A reader asks, “One common trend I see in your analysis is that the active MFs are always considered against the benchmark indices and not index funds themselves. Why are active mutual fund returns compared with TRI (total return indices) and not index fund returns?” “Also, since index fund investment recommendation is limited only to…
Continue reading →In this article, we discuss a set of questions sent by a reader about a 25-year investment duration. Among these, he wishes to know how much should be allocated to small cap mutual funds. We address them in the order received. For a 25-year retirement goal, what will be your allocation percentage towards equity, gold…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “Which among the following two has higher credit risk? 1. Gilt fund (actively managed) or 2. FD in a nationalized bank? I need to choose one for a 10-year goal for the debt portion”. On the face of it, this might look like a trivial question to at least experienced investors. However,…
Continue reading →We analyse the performance of multi-asset mutual funds in this article. This category is only four years old introduced by SEBI in 2018 with the re-categorization of mutual funds. Therefore we shall only look at the last 1,2,3, and 4-year trailing returns of multi-asset funds. According to SEBI, a multi-asset fund invests in at least three…
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 →We review the performance consistency of SBI Pension Fund Scheme E – NPS TIER I measured against Nifty 50 TRI and UTI Nifty 50 TRI. The scheme was launched in June 2009 and currently has an AUM of little over Rs. nine thousand crores. Only the scheme from HDFC Pension has a higher AUM (in…
Continue reading →This article analyses the historical Nifty 50 portfolio over the last ten years (Oct 2012 to Sep 2022). This data is not available or free on the NSE website, so we use the portfolio history of Nifty BeES ETF as a proxy. Eighty-four entities have been part o the Nifty 50 over the last ten…
Continue reading →This article presents results from the Equity Mutual Fund Screener Sep 2022 and discusses why we badly need an aggressive hybrid index fund! We find out how easy/hard it is to consistently beat the CRISIL Hybrid 35+65 – Aggressive Index. The index comprises S&P BSE 200 TR(65%) and CRISIL Composite Bond Fund Index (35%). Disclaimer: Fund…
Continue reading →Many investors incorrectly believe that index funds are necessary only in the large cap space and that active funds easily beat the index in the mid cap and small cap segments. In this article, we bust this myth with rolling returns and trailing results comparison of active mid cap mutual funds with Nifty Midcap 150…
Continue reading →As of Aug 31st 2022, 59.5% of the total equity AUM was in Nifty 50 stocks. Here are the details and possible implications. The total equity AUM held by 40 mutual fund AMCs is Rs. 21,91,563.5357 Crores. The break-up is given below. The tables in this article are sourced from ACE MF. AMC Equity (Cr.)…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “Is this a good time to Invest in NASDAQ 100 and S&P 500? As both indexes have fallen around 25% to date in 2022.” The answer depends on your motivation and your appreciation of underlying risks. From the point of view of Indian investors, the US stock market has been on an…
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 →A reader asks, “I noticed that Kotak Arbitrage Fund is holding about 5% of Kotak Liquid Fund. Can you explain why they are doing this?” Kotak is not alone. Many arbitrage funds buy units of their own debt funds. This is done in a bid to bolster returns. Even a few years back, arbitrage funds…
Continue reading →The pension fund regulatory and development authority (PFRDA) the NPS regulator has released a draft proposal on implementing Systematic Lump sum Withdrawal (SLW) in the national pension scheme. The draft is open for comments/feedback until the 19th of Oct. This is an explanation of the proposed rules. Existing rules: After the age of 60, an…
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…
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