As regular readers may know, we publish an annual personal finance audit every December – our 2021 audit was posted a few days ago. Since last year regular readers have been sharing their investment journey and portfolio reviews. Suhas was among the first to do this. He has most graciously agreed to share an update…
Continue reading →A young reader asks, “The investment journeys published at freefincal have inspired me to get started with my investments. However, I am confused about where and how to begin. Can you please write about this?” The end of the year is perhaps the perfect time to get started on money management, especially if you have…
Continue reading →A reader writes, “I am a 37-year-old investment professional. I have worked for large global financial institutions throughout my career. Most of my professional network unsurprisingly consists of other investment professionals. This might be counterintuitive to many, but I have known some exceptional professional money managers who are rather average at managing their personal investments….
Continue reading →A reader asks, “I am looking for equity funds that hold foreign stocks (overseas equity) but also hold 65% of Indian equity similar to Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund so that it will be taxed as an “equity fund”. Can you help?” The advantage of holding such funds compared to a Nasdaq 100 or S&P…
Continue reading →In this edition of “fund performance report”, we look at Nippon India Smallcap Fund. Launched in Sep 2010, the fund now has an AUM of 17,555 Crores. Disclaimer: Fund performance reports present return and risk analysis of a fund with representative benchmarks and are not investment recommendations. It must be expressly understood that the data below…
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, SEBI registered fee-only advisor Swapnil Kendhe explains why it makes sense for most of us to become defensive (passive) investors. About the author: Swapnil is a SEBI Registered Investment Advisor and part of my fee-only financial planners’ list. You can learn more about him and his service via his website, Vivektaru. In the recently conducted…
Continue reading →I evaluate my retirement portfolio’s performance and my son’s future portfolio in a personal finance audit each year. This is the ninth edition. Published since 2013, these audits provide a sense of accountability and ensure I do not fall prey to fear of missing out, preventing bad investment decisions. I am proud and delighted that…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “how can I regularly withdraw every year, say 7 per cent per year, from the corpus in my 18-year-old PPF account towards my yearly expenses”. There are two aspects to consider here: technical feasibility and practical feasibility. Once a PPF account has completed 15 years, there are two ways to keep it…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, we start a new series – mutual fund investment journeys. We requested members of the Facebook group Asan Ideas for Wealth with more than ten years of mutual fund investing experience to share their journey. This is the first episode from an investor who prefers anonymity. Let us…
Continue reading →A reader who prefers anonymity asks, “I am planning to buy a house in the next few months. I have narrowed down on the property and locked in a price with the seller. I am using the proceeds of the sale of a property which was owned by my mother”. “I have to arrange around…
Continue reading →A reader who prefers anonymity asks, “Am I on track to achieve Financial Independence (FI) in the next 13 years? I intend to continue working in a corporate setup for as long as my mind, body and employer (current or future) allow. The FI target is more to ensure that money is no longer an…
Continue reading →This is a passive fund screener based on tracking error and return difference wrt benchmarks. 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 quite different from tracking the Sensex…
Continue reading →In this article, we evaluate the performance consistency of Kotak Emerging Equity Fund, a mid cap fund. Launched in March 2007, the fund currently has an AUM of Rs. 16,705 Crores. As we can see from the funds market cap allocation history, it changes from a mid and small cap fund to a mid cap…
Continue reading →The association of mutual funds in India (AMFI) publishes aggregate AUM held by different mutual fund investors across fund categories each quarter. Here are some insights into which type of funds are preferred by high net worth individuals/investors (HNIs) and retail investors. The definition of an HNIs is far from accurate and, in this context,…
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