Will you choose a risky mutual fund if it has a chance of beating the index?

Will you choose a risky mutual fund if it has a chance of beating the index? This is a question that can be convincingly answered, yes or no. Here is how 233 investors responded and what it means to our understanding of risk and reward. We shall discuss three other related polls on the investment journey. Before…

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Everything you need to know about equity portfolio construction

This is a step by step guide on equity portfolio construction for retail investors with a listing of options available and pros and cons of each by SEBI Registered Investment Advisor Swapnil Kendhe who is part of my list of fee-only financial planners. Swapnil is a familiar name to regular readers. Swapnil’s website is Vivektaru. You can…

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Are you a DIY investor? Be careful what you read and how you apply stuff

A DIY investor invariably ends up reading a lot of stuff (and fluff). One typically starts with basic finance and business books, one thing leads to another and next thing you know, you end up reading stuff on history, psychology, personal and career development, management, leadership, philosophy and whatnot. This is a guest post by…

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How we sense risk of investing a lump sum (five lakhs) in stocks: survey results

Investors sense the risk of investing a lump sum in stocks in different ways. Here are two dramatically different Facebook poll results on the subject conducted at Asan Ideas For Wealth (AIFW) and what we can learn from it. This should also be of use to investment advisors in understanding how clients perceive risk. After…

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NIFTY100 Alpha 30 Index Review: How good a “factor” is alpha?

NSE has launched a new strategy index (aka factor-based index, aka smart beta index),  the NIFTY100 Alpha 30 Index from June 28 2019. The NIFTY100 Alpha 30 index consists of 30 companies from Nifty 100 with the highest Jensen’s alpha using one-year trailing price. In this review, we study how good a “factor” (explained below)…

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Motilal Oswal Nifty Bank Index Fund Review: a large cap fund replacement?

Motilal Oswal Nifty Bank Index Fund will be India’s first bank index fund*. The scheme will track the Nifty Bank index. This has 12 of the most liquid and large Indian Banking stocks weighted as per free-float market capitalization. Should an investor consider this bank index fund? If so, when and how? Can this be…

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