• Home
• /
• Business

Data engineering has good career prospects

Hedge are hiring technologists who are specialised data scientists and data engineers

Question: My nephew in India, who has completed his education from a well-known technical institute, has asked me for help to enrol in an American university. He wishes to specialise in data engineering. According to him, international hedge funds are looking for talent in this field. Are the prospects attractive?

ANSWER: Your nephew is right when he says that global hedge funds are hiring technologists who are specialised data scientists and data engineers. They are being employed and appointed as part of the income and commodities team which is involved in categorising, cataloguing, cleansing and normalising datasets. In fact, data engineers are being sent to India where the global hedge funds have set up their flagship centres. Data engineers are also being employed to work in areas of data modelling, data pipelines, storage, distribution and infrastructure. Hedge funds are also building in-house data teams to analyse external factors including geopolitical situations which are likely to have an impact on stock and fund performances.

Question: The volatile stock market in India is having an adverse impact on investments. What steps are being taken to meet this challenge and boost investor confidence?

ANSWER: While the capital market may be in turmoil due to the geopolitical situation, retail investors in India are showing a degree of maturity which is reflected in the monthly inflows in mutual fund systematic investment plans (SIP). At the end of March this year, the aggregate number of SIP accounts was more than 64 million. The adoption of digital channels has helped retail investors from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities to go in for mutual funds. The capital market regulator, Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi), is working on a performance linked incentive scheme for mutual fund houses. A new framework is to be put in place to reward distributors in semi-urban and rural areas. The regulator has emphasised on high standards of disclosure and transparency, fair treatment of investors, judicious resolution of conflicts of interest and prevention of mis-selling by fund houses. In order to protect investors from external turmoil in debt markets, Sebi has set up a corpus of Rs330 billion to help fixed income mutual funds to tide over financial difficulties arising from market dislocations. This fund will have a sovereign guarantee.

Question: I want to buy a residential property in India which is under construction. What safeguards should I take to ensure that I get the completed property by the due date promised by the developer? I am going to invest my sale proceeds of land in the new residential house.

ANSWER: Before entering into an agreement with a developer in respect of a property which is under construction, it is important to verify that the builder has obtained all necessary permissions and approvals from the relevant authorities, including the local municipal corporation. In short, the project should be compliant with all laws and regulations. You should also conduct a background check of the developer by collecting information in respect of his past projects and any legal issues which may have arisen therefrom. Visiting the developer’s recently completed projects and interacting with residents who are occupying the buildings would give you a fair idea about the quality of construction. Before you sign any agreement, you must read the fine print carefully. A lawyer may be consulted if necessary. Further, it is necessary to understand the schedule of payments to be made at different stages of construction. If possible, visit the site personally or through a friend or relative in India to monitor the progress of construction. Please note that if you have to claim capital gains exemption under the income-tax law, you will have to comply with the condition of buying a fully constructed property within a period of two years from the date of sale of your plot of land.

H. P. Ranina is a practising lawyer, specializing in tax and exchange management laws of India.