WisdomTree India Earnings Index ETF (EPI)

All Comments on EPI

  • commenter
    Tim Eriksen
    May 16 10:45 AM
    My Website
    Wisdom Tree Puts Forth New ETF Shoots, But Shows Some Earnings Blight [view article]
    I came to essentially the same conclusion on burn rate.

    Asif your chart makes it look like growth has just slowed. By having nearly a year long gap it misses that AUM peaked last fall and then fell for a while while the markets tumbled. The volatility of growth makes it hard to estimate what future rate of AUM growth to use in a model. I still don't see cash break even until about $11 billion and profitability until about $15 billion.     Reply
  • commenter
    Mukul.Singha
    l
    May 16 08:21 AM
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    Mark - I don't agree a lot of it and doesn't believe that number of patents is an indicator of Innovation. The term and concept "Innovation" can be different in different countries. "BlueLine Online" - an Innovation in United States might not be an innovation in India. Or might not be relevant in India at this point of time. I don't think it's lack of Venture Capital or Government Support. At lot of places market is not present in business models, which are proven in United States. Let me put some of the Innovation in India and some of these are almost irrelevant in US.

    1.) SKS Microfinance - Microfinance business to lend amount as small as $100 to Individuals. AND MAKING MONEY - lot of VC money has gone into such companies. No bank in United States can work at such low levels of credit.

    2.) Oxigen - It's a chain of kiosks and retail stores which are used to collect cash from individuals and deliver services like Bus Tickets, Train Tickets, Utility Bills etc - India is a cash economy and internet penetration is less. It's an innovation in Business Model and Microsoft has invested in it.

    3.) mChek/Paymate - You can pay your utility bills, transfer money, top up pre paid card using mobile on a SMS. India has low GPRS connectivity and people love SMS. Totally irrelevant for US

    And there are many more which can't be thought by western thinkers. Does it mean that West lacks innovation? I suppose not. My small message is that Innovation is depended on user needs. And there are challenges I agree. India is very young on Angel Investing/ Venture Capital etc etc. But definition of innovation is different in Indian contest.

    Regards,
    Mukul Singhal
    Canaan Partners
     Reply
  • commenter
    sinha
    May 15 11:42 PM
    My Website
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    Well, your stats regarding patents is slighly outdated - the number has grown by 8X (www.pluggd.in/2008/04/...)

    Interesting products are happening out of india (e.g. Zoho), just that they aren't big in number and don't have a global appeal (probably it's not even needed at this stage)     Reply
  • commenter
    Susan Sharma
    May 15 10:36 PM
    My Website
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    To make India grow in an inclusive fashion, we need more social entrepreneurs - firms engaged in sustainable social activity. These firms need not have a superlative growth pattern ( which is what VCs look for) but a balanced growth with more emphasis on the job satisfaction quotient.
    We need to develop a model where donations are not the way forward, as it seems to be globally, for any social activity. It will be great to hear the author's comment on this.     Reply
  • commenter
    Ric
    May 15 08:21 PM
    Wisdom Tree Puts Forth New ETF Shoots, But Shows Some Earnings Blight [view article]
    In reading the Q1 report it appears that they have a total of 41million in cash and investments. Their cash "burn rate" was about 5 million. Wouldn't that leave them w/ about 8 quarters befor having to go back to the market? Is my interpretation correct? Reply
  • commenter
    Bhamy V
    Shenoy
    May 15 10:46 AM
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    Mark Fidelman has done an excellent job in terms of identifying the critical factors affecting India's development. However his recommendation based on western centric assumption of I Prize Innovation Foundation will not work. I am surprised that having stated at the beginning that India should have its own unique way of solving its problems, he goes to recommend western strategies.

    The biggest problem in my view is the non-functioing governance system because of indifference educated people who having been educated at the expense of the poor of India have either immigrated geographically like Jason whom Mark gives as an example as an innovator or those resdient Indians who have immigrated psychologically by being indifferent to Indians realities.

    Just look at number of patents of NRIs (about 45000) is more than by RIs which is about 35000. This can be used to explain the absence of innovation ecosystem and also to explain how India lost so much wealth beacsue of the brain drain.

    When robber barons like Rockefeller, Carnegie were alive, they werebusy in establishing and operating huge fchaitable oundations which contributed significantly. What have our IT sector rich enterpreurs quoted by Mark done for India? Yes they have established some charitable NGOs. But their contribtion is only at micro level and not attempted to bring about any significant policy changes which is badly required for the government to function.

    How was the revolution in communication in India which has connected millions of people? How did the cable TV net work develop in such a short time serving more than 60% of the market? How did airline industry flourish in India? How did we start getting several brands of cars (now the world famous Tata Nano) when we had to choose from just three in 80s? This was because of liberliaztion of economy brought about by policy changes. What we need is major policy changes for the invisible hand of the selfish interests of people to function for the needed innovations to take place to solve India's problems. Incidentally we should not aim for the "so called development of western countries" and we should have Indian development pardign based on our own culture of "simple living and high thinking". This is the point which has been either ignored or rejected by Mark. We should try to minimize the use of energy while meeting our minimum needs unlike the west who want to maximize the use of energy to meet the ever increasing demands based on higher GNP.

    Reply
  • commenter
    Sameer
    May 15 12:32 AM
    My Website
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    Good detailed thoughts on what could drive innovation in india!
    However, one must highlight the fact that the article essentially measures innovation in a certain way, and ignores a lot of less formal, grassroots level innovation that happens a lot in India. A lot of people are either unaware of, or not keen on patenting.

    A few examples of work in various sectors some patented, some not - the Nano, the Rainwater Club, www.wondergrass.in/, various guys making solar power affordable. True, these are largely small scale, individual efforts and not all have achieved scale. That could surely be helped by some of the tips you suggest.

    Merely wanted to try and balance things a bit :)     Reply
  • commenter
    leadpb
    May 14 12:29 PM
    My Website
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    I think, not having enough infrastructure is one thing, and not having the mindset is another. Indians are too ready to compromise, that they almost always have a workaround for a problem rather than a solution !!
    www.kidunltd.com/scrib.../     Reply
  • commenter
    LNRaja
    May 14 07:30 AM
    My Website
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    My experiences as an 'entrepreneur' with not much success of taking innovation to market fruition are testimony to every thing said in this article. Even my idea of forming 'The Entrepreneur Network Initiative ( Teni India) (www.teniindia.org/repo... ) could not be successfully 'sold'. For those still in India and still wanting to innovate, this website maybe useful.
    Thanks,
    L.N.Rajaram, PhD
    lnraja@hotmail.com     Reply
  • commenter
    User 192417
    May 13 02:23 AM
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    Indians have basically been good planners, thanks to the 'innovative' minds brainstorming (and blamestorming) in the cosy boardrooms fleshing-out the plans. Five Year Plans (of the Planning Commission) are good examples of it. But when it comes to implementation and delivery, all the plans go phut! Resources get diverted due to 'innovative' political interferences. Layers of bureaucracy take the steam out of projects thanks the the 'innovative' babus adept at finding 100 ways to make a thing 'not' happen, if it is not coming their way. Not to be left behind are even those reponsible for implementation and delivery who also 'innovate' and find ways to make their contribution in the non-performance. Agencies with whom funds are parked, are on a look-out for 'innovative ways' not to release funds on time. Who says that Indians are not 'innovative'?

    But despite this 'something' happens and this radiates a hope that a lot can happen. The problem seemingly is in the implementation phase of projects. If projects are implemeted within the time-frames and budget and also adequate autonomy, there will be some delivery. Therefore, implementation remains a weak link and all the more in government projects/ schemes.

    In most cases the planning is strong, but there is a disconnect between planners and implementors and this makes all the difference. Planners are quick to take credit if the project is a success but disown the project if it is a failure putting all the blame on the implementation team. It is unfortunate that the implementation team never gets it due and remains demotivated. In the absence of transparent, review and monitotring appartus, proactive elements are suspected and punished, the non-performers get benefitted the most. Discontinuities/change... at top often force change in gears or shift in priorities and all the plans/ project go haywire. As a result of this and several other factors, implementation and delivery remains poor. The funds remain underutilized for the fear of non-performance and non-delivery. At times, the funds are not utilized because the custodians of fund act more as 'dogs in the manager' than managers.

    These problems are not unknown and also it is a fact that Indians are highly 'Innovative'. Unless there is a drastic and all-encompassing change in the mind-sets of the people here, the Indian (crab) culture and many such attributes will continue to keep us laggards, despite being 'innovative'.     Reply
  • commenter
    Dampers and
    Solutions
    May 12 11:57 PM
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    A very good and timely article. You have covered much ground on most of the key points.

    Let me highlight a few specific dampers which may also explain why an "innovation ecosystem" does not exist or thrive in India as of today :

    1. Corruption. This includes corrupt Income Tax inviduals harassing innovators etc ( philipji.com/incometax... ). If an I-Prize fund is set up as suggested, it should necessarily come with mechanisms to prevent corruption and abuse.

    2. Serious lack of "Real" Education, as opposed to the pursuit of paper qualifications, which often stop with knowing how to write the exam, or how to carry out certain operations with certain things with partial or no understanding. Education is just a gateway to a "job" which is more about having a secured income than about producing something of value. By and large, the education system promotes rote learning. (Example: tinyurl.com/3lnurx which is also about corrupted organizations in the education sector).

    3. Certain inherent traits. What Phil Dewey refers to as "happy to scoop up pennies.." is part of that. There is a whole bunch of stuff here, but I diverge with Phil Dewey in my strong belief that these can all be overcome through educating and motivating the upcoming generations. (The generations that grow up seeing corruption and misgovernance everywhere tend to accept the status quo and grow into their slots within the system and perpetuate it. So, breaking out of this requires considerable push and enlightenment).

    4. Political meddling in the education system, and in employment (not only in the government sector!) is a big big problem.

    Parts of the solution:

    1. The government should start viewing individuals on their own merits, and not based on their birth. (I am referring to the "caste" of the individual, which is basically defined by the family the individual was born into. Imagine that the government practices discrimination, favouring one family over another, instead of looking at absolute merit of the person). This kind of meddling exists today in education and employment (mostly government employment). This is done in the name of social justice, discriminating against the historically "high castes" against the historically "low castes" purportedly to equalize the two ! It ensures "vote banks" for politicians who practise and further the discrimination, so this is very hard to stop even if an equlibrium has been reached (or even surpassed!). Laws have been (and are being) created to legitimize this kind of discrimination citing historical reasons and social justice.

    2. Part-2 of the "Caste System", is in the minds of people irrespective of their birth. The "culture" needs to restore the nobility of "doing" as opposed to "preaching". The caste-ridden Indian mind deludes itself that "doing" is somehow inferior to preaching. (Whether it is the colonial masters who brought about this view, or their royal/feudal/brahmanic forerunners, is a matter of debate, but that is immaterial). Having this tendency at work today in the Indian mind is very debilitating -- for example, every engineer wants to be a manager. (Apart from the fact that many Indian company structures are unable to reward the good engineer more than an average manager). As everyone wants to only manage / preach, and nobody wants to do, quality and innovation takes a hit.

    3. Increase Transparency. The Right To Information (RTI) act has been a bold step in this direction to combat many ills.

    The reason India shines irrespective of the ills I have mentioned is that there is a large population that must compete, and that a good filter can always pick out the best. My main point is that the education system and the government haven't done enough to help India on the large scale to which they could/should have to improve the statistical averages. In fact, they have impeded India.     Reply
  • commenter
    anil gupta
    May 12 09:48 PM
    My Website
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    i could agree with some of the author's analysis but not all. There have been three inventor of India workshop organised at IIMA since 1998. The fourth one will be organized during Nov 28-30, 2008. Come and see how many very good innovations have been developed by individual innovators. I invite generally only those patent grantees or applicants who have worked individually or with one's own resources rather than through sponsored mode. during last three years.

    But you are rights such a workshop will have many patrons, supporters and stakehodlers. Such has not been the situation unfortunately so far. So in that sense eco-system is lacking. But things are changing fast. Have you seen National Innovation Foundation ( nifindia.org) set up by Honey bee network started twenty years ago to bring out creativity and innovations by the knowledge rich economically poor people.

    We have discovered thousands of creative peopel from over 500 districts of India, files 154 patents, more than that developed open source solution in thousands and shared the data base of innovations and tk ( see also indiainnovates.com and sristi.org and gian.org with wider publics.
    When it comes innovations by comapnies, i could not agree with you more. But recently when i talked to the top teams of several companies. One insights was counter intuitive. Many companies had far more innovations than they had the courage or capacity to acknowledge. One of the major 100 year old company in construction and many other hard high tech lines recognised that in IRaq, most houses being built were single stories. Why then use buidling material of strenthg required for multi storey buildings. Saved huge resources, reduced cost, and its innovation generated revenue for the company and satisfaction for the consumers.

    There are innovative companies, individuals and some empathetic policy makers. They are under strangleholds of insensitive bureaucracy and some times myopic leaders. But in many science departments, things are changing and i hope results are visible soon.

    i liked your article sent by a friend and visit the creativity on ground, you will change your views in general about how India is turning around.

    all the best

    anil
    anilg@iimahd.ernet.in






     Reply
  • commenter
    roshanis
    May 11 12:02 PM
    My Website
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    India has no shortage of innovators. The problem is in
    1. funding ...lack of VC infrastructure
    2. Lack of IP protection
    3. Shortage of good talent...as you know all the best people fly to UEA(US,Europe,Australi...
    4. Endemic corruption at every level...
    and more

    Here are some innovative companies...
    Reliane, Tata Steel, Suzlon
    Reply
  • commenter
    Hardik
    May 10 04:07 PM
    My Website
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    A very well researched article here.
    Reply
  • commenter
    A.S.Rao
    May 10 10:17 AM
    My Website
    Where Are India’s Innovative Companies, Products and Solutions? [view article]
    Interesting and timely. Two comments- first most of the suggestions made are implemented in India -though on a limited scale. The only missing action is on `the culture of celebrating creativity' -the third ingredient in the article. Second- about innovative Indian firms- there are plenty- see my blog www.indiainvents.blogs.../.
    I orchestrate a network (TePP) that has more than 200 innovators developing low cost innovations- say innovations for BOP market.     Reply
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