In this article, we provide a step-by-step guide to choose a gilt mutual fund. Gilt mutual funds are those that invest a minimum of 80% of their portfolio in government securities (Gsecs or gilts). We have already discussed the basics of gilt mutual funds and when to invest in a two-part FAQ. We recommend newbie…
Continue reading →Here are eight aggressive hybrid mutual funds that have consistently beaten CRISIL Hybrid 35+65 – Aggressive Index. We also discuss their downside protection consistency and performance against NIfty 100 TRI. The index comprises of S&P BSE 200 TR(65%) and CRISIL Composite Bond Fund Index (35%). The analysis was carried out for 33 aggressive hybrid funds,…
Continue reading →We present a beginner’s guide to financial freedom dispelling common myths and misunderstandings on the subject. 1 What is financial freedom (FF)? A period of time when a person is not compelled to work for a living. This means having enough money to pay for known and known expenses, recurring and one-time expenses and associated…
Continue reading →This is an update of my retirement portfolio. After almost 13 years of investing in equity, it took a crash and a disproportionate recovery to increase my equity allocation significantly for the first time. So I reset the equity allocation from 65% to 60%. The intention behind these articles is to emphasise the reality that…
Continue reading →In this article, we discuss if investors should bother reading mutual fund scheme information documents. To do this, we first discuss the purpose of a mutual fund scheme information document (SID), how to read it and how to use it. The scheme information document is defined by SEBI’s master circular for mutual funds as a document…
Continue reading →Shushanth asks, “dear Pattu Sir, thank you for the recent articles about gilt mutual funds, but I think they are too volatile for me. Can I use banking and PSU funds instead of gilt funds for long-term goals?” The underlying assumption here seems that Banking and PSU debt funds are “safe” and less volatile than…
Continue reading →Many of us struggle with money management decisions because we are judging “right vs wrong”, “good vs bad” with incorrect benchmarks. Our definition of what is simple and what is complex in personal finance is also incorrect. If personal finance is more personal than finance, then simplicity in personal finance is also personal. When we…
Continue reading →Mirae Asset NYSE FANG+ ETF is an open-ended ETF tracking the NYSE FANG+ Total Return Index. The Mirae Asset NYSE FANG+ ETF Fund of Fund is an Open-ended fund of fund scheme predominantly investing in Mirae Asset NYSE FANG+ ETF. The NFO period of both funds begins today (April 19th 2021). In this review, we…
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 the requirement of 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…
Continue reading →In the second part of the FAQ on gilt mutual funds, we consider the correlation between equity and gilt movements. An analyst would calculate this using a correlation coefficient and create a matrix. This is not intuitive to the average investor. So we shall seek the answer to a simple, direct question: If equity MF…
Continue reading →Here is a simple formula to check your progress to financial freedom. It can tell you how long you need to be a salaried employee and shift the focus of portfolio review from returns to the corpus worth and, in the case context of retirement, how long would it last. It will work in any…
Continue reading →We answer a set of questions on gilt mutual funds asked by investors. Interest in gilt mutual funds has increased for two reasons: credit events in debt funds and a gradual reduction in PPF interest rate. We wanted to write an article on selecting gilt mutual funds but realised that before we get into the…
Continue reading →We shall be publishing an exclusive passive fund screener based on tracking error and return difference wrt benchmarks starting this month. The screener will help a user 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…
Continue reading →This is my monthly retirement stock portfolio update compared with an equivalent investment in a Nifty index fund. Before we begin, it is important for investors to appreciate the context of these investments. I started direct equity investing only after achieving a comfortable level of financial independence and ensuring my son’s future portfolio is in…
Continue reading →We had pointed out on April 7th that since the market has lost momentum, now is a good time to rebalance our portfolios if there is a need for it. I have just rebalanced my retirement equity portfolio for the first time in nearly 13 years (video below). In response to this, a viewer on…
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