Hard Times: Coketown Essay

In † Hard Times: Coketown† Charles Dickens is evaluating industrialization and the impact it had on the individuals in the towns wherein they lived. Coketown is by all accounts depicted as a city of work and nothing else. It is put over that the town comprises of just truth and nothing else to lighten the bluntness. Charles Dickens is sharing his investigation on the social issues embroiled in this town through a story that reflects upon the earth. He utilizes a great deal of portrayals and comparisons to show the suggestions wherein the general public is dispensing. For instance, the steam motor is continually going here and there is â€Å"like the leader of an elephant in a condition of despairing madness,† (1057). He additionally utilizes allegories like â€Å"it had a dark canal,† and â€Å"interminable snakes of smoke† (1057). He is depicting a point that the legislature in this town isn't thinking enough about there network so thusly he believes he needs to get the message across about how socially unsuitable this is. As he passes on these plans to the peruser he utilizes portrayal to give an item human life. A model when he gives an item a human life structure is; â€Å"It was a town of unnatural red and dark like a painted face of a savage,†(1057). By doing this he was focusing on the significance of how nothing is advancing and the government officials need to look again at the networks entire social and living structure. He makes derivations on industrialization and the impact that it has like â€Å"the stream ran purple† and â€Å"it had a dark trench in it† (1057) This is simply demonstrating what amount insane the social worry of industrialization had got to and how contamination had got to a major stature. â€Å"It was a town of red block or of red block if that would have been red if the smoke and cinders had permitted it,† (1057). This shows how terrible the day to day environments were getting and he presumably felt the government officials in there town were not successfully fix these conditions. â€Å"It was exceptionally weird to stroll through the roads on a Sunday morning, and note what a small number of them the savage clanking of chimes that was driving the wiped out and apprehensive mad.† (1058) Now he was focusing on how the network itself didn’t even know where they fit in as a social establishment. The fundamental issue to Dickens was that the political and social issues of this town were intensifying since none was caring enough to transform anything. He fundamentally is uncovering the abuse of industrialization in this general public and is inferring towards the social disrespects that have happened. He retorts,† truth, certainty fact'† (1058) just to show significantly more howâ dull the lives of the poor turned into a rehashing each day thing. It turned into the equiv alent since it appeared as though consistently was an edgy day to make due in this new industrialized world. To me a significant social ramifications made a point in this short story was of a degenerate society that the government officials were more intrigued by efficiency than in the wellbeing and satisfaction of its residents.

Diagnosis and Management of Urinary †Free Samples to Students

Question: Talk about the Diagnosis and Management of Urinary. Answer: Presentation This paper cross examine the precision of announcement Urinary tract contaminations in the more established individual can prompt changes in mental status, for example, disarray and testing practices and these modifications have wellbeing and correspondence suggestions for the more seasoned individual and for arrangement of safe, individual focused nursing care and present a judgment about its exactness. A nitty gritty examination will be done to uncover precision of above explanation. Pathophysiology and symptomology of the contamination are examined and introduced to uncover the difficult practices and disarrays emerging from this disease. The suggestion for patients wellbeing and correspondence among attendant and patients additionally introduced. The urinary-tract, from the kidneys to urethral meatus, is typically purified just as flexible to the colonization of bacterial despite the fact that frequently distal urethra pollution with colonic-microscopic organisms. The key shield against the UTI stays careful bladder purging over the span of pee. Extra methods which keeps up sterility of the tract incorporate sharpness of pee, vesicoureteral valve, just as a few immunologic just as mucosal hindrance. Around 98% of UTIs are as aftereffect of microorganisms rising urethra to bladder and, climbing ureter to kidney if pyelonephritis (Detweiler, Mayers Fletcher, 2015). The remainder of UTIs remain haematogenous. Fundamental contamination will come full circle from UTI, particularly in maturing. Around 6.50% of frequency of medical clinic inferred bacteraemia stay connected to the UTIs. The confuse UTIs happen in setting of a urinary-tract with metabolic-/basic/practical irregularities. The UTIs (confused) could involve upper and lower tracts. The principle significance is UTIs generously upsurge the treatment disappointments rate. The pathophysiology of confounded UTIs has four angles: Escherichia coli, enterococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, candidal species Klebsiella pneumoniae. The Pyelonephritis is about often the result of microbes relocating to renal-parenchyma from bladder that is improved by reflux of vesicourethral. For the simple pyelonephritis, attack by bacterial just as harm to renal stay restricted to the region of pyelocalyceal-medullary while all kidney territories could be affected whenever confused pyelonephritis. With progress in contamination, bacterial intrusion can arrive at circulatory system, coming full circle in bacteraemia. The UTIs (convoluted) may include all genders independent old enough. It is as often as possible respected to be cystitis or pyelonephritis which neglects to accomplish measures for being respected un-entangled. The patient may have basic or utilitarian urinary-tract eccentricity just as bar of stream of pee. The comorbidity which builds the contamination procurement dangers or protection from the treatment like wasteful controlled-diabetes, immunocompromise and constant kidney. The UTI (simple) remains typically viewed as pyelonephritis or cystitis which occur in premenopausal females without basic or practical urinary-tract abnormality just as those non-pregnant just as without considerable comorbidity which may come full circle in progressively extreme results. Further, a few specialists have considered such a disease a straightforward one in any event, when it is analyzed in postmenopausal female/patients that have diabetes that are very much controlled. Most UTIs (confounded) in guys occur in maturing patients because of anatomic distortions or instrumentation. The side effects of urinary tract diseases in more seasoned people can be delineated. While it may be hard to know whether an older is UTI positive since maturing don't consistently feature authoritative signs. This may be because of lazy invulnerable response. A portion of the trademark indications of UTI involve: consuming of urethra with pee, a fever, chills, noxious pee, a pressing need to pee, pelvic torment and regular pee. Where an older individual has the conclusive side effects of UTI, such grown-ups being not able to discuss them. That may be because old enough connected issues like dementia or Alzheimers infection. The great indications of the UTI incorporate consuming agony just as intermittent pee. The contamination may neglect to trigger such trademark side effects in maturing. Or maybe older, especially the ones with dementia, could show conduct side effects including disarray. The indications like a disarray could be unclear just as copy extra conditions. The UTIs non-exemplary side effects could involves unsettling, falls, diminished hunger, decline portability, urinary maintenance, laziness, and incontinence. Extra side effects could occur where the diseases spreads to the kidneys. Such serious manifestations could include, flushed skin, a fever, back torment, sickness, and heaving. The UTIs create incoherence or turmoil and testing conduct. The UTI will prompt wellbeing breakdown of disarray and testing conduct among the old people. In more seasoned people particularly those with dementia, UTIs consistently cause abrupt conduct changes rather than basic physical indications (Nicolle, (2016). Monitoring the UTIs signs in more established individual will help in early treatment of old before it come full circle in serious medical issues. Not at all like in youthful people with UTIs that can show discrete physical-side effects like sore pee, flooded interest for pee, torment in lower mid-region, uneven back torment, chills close by fever, UTIs in old may never grandstand those equivalent indications. Rather, the UTIs may grandstand expanded indications of disarrays, unsettling just as withdrawal. This is on the grounds that the old resistant framework have changed as they get more established and consequently reacts contrastingly to the UTIs (Rowe Juthani-Mehta, 2 014). For old with dementia, such conduct adjustments could experience as segment of such a condition/indications of maturing. Where the said UTI is unnoticed subsequently not treated for such an all-encompassing time, UTIs can stretch to circulation system in this manner being an amazingly perilous contamination. The disease will cause upsetting conduct changes for the old individual. Such changes are called incoherence equipped for creating inside 1 or 2 days. Wooziness/disarray manifestations go from fretfulness, fomentation, mind flight or fancies (Rowe Juthani-Mehta, 2013). UTIs can too quicken the dementia movement consequently being essential for the parental figures to fathom how to recognize just as control hazard for the UTIs in old. UTIs will cause an unexpected change in conduct which is, for sure, perhaps the best marker of the UTIs in the older people. Some basic admonition signs among the older incorporate beginning of old incontinence, disarray or lack of ability to do undertakings that the old could without much of a stretch do a day or two preceding. It may make an older whenever to change to degree of being not able in a day to dress himself or feed himself and combined with a sharp change. Numerous UTIs patients are emphatically analyzed for the UTIs dependent on disarrays and testing conduct. In older patients, disarray alone can be a straight route towards a positive conclusion. The difficult conduct among the older UTIs can also tell when one is UTIs positive. This is on the grounds that not at all like the more youthful patients, the older will never be effectively analyzed where one needs to concentrate on the great side effects of UTIs. The difficult conduct may obstruct the early analysis as the UTIs would feature the traditional signs. Be that as it may, for the older who show disarray, the acknowledgment of such a disarray has consistently prompted a positive determination even at an early age (Buhr, Genao White, 2011). Basic test can follow the acknowledgment of disarray even done at home where a dipstick is held in pee stream. Such a home test stays advantageous route for the constant UTI patients to quickly analyze whether they have the contamination. Diffe rent analyses incorporate ultrasound test, X-beam and CAT check. The principal suggestion is to limit the danger of getting an older UTI by visit finding particularly old at higher hazard incorporating those with kidney stones, those with diabetes, the individuals who required a catheter in urethra and bladder and ladies who have experienced menopause (Genao Buhr, 2012). This will help identify UTIs early enough even through home test for early treatment. Another ramifications is to keep an eye on disarray and testing conduct as opposed to the great side effects when managing older (Cove?Smith Almond, 2007). This is on the grounds that the older may neglect to show signs appear by the more youthful UTIs patients and henceforth a trouble to give quiet focused consideration. The principal suggestion is that medical attendants ought to consistently become more acquainted with the conduct of their patients through the patient-focused nursing care so they can get the opportunity to distinguish even the scarcest change in conduct or disarray so they can analyze the old for UTIs for early treatment. Another ramifications is that because of the difficult conduct and disarray, the attendant ought to be increasingly mindful so as to see an adjustment in conduct including how he imparts, falls, disarray for early judgments. The nursing must like an investigator like list of doubt when managing her patient in the individual focused consideration approach. End To this end, the facts confirm that UTIs create turmoil and testing conduct in old. These progressions have suggestion for wellbeing and correspondence for both older people and the arrangement of individual focused consideration. This announcement is precise and substantial as upheld by the conversation. The patient-focused methodology will be exceptionally influenced by the disarray of the contaminated older who won't have the option to impart or talk about their issues with the medical caretakers. The parental figure and the attendants will subsequently be required to be very quick to consistently monitor the practices of the patient for compelling patient-focused

Understand Chemistry Unit Conversions

Comprehend Chemistry Unit Conversions Unit changes are significant in all sciences, despite the fact that they may appear to be increasingly basic in science in light of the fact that numerous computations utilize various units. Each estimation you take should revealing with the correct units. While it might take practice to ace unit changes, you just need to realize how to increase, separation, include, and deduct to do them. The math is simple as long as you most likely are aware which units can be changed over starting with one then onto the next and how to set up transformation factors in a condition. Know the Base Units There are a few regular base amounts, for example, mass, temperature, and volume. You can change over between various units of a base amount, however will most likely be unable to change over starting with one sort of amount then onto the next. For instance, you can change over grams to moles or kilograms, yet you cannot change over grams to Kelvin. Grams, moles, and kilograms are on the whole units that depict the measure of issue, while Kelvin portrays temperature. There are seven essential base units in the SI or decimal measuring standard, in addition to there are different units that are viewed as base units in different frameworks. A base unit is a solitary unit. Here are some regular ones: Mass kilogram (kg), gram (g), pound (lb) Separation or Length meter (m), centimeter (cm), inch (in), kilometer (km), mile (mi) Time second (s), minute (min), hour (hr), day, year Temperature Kelvin (K), Celsius (C), Fahrenheit (F) Amount mole (mol) Electric Current ampere (amp) Brilliant Intensity candela Comprehend Derived Units Determined units (here and there called extraordinary units) consolidate the base units. A case of an inferred unit is a unit for region, square meters (m2) or the unit of power, the newton (kgâ ·m/s2). Likewise included are volume units. For instance, there are liters (l), milliliters (ml), cubic centimeter (cm3). Unit Prefixes So as to change over between units, youll need to realize normal unit prefixes. These are utilized essentially in the decimal standard as a kind of shorthand documentation to make numbers simpler to communicate. Here are some valuable prefixes to know: Name Image Factor giga- G 109 super M 106 kilo- k 103 hecto- h 102 deca- da 101 base unit 100 deci- d 10-1 centi- c 10-2 milli- m 10-3 smaller scale 10-6 nano- n 10-9 pico- p 10-12 femto- f 10-15 As case of how to utilize the prefixes: 1000 meters 1 kilometer 1 km For huge or extremely little numbers, its simpler to utilize logical documentation: 1000 103 0.00005 5 x 10-4 Performing Unit Conversions In light of the entirety of this, youre prepared to perform unit changes. A unit transformation can be thought of as a kind of condition. In math, you may review in the event that you duplicate any number occasions 1, it is unaltered. Unit changes work a similar way, aside from 1 is communicated as a transformation factor or proportion. Think about the unit change: 1 g 1000 mg This could be composed as: 1g/1000 mg 1 or 1000 mg/1 g 1 In the event that you increase a worth occasions both of these divisions, its worth will be unaltered. Youll utilize this to offset units to change over them. Heres a model (notice how the grams counteract in the numerator and denominator): 4.2x10-31g x 1000mg/1g 4.2x10-31 x 1000 mg 4.2x10-28 mg Utilizing Your Calculator You can enter in these qualities in logical documentation on your number cruncher utilizing the EE button: 4.2 EE - 31 x 1 EE3 which will give you: 4.2 E - 18 Heres another model. Convert 48.3 crawls into feet. Possibly you realize the change factor among inches and feet or you can find it: 12 inches 1 foot or 12 of every 1 ft Presently, you set up the transformation so the inches will counteract, leaving you with feet in your last answer: 48.3 inches x 1 foot/12 inches 4.03 ft There is creeps in both the top (numerator) and base (denominator) of the articulation, so it counterbalances. In the event that you had attempted to compose: 48.3 inches x 12 inches/1 foot you would have had square inches/foot, which wouldnt have given you the ideal units. Continuously check your change factor to ensure the right term counterbalances! You may need to switch the part around. Key Points Unit transformations possibly work if the units are a similar kind. For instance, you cannot change over mass into temperature or volume into energy.In science, it would be decent on the off chance that you just needed to change over between metric units, yet there are numerous regular units in different frameworks. For instance, you may need to change over a Fahrenheit temperature into Celsius or a pound mass into kilograms.The just math aptitudes you have to do unit transformations are expansion, deduction, augmentation, and division.

How to Practice for a Video Interview or Essay

The future of the essay is now at a school near you: Smile, you might be on camera. More and more competitive programs are using ‘video essays’ or ‘timed video assessments’ as a way to get to know their future students. Typically, for a timed video response, you will need to respond to questions using your microphone and webcam in a given time limit. The most unusual aspect of this is the ‘asynchronous’ nature of it; there won’t be someone to converse with like a live interview. Schools will likely give you a short â€Å"prep time† after hearing a question before starting to record, but you won’t be able to go back to perfect your wording or change your answer. Admissions teams love this aspect of the assessment because it gives them a chance to see how you think on your feet and communicate unscripted, without having to fly you to campus to meet you in person. While the prospect of a single-take video essay may be alarming, don’t worry, here are some suggestions to make sure you’re confident and prepared! 1. Check the details Before you start, read over any provided materials from your school. Know the deadline for when your video response must be completed, what program you’re applying to, and if they have any special requests. Some programs even have admissions blog posts about what they’re looking for to help you strategize the key points you want to strike in your response. This may sound redundant, but if you have multiple schools requiring video essays, it’s very important. 2. Set your scene Find a well-lit setting and turn on your webcam and adjust your location to ensure you have a clear backdrop behind you. Windows, mirrors, or cluttered walls or shelves are best avoided if possible. Adjust your lighting and position to find an arrangement that shines light on your face, rather than backlighting you. There’s no set uniform for video essays, but I recommend comfortable, clean, and simple attire. Play it safe with solid colors and comfortable materials so you can focus on the content of your responses. Once you’ve established your environment, let anyone who you share a household or office with know not to disturb you. Put a ‘do not disturb’ sign on your door if you must! #ThatAwkwardMoment when your mom walked into your video response demanding you clean your room doesn’t need to be your claim to fame. 3. Prepare Your Device Picture this: You’re in the middle of your response and a pesky pop-up notification appears on your screen and creates a distraction. Or better yet, you ignore the notification and your computer restarts before you’ve completed all of the questions! Technology, eh? So before you start recording, close any programs that might prompt you with push notifications or pop-ups and ensure your software is up-to-date. Check to see if you have at least an hour of battery life or, better yet, plug into a power source! 4. Practice and Get Comfortable Record yourself taking a few common questions with your webcam and review your responses. Here are some common questions to try: â€Å"Tell us about yourself.† â€Å"Why do you want to attend our program?† â€Å"Describe one of your favorite hobbies and why it is important to you?† You can try using Kira Prep, a free simulated assessment designed to help you practice, as well. 5. Keep Calm and Crush This Video Get a glass of water. Remember to pause and catch your breath. Do a stretch. Listen to your cheesiest pump up song (Eye of the Tiger, anyone?) Whatever you need to do to get in the zone. Remember to take your time with your response, be yourself, and speak from the heart, and you’ll do great. Good luck! ; Molly McCracken is the Admissions Editor at Kira Talent, an education technology company that builds holistic admissions solutions in Toronto, Canada. Related Resources: †¢ Perfect Answers to MBA Interview Questions, a free guide †¢ Tips For MBA Video Essay Questions †¢ The Morphing and Multiplying MBA Interview

Overview of Cultural Anthropology - 1117 Words

Cultural Anthropology The nature of the culture: farming, hunting, gathering, fishing, cattle raising, industrialization etc. The uses and measures of wealth. Jamaica has a history of farming, hunting, gathering and fishing going back to colonial days. This is when the British colonized the country in order to provide them with a number of agricultural products they could sell on the world markets. The most notable include: sugar cane, coffee, bananas, yams, citrus fruits, vegetables and fish. As the country developed, is when industrialization began to occur. This took place with tourism becoming the most dominant industry. At the same time, there was a focus on bauxite, chemicals, paper, cement and textile production. These different areas are used to account for the majority of it exports. This is based upon figures illustrating where the majority of GDP growth is occurring. (Jamaica) (Rogozinski) (Taylor) Geography and environmental limitations: climate, environmental stresses, hardships, and subsistence requirements. Jamaica has a tropical climate that is warm year round. The biggest environmental stresses are the damages the country will face are from June 1st to November 30th related to hurricanes and tropical storms. The biggest hardships are the continuing amounts of poverty, with this impacting nearly 70% of the nation. This means that many people are dependent upon remittances sent to them from their families abroad and the government is dependent uponShow MoreRelatedWhat I Learned From My Childhood862 Words   |  4 Pagesthat were different from my own. I treated this interest as a hobby until I started to attend college when I took an anthropology class. The anthropology class made me realize that I could mold my interests into a career, but I didn’t really know how. 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Ulips V/Smutual Funds free essay sample

PAPER ON A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MUTUAL FUNDS AND UNIT LINKED INSURANCE PLAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY : In few years Mutual Fund has emerged as a tool for ensuring one’s financial well being. Mutual Funds have not only contributed to the India growth story but have also helped families tap into the success of Indian Industry. As information and awareness is rising more and more people are enjoying the benefits of investing in mutual funds. The main reason the number of retail mutual fund investors remains small is that nine in ten people with incomes in India do not know that mutual funds exist. But once people are aware of mutual fund investment opportunities, the number who decide to invest in mutual funds increases to as many as one in five people. The trick for converting a person with no knowledge of mutual funds to a new Mutual Fund customer is to understand which of the potential investors are more likely to buy mutual funds and to use the right arguments in the sales process that customers will accept as important and relevant to their decision. The analysis and advice presented in this Project Report is based on the study on the saving and investment practices of the investors and preferences of the investors for investment in Mutual Funds. This Report will help to know about the investors’ Preferences in Mutual Fund means Are they prefer any particular Asset Management Company (AMC), Which type of Product they prefer, Which Option (Growth or Dividend) they prefer or Which Investment Strategy they follow (Systematic Investment Plan or One time Plan). Further this project also talks about the investments made by people in unit linked insurance plan (ULIP). This project talks about the comparison between the mutual funds and the unit linked insurance plan. Here the preferences and choices of the investors has been analyzed and enhanced upon to know how investors plans to invest their money and in which financial product i. e mutual funds or ulips . | | OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY AND SCOPE . †¢ To study the various benefits and disadvantages of mutual funds and unit linked insurance plans. †¢ To study the various features of ULIPs and Mutual funds. To study the comparison between the mutual funds and ulips. LITERATURE REVIEW Literature on mutual fund performance evaluation is enormous. A few research studies that have Influenced the preparation of this paper substantially are discussed. Sharpe, William F. (1966) suggested a measure for the evaluation of portfolio performance. Drawing on results obtained in the field of portfolio analysis, Economist Jack L. Treynor has suggested a new predictor of mutual fund performance, one that differs from virtually all those used previously by incorporating the volatility of a funds return in a simple yet meaningful manner. Michael C. Jensen (1967) derived a risk-adjusted measure of portfolio performance (Jensen’s alpha) that estimates how much a manager’s forecasting ability contributes to fund’s returns. As indicated by Statman (2000), the e SDAR of a fund portfolio is the excess return of the portfolio over the return of the benchmark index, where the portfolio is leveraged to have the benchmark index’s standard deviation. S. Narayan Rao , evaluated performance of Indian mutual funds in a bear market through relative performance index, risk-return analysis, Treynor’s ratio, Sharpe’s ratio, Sharpe’s measure , Jensen’s measure, and Fama’s measure. The study used 269 open-ended schemes (out of total schemes of 433) for computing relative performance index. Then after excluding funds whose returns are less than risk-free returns, 58 schemes are finally used for further analysis. The results of performance measures suggest that most of mutual fund schemes in the sample of 58 were able to satisfy investor’s expectations by giving excess returns over expected returns based on both premium for systematic risk and total risk. Bijan Roy, et. al. , conducted an mpirical study on conditional performance of Indian mutual funds. This paper uses a technique called conditional performance evaluation on a sample of eighty-nine Indian mutual fund schemes . This paper measures the performance of various mutual funds with both unconditional and conditional form of CAPM, Treynor- Mazuy model and Henriksson-Merton model. The effect of incorporating lagged information variables into the evaluation of mutual fund managers’ performance is examined in the Indian context. The results suggest that the use of conditioning lagged information variables improves the performance of mutual fund schemes, causing alphas to shift towards right and reducing the number of negative timing coefficients. Mishra, et al. , (2002) measured mutual fund performance using lower partial moment. In this paper, measures of evaluating portfolio performance based on lower partial moment are developed. Risk from the lower partial moment is measured by taking into account only those states in which return is below a pre-specified â€Å"target rate† like risk-free rate. Kshama Fernandes(2003) evaluated index fund implementation in India. In this paper, tracking error of index funds in India is measured . The consistency and level of tracking errors obtained by some well-run index fund suggests that it is possible to attain low levels of tracking error under Indian conditions. At the same time, there do seem to be periods where certain index funds appear to depart from the discipline of indexation. K. Pendaraki et al. studied construction of mutual fund portfolios, developed a multi- criteria methodology and applied it to the Greek market of equity mutual funds. The methodology is based on the combination of discrete and continuous multi-criteria decision aid methods for mutual fund selection and composition. UTADIS multi-criteria decision aid method is employed in order to develop mutual fund’s performance models. Goal programming model is employed to determine proportion of selected mutual funds in the final portfolios. INTRODUCTION TO MUTUAL FUNDS: What is a Mutual fund? Mutual fund is an investment company that pools money from shareholders and invests in a variety of securities, such as stocks, bonds and money market instruments. Most open-end Mutual funds stand ready to buy back (redeem) its shares at their current net asset value, which depends on the total market value of the funds investment portfolio at the time of redemption. Most open-end Mutual funds continuously offer new shares to investors. Also known as an open-end investment company, to differentiate it from a closed-end investment company. Mutual funds invest pooled cashof many investors to meet the funds stated investment objective. Mutual funds stand ready to sell and redeem their shares at any time at the funds current net asset value: total fund assets divided by shares outstandinG pic] INVESTMENT FLOW. In Simple Words, Mutual fund is a mechanism for pooling the resources by issuing units to the investors and investing funds in securities in accordance with objectives as disclosed in offer document. Investments in securities are spread across a wide cross-section of industries and sectors and thus the risk is reduced. Diversification reduces the risk because all stocks may not move in the same direction in the same proportion at the same time. Mutual fund issues units to the investors in accordance with quantum of money invested by them. Investors of Mutual funds are known as unit holders. The profits or losses are shared by the investors in proportion to their investments. The Mutual funds normally come out with a number of schemes with different investment objectives which are launched from time to time. In India, A Mutual fund is required to be registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) which regulates securities markets before it can collect funds from the public. In Short, a Mutual fund is a common pool of money in to which investors with common investment objective place their contributions that are to be invested in accordance with the stated investment objective of the scheme. The investment manager would invest the money collected from the investor in to assets that are defined/ permitted by the stated objective of the scheme. For example, an equity fund would invest equity and equity related instruments and a debt fund would invest in bonds, debentures, gilts etc. Mutual fund is a suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost. Mutual fund is a trust that pools the savings of a number of investors who share a common financial goal. This pool of money is invested in accordance with a stated objective. The joint ownership of the fund is thus â€Å"Mutual†, i. e. the fund belongs to all investors. The money thus collected is then invested in capital market instruments such as shares, debentures and other securities. The income earned through these investments and the capital appreciations realized are shared by its unit holders in proportion the number of units owned by them. Thus a Mutual Fund is the most suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost. A Mutual Fund is an investment tool that allows small investors access to a well- diversified portfolio of equities, bonds and other securities. Each shareholder participates in the gain or loss of the fund. Units are issued and can be redeemed as needed. The fund’s Net Asset value (NAV) is determined each day. Investments in securities are spread across a wide cross-section of industries and sectors and thus the risk is reduced. Diversification reduces the risk because all stocks may not move in the same direction in the same proportion at the same time. Mutual fund issues units to the investors in accordance with quantum of money invested by them. Investors of mutual funds are known as unit holders CONCEPT OF MUTUAL FUNDS: [pic] INTRODUCTION Over the past decade, investors increasingly have turned to mutual funds to save for retirement and other financial goals. Mutual funds can offer the advantages of diversification and professional management. But, as with other investment choices, investing in mutual funds involves risk. And fees and taxes will diminish a funds returns. It pays to understand both the upsides and the downsides of mutual fund investing and how to choose products that match your goals and tolerance for risk. A mutual fund is a form of collective investment that pools money from many investors and invests their money in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities. In a mutual fund, the fund manager trades the funds underlying securities, realizing capital gains or losses, and collects the dividend or interest income. The investment proceeds are then passed along to the individual investors. The value of a share of the mutual fund, known as the net asset value per share (NAV), is calculated daily based on the total value of the fund divided by the number of shares currently issued and outstanding. Legally known as an open-end company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the primary regulatory statute governing investment companies), a mutual fund is one of three basic types of investment companies available in the United States. Outside of the United States (with the exception of Canada, which follows the U. S. model), mutual fund is a generic term for various types of collective investment vehicle. In the United Kingdom and western Europe (including offshore jurisdictions), other forms of collective investment vehicle are prevalent, including unit trusts, open-ended investment companies (OEICs), SICAVs and unitized insurance funds. In Australia the term mutual fund is generally not used; the name managed fund is used instead. However, managed fund is somewhat generic as the definition of a managed fund in Australia is any vehicle in which investors money is managed by a third party (NB: usually an investment professional or organization). Most managed funds are open-ended (i. e. , there is no established maximum number of shares that can be issued); however, this need not be the case. Additionally the Australian government introduced a compulsory superannuation/pension scheme which, although strictly speaking a managed fund, is rarely identified by this term and is instead called a superannuation fund because of its special tax concessions and restrictions on when money invested in it can be accessed HISTORY Massachusetts Investors Trust was founded on March 21, 1924, and, after one year, had 200 shareholders and $392,000 in assets. The entire industry, which included a few closed-end funds, represented less than $10 million in 1924. The stock market crash of 1929 slowed the growth of mutual funds. In response to the stock market crash, Congress passed the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These laws require that a fund be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and provide prospective investors with a prospectus that contains required disclosures about the fund, the securities themselves, and fund manager. The SEC helped draft the Investment Company Act of 1940, which sets forth the guidelines with which all SEC-registered funds today must comply. With renewed confidence in the stock market, mutual funds began to blossom. By the end of the 1960s, there were approximately 270 funds with $48 billion in assets. The first retail index fund, the First Index Investment Trust, was formed in 1976 and headed by John Bogle, who conceptualized many of the key tenets of the industry in his 1951 senior thesis at Princeton University. It is now called the Vanguard 500 Index Fund and is one of the largest mutual funds ever with in excess of $100 billion in assets. One of the largest contributors of mutual fund growth was individual retirement account (IRA) provisions added to the Internal Revenue Code in 1975, allowing individuals (including those already in corporate pension plans) to contribute $2,000 a year. Mutual funds are now popular in employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans (401(k)s), IRAs and Roth IRAs. As of April 2006, there are 8,606 mutual funds that belong to the Investment Company Institute (ICI), the national association of investment companies in the United States, with combined assets of $9. 207 trillion. 1963 – 1987 |UTI sole player in the industry, created by an Act of Parliament ,1963 | | |UTI launches first product Unit Scheme 1964 | | |UTI creates products such as MIPs, children plans ,offshore funds etc | | |UTI managed assets of 6700 Cr at the end of this phase | |1987 – 1993 |In 1987 Public Sector Banks and FIs | | |SBI mutual fund was the first non -UTI mutual fund | | |UTIs corpus gr ew to Rs. 38,247 Cr public Sector Funds got Rs 8750 Cr | |1993 – 1996 |In 1993, Mutual Fund Industry was open to private players. | |SEBIs first set of regulations for the industry formulated in 1993 | | |Significant innovations, mostly initiated by private players | |1996 – 1999 |Implementation of new SEBI regulations led to rapid growth | | |Bank mutual funds were recast as per SEBI guidelines | | |UTI came under voluntary SEBI supervision. | |1999 – 2000 |Rapid growth, significant increase in corpus of private players | | |Tax break offered created arbitrage opportunities | | |Bond funds and liquid funds registered highest growth | | |UTIs market share drops to nearly 50% | MUTUAL FUNDS : FLOW CHART A Mutual Fund is a trust that pools the savings of a number of investors who share a common financial goal. The money thus collected is then invested in capital market instruments such as shares, debentures and other securities. The income earned through these investments and the capital appreciation realised are shared by its unit holders in proportion to the number of units owned by them. Thus a Mutual Fund is the most suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost. The flow chart below describes broadly the working of a mutual fund: Mutual Fund Operation Flow Chart MUTUAL FUNDS INDUSTRY IN INDIA: The origin of mutual fund industry in India is with the introduction of the concept of mutual fund by UTI in the year 1963. Though the growth was slow, but it accelerated from the year 1987 when non-UTI players entered the industry. In the past decade, Indian mutual fund industry had seen a dramatic imporvements, both qualitywise as well as quantitywise. Before, the monopoly of the market had seen an ending phase, the Assets Under Management (AUM) was Rs. 67bn. The private sector entry to the fund family rose the AUM to Rs. 470 bn in March 1993 and till April 2004, it reached the height of 1,540 bn. Putting the AUM of the Indian Mutual Funds Industry into comparison, the total of it is less than the deposits of SBI alone, constitute less than 11% of the total deposits held by the Indian banking industry. The main reason of its poor growth is that the mutual fund industry in India is new in the country. Large sections of Indian investors are yet to be intellectuated with the concept. Hence, it is the prime responsibility of all mutual fund companies, to market the product correctly abreast of selling. The mutual fund industry can be broadly put into four phases according to the development of the sector. Each phase is briefly described as follows: FIRST PHASE 1964-87 Unit Trust of India (UTI) was established on 1963 by an Act of Parliament. It was set up by the Reserve Bank of India and functioned under the Regulatory and administrative control of the Reserve Bank of India. In 1978 UTI was de-linked from the RBI and the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) took over the regulatory and administrative control in place of RBI. The first scheme launched by UTI was Unit Scheme 1964. At the end of 1988 UTI had Rs. 6,700 crores of assets under management SECOND PHASE 1987-1993 (Entry of Public Sector Funds) Entry of non-UTI mutual funds. SBI Mutual Fund was the first followed by Canbank Mutual Fund (Dec 87), Punjab National Bank Mutual Fund (Aug 89), Indian Bank Mutual Fund (Nov 89), Bank of India (Jun 90), Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund (Oct 92). LIC in 1989 and GIC in 1990. The end of 1993 marked Rs. 7,004 as assets under management. THIRD PHASE 1993-2003 (Entry of Private Sector Funds) With the entry of private sector funds in 1993, a new era started in the Indian mutual fund industry, giving the Indian investors a wid er choice of fund families. Also, 1993 was the year in which the first Mutual Fund Regulations came into being, under which all mutual funds, except UTI were to be registered and governed. The erstwhile Kothari Pioneer (now merged with Franklin Templeton) was the first private sector mutual fund registered in July 1993. The 1993 SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations were substituted by a more comprehensive and revised Mutual Fund Regulations in 1996. The industry now functions under the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations 1996. The number of mutual fund houses went on increasing, with many foreign mutual funds setting up funds in India and also the industry has witnessed several mergers and acquisitions. As at the end of January 2003, there were 33 mutual funds with total assets of Rs. 1,21,805 crores. The Unit Trust of India with Rs. 44,541 crores of assets under management was way ahead of other mutual funds. FOURTH PHASE – SINCE FEBURARY2003 This phase had bitter experience for UTI. It was bifurcated into two separate entities. One is the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India with AUM of Rs. 29,835 crores (as on January 2003). The Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India, functioning under an administrator and under the rules framed by Government of India and does not come under the purview of the Mutual Fund Regulations. The second is the UTI Mutual Fund Ltd, sponsored by SBI, PNB, BOB and LIC. It is registered with SEBI and functions under the Mutual Fund Regulations. With the bifurcation of the erstwhile UTI which had in March 2000 more than Rs. 76,000 crores of AUM and with the setting up of a UTI Mutual Fund, conforming to the SEBI Mutual Fund Regulations, and with recent mergers taking place among different private sector funds, the mutual fund industry has entered its current phase of consolidation and growth [pic] SEBI REGISTERED MUTUAL FUNDS : 1. FORTIS Mutual fund 2. Alliance Capital Mutual fund, 3. AIG Global Investment Group Mutual fund 4. Benchmark Mutual fund, 5. Baroda Pioneer Mutual fund 6. Birla Mutual fund 7. Bharti AXA Mutual fund 8. Canara Robeco Mutual fund 9. CRB Mutual fund (Suspended) 10. DBS Chola Mutual fund, 11. Deutsche Mutual fund 12. DSP Blackrock Mutual fund, 13. Edelweiss Mutual fund 14. Escorts Mutual fund, 15. Franklin Templeton Mutual fund 16. Fidelity Mutual fund 17. Goldman Sachs Mutual fund 18. HDFC Mutual fund, 19. HSBC Mutual fund, 20. ICICI Securities Fund, 21. IL FS Mutual fund, 22. ING Mutual fund, 23. ICICI Prudential Mutual fund 24. IDFC Mutual fund, 25. JM Financial Mutual fund 26. JP Morgan Mutual fund 27. Kotak Mahindra Mutual fund, 29. LIC Mutual fund 31. Morgan Stanley Mutual fund 32. Mirae Asset Mutual fund 33. Principal Mutual fund 34. Quantum Mutual fund, 35. Reliance Mutual fund 36. Religare AEGON Mutual fund 37. Sahara Mutual fund 38. SBI Mutual fund 39. Shriram Mutual fund 40. Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual fund, 41. Taurus Mutual fund 42. Tata Mutual fund, 43. UTI Mutual fund If the complaints remain unresolved, the investors may approach SEBI for facilitating redressal of their complaints. On receipt of complaints, SEBI takes up the matter with the concerned Mutual fund and follows up with it regularly. Investors may send their complaints to: SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA (SEBI) OFFICE OF INVESTOR ASSISTANCE AND EDUCATION (OIAE) EXCHANGE PLAZA, â€Å"G† BLOCK, 4TH FLOOR, BANDRA-KURLA COMPLEX, BANDRA (E), MUMBAI – 400 051. LEGAL STRUCTURE OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA: SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations, 1996 as amended till date define â€Å"mutual fund† as a fund established in the form of a trust to raise moneys through the sale of units to the public or a section of the public under one or more schemes for investing in securities including money market instruments or gold or gold related instruments or real estate assets. SEBI has stipulated the legal structure under which mutual funds in India need to be constituted. The structure, which has inherent checks and balances to protect the investors, can be briefly described as follows: †¢ Mutual funds are constituted as Trusts. †¢ The mutual fund trust is created by one or more Sponsors, who are the main persons behind the mutual fund business. †¢ Every trust has beneficiaries. The beneficiaries, in the case of a mutual fund trust, are the investors who invest in various schemes of the mutual fund. †¢ The operations of the mutual fund trust are governed by a Trust Deed, which is executed by the sponsors. SEBI has laid down various clauses that need to be part of the Trust Deed. †¢ The Trust acts through its trustees. Therefore, the role of protecting the beneficiaries (investors) is that of the Trustees. The first trustees are named in the Trust Deed, which also prescribes the procedure for change in Trustees. †¢ In order to perform the trusteeship role, either individuals may be appointed as trustees or a Trustee company may be appointed. When individuals are appointed trustees, they are jointly referred to as Board of Trustees. A trustee company functions through its Board of Directors. †¢ Day to day management of the schemes is handled by an Asset Management Company (AMC). The AMC is appointed by the sponsor or the Trustees. †¢ Although the AMC manages the schemes, custody of the assets of the scheme (securities, gold, gold? nd related instruments real estate assets) is with a Custodian, who is appointed by the Trustees. †¢ Investors invest in various schemes of the mutual fund. The record of investors and their unit? holding may be maintained by the AMC itself, or it can appoint a Registrar Transfer Agent (RTA). KEY PLAYERS OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA. SPONSORS The application to SEBI for registration of a mutual fund is made by the sponsor/s. Thereafter, the sponsor invests in the capital of the AMC. Since sponsors are the main people behind the mutual fund operation, eligibility criteria has been specified as follows: †¢ The sponsor should have a sound track record and reputation of fairness and integrity in all business transactions. The requirements are: †¢ Sponsor should be carrying on business in financial services for 5 years †¢ Sponsor should have positive net worth (share capital plus reserves minus accumulated losses) for each of those 5 years †¢ Latest net worth should be more than the amount that the sponsor contributes to the capital of the AMC †¢ The sponsor should have earned profits, after providing for depreciation and interest, in three of the previous five years, including the latest year. †¢ The sponsor should be a fit and proper person for this kind of operation. †¢ The sponsor needs to have a minimum 40% share holding in the capital of the AMC. Further, anyone who has more than 40% share holding in the AMC is considered to be a sponsor, and should therefore fulfill the eligibility criteria. TRUSTEE: The trustees have a critical role in ensuring that the mutual fund complies with all the regulations, and protects the interests of the unit? ]holders. As part of this role, they perform various kinds of General Due Diligence and Specific Due Diligence. The SEBI Regulations stipulate that: Every trustee has to be a person of ability, integrity and standing †¢ A person who is guilty of moral turpitude cannot be appointed trustee †¢ A person convicted of any economic offence or violation of any securities laws cannot be appointed as trustee Prior approval of SEBI needs to be taken, before a person is appointed as Trustee. The sponsor will have to appoint at least 4 trustees. If a trustee company has been appointed, then that company would need to have at least 4 directors on the Board. Further, at least two? ]thirds of the trustees / directors on the Board of the trustee company, would need to be Independent trustees i. e. not associated with the sponsor in any way. SEBI expects Trustees to perform a key role in ensuring legal compliances and protecting the interest of investors. Accordingly, various General Due Diligence and Special Due D iligence responsibilities have been assigned to them. The strict provisions go a long way in promoting the independence of the role of trusteeship in a mutual fund. AMC: Day to day operations of asset management are handled by the AMC. It therefore arranges for the requisite offices and infrastructure, engages employees, provides for the requisite software, handles advertising and sales promotion, and interacts with regulators and various service providers. The AMC has to take all reasonable steps and exercise due diligence to ensure that the investment of funds pertaining to any scheme is not contrary to the provisions of the SEBI Regulations and the trust deed. Further, it has to exercise due diligence and care in all its investment decisions. As per SEBI regulations: The directors of the asset management company need to be persons having adequate professional experience in finance and financial services related field †¢ The directors as well as key personnel of the AMC should not have been found guilty of moral turpitude or conv icted of any economic offence or violation of any Securities laws †¢ Key personnel of the AMC should not have worked for any asset management company or mutual fund or any intermediary during the period when its registration was suspended or cancelled at any time by SEBI. Prior approval of the trustees is required, before a person is Appointed as director on the board of the AMC. Further, at least 50% of the directors should be independent directors i. e. ot associate of or associated with the sponsor or any of its subsidiaries or the trustees. The AMC needs to have a minimum net worth of Rs10 crore. An AMC cannot invest in its own schemes, unless the intention to invest is disclosed in the Offer Document. Further, the AMC cannot charge any fees for the investment. The appointment of an AMC can be terminated by a majority of the trustees, or by 75% of the Unit? holders. However, any change in the AMC is subject to prior approval of SEBI and the Unit holders. Operations of AMCs are headed by a Managing Director, Executive Director or Chief Executive Officer. OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS : CUSTODIAN: The custodian has custody of the assets of the fund. As part of this role, the custodian needs to accept and give delivery of securities for the purchase and sale transactions of the various schemes of the fund. The Custodian is appointed by the mutual fund. A custodial agreement is entered into between the trustees and the custodian. The SEBI regulations provide that if the sponsor or its associates control 50% or more of the shares of a custodian, or if 50% or more of the directors of a custodian represent the interest of the sponsor or its associates, then that custodian cannot appointed for the mutual fund operation of the sponsor or its associate or subsidiary company. An independent custodian ensures that the securities are indeed held in the scheme for the benefit of investors – an important control aspect. All custodians need to register with SEBI. RTA: The RTA maintains investor records. Their offices in various centres serve as Investor Service Centres (ISCs), which perform a useful role in handling the documentation of investors. The appointment of RTA is done by the AMC. It is not compulsory to appoint a RTA. The AMC can choose to handle this activity in house. All RTAs need to register with SEBI. AUDITORS: Auditors are responsible for the audit of accounts. Accounts of the schemes need to be maintained independent of the accounts of the AMC. The auditor appointed to audit the scheme accounts needs to be different from the auditor of the AMC. While the scheme auditor is appointed by the Trustees, the AMC auditor is appointed by the AMC. FUND ACCOUNTANTS: The fund accountant performs the role of calculating the NAV, by collecting information about the assets and liabilities of each scheme. The AMC can either handle this activity in house, or engage a service provider. DISTRIBUTORS : Distributors have a key role in selling suitable types of units to their clients i. e. the investors in the schemes. Distributors need to pass the prescribed certification test, and register with AMFI. COLLECTING BANKERS: The investors’ moneys go into the bank account of the scheme they have invested in. These bank accounts are maintained with collection bankers who are appointed by the AMC. Leading collection bankers make it convenient to invest in the schemes by accepting applications of investors in most of their branches. Payment instruments against applications handed over to branches of the AMC or the RTA need to be banked with the collecting bankers, so that the moneys are available for investment by the scheme. Through this kind of a mix of constituents and specialized service providers, most mutual funds maintain high standards of service and safety for investors. SOME FACTS FOR GROWTH OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA 100% growth in the last 6 years. Number of foreign AMCs are in the que to enter the Indian markets like Fidelity Investments, US based, with over US$1trillion assets under management worldwide. Our saving rate is over 23%, highest in the world. Only channelizing these savings in mutual funds sector is required. We have approximately 29 mutual funds which is much less than US having more than 800. There is a big scope for expansion. B and C class cities are growing rapidly. Today most of the mutual funds are concentrating on the A class cities. Soon they will find scope in the growing cities. Mutual fund can penetrate rurals like the Indian insurance industry with simple and limited products. SEBI allowing the MFs to launch commodity mutual funds. Emphasis on better corporate governance. Trying to curb the late trading practices. Introduction of Financial Planners who can provide need based advice. TYPES OF MUTUAL FUND SCHEMES IN INDIA: Wide variety of Mutual Fund Schemes exists to cater to the needs such as financial position, risk tolerance and return expectations etc. The table below gives an overview into the existing types of schemes in the Industry. TYPES OF MUTUAL FUNDS SCHEMES Mutual Funds can be classified into the following 4 broad categories: 1. Portfolio classification 2. Functional classification 3. Geographical classification 4. Structure and objective based classification How are mutual funds classified based on their portfolios? Portfolio classification of mutual funds is done on the following basis: †¢ GROWTH FUNDS: Investment objective: Capital appreciation of equity shares Investment avenue: Equity shares of companies with high growth potential For eg. Morgan Stanley Growth Fund †¢ INCOME FUNDS: Investment objective: Providing safety of investments and regular income Investment avenue: Bonds, debentures and other debt related instruments as well as equity shares of companies with high dividend payouts. There are 2 aspects of income funds viz. ow investment risk with constant income and high investment risk generating high income. For eg. Templeton Income Fund †¢ BALANCED FUNDS : Investment objective: Modest risk of investment and reasonable rate of return Investment avenue: Judicious mix of equity shares, preference shares as well as bonds, debentures and other debt related instruments. F or eg. GIC Balanced Fund †¢ MONEY MARKET MUTUAL FUNDS (MMMFs) Investment objective: To take advantage of the volatility in interest rates in the money market Investment Avenue: Certificate of deposits (CDs), call money market, commercial papers. Investors can participate indirectly in the money market through MMMFs. For eg. IDBI-PRINCIPAL Money Market Fund 1997 †¢ SPECIALISED FUNDS Investment Objective: To take advantage of conditions in a particular sector or a specific income producing security Investment Avenue: Specialised investments in securities of companies in certain sectors or specific income producing securities For eg. Kothari Pioneers Internet Opportunities Fund †¢ LEVERAGED FUNDS: Investment objective: To increase the value of the portfolio and benefit the shareholders by gains exceeding the cost of borrowed funds. †¢ INDEX FUNDS: Investment Objective: To increase the value of the portfolio in line with the benchmark index (for eg. BSE Sensex, SP CNX 50) Investment Avenue: Investments only in those shares that form a part of the benchmark index, in exactly the same proportion, so that the value of the index fund varies in proportion with the benchmark index. For e. g. UTI Nifty Index Fund †¢ HEDGE FUNDS: Investment Objective: To hedge risks in order to increase the value of the portfolio Investment Avenue: Employ speculative trading principles buy rising shares and sell shares whose prices are likely to fall. Not common in India How are mutual funds classified functionally? Functional classification of mutual funds is done on the following basis: †¢ OPEN ENDED SCHEME: Investors under this scheme are free to join the fund or withdraw from the fund at any time after an initial lock-in period. Such funds announce sale and repurchase prices from time to time. In an open-ended scheme, investors can resell units in the fund to the issuing mutual fund at the net asset value (NAV) of the units. This is because open-ended schemes are permitted to buy/sell their own units. For e. g. Alliance Capital 1995 Fund †¢ CLOSE ENDED SCHEME: Unlike the open-ended schemes, close-ended schemes do not issue units for repurchase redemption on a periodic basis. Its units can be redeemed only on termination of the scheme, or through dealings in the secondary market. In such schemes, the period of the scheme is specified at the outset. They have a definite target amount for the funds and cannot sell more after initial offering. For eg. UTI Master gain 1986 HOW ARE MUTUAL FUNDS CLASSIFIED GEOGRAPHICALLY? Mutual funds can be classified geographically on the following basis: †¢ DOMESTIC FUNDS: Domestic fund houses launch funds, which mobilise savings of the nationals within the country. These schemes could fall under any of the categories mentioned under portfolio classification and functional classification. Schemes launched by Indian MFs like GIC MF, UTI LIC MF, SBI MF, Canbank MF, Bank of Baroda MF, Bank of India MF, Morgan Stanley, Templeton, Alliance. †¢ OFFSHORE FUNDS: Offshore funds can invest in securities of foreign companies, after requisite permission from RBI. The objective behind launching offshore funds is to attract foreign capital for investment in the country of the issuing company. These funds facilitate cross border fund flow, which is a direct route for getting foreign currency. From the investment point of view, Offshore funds open up domestic capital markets to the international investors and global portfolio investments. What are the different plans that mutual funds offer? Mutual Funds in order to cater to a range of investors, have various investment plans. Some of the important investment plans include: †¢ GROWTH PLAN: Under the Growth Plan, the investor realises only the capital appreciation on the investment (by an increase in NAV) and does not get any income in the form of dividend. †¢ INCOME PLAN: Under the Income Plan, the investor realises income in the form of dividend. However his NAV will fall to the extent of the dividend. †¢ DIVIDEND RE-INVESTMENT PLAN: Here the dividend accrued on mutual funds is automatically re-invested in purchasing additional units in open-ended funds. In most cases mutual funds offer the investor an option of collecting dividends or re-investing the same. †¢ RETIREMENT PLAN Some schemes are linked with retirement pension. Individuals participate in these plans for themselves, and corporates for their employees. †¢ INSURANCE PLAN Some schemes launched by UTI and LIC offer insurance cover to investors. fixed date of a month. Payment is made through post dated cheques or direct debit facilities. The investor gets fewer units when the NAV is high and more units when the NAV is low. This is called as the benefit of Rupee Cost Averaging (RCA) STRUCTURAL AND OBJECTIVE BASED CLASSIFICATION †¢ Closed-end funds †¢ Open-end funds †¢ Large cap funds †¢ Mid-cap funds †¢ Equity funds †¢ Balanced funds †¢ Growth funds †¢ No load funds †¢ Exchange traded funds †¢ Value funds †¢ Money market funds †¢ International mutual funds †¢ Regional mutual funds †¢ Sector funds †¢ Index funds †¢ Fund of funds OPEN ENDED MUTUAL FUNDS: An open-end mutual fund is a fund that does not have a set number of shares. It continues to sell shares to investors and will buy back shares when investors wish to sell. Units are bought and sold at their current net asset value. Open-end funds keep some portion of their assets in short-term and money market securities to provide available funds for redemptions. A large portion of most open mutual funds is invested in highly liquid securities, which enables the fund to raise money by selling securities at prices very close to those used for valuations. CLOSED – END MUTUAL FUNDS: A closed-end mutual fund has a set number of shares issued to the public through an initial public offering. These funds have a stipulated maturity period generally ranging from 3 to 15 years Once underwritten, closed-end funds trade on stock exchanges like stocks or bonds. The market price of closed-end funds is determined by supply and demand and not by net-asset value (NAV), as is the case in open-end funds. Usually closed mutual funds trade at discounts to their underlying asset value. LARGE CAP FUNDS Large cap funds are those mutual funds, which seek capital appreciation by investing primarily in stocks of large blue chip companies with above-average prospects for earnings growth. Different mutual funds have different criteria for classifying companies as large cap. Generally, companies with a market capitalisation in excess of Rs 1000 crore are known large cap companies. Investing in large caps is a lower risk-lower return proposition (vis-a-vis mid cap stocks), because such companies are usually widely researched and information is widely available MID CAP FUNDS: Mid cap funds are those mutual funds, which invest in small / medium sized companies. As there is no standard definition classifying companies as small or medium, each mutual fund has its own classification for small and medium sized companies. Generally, companies with a market capitalization of up to Rs 500 crore are classified as small. Those companies that have a market capitalization between Rs 500 crore and Rs 1,000 crore are classified as medium sized. Big investors like mutual funds and Foreign Institutional Investors are increasingly investing in mid caps nowadays because the price of large caps has increased substantially. Small / mid sized companies tend to be under researched thus they present an opportunity to invest in a company that is yet to be identified by the market. Such companies offer higher growth potential going forward and therefore an opportunity to benefit from higher than average valuations. But mid cap funds are very volatile and tend to fall like a pack of cards in bad times. So, caution should be exercised while investing in mid cap mutual funds. EQUITY MUTUAL FUNDS: Equity mutual funds are also known as stock mutual funds. Equity mutual funds invest pooled amounts of money in the stocks of public companies. Stocks represent part ownership, or equity, in companies, and the aim of stock ownership is to see the value of the companies increase over time. Stocks are often categorized by their market capitalization (or caps), and can be classified in three basic sizes: small, medium, and large. Many mutual funds invest primarily in companies of one of these sizes and are thus classified as large-cap,mid-cap or small-cap funds. Equity fund managers employ different styles of stock picking when they make investment decisions for their portfolios. Some fund managers use a value pproach to stocks, searching for stocks that are undervalued when compared to other, similar companies. Another approach to picking is to look primarily at growth, trying to find stocks that are growing faster than their competitors, or the market as a whole. Some managers buy both kinds of stocks, building a portfolio of both growth and value stocks. BALANCED FUNDS: Balanced fund is also known as hybrid fund. It is a type of mutual fund that buys a combination of common stock, preferred stock, bonds, and short-term bonds, to provide both income and capital Balanced funds provide investor with an option of single mutual fund that combines both growth and income objectives, by investing in both stocks (for growth) and bonds (for income). Such diversified holdings ensure that these funds will manage downturns in the stock market without too much of a loss. But on the flip side, balanced funds will usually increase less than an all-stock fund during a bull market. GROWTH FUNDS: Growth funds are those mutual funds that aim to achieve capital appreciation by investing in growth stocks. They focus on those companies, which are experiencing significant earnings or revenue growth, rather than companies that pay out dividends. Growth funds tend to look for the fastest-growing companies in the market. Growth managers are willing to take more risk and pay a premium for their stocks in an effort to build a portfolio of companies with above-average earnings momentum or price appreciation. In general, growth funds are more volatile than other types of funds, rising more than other funds in bull markets and falling more in bear markets. Only aggressive investors, or those with enough time to make up for short-term market losses, should buy these funds. NO –LOAD MUTUAL FUNDS: Mutual funds can be classified into two types Load mutual funds and No-Load mutual funds. Load funds are those funds that charge commission at the time of purchase or redemption. They can be further subdivided into (1) Front-end load funds and (2) Back-end load funds. Front-end load funds charge commission at the time of purchase and back-end load funds charge commission at the time of redemption. On the other hand, no-load funds are those funds that can be purchased without commission. No load funds have several advantages over load funds. Firstly, funds with loads, on average, consistently underperform no-load funds when the load is taken into consideration in performance calculations. Secondly, loads understate the real commission charged because they reduce the total amount being invested. Finally, when a load fund is held over a long time period, the effect of the load, if paid up front, is not diminished because if the money paid for the load had invested, as in a no-load fund, it would have been compounding over the whole time period. EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS: Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) represent a basket of securities that are traded on an exchange. An exchange traded fund is similar to an index fund in that it will primarily invest in the securities of companies that are included in a selected market index. An ETF will invest in either all of the securities or a representative sample of the securities included in the index. The investment objective of an ETF is to achieve the same return as a particular market index Exchange traded funds rely on an arbitrage mechanism to keep the prices at which they trade roughly in line with the net asset values of their underlying portfolios. VALUE FUNDS: Value funds are those mutual funds that tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that the market has overlooked, and stocks that have fallen out of favour with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnings to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again). They tend to have more conservative and less volatile returns than growth funds. MONEY MARKET MUTUAL FUNDS: A money market fund is a mutual fund that invests solely in money market instruments. Money market instruments are forms of debt that mature in less than one year and are very liquid. Treasury bills make up the bulk of the money market instruments. Securities in the money market are relatively risk-free. Money market funds are generally the safest and most secure of mutual fund investments. The goal of a money-market fund is to preserve principal while yielding a modest return. Money-market mutual fund is akin to a high-yield bank account but is not entirely risk free. When investing in a money-market fund, attention should be paid to the interest rate that is being offered. INTERNATIONAL MUTUAL FUNDS: International mutual funds are those funds that invest in non-domestic securities markets throughout the world. Investing in international markets provides greater portfolio diversification and let you capitalize on some of the worlds best opportunities. If investments are chosen carefully, international mutual fund may be profitable when some markets are rising and others are declining. However, fund managers need to keep close watch on foreign currencies and world markets as profitable investments in a rising market can lose money if the foreign currency rises against the dollar. REGIONAL MUTUAL FUNDS: Regional mutual fund is a mutual fund that confines itself to investments in securities from a specified geographical area, usually, the funds local region. A regional mutual fund generally looks to own a diversified portfolio of companies based in and operating out of its specified geographical area. The objective is to take advantage of regional growth potential before the national investment community does. Regional funds select securities that pass geographical criteria. For the investor, the primary benefit of a regional fund is that he/she increases his/her diversification by being exposed to a specific foreign geographical area. SECTOR MUTUAL FUND: Sector mutual funds are those mutual funds that restrict their investments to a particular segment or sector of the economy. These funds concentrate on one industry such as infrastructure, heath care, utilities, pharmaceuticals etc. The idea is to allow investors to place bets on specific industries or sectors, which have strong growth potential. These funds tend to be more volatile than funds holding a diversified portfolio of securities in many industries. Such concentrated portfolios can produce tremendous gains or losses, depending on whether the chosen sector is in or out of favour. INDEX MUTUAL FUNDS: An index fund is a type of mutual fund that builds its portfolio by buying stock in all the companies of a particular index and thereby reproducing the performance of an entire section of the market. The most popular index of stock index funds is the Standard Poors 500. An SP 500 stock index fund owns 500 stocks-all the companies that are included in the index. Investing in an index fund is a form of passive investing. Passive investing has two big advantages over active investing. First, a passive stock market mutual fund is much cheaper to run than an active fund. Second, a majority of mutual funds fail to beat broad indexes such as the SP 500. FUND OF FUNDS: A fund of funds is a type of mutual fund that invests in other mutual funds. Just as a mutual fund invests in a number of different securities, a fund of funds holds shares of many different mutual funds. Fund of funds are designed to achieve greater diversification than traditional mutual funds. But on the flipside, expense fees on fund of funds are typically higher than those on regular funds because they include part of the expense fees charged by the underlying funds. Also, since a fund of funds buys many different funds which themselves invest in many different stocks, it is possible for the fund of funds to own the same stock through several different funds and it can be difficult to keep track of the overall holdings. ADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUNDS: The advantages of investing in a Mutual Fund are: Diversification: The best mutual funds design their portfolios so individual investments will react differently to the same economic conditions. For example, economic conditions like a rise in interest rates may cause certain securities in a diversified portfolio to decrease in value. Other securities in the portfolio will respond to the same economic conditions by increasing in value. When a portfolio is balanced in this way, the value of the overall portfolio should gradually increase over time, even if some securities lose value. Professional Management: Most mutual funds pay topflight professionals to manage their investments. These managers decide what securities the fund will buy and sell. Regulatory oversight: Mutual funds are subject to many government regulations that protect investors from fraud. Liquidity: Its easy to get your money out of a mutual fund. Write a check, make a call, and youve got the cash. Convenience: You can usually buy mutual fund shares by mail, phone, or over the Internet. Low cost: Mutual fund expenses are often no more than 1. 5 percent of your investment. Expenses for Index Funds are less than that, because index funds are not actively managed. Instead, they automatically buy stock in companies that are listed on a specific index Transparency Flexibility Choice of schemes Tax benefits Well regulated DISADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUNDS: Mutual funds have their drawbacks and may not be for everyone: No Guarantees: No investment is risk free. If the entire stock market declines in value, the value of mutual fund shares will go down as well, no matter how balanced the portfolio. Investors encounter fewer risks when they invest in mutual funds than when they buy and sell stocks on their own. However, anyone who invests through a mutual fund runs the risk of losing money. Fees and commissions: All funds charge administrative fees to cover their day-to-day expenses. Some funds also charge sales commissions or loads to compensate brokers, financial consultants, or financial planners. Even if you dont use a broker or other financial adviser, you will pay a sales commission if you buy shares in a Load Fund. Taxes: During a typical year, most actively managed mutual funds sell anywhere from 20 to 70 percent of the securities in their portfolios. If your fund makes a profit on its sales, you will pay taxes on the income you receive, even if you reinvest the money you made. Management risk: When you invest in a mutual fund, you depend on the funds manager to make the right decisions regarding the funds portfolio. If the manager does not perform as well as you had hoped, you might not make as much money on your investment as you expected. Of course, if you invest in Index Funds, you forego management risk, because these funds do not employ managers. ASSOCIATION OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA (AMFI) With the increase in mutual fund players in India, a need for mutual fund association in India was generated to function as a non-profit organization. Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) was incorporated on 22nd August, 1995. AMFI is an apex body of all Asset Management Companies (AMC) which has been registered with SEBI. Till date all the AMCs are that have launched mutual fund schemes are its members. It functions under the supervision and guidelines of its Board of Directors. Association of Mutual Funds India has brought down the Indian Mutual Fund Industry to a professional and healthy market with ethical lines enhancing and maintaining standards. It follows the principle of both protecting and promoting the interests of mutual funds as well as their unit holders. THE OBJECTIVES OF AMFI The Association of Mutual Funds of India works with 30 registered AMCs of the country. It has certain defined objectives which juxtaposes the guidelines of its Board of Directors. The objectives are as follows: This mutual fund association of India maintains a high professional and ethical standards in all areas of operation of the industry. It also recommends and promotes the top class business practices and code of conduct which is followed by members and related people engaged in the activities of mutual fund and asset management. The agencies who are by any means connected or involved in the field of capital markets and financial services also involved in this code of conduct of the association. AMFI interacts with SEBI and works according to SEBIs guidelines in the mutual fund industry. Association of Mutual Fund of India does represent the Government of India, the Reserve Bank of India and other related bodies on matters relating to the Mutual Fund Industry. It develops a team of well qualified and trained Agent distributors. It implements a programme of training and certification for all intermediaries and other engaged in the mutual fund industry. AMFI undertakes all India awareness programme for investors in order to promote proper understanding of the concept and working of mutual funds. At last but not the least association of mutual fund of India also disseminate information’s on Mutual Fund Industry and undertakes studies and research either directly or in association with other bodies. PROCEDURE FOR REGISTERING A MUTUAL FUND WITH SEBI An applicant proposing to sponsor a Mutual fund in India must submit an application in Form A along with a fee of Rs. 25, 000. The application is examined and once the sponsor satisfies certain conditions such as being in the financial services business and possessing positive net worth for the last five years, having net profit in three out of the last five years and possessing the general reputation of fairness and integrity in all business transactions, it is required to complete the remaining formalities for setting up a Mutual fund. These include inter alia, executing the trust deed and investment management agreement, setting up a trustee company/board of trustees comprising two- thirds independent trustees, incorporating the asset management company (AMC), contributing to at least 40% of the net worth of the AMC and appointing a custodian. Upon satisfying these conditions, the registration certificate is issued subject to the payment of registration fees of Rs. 25. 00 lacs for details; see the SEBI (Mutual funds) Regulations, 1996. [pic] INTRODUCTION TO INSURANCE ORIGIN OF INSURANCE: Almost 4,500 years ago, in the ancient land of Babylonia, traders used to bear risk of the caravan trade by giving loans that had to be later repaid with interest when the goods arrived safely. In 2100 BC, the Code of Hammurabi granted legal status to the practice. This is how insurance made its beginning. Life insurance had its origins in ancient Rome, where citizens formed burial clubs that would meet the funeral expenses of its members as well as help survivors by making some payments. As European civilization progressed, its social institutions and welfare practices also got more and more refined. With the discovery of new lands, sea routes and the consequent growth in trade, medieval guilds took it upon themselves to protect their member traders from loss on account of fire, shipwrecks and the like. Since most of the trade took place by sea, there was also the fear of pirates. So these guilds even offered ransom for members held captive by pirates. Burial expenses and support in times of sickness and poverty were other services offered. All these revolved around the concept of insurance or risk coverage. In 1347, in Genoa, European maritime nations entered into the earliest known insurance contract and decided to accept marine insurance as a practice. The first step Insurance owes its existence to 17th century England. In fact, it began taking shape in 1688 at a place called Lloyds Coffee House in London, where merchants, ship-owners and underwriters met to discuss and transact business. By the end of the 18th century, Lloyds had brewed enough business to become one of the first modern insurance companies. DEVELOPMENT OF INSURANCE SECTOR Back to the 17th century, astronomer Edmond Halley constructed the first mortality table to provide a link between the life insurance premium and the average life spans based on statistical laws of mortality and compound interest. In 1756, Joseph Dodson reworked the table, linking premium rate to age. COMPANIES INTO INSURANCE†¦ The first stock companies to get into the business of insurance were chartered in England in 1720. The year 1735 saw the birth of the first insurance company in the American colonies in Charleston, SC. In 1759, the Presbyterian Synod of Philadelphia sponsored the first life insurance corporation in America for the benefit of ministers and their dependents. THE GROWING YEARS. The 19th century saw huge developments in the field of insurance, with newer products being devised to meet the growing needs of urbanization and industrialization. In 1835, the infamous New York fire drew peoples attention to the need to provide for sudden and large losses. Two years later, Massachusetts became the first state to require companies by law to maintain such reserves. The great Chicago fire of 1871 further emphasized how fires can cause huge losses in densely populated modern cities. The practice of reinsurance, wherein the risks are spread among several companies, was devised specifically for such situations. There were more offshoots of the process of industrialization. In 1897, the British government passed the Workmens Compensation Act, which made it mandatory for a company to insure its employees against industrial accidents. With the advent of the automobile, public liability insurance, this first made its appearance in 1880s, gained importance and acceptance. In the 19th century, many societies were founded to insure the life and health of their members, while fraternal orders provided low-cost, members-only insurance. INSURANCE IN INDIA Insurance in India can be traced back to the Vedas. For instance, yogakshema, the name of Life Insurance Corporation of Indias corporate headquarters, is derived from the Rig Veda. The term suggests that a form of community insurance was prevalent around 1000 BC and practiced by the Aryans. Burial societies of the kind found in ancient Rome were formed in the Buddhist period to help families build houses, protect widows and children. Bombay Mutual Assurance Society, the first Indian life assurance society, was formed in 1870. Other companies like Oriental, Bharat and Empire of India were also set up in the 1870-90s. It was during the swadeshi movement in the early 20th century that insurance witnessed a big boom in India with several more companies being set up. As these companies grew, the government began to exercise control on them. The Insurance Act was passed in 1912, followed by a detailed and amended Insurance Act of 1938 that looked into investments, expenditure and management of these companies funds. By the mid-1950s, there were around 170 insurance companies and 80 provident fund societies in the countrys life insurance scene. However, in the absence of regulatory systems, scams and irregularities were almost a way of life at most of these companies. As a result, the government decided nationalise the life assurance business in India. The Life Insurance Corporation of India was set up in 1956 to take over around 250 life companies. For years thereafter, insurance remained a monopoly of the public sector. It was only after seven years of debate after the RN Malhotra Committee report of 1994 became the first serious document calling for the re-opening up of the insurance sector to private players, that the sector was finally opened up to private players in 2001. The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority, an autonomous insurance regulator set up in 2000, has extensive powers to oversee the insurance business and regulate in a manner that will safeguard the interests of the insured. LIFE INSURANCE MEANING Life insurance is a contract for payment of a sum of money to the person assured (or failing him/her, to the person entitled to receive the same) on the happening of the event insured against. Usually the contra

Support Assessment for Learning free essay sample

Understand the purpose and characteristics of assessment for learning AC1. 1 Compare and contrast the roles of the teacher and the learning support practitioner in assessment of learners’ achievements. The main responsibility of the teacher is to monitor and assess how each pupil is progressing and report this information back to other staff and parents or carers. The teacher will plan the lessons and schemes of work that will set out clear intentions so that the childrens’ progress can be monitored. At RAAS our teachers always have the lesson title and learning objective on the board and this enables both the children and LSA to be aware of what the content of the lesson is and also what is expected of them. In some instances teachers will advise the LSA in advance and may give them a copy of the lesson plan. As the LSA is clear on what is expected this enables them to offer assistance to any pupils who require it. We will write a custom essay sample on Support Assessment for Learning or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is the responsibility of the LSA to ensure that the pupil with which they are working is able to meet the learning objective and if they are struggling to ask the teacher to differentiate the work for them. If a situation arises where the pupil has been unable to achieve the learning objective then it may be necessary for the LSA to report this back to the teacher. AC1. 2 Summarise the difference between formative and summative assessment Using ongoing methods of assessment within the lesson is known as formative assessment and this enables both the teacher and LSA to determine if the pupil has been able to achieve the learning objective. Some of the methods used in formative assessment are as follows: Using open-ended questions Observing pupils Listening to how pupils describe their work and their reasoning Checking pupils’ understanding Engaging pupils in reviewing progress The other method of assessment used by teachers is known as summative assessment and this is usually done at the end of a scheme of work or end of term. Generally it will be in the format of an end of topic test or may be at the end of a Key Stage. At RAAS, for the majority of year groups, both interim and full end of year reports are sent home to parents and carers. Parents’ Evenings also occur once or twice a year at which time the teacher is able to give more in depth feedback. AC1. 3 Explain the characteristics of assessment for learning Assessment for learning informs and promotes the achievement of all pupils and inspires them to take responsibility for their own learning. This involves learning objectives being explained to pupils’ and they are then given feedback on their progress which in turn aids them in developing their self-assessment skills so that they are able to reflect on what they have been able to achieve. At RAAS many teachers use peer assessment as this is a good way to get the children to build up these skills and, in some cases, the LSA may also be involved by asking the student what they think has gone well during the lesson and what could be improved upon if they feel that they have not achieved the learning objective. AC1. 4 Explain the importance and benefits of assessment for learning Research has shown that there is a clear association between being part of the process of assessment and pupil motivation. Pupils who are actively involved with their progress will feel invested in their work and therefore will want to improve their performance, as they will feel that they have more ownership of their learning. This will help to boost their self-esteem and motivation. Students who feel that they are not part of the learning process are more likely to become disengaged and this will, in turn, lead to them losing interest in their learning. Effective feedback also ensures that adults are supporting more able as well as less able learners by giving them the tools to achieve to the best of their potential. Assessment for learning is a method which enables pupils to understand the aim of what they are doing and what they will need to do in order to reach their aim. In most cases SEN pupils are more likely to receive lower grades than their peers and this can be disheartening for them and could lead to a dip in their self-esteem. LSAs can be of great benefit in the assessment for learning process by giving the pupil continuous positive support and helping them to set an achievable goal. By doing this the pupil’s self-esteem will grow when they see themselves achieving the results they want to achieve and will continue to work positively. Explain how assessment for learning can contribute to planning for future learning carried out by: a. The teacher – effective assessment for learning enables them to pass on the responsibility to the pupil over time for managing their own learning, so that they will become more actively involved in the process. As the pupils move up the school it becomes imperative that they take this on board, particularly from Year 10 when the GCSE courses begin and through to Years 12 and 13 where much of the learning is done independently. b. The pupil – the process will inform them about how they approach learning and tackle areas on which they need to work. They will be able to consider areas for improvement by looking at the assessment criteria and develop their ability to self-assess. By taking this on board the pupils will also begin to realise when they need support and in turn ask the relevant member of staff to assist them. c. The learning support practitioner – assessment for learning informs the LSA how to approach pupil questioning based on how the pupil learns. When an LSA works closely with an SEN pupil they are usually able to see where the pupil needs support and prompt them so that they ask for support themselves. The LSA may need to pace the progress of the pupil depending on their needs, so that they are given the opportunity to return to areas that may not have been clear to them before. Be able to use assessment strategies to promote learning AC2. 1 Obtain the information required to support assessment for learning When we talk about assessment opportunities and strategies this refers to the occasions, approaches and techniques used for ongoing assessment during learning activities. The information that is required is as follows: The learning objectives for the activities The personalised learning goals for individual learners The success criteria of the learning activities The assessment opportunities and strategies relevant to own role in the learning activities Pupils will need to be clear about what they are going to learn and how they will be assessed, at the start of any activity. The learning objective will be clearly displayed on the board by the teacher at the beginning of the lesson and if they are to do an assessment this will also be explained to the pupils. The LSA will ensure that the pupils who have SEN assistance have written down the learning objective and that they know how to go about completing the task. As well as the learning objective, pupils will need to think about their own personalised learning goals, which can be found on IEPs for SEN children, so that they can include them in this process. As pupils take on more responsibility for their learning they will also find it easier to look at the learning objectives to see whether they have been able to achieve them during the lesson or assessment. The majority of subjects do have target/achievement sheets which are put in to the pupils book so they are able to record all this information in one place. This is extremely beneficial to the student as they have everything in one place and are able to see what they may need to do to improve. AC2.2 Use clear language and examples to discuss and clarify personalised learning goals and criteria for assessing progress with learners As previously mentioned, most children in secondary school will have target sheets that are fixed into their exercise books which enables them to keep track of how they are progressing. Where an LSA is working with a child who requires additional assistance, they will make sure that the child understands what is required of them and what the outcome of the activity should be. Should they still be confused then the LSA will give further explanation or the teacher may give differentiated work for them. Targets will normally be updated half termly. AC2. 3 Use assessment opportunities and strategies to gain information and make judgements about how well learners are participating in activities and the progress they are making To be able to keep track of how pupils are progressing, it would be useful to have a checklist which might include the some or all of the following. Ensure pupils understand the learning objectives and any individual learning targets so that they can assess their own progress to meeting these as they proceed. Talk to pupils about what they have to do and if they are required to hand any work in. Inform pupils how they will be assessed and ensure that they understand. If you are able to, give examples of work completed by other students so that the learner is able to see what format the assessment will take. Give individual support and positive feedback all the time that the pupils are working. Make sure that there are opportunities for self-assessment or peer-assessment. Encourage the learner to reflect and comment on their work before handing it in or discuss it with their teacher. Often, during the maths lessons at RAAS students will have a regular times’ tables test and this is a prime example of a good opportunity to monitor a student’s progression. Depending on the result they have achieved one week the LSA is able to encourage them to aim for a higher mark the following week. Should they achieve a better result in that following week, this should be met with lots of positive feedback. If they have not achieved the result that they wanted then the student should be encouraged to look at where they went wrong and then offer them suggestions as to how this could be rectified in time for the next test. AC2. 4 Provide constructive feedback to learners to help them understand what they have done well and what they need to do to develop So that assessment for learning is effective, it is vital that children receive useful feedback from adults which focuses on strengths as well as supporting and guiding them through any difficulties they may have. Feedback should give them information concerning their performance, is delivered in a positive manner and is factual. There are different types of feedback which should be given to pupils during and after learning activities. Affirmation feedback – this should be delivered as soon as possible: â€Å"Well done, you have remembered to include all the points we discussed! † These positive comments boost the learner’s confidence and will help to motivate them. Developmental feedback – this lets the pupil know what they will need to do next time, for example: â€Å"Try to remember to get all the equipment you will need before starting the activity. † Both types of feedback can be written or oral, but it must be given as soon after the activity as possible for it to have the most benefit to the child. If it is fed back to the child after a long period of time the child will find it more difficult to apply to their learning, and they may even have forgotten what was said. AC2. 5 Provide opportunities and encouragement for learners to improve upon their work An important part of assessment for learning is that student’s progress will be measured against their own previous achievements rather than being compared with those of other students. Their learning should be set at a level which makes sure that they are building on what they learn. They should be starting from a point of previous understanding and then expanding their learning to take in new information. It will be beneficial for students to discuss previous learning experiences to amalgamate what they know and reinforce their understanding before moving on to take in new concepts and ideas. The LSA is in the perfect position to encourage and motivate pupils, especially if they are struggling to understand. It is also vital that you show that you believe in them and that you are there to support them in everything they do. The LSA may need to differentiate what the pupils have been asked to do in order to help them if they have low self-esteem, or need to learn in a way which has been adopted previously and worked for them. Be able to support learners in reviewing their learning strategies and achievements AC3. 1 Use information gained from monitoring learner participation and progress to help learners to review their learning strategies, achievements and future learning needs It is assumed that reviewing of learning will be done at the end of the lesson or scheme of work, however it is more beneficial if this can be more of an ongoing process and done throughout the learning sessions. Obviously, depending on how the teacher has planned the lesson it may not be feasible for the LSA to review the work with the student during the activity. Additionally, the LSA may have more than one child to support during the lesson and this is where timing difficulties can arise. Pupils need to become independent learners as they reach years 7, 8, 9 and upwards and so must be able to check their work against the learning objectives. Open ended questions are also a great way for pupils to recognise their progress in relation to their own previous achievements. AC3. 2 Listen carefully to learners and positively encourage them to communicate their needs and ideas for future learning There are several methods that can be used to check on pupils’ learning, and some of these are listed below: Traffic light system – for children who have special educational needs this system works well, and we encourage children at RAAS to use it. Our students are all given a prep diary and within it are pages coloured red, orange and green and depending on how the child is getting on they will display the relevant page. This is most useful as it means they can alert the LSA without disturbing the teacher. Foggy bits – students are given the opportunity to write down or express the parts of the lesson which they have struggled with. Write a sentence – pupils are able to put a summary sentence together at the end of a learning activity or scheme of work that contains all the key points that they have learned. Some children at RAAS will struggle with this and therefore the LSA will assist with this. Talk/partner review – pupils talk to their partner about their learning and parts of the work that they enjoyed or found challenging. They can also do this at the beginning of the lesson to see what they already know. Post-it Notes/whiteboards – pupils can write down on Post-it Notes or whiteboards what they have learned, what they have found easy and what they have found hard. AC3. 3 Support learners in using peer assessment and self-assessment to evaluate their learning achievements If pupils are aware why they are doing something it is far more likely that they will want to learn. The learning objectives must be clear and written in language that is age and ability appropriate. Older children can find self-assessment challenging, however it is important that they understand that assessment is part of a process which they need to be involved in. It is beneficial to start using peer assessment to encourage learners to think about their learning aims. It is important that the LSA makes it clear to the pupil why they are taking part in the peer or self-assessment and they should be asked what they think they are doing and why it will be beneficial to them. This often takes place at RAAS, mainly in English lessons, and the children have to write a â€Å"what went well† statement followed by an â€Å"even better if†¦.. † statement. This is of great help to the student as they are able to get a picture of whether they are in line with their peers and also if they are achieving what the class teacher is asking of them. AC3. 4 Support learners to: AC3. 4a reflect on their learning – pupils will need to be encouraged to think about and reflect on their learning while it is taking place and not just when they have completed their work. This is due to the fact they, and also the LSA, need to be aware of how they are to tackle the activity at hand in the best way. By using effective questioning the LSA is able to check that the pupil understands what the objective is and the best way in which to achieve it. AC3. 4b identify the progress they have made – it is important that the LSA or class teacher check that the pupil is able to recognise the progress that they have made and this can be done by using peer or self-assessment, as already mentioned, or they could question the child on what they feel they have learnt. It may be a good idea to set aside a few moments at the end of the lesson where a discussion can take place with the child about this or to look back to previous assessment results to see what improvement has been made. AC3. 4c identify their emerging needs – if the peer and/or self-assessment process takes place then the child should soon be able to see what areas they need to work on in order to achieve better results, however it may be evident to the LSA that they need some support to realise this and a helping hand should be given in these situations. AC3.  4d identify the strengths and weaknesses of their learning strategies and plan how to improve them strengths and weaknesses can be discussed with the pupil by looking at incorrect ideas and asking them how they decided upon this method and what led them to the answer that they gave. This can be challenging for some and by taking a more positive approach the child will hopefully see it as more of an opportunity as to what they can do next time rather than thinking that they will never get it right. Where the child has not struggled and achieved well, positive feedback must always be given. Be able to contribute to reviewing assessment for learning AC4. 1 Provide feedback to the teacher on: AC4. 1a learner participation and progress in the learning activities – at RAAS we are able to work quite closely with the majority of the teachers, and so have opportunities to talk to them about how best to present the learning activities to the children. I have had very recent experience of this with a PSHE lesson whereby both the teacher and I realised that the activity that was planned for the next week’s lesson would not be suitable for them and so the teacher amended the activity to something more appropriate. When the next lesson took place the children responded brilliantly to the activity. Being able to have this dialogue with the teacher is so valuable and means that we are both supporting the children in the best way possible. Some LSA’s at RAAS do take children out of lessons for a 1 to 1 session on a regular basis and being able to see how the child works within this time, for example what works and what doesn’t work, can be fed back to the teacher to help them with their planning. This is generally with statemented children and so is valuable when that statemented child is present in the mainstream lesson as it will enable them to achieve more within that lesson. AC4. 1b learners’ engagement in and response to assessment for learning – as mentioned above in 4. 1a this can be achieved by the LSA having a discussion with the class teacher at the end of the lesson to advise on how well the child engaged in the activity. It may not be possible to speak directly with the teacher after every lesson so; perhaps, a quick email as soon after the lesson may suffice to advise on any difficulties encountered. AC4. 1c learners’ progress in taking responsibility for their own learning in due course children will be expected to be responsible for their own learning, however this does not come easily to all in the early years of senior school. You will find that in year 7 children will find it a lot more difficult and require a lot more support, from both teachers and LSA’s, than a child in year 11 or 12/13. At RAAS the LSA’s run a â€Å"prep support† club every afternoon once school finishes. This enables those younger students, who may be struggling to get their work done at home, to spend time with LSA’s who are able to support them and guide them in the right direction to achieve their tasks to the best of their ability. As the students’ move up the years it is found that they require this assistance less and less until they are able to organise themselves independently. Use the outcomes of assessment for learning to reflect on and improve own contribution to supporting learning Once the learning activities have been completed it is vital that the outcomes of assessment for learning are reviewed so that you can judge whether the way in which the process has been approached was successful. You should be able to check that it has helped pupils to become more independent in their learning and has had an impact on what they have learned. This is also a good point at which the LSA should look back on what has been learned whilst supporting pupil learning, so that their approach can be amended, if necessary. If it is deemed that some changes should be made then the LSA may wish to think about the following points: How the pupils were questioned and encouraged them to look closely at the assessment criteria How feedback was given to the pupils How the LSA supported the pupils with both peer and self-assessment It is also a good idea to discuss the pupils’ responses to the process with the teacher to see how they have managed, as some will have found it easier than others: the teacher may have some ideas as to how this may be developed. Depending on the ages and needs of the learners, the use of peer or self-assessment may need to be changed.