There were reports yesterday regarding SEBI thinking about asking fund houses to use benchmark indices where the dividends are assumed to be reinvested. Such total return benchmark indices (TRI) offer anywhere between 1-2% higher return each year over the normally used price indices (for large cap stocks) which do not consider dividends. While this is…

“Which is the best way to compare my mutual fund with other funds from the same category?”. The best way would be to not compare the performance of the funds that you hold with others. The second best way would be to use the exact dates in which you invested and only those dates for the comparison….

Freefincal has two automated stock analysis and valuation spreadsheets. One that obtains financial data from screener.in and another which obtains financials from morningstar. Both sheets also get stock price data from moneycontrol. This is an important update to both these modules due to a change in moneycontrol web layout. Thanks to swanand  pointing this out. Before…

The systematic transfer plan (STP) is a way for an asset management company to lock into some “business”, just as jewel shop does with a “gold scheme”. It can be used to withdraw from one mutual fund to either generate regular income or transfer that money to another fund (typically equity) in the name of “reducing risk”…

It is unfortunate that mutual fund dividends are among the least understood aspect of mutual funds. They are often used when unnecessary and without understanding tax implications. In this post, I discuss when mutual fund dividends make sense and when they do not. The first step is to understand that a fund declares a dividend…

Most stock market indices widely used in India are what are known as market capitalization weighted indices. That is, higher the total market value of a stock, higher its presence (weight) in the index. The Nifty 100 Equal weight index is one in which all the stocks of the Nifty 50 and Nifty Next 50…

Here is a list of 15  different ways to invest in direct mutual funds and how to choose a direct plan portal. MF Utility (MFU) a transaction aggregation portal where one can invest in 26 AMCs, is the game changer for the evolution of such portals. At six portals in the list below use for transacting….

In the last quarter of the financial year, we are likely to encounter advertisements and sales pitches for how ELSS mutual funds are better than other tax saving instruments. A common sales pitch is that ELSS mutual fund investments are locked for three years and hence the fund manager can deploy funds without worrying about redemption…

In the recent past, three mutual funds houses (Reliance, DSP Black Rock and SBI) have launched a facility in which it buys back units from its investors and instantly credits the equivalent value into a registered bank account. At first sight, this seems like a wonderful idea. However, on closer inspection, we begin to understand…

In this guest post, Anish Mohan presents a step-by-step guide to applying online for an MF Utility account. MF Utility is the transaction aggregation portal run jointly by a consortium of 26 mutual fund houses. It offers investors way to invest in direct mutual fund plans (and switch from regular) via a single portal. It has…

Jan 1st, 2017, marked the fourth anniversary of direct mutual funds plans. These are mutual funds you can buy without any commission, directly from the AMC, its aggregation portal MF Utility or one of the many new direct mutual fund + robo advisory portals. This is the fourth anniversary report. If you are already a…

Here is an updated step-by-step user guide prepared by Anish Mohan to buy and sell direct mutual funds using the MF Utility portal – a free (as of now) “Transaction Aggregating Portal” run about 25 AMCs jointly. Whether you are considering getting a new account or already have one, this guide will help you understand the pros…

When it comes to an actively managed market linked instrument, the ideas of downside protection and upside performance are easy enough to understand and expect. In particular, with respect to active mutual funds, downside protection refers to the fund’s losses when compared to benchmark losses. For example, during a period in which the benchmark dropped by…

Last week I had posted a comparison of large cap funds with few relevant indices.  This time let us do the same with mid-cap funds – compare SIP and Lump Sum returns over the last 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 years. As before, a passive mutual fund is just an index (either cap-based or strategic). The expenses associated with…