The freefincal mutual fund screener on Google Sheets is now available with 1,3,5,10,15 and 20-year SIP returns data from Value Research. This is an independent screener which complements the previously published Freefincal Mutual Fund Screener- Google Sheets Edition (call this SCR1) which is based on 12-year annual returns and 1,2,3…12 year CAGRs. So SCR1 is based on lump sum…

Sometimes purchasing an annuity is the best option for senior citizens (or someone in the late 50s) and sometimes it is the worst decision. This is a discussion on when to  buy an annuity and when not to buy (at least immediately upon retirement). An annuity or a pension product is one in which a lump…

A simple way to measure how consistent a mutual fund has been in outperforming a benchmark over a given period, in the form a simple percentage is discussed in this post. Depending on your feedback I will include this in this months mutual fund return listings. The simplest and most intuitive way to measure outperformance is…

A discussion on the differences between dynamic mutual funds and balanced mutual funds. Exploring this topic is a nice way to understand some portfolio management basics. Thanks to Arun for asking this question when I suggested that dynamic equity funds are not for those who wish to chase returns. First, we need to define some…

Choosing an appropriate benchmark for balanced mutual funds has always been a problem for the retail investor. In this post, I propose a new and more importantly accessible benchmark for equity-oriented balanced mutual funds – ones that do not use arbitrage opportunities or derivatives. As always, I make no claim about the superiority of my…

Here is a list of lessons I have learnt from eight plus years of mutual fund investing and countless hours spent studying and making analytical tools for the blog. Perhaps many of these may seem trivial to regular readers, but for the record here goes. 1 Past performance matters, but not as much: Before choosing a…

Dynamic equity funds or dynamic asset allocation funds change their equity:fixed income allocation depending on market conditions. Here is why those who wish to chase returns should not invest in such funds. Dynamic equity funds could either invest directly in a mix of stocks, arbitrage opportunities and bonds (in which case they will be classified as…

There seems to be a common perception that those who invest via SIPs are expected to do nothing else but invest systematically.  Thanks to certain “advisors” many investors believe that all one has to do to get “good returns” from equity is to continue a SIP through market ups and downs. Then it will all…

Use this sheet to gauge the performance of equity mutual funds on a risk-adjusted basis for investment durations ranging from the past 1 year to the past 10 years. Version 6 now includes six nifty strategy indices (smart beta) for analysing mutual fund performance. The Nifty strategic indices are tougher benchmarks for mutual funds to beat….

The average, also known as the arithmetic average or the mean of a set of values is a nice and simple number that is easy to calculate and interpret. However, it not valid under all circumstances and must be used with caution. Given a set of numbers, we cannot blindly calculate the average – take the…

Are you worried the high expense ratios of active mutual funds? Are you looking for an index fund that has performed reasonably well with low expenses? Then you can consider a Nifty Next 50 index fund instead of active funds in the multi-cap category. Why? As pointed out in a series of posts on the Nifty Strategy…

Never hold your mutual fund units in demat form! In this post, Anish Mohan draws from personal experience to explain why dematerialisation is a terrible idea with no benefits whatsoever! What is Dematerialisation? Dematerialisation is the process by which a physical certificate of holding a share or bond or mutual fund unit is converted into an “electronic…

The expense ratio of direct mutual fund plans is a subject of debate among those who do not benefit from it. In this post, Balaji Swaminathan digs deep into the annual reports from three AMCs to understand how the expense ratios compare and whether the absence of commission is the only reason for the lower expense ratio…

In this post, let us discuss mutual fund exit strategies. In particular, the oft asked question, “when should I exit an equity mutual fund”. It is obvious that in order to know when to get rid of a mutual fund, one should know how to review a portfolio of fund holdings.  In an earlier post…

Have you ever wondered how the total expense ratio (TER) of a mutual fund is calculated? Or what the constituents of the TER are? The most authentic publically available source for understanding the TER is the annual report released by AMC. Yesterday, Franklin Templeton announced to its investors that the abridged annual report for 2015-2016…