank 52) in Pre-School, American Express (All-India Rank 59) in Credit Cards, Muthoot Finance (All-India Rank 60) in Financial Services, Jeep (All-India Rank 64) in SUV Manufacturer, Zee5 (All-India Rank 108) leads in OTT, Okaya (All-India Rank 140) in Inverter Batteries, and Livpure (All-India Rank 141) in Water Purifiers. 

Commenting on the launch, N. Chandramouli, CEO, TRA, said “The Covid times have been harrowing for brands, and even consumers have been in an extended state of anxiety for multiple reasons. The impact of the pandemic is visible on the trust placed in brands, leading to a dethroning of many erstwhile category leaders.”

DoctorC Extends Diagnostic Services by Introducing Covid Home Services in Bangalore

 

DoctorC, one of the first Online Diagnostic service providers in India has expanded their diagnostic services existent in Bangalore, by entering into Covid home services as a response to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Starting from May 2020, the company has provided COVID-19 RT PCR tests in Hyderabad and Chennai. As the pandemic spreads and fear of a second wave shadows India, DoctorC is expanding the services to Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Cochin, south Tamil Nadu and Kolkata as well. This initiative has been taken to serve and provide easy access to maximum people across the country.

The right mix of partnered labs, hospitals & paramedics has collectively created a smooth & safe experience for their customers. Standing robust, DoctorC has dispensed hassle-free, affordable, and reliable home services during COVID-19. As an essential service provider, the company works only with National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories  (NABL) accredited labs to ensure the premium quality of healthcare. In addition to this, DoctorC also takes appropriate safety measures to ensure that there is no unwanted spread of infection.

Working closely with lab partners like Neuberg Diagnostics and Aarthi Scans, DoctorC aspires to assist customers across the country to get tests easily and in an hassle-free manner.

Speaking about this announcement, Mr. Neehar Cheerabudi, CEO & Co-founder DoctorC said, “Our ultimate goal at DoctorC is to make testing easily available to maximum people. We aim to provide smooth testing along with uninturrupted services to the people of this country. Combating with the COVID-19 spread has become of paramount importance for our country as it is for the entire world. We will continue to serve our nation to the best of our capacity all the while ensuring the safety and affordability of our customers”.

About the company

DoctorC is a tech-first healthcare provider in India. Our core business is medical diagnostics, both at-home (through our own medical teams) and at-provider (through our partner network). Our services include medical diagnostics, tele-consultations, lab software and more. Our mission is to be the most consumer friendly healthcare provider in the world.

We started as a small team coming back to India from Silicon Valley. We were founded in 2014 by Neehar Cherabuddi, Mansi Gandhi, and Karan Kurani to address the problem that healthcare services in India were not designed for consumers.  Today, we stand with a team of over 250+ people and work with some of the best healthcare providers in the country. DoctorC offers the highest quality diagnostic services in 10 cities across India.

Hindware Appliances Launches Disruptive Range of IoT Appliances for Connected Homes

* Expands existing IoT range with addition of Elara iPro water purifier and Hindware Agnis iPro air purifier

Somany Home Innovation Limited, makers of ‘Hindware Appliances’, has expanded its Internet of Things (IoT) product portfolio with addition of futuristic, intelligent, and connected home appliances – Elara iPro Water purifier and Hindware Agnis iPro Air purifier. The products are priced at INR 18,990 and INR 16,990, respectively and will be available on Evok.in, and on leading e-commerce website – Amazon India, and select retail stores of Delhi/NCR.  Last year, Hindware Appliances forayed into Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled smart appliances segment with its iPro range of products to deliver an enhanced 'consumer experience' backed by cutting-edge technology. The iPro range (Achelous Premium iPro’ water purifier, ‘Optimus iPro’ chimney and ‘Ondeo Evo iPro’ water heater) are now upgraded with Amazon Alexa feature to give a complete hands free experience using voice commands.

All IOT enabled smart Hindware appliances can be seamlessly managed from anywhere at any time through Hindware Appliances app, that will assist users in operating, monitoring and controlling the products remotely, auto diagnose, troubleshoot and register service requests at the touch of a button. Also, the users get the convenience of going completely hands-free, by the Amazon Alexa feature inbuilt with the product.

Hindware Elara iPro water purifier comes with Advance Copper+ technology that purifies water by activating adequate amounts of copper ions which kill harmful bacteria, microbes, and fungi in water, making it free from impurities, and rich in minerals. The smart water purifier also provides real-time TDS of purified water and monitors a household’s daily water consumption for a healthy living. The appliance is synced with Hindware’s mobile app and indicates filter life, for timely replacement. The Wi-fi direct technology in the water purifier enables communication even without an active internet connection at home. This smart 7 stage purification expert also has an In-tank UV LED, so that users get 100% pure water all day long.

Hindware’s Agnis iPro air purifier also has Wi-Fi Direct feature and is equipped with intelligent geo fencing technology, that identifies your mobile phone in 4-5 km radius of your house and performs the pre-set command.  Equipped with a high grade ‘True HEPA Filter’ and ‘4D Suction technology’, Hindware Agnis Air Purifier removes 99.95% of particles - such as dust, mould, allergens and viruses, and is capable of filtering even the minutest particles - even eight times smaller than the PM 2.5 - at great speeds. The smart air purifier comes with convenient features like a real-time PM 2.5 meter, air quality indicator, Filter life, Scheduler, Sleep mode, Auto mode, etc, which can easily be operated and adjusted using the mobile app or through Amazon Alexa or touch panel of the air purifier.

Mr. Rakesh Kaul, CEO & Whole Time Director, Somany Home Innovation Limited (SHIL), said, “With the faster digital adoption, increased penetration of internet in day-to-day life and availability of smart affordable devices India has emerged as a hot bed for IoT products. The current ecosystem is giving rise to the applicability of Internet of Things (IoT), where everything is connected. Smart, remote-controlled, and connected appliances allow us to remain in close contact with consumers throughout the lifespan of the product. With addition of two more IoT products, we are strengthening our initiative of massification of technology providing futuristic devices and solutions. The possibilities for connected devices and IoT technology at home or in our workspaces are endless, and we are working to bring more such smart products to the market.”

Our vast presence and industry experience align us with evolving aspirations of homeowners and consumers. We are nimbly leveraging technology and marketing expertise to enrich living. Our digital engines are rapidly translating consumer data into actionable insights. The launch of our IoT products to automate appliance control, strengthens our product suite with new offerings and it positions us to digitally enhance spaces, he added.

The futuristic range of intelligently integrated iPro consumer products, marked Hindware Appliances’ foray in the fast-emerging IoT segment, and is paving the way towards building smart homes through our IOT Eco System - Hindware Konnect. Premium products developed for early adapters and evolved users of smart home automation. Each of the products are designed to simplify lives with smart automation while offering unparalleled features like Geo-fencing and Wi-Fi Direct, and Alexa-controlled in our range of smart appliances.

Hindware Appliances is one of the fastest-growing consumer products company in the country with largest range of IOT enabled connected appliances providing customers with offerings ranging from water heaters and water purifiers to air coolers, air purifiers, fans, and kitchen appliances, which are all relevant in the modern consumer lifestyle of today, with each contributing to make better homes a reality in India. Currently, Somany Home Innovation Limited (SHIL) has a network of over 9,250+ retail outlets, 700+ distributor partners and our network of more than 800 modern retail stores across India. Recently, the company expanded its product category into IoT enabled appliances across water purifiers, water heaters, air purifiers and chimneys. 

RenewBuy, InsureTech Company to Target 300 M People Across India

After successfully reaching out to almost 2 million customers, with its presence across 600 districts in the country, RenewBuy plans to take the market leader positioning with the launch of its new brandcampaign. The campaign is aimed at building brand awareness across the country, amongst masses and its core users, who are the insurance advisors.

RenewBuy is India’s second largest InsureTech company, with a vision to make insurance simple and accessible to everyone. Throughits digital, branchless model, RenewBuy plans to expand its outreach to 1000 districts in the next two years. The brand campaign will help inreaching out the brand’s core proposition to the consumers.

Speaking on the campaign launch, Balachander Sekhar, Founder and CEO, RenewBuy said, “It is our vision to simplify insurance and make it accessible to all Indians. Insurance is one sector which has a huge latent need but there is lack of awareness and easy access. Due to its complex product structures and physical, branch-led distribution model, insurance is highly under-penetrated in the country, especially in Tier 2 & 3 cities. Our company has been established with the vision to bridge the insurance supply gap, and make it reach out to every corner in the country through a highly transparent and digitally enabled POSP advisor led model. The last five years have been a testimony to our growth story. Our new brand campaign aims to bring alive our core proposition for the consumers.”

The campaign which has two short films will be launched by RenewBuy this year end, with a geo-targeting strategy. While one film is aimed at connecting with the urban millennials, the other one has a fun driven Indian connotation to bring in connect with every household in Tier 2 and 3 cities. The two ad films for the campaign are a step towards generating awareness around the ease of access to get insurance digitally.

Speaking on the marketing strategy of the ads, Mr. Devesh Joshi, Chief Marketing officer at RenewBuy said, “Digital today is the most viable option as it has deep penetration into the urban and rural India. Post Covid, there has been a sea-change in the digital content consumption pattern, wherein, the consumption has almost doubled in the last six months. We are launching the ad films on YouTube, which has an outreach of more than 300 million viewers in the country.RenewBuy is trying to address the unaddressed insurance needs, where there is demand but lack of supply, hence we have devised the urban and rural strategy.”

Commenting on the ad film conceptualization, Mr. Joshi said, “Our research shows that women are playing an important role in key household decisions and especially for insurance. Hence our films have portrayed strong women protagonists who are helping the family take the right decision.”

The concept behind the ad films is to break the long-standing notion that men are more aware of financial services and products. With a sense of women empowerment incorporated in both the ads, they highlight about RenewBuy’s insurance advisors making the whole process of insurance easy and seamless through its digitally enabled, transparent and simple model. RenewBuy’s insurance advisors make it easy for consumers to understand insurance products and hence make the right decisions.

About RenewBuy

RenewBuy is the fastest growing full-service digital insurance platform in India. Having established their leadership in motor insurance category, the company now offers Health Insurance, Life Insurance and Travel Insurance. The company has revolutionized the category by simplifying the way insurance is bought, sold, and serviced in India. Since its inception, the company has on-boarded more than 35,000 POS partners and insured more than two million customers across 600 cities and towns. Using technology as an enabler, the company has created differentiation in consumer experience and service, as well as in the geographical expansion of the sector.