What factors should we consider before choosing a mutual fund or evaluating a mutual that we hold? Should we only look at star ratings? Should we consider only returns? Risk-adjusted returns perhaps? Should we track the actions of the fund manager? Should I understand the kind of stocks that he/she has picked or is likely…

On Aug. 25th 2014, the Economic Times carried an article titled, PPF investment can beat Sensex returns over 20-year period. They showed that between Aug. 1994 to Aug. 2014, Sensex returned an annualized return of 9.15% while the PPF returned 10.46%. Needless to mention this article created a lot of buzz among investors and distributors. Investors panicked and…

We choose a type of instrument almost solely based on the kind of returns that it can yield.  Thus, our expectation is governed by past history. While there is nothing wrong with this, past returns can vary quite a bit, and depends on the period chosen for evaluation. While it is a good idea to base…

Here is a risk vs. reward analysis of debt mutual funds. This is a companion post to: (Equity) Mutual Fund Investing: Risk vs. Reward vs. Volatility   and The key to successful mutual fund investing All the posts are based on Value Research Online’s fund selector page. First some definitions. Average Maturity A debt mutual fund holds debt…

Here is a simple goal planner that serves as a visual aid to highlight the importance of beating inflation for long-term financial goals.  It compares the evolution of the current cost of an expense with an assumed inflation rate and the growth of monthly and lump sum investments. The monthly or lump sum investment along with…

Here is a simple Excel sheet to keep track of monthly SIPs.  Unlike the automated mutual fund tracker, where the focus is on returns, this sheet helps to visually track the growth of a SIP relative to an expected growth. The user will have to enter the value of SIP each month to track its…