“I am worried about Quantum Long Term Equity Value Fund: Should I Exit?”, asked a reader. “Why does Value Research say this is a four star fund when it has only given half the benchmarks return in the past year?”, asked another. So that was enough encouragement for me to review the only fund from…

On 19th June 2008, I started investing in mutual funds. These ten years have changed the way I look at risk and even day to day money management. This is my story and the lessons I have learned. The broad trajectory should be well known to regular/old readers. This is an account of how I…

Let us consider the basic differences between Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and mutual funds and when should one use either product.  A couple of announcements first: (A) I will be speaking on “index investing and market timing” this Sunday, 17th June in the Tamilnadu Investors’ Association monthly meeting (see invite below). Do join if possible. (B) If you are…

As I started preparing for a talk on Index investing, I needed to know how many indices are passively tracked and so here is a list of index mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in India sorted by their benchmark. I also indicate which ones to choose and which ones to avoid. Surprised to find as…

After the SEBI mutual fund categorization rules came into force, fund houses were forced to merge many schemes. In this post, I discuss common investor questions and problems regarding the merger – should I pay tax? how do I track? how do I calculate returns and capital gains on exit? – and so on with…

With the SEBI mutual fund classification complete, here is an updated list of all mutual fund benchmarks. Thanks to Gaurav for suggesting this on Twitter. I had compiled this list for equity funds in Jan 2017. This list is compiled from Value Research. Benchmarks are an important indicator of fund strategy and it is insightful…

Are mutual funds safe? Can mutual fund run away with our money or become bankrupt? This should not be dismissed as a newbie question. It is one of the first and most important considerations before investing in a mutual fund. We certainly have instances in the past where fund managers could invest where they want,…

I have updated the two guest posts written by CK Aparna that explain how to e-file income tax returns using ITR1, ITR2, ITR3, ITR5 for AY 2018-2019. Do consider sharing it with assessees who are filing tax return for the first time or filing tax returns with capital gains for the first time. First Know which…

It is a genius plan. Simply tell the naive investor that one should not time the market and invest regularly via SIP as it will reduce risk. Convince them that automating something will make them disciplined and show them a few select data points of how rewarding this approach has been. Then the seller gets…

With most AMCs complying with SEBIs mutual fund categorization rules, the implications are slowly sinking in. Since most mutual funds have changed in nature, their past history is now useless. Star ratings are useless. My monthly mutual fund screeners are useless. The selection methods I have discussed earlier are useless. SEBI has hit the reset…

ICICI dynamic fund has now become a mutli-asset fund. Is this a huge change from an equity to a debt fund? Should you now consider exiting or hold on? If you download the ICICI Mutual Fund Notification for changes in its hybrid and its equity scheme you might notice some amusing patterns. For eg. (1) ICICI…