There's something about a top-performing fund. The glowing reviews, self-congratulatory advertisements by the fund house and a host of stars (read ratings) and awards. It's a pretty heady mix. Sadly, the NAV performance in isolation presents a one-dimensional picture i.e. it may conceal more than it reveals. In this article, we make a case for looking beyond just the NAV performance by listing instances, when top-performing funds could potentially be bad investments.
Flexicap fund performance depends heavily on the fund manager's decisions.
Anil Rego, CEO, Right Horizons, answers your personal income tax queries.
'Having a separate healthcare corpus is extremely important even for those already covered by health insurance.'
If your fund unjustifiably holds a large amount of cash, stop investing and take a relook at its capability to spot opportunities.
rediffGURU T S Khurana answers readers' personal income tax queries
Though the fund houses have garnered over Rs 1,500 billion from investors, only 8-10 would declare their monthly FMP portfolios till a few months ago. Instead, they gave 'indicative portfolios' and 'indicative returns' to the potential investor. This month, all fund houses declared the portfolios of their schemes because of the half-yearly results. And, to the horror of many investors, the real portfolios were 80-90 per cent different from the 'indicative portfolios.'
Gold ETFs attracted around Rs 11,700 crore, the highest in a calendar month.
While mutual funds charge fees of 1-1.5 per cent of assets managed, that for pension funds could be a hundredth since the two investment streams are dramatically different.
Five things you must know before investing in mutual funds and you will be less likely to fret during market ups and downs.
'Long-short SIFs are designed for seasoned, high-risk, high-reward investors, who understand market volatility.'
Fund companies deny the existence of 'star managers' to understate key man-risk; investors on their part, must evaluate if the fund remains as good a bet, sans its 'star'.
Two ratios can help you in monitoring your mutual funds' performances and finding worthy ones.
Mutual fund investors will be able to earn more on their investments because of the Securities and Exchange Board of India ruling on the removal of 2.25 per cent entry loads on their investments.
'New investors should enter gradually and stay cautious.' 'Silver is a structural multi-year story, but timing matters in a high-volatility metal.'
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is discussing with mutual funds (MFs) a proposal on introducing new total expense ratio (TER) slabs linked to the total equity and debt assets by replacing the current ones that are linked to assets of an individual scheme. Senior MF executives confirmed that Sebi had held discussions on this matter with AMCs. Such a change is expected to lead to a lower TER cap for bigger asset management companies (AMCs).
'Maintain a balanced approach with a preference for short-to medium-duration funds.'
The time is ripe for a merger of eight fund houses indirectly owned and controlled by the central government, says N Sundaresha Subramanian.
If you don't have enough time to study the market, go for mutual funds, says personal finance expert Rahul Goel.
'Active funds have the ability to manage downside risk.'
Mutual fund houses do have several challenges ahead to win more investors.
Mutual funds (MFs) are betting on a turnaround in the healthcare sector to boost returns but are divided on the prospects of the information technology (IT) sector amid uncertain growth outlook. At the end of June, all of the top 20 fund houses were overweight on the healthcare sector vis--vis the sector's presence in the BSE 200 index, shows a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOFS). In the case of the IT sector, only six of the 20 fund houses had overweight positions.
These funds have scored the best on the Morningstar Risk and Return rating grades.
Ten Indian states contribute a lion's share of 95% or Rs 12.25 lakh crore.
Investors who issued units in liquid and overnight funds, as well as those with a short-term holding of less than 30 days, are likely to be impacted the most, say experts.
The Sebi chief said that although the idea of an SRO has been challenged in court, he is hopeful of its implementation.
Largecap equities are less volatile than mid- and smallcap stocks, making them suitable for risk-averse investors.
But you may need to do some running around to obtain a no-objection certificate from your earlier agent if you have switched agents
Retail investors' equity portfolios have significantly underperformed benchmark indices over the past 16 to 18 months.
Benchmark indices today are where they were five years back. But that has not been a deterrent for these equity funds, which topped their respective categories.
DLF wrote to Sebi, asking if the firm's ban on securities transactions extends to mutual fund investments.
Households should moderate large discretionary expenses for the time being.
'They should prioritise essential spending. They should maintain an emergency fund covering 6 to 12 months of expenses.'
After Bandhan MF's US Treasury Bond 0-1 year Fund of Fund (FoF), Aditya Birla Sun Life (ABSL) MF has come out with US Treasury 1-3 Year Bond ETFs FoF and 3-10 Year Bond ETFs FoF. US bonds, which generally offer low yields, have turned attractive post the 525-basis point hike in US interest rates. According to Bloomberg data, the 1-year and 2-year US treasury yields now stand at 5.4 per cent and 5.1 per cent, respectively. Although the yields remain lower than what Indian government bonds offer, the differential has come down steeply.
Diversification is the key to achieve optimal risk-adjusted returns. Often, an investor is confused whilst deciding on the number of mutual funds you should consider holding in your portfolio.
Conservative investors seeking equity-like tax benefits with low risk may go for them.
Six parameters to help you to find the winners.
The mutual fund industry witnessed a 18 per cent decline in its assets under management in October, plunging below the Rs 5-trillion mark for the first time this year.
