Many EPFO subscribers who retired after Sep 1st 2014, or are still in service have the incorrect impression that they will automatically be eligible for higher EPS pension. This is incorrect, as clarified by the EPFO circular issued on Feb 20th 2023. According to point no 5 of the circular: “5. Therefore, in compliance of…
Continue reading →This article compares my stock portfolio with an equivalent investment in a Nifty index fund and the Nifty 100 Low Volatility 30 TR index. We post this comparison each month. Before we begin, new readers need to appreciate the context of these investments. I started direct equity investing only after achieving a comfortable level of…
Continue reading →In this article, Vijay discusses guidelines on how to build a direct equity portfolio. This is the second part of the series. The first part is here: How to build a direct equity portfolio – Part 1. About the author: Vijay is an electronics engineer and management graduate (IIM Bangalore). He has worked as a…
Continue reading →A viewer on our YouTube channel asks, “I understand goal setting and rebalancing is the key. But how prudent is it to take money out of fixed income and buy equity to rebalance when markets are going down? Are we not increasing the risk of the entire portfolio by doing so? Can you please explain…
Continue reading →In the first of a two-part series, Vijay discusses how to build a direct equity portfolio. About the author: Vijay is an electronics engineer and management graduate (IIM Bangalore). He has worked as a technical expert in the automotive industry for the last 25 years. He has an active interest in subjects related to macro…
Continue reading →This is a debt mutual fund screener for fund selection, fund portfolio tracking and learning. It also includes hybrid funds that invest in bonds. It will satisfy investors who wish to invest in money market funds, banking and PSU funds etc. The credit quality of the bonds in the portfolio and the bond maturity profile…
Continue reading →In this article, we evaluate the performance of 207 actively managed mutual funds across eight categories to identify consistent performers. Regular readers may be aware that we have proclaimed the benefits of low-volatility investing for a few years. See Nifty Low Volatility 50: A Benchmark Index to watch out for (July 2016). We publish a low volatility…
Continue reading →The new tax regime is a game changer in Indian taxation. From 1s April 2023, we expect a large number of taxpayers, particularly young earners, high earners and those who have completed their home loan or have no need for one, to shift to the new regime. Even though section 80C is not valid in…
Continue reading →There are two types of debt-based passive funds in India. (1) Target Maturity Funds, which would buy and hold an index portfolio and hold it until maturity, thereby reducing interest rate risk at the time of withdrawal. The credit risk in funds is also relatively low as they typically invest in gilts and state development…
Continue reading →This is an index fund screener based on tracking error and returns difference wrt benchmarks (aka tracking difference). The screener will help users evaluate how efficiently an index fund has tracked its underlying benchmark. It will also help a understand how tracking a midcap index or the Nifty 100, 500 is quite different from tracking…
Continue reading →Over the past few weeks, several readers have asked us if this is a good time to buy gilt funds, corporate bond funds, or long-duration debt funds as the interest rate cycle appears to have peaked and is all set to move down — a discussion. When RBI starts decreasing the overnight rate, gradually, the…
Continue reading →Many organisations part of the EPFO are abuzz with discussions and calculations on higher EPS pensions following the Supreme Court’s verdict. Many have even provided deadlines to employees currently in service to opt for a higher EPS pension by transferring a significant portion of their EPF corpus to the EPS. However, at the time of…
Continue reading →This is an ETF screener based on tracking errors and tracking differences (ETF return minus index return). The screener will help users evaluate how efficiently an ETF has tracked its underlying benchmark. The tracking error is the ETF’s standard deviation minus index monthly return differences. The lower the tracking error, the more efficient the ETF…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “My question is about the significance of ELSS funds in the future due to the new tax regime. Can we continue investing in these funds?” Budget 2023 has made the new tax regime the default scheme with an option to continue using the old scheme. The new regime has significant tax cuts…
Continue reading →We have received many questions on the tax slabs for senior citizens in the revised new tax regime from 1st April 2023. The answer is quite simple! The new tax regime does not distinguish among individuals, senior citizens, super senior citizens and HUFs. All of them get taxed at the same rate! The new tax…
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