What is Systematic Investment Plan (SIP)?
SIP refers to periodic investment in an MF. In this option, you commit to invest a pre-decided amount, at regular intervals, and you get allotted Units based on an MF’s NAV. E.g. Suppose you do an SIP of Rs. 1,000. If, for the 1st month its NAV is Rs. 15, you get 66.67 units. For the 2nd, the NAV is Rs. 25, so you get 40 units. For the 3rd, the NAV is Rs. 20, you get 50 units. At the end of 3 months, you have invested Rs. 3,000 and received 156.67 units at an average NAV of Rs. 19.2.
What is a direct plan?
A Direct Plan means you investing directly thru' an AMC/MF website. As there is no Distributor involved, returns generated by this plan will be higher by the percentage fees paid to a Distributor. We, at MoneyWorks4me, encourage investors to invest in Direct Plans.
What is a regular plan?
Regular Plan is when you invest in an MF scheme through a Distributor or Broker. This means you will end up paying some fees to the Distributor. The fees are directly paid by the AMC to a Distributor. For you as an investor, it is reflected in the lower NAV values, and higher Expense Ratio than a Direct Plan
What is an Asset Management Company (AMC)?
It is the Fund House or the company responsible for managing investors’ money, and in turn, all the MF schemes.
What is an Asset under Management (AUM)?
The money collected by an MF Scheme is invested across asset classes like stocks, debt Funds, gold and cash. The market value of these investments at any given time minus the MF’s liabilities is known as the Fund’s AUM. (E.g. If a Fund’s value of investments is Rs. 100 Cr and liabilities Rs 5 Cr., then AUM is Rs. 95 Cr.) Though, a large AUM denotes a Fund’s popularity and success, it also means restrictions on investing (Fund will have to invest mainly in large companies) and difficulty in replicating past high return performance.
What is Net Asset Value (NAV)?
It is the price per unit of the MF scheme. On any given day, NAV is the price at which any investor invests in an MF scheme. NAV = [the market value of all the securities held by the scheme minus its liabilities] ÷ the number of units. Since, market value of securities changes every day, NAV of a scheme also changes every day. Similar to a stock price, a high or low NAV does not affect our investment decision.
What is a Benchmark Index?
A Benchmark is a popular index like the SENSEX, NIFTY or BSE 100, against which a Fund’s performance is gauged. A Fund is supposed to choose a Benchmark based upon the market-section it invests in. E.g. a Mid-Cap Fund may use NSE Midcap Index as its Benchmark. It makes sense to invest in an MF, only if it has consistently beaten its Benchmark performance over a 3-5 year period.
What is Expense Ratio?
The Expense Ratio is the fee charged by a Mutual Fund for managing its investors’ money. It is shown as a percentage of the Assets Under Management (AUM). E.g. if you invest Rs. 10,000 in a Fund with an Expense Ratio of 1.5%, then you are paying the Fund Rs. 150 to manage your money. As a general rule, you are told to avoid Funds with high Expense Ratio. However, it can also turn to be a good investment, if it consistently generates excess returns (Alpha) over its Expense Ratio.
What is Load or No-Load Fund?
Load is the fees charged for buying (i.e. Entry load) and selling (i.e. Exit load) MF units. SEBI has scrapped the Entry load wef August 1, 2009. Some Funds may charge Investors an Exit load only on early exit (e.g. within a year of investment) to encourage long-term investment behaviour.
What is Rolling Return/Alpha?
Rolling Returns consider performance on every day or week (or any specified frequency) of a defined period, and hence, tell you how you would have fared regardless of when you chose to invest. E.g. A monthly five-year Rolling Return is return from 1-Jan-2013 to 1-Jan-2018, 1-Feb-2013 to 1Feb-2018, subsequently for all months. For 3-yr or 2-yr rolling, the year changes respectively. We advise our users to look at Rolling Alpha, because it allows you to evaluate the consistency of a Fund’s performance over time - including the ups and downs of market cycles.
What is Growth Scheme?
Choosing growth option means you will not receive extra units for Dividend declared by the Fund. Instead, the amount will stay invested in the Fund, thereby compounding your returns. Choose this option, if you prefer capital appreciation over regular income from your investment.
What is Open-ended Scheme?
An Open-ended Fund or Scheme is one that is available for subscription and re-purchase on a continuous basis. These schemes do not have a fixed maturity period. Investors can conveniently buy and sell units at Net Asset Value (NAV) related prices which are declared on a daily basis. The key feature of open-end schemes is liquidity. The opposite is closed ended where the fund cannot be sold very easily.
What are the Color-coded tags or buttons that accompany every fund?
Every fund is assessed on the following:
How do you select the fund for SIP?
Select the fund that is Green on Performance which shows it has consistently outperformed the index. Select one with a high average 3-year rolling returns - the number in the first button. And select one with a Green rating on Quality-the second button.
How do you find the best funds within a category?
Use the Funds Screener and select the category. It shows the funds with Green on Performance and Quality right on the top. The ones with the higher average 3-year rolling returns are ranked the highest. Funds with less than 5 years returns history are colored Grey on Performance. Since the track record is not for an adequately long period they feature lower in the list.
How do you build a portfolio with funds?
Build a well-diversified portfolio with funds that assures you of a stable growth through market and economic cycles and funds that enhance your portfolio returns over the long run.
- Core Funds: Choose from Large cap, Large and Mid cap and Flexicap funds.
- Booster Funds
- Choose from Mid and Small cap funds.
- Select a Sector or Thematic Fund that is likely to outperform in the long term.
How do you analyze your current fund portfolio?
Use the Fund Portfolio Analyzer, Sher-ya-Billi to check if your portfolio will deliver healthy returns or disappoint you. Go to Fund Portfolio Analyzer. You can also upload details of your funds in the Portfolio Manager and see the report on this page.
What must you be careful about when add a new fund to your existing portfolio?
When adding a new fund check how different is the fund compared to your portfolio by using the link in the Right allocation box on the Fund Decision Maker.
What are the main problems in a Fund Portfolio?
Most investors have more, many more funds that they should-over diversified. This tends to reduce returns. Many investors have more of the same i.e. they have funds that have very similar portfolios and hence the fund portfolio is not well-diversified. Either there are too many large cap dominated funds or far too many mid and small cap funds. What you require is a good, balanced mix. Finally investors don't know when to exit a fund and end up carrying it even though the future upside potential is very low.
