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…
Continue reading →UTI Opportunities Fund is a fund with a large-cap tilt that can pick stocks from the BSE 100 universe. Launched in Jul 2005, it has recently hit a rough patch and a fund manager change. A look at its performance. Like with all my mutual fund reviews, the focus (at least mine) is on the…
Continue reading →Each week I try and answer generic questions from readers. Here is this weeks edition. If you have a question, you can use the form below and I will address it next week (if I can). Abhi: Hello Mr. Pattabhiraman, Trust you are doing good! In the first chapter of your book “You can be rich…
Continue reading →In this edition of “reader story”, Ravi Kiran describes his experience of procuring a home loan from LIC Housing Finance (LICHFL) and then transferring it to SBI, thereby saving over Rs. 12 Lakh in interest. UPDATE: MD and CEO of MF Utility, V Ramesh will be joining Ashal and me at the PUNE DIY Investor…
Continue reading →Each week, I try and answer generic questions from readers. Here is part one of this week’s edition. If you have a question, please use the form below. Please note that I will not provide specific investment advice and/or product suggestions. Pattu Sir, can any MF CAGR could be 24%? How can i get returns…
Continue reading →Budget 2017 has proposed a slew of benefits related to long-term capital gains. The most important is the shift of the base year to be used for long-term capital gains computation for all asset classes. Here is a summary and illustration of long-term capital gains computation with base year 2001. 1: Change in duration for computation…
Continue reading →The rent received from a house property is treated as income and taxed as per slab. However, certain deductions are eligible for this taxable amount. Budget 2017 had restricted the amount of deduction one can claim. Here is an illustration and a revised real estate returns calculator. The taxable income is given by: rent –…
Continue reading →A few years ago, I overheard some lab staff talking. A middle-aged person, soon to retire, was talking about the preparations for his daughter’s upcoming marriage. His aim was to outdo the reception arrangements he had observed in a recent marriage. I was invited to the event and found that it was extremely lavish for the…
Continue reading →Each week I try to answer generic reader questions on money management. Here is this weeks edition. Hi Sir, I follow your blog regularly – you helped in a great deal choosing the right funds as per goals. Now, my question is – when is a good time for a retail investor to consider portfolio…
Continue reading →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….
Continue reading →Nearly 11 years ago, I sat down to face my IIT, Madras faculty interview. One of the faculty members who I knew from my student days sat beside me as he was waiting for his promotion interview. When he found out that was a particularly troubled time for me he said, “Pattu, I am glad that…
Continue reading →While discussing the distribution of wealth in India, I had referred to the idea of self-similarity with the example of the Pareto principle. Today I would like to discuss how the stock market behaves in a similar way! The first part of this series is here: Fat Tails: The True Nature of Stock Market Returns –…
Continue reading →In a two-part post, I discuss the nature of stocks market returns, first by pointing out the influence of extreme market events and then by considering their fractal or self-similar nature. Readers may recall that last week, we considered self-similarity in wealth distribution where I had mentioned their universal nature. Both posts in this series shall deal with…
Continue reading →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…
Continue reading →In this weeks freefincal Q/A, we discuss matters ranging from last year’s star ELSS fund to portfolio rebalancing. Before we get to the questions, a quick mention that the Q/A is a feature in which I address generic questions from readers. You can use the form below to ask your questions. I will address them next week….
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