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1. It started off as a sugar broking outfit more than a hundred years ago, and still has its headquarters in the Sugar Quay on the Thames in London. It now, however, has a business profile that is a far cry from its modest beginnings. The sugar broking outfit has grown to become the largest publicly held and traded hedge fund manager in the world. Name the outfit?

2. In its recent monetary policy statement, the Reserve Bank of India has clamped down on Residuary Non-Banking Finance Companies. These companies will have to wind up their deposit mobilisation programmes in a phased manner over the next three years. Restrictions have also been placed on the manner of deployment of funds. One of the two intensely affected business groups would be Peerless, which has been in the limelight in recent years due to concerns regarding its business. Which is other group? It is renowned for its widespread networking in the world of politics, sports and filmdom.

3. Mr Eliot Spizter, the New York State Attorney General, has now focussed his attention on the malpractices in the U.S insurance industry, after taking on security houses and mutual funds over the past couple of years. The largest insurance brokerage in the world has now been placed under scrutiny. Mr Jeffrey Greenberg, Chairman and CEO have had to quit as a consequence. Name this company, which is noted for its secretive style of operations in the world of finance?

4. There has been a clamour to launch dividend-yield funds over the past few months. The first fund to target this space in India was launched in early 2003. Which fund we are referring to?

5. In the later part of the 1990s, Mr Warren Buffett, the Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway was under pressure to make the company's stock more affordable through a stock split. He refused to split the stock. Mr Buffet did, however, make it possible for more investors to buy the Berkshire stock. How?

6. Mr Jaswant Singh as Finance Minister put together a package a couple of years ago that bailed out the Unit Trust Of India and paved the way for a lean and healthy UTI Mutual Fund to emerge. Which Finance Minister was instrumental in setting up the UTI four decades earlier, as a vehicle to mobilise savings and provide an avenue for investors to participate in the markets?

7. Mukta Arts is a listed entertainment company that has been promoted by one of the more successful film directors and producers in Bollywood. The list of movies directed by him includes Taal, Kalicharan and Pardes, to name a few. Who are we referring to?

8.Name the company that owns and publishes The Financial Times. It also owns the Penguin Group that publishes and sells novels in over 100 countries and is a part owner of The Economist Group, too.

9. Even in any casual conversation, if New Delhi Television (NDTV) crops up, a linkage with its Chairman, Mr Prannoy Roy is instantaneous. The Managing Director of the company is rarely in the news despite the successes enjoyed by the company over the years. Who is this low profile personality at the helm of day-to-day affairs at NDTV?

10. A sitter to end this edition of investment quiz: on any given day, the price movements in ONGC, Wipro, Infosys, Reliance and Hindustan Lever impact the Nifty and the Sensex in a divergent manner in terms of the magnitude of points gains/losses. Why?

Answer:

1. Man Group Plc

2. Sahara India Parivar

3. Marsh & McLennan

4. Birla Dividend Yield Plus

5. Mr Warren Buffett introduced Class B shares in his company. Each such share has one-thirtieth of the economic interests of Berkshire's Class A share.

6. Mr T. T. Krishnamachari.

7. Mr Subash Ghai

8. Pearson Plc

9. Ms Radhika Roy

10. In the Sensex, the free-float (non-promoter holdings) is the basis for computation. The Nifty is based on equity shares outstanding of each company. ONGC and Wipro tend to influence the Sensex less than the Nifty as their free float is just 15 to 20 per cent. The reverse is true for Reliance, Infosys and Hindustan Lever.

S.Vaidya Nathan

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