ULIP Returns vs Mutual Fund Returns: A Comparison

In this article, I compare, category-wise, ten-year ULIP returns vs mutual fund returns. ULIPs are currently being sold as a “better alternative” to mutual funds because they are tax free. Investors by looking at the ULIP returns shown below must recognize the huge difference between the best and worst performer in each ULIP category. Since there is…

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18 mutual funds with better than index return & lower than index risk!

Here are 18 mutual funds with better than index return & lower than index risk over the last 1,2,3,4 and 5 years! I have calculated this with trailing returns and trailing standard deviation (a measure of volatility) using the freefincal equity mutual fund consistency screener. This is an alternative way of short-listing mutual funds. However,…

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Invesco India Contra Fund Review: Do Contra Funds Work?

Invesco India Contra Fund is a value-oriented contrarian fund launched in April 2007. In this post, we review its performance with its benchmark and category peers. With an AUM of 3000 plus crores, it has moved into the 7th (out of 17) position in the value-oriented funds category. Such funds can frustrate for investors during market…

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Higher EPF contribution on basic + allowances: Calculate increase in EPF corpus!

The supreme court recently ruled that allowances that are ordinarily paid to all employes should be considered for deciding the EPF contribution and not just the basic pay as usually done. This means normal allowances like house rent, dearness transport, fall under the definition of “basic wages”. A look at how much your EPF corpus…

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Twenty mutual funds that have outperformed Nifty Next 50 Index

Here are twenty mutual funds (out of 144) that have consistently outperformed Nifty Next 50 total returns index. I did the short-listing using the same criterion followed in the freefincal equity mutual fund consistency screener. Readers may recall a List of Equity Mutual Funds with most consistent performance (Feb 2019) published with the respective category benchmarks based…

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How even DIY investors can benefit from a registered investment advisor!

In this article, Avinash Luthria explains how even DIY investors can benefit from a discussion with a fee-only SEBI registered investment advisor (RIA). Avinash is a RIA himself and is part of my list of advisors and fee-only India Avinash presents a quiz for investors to assess their knowledge of finance and investing and goes on to discuss an insightful…

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Can I invest in a single multi-cap mutual fund if I am a new investor?

I received two interesting questions received on email. (1) As a new investor, how many mutual funds do I need to begin with? (2) Can I begin investing with a single multi-cap fund? Interestingly, the answer to the second question is “yes” and that is the also the answer to the first question – “one”. Yes, most investors,…

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