The Balanced advantage or Dynamic Asset Allocation funds have found favour among a section of investors. These funds are hybrid funds and have been marketed as a low volatility alternative to pure equity funds. The narrative is that you earn equity-like returns at low volatility. It is no small promise. What are Balanced Advantage or Dynamic Asset Allocation … [Read more...] about ICICI Balanced Advantage Fund: Has the fund provided reasonable returns with low volatility?
SBI Life Smart Elite: How do you mis-sell the plan?
Mis-selling is not uncommon during the sale of financial products. Many of us buy investment products with a false impression of the product. While salespersons/advisors are the culprits, we, the investors must share the blame too. We rely too much on the illustrations and pamphlets shared and do not care to look beyond those fancy documents. Advisors/salespersons, on their … [Read more...] about SBI Life Smart Elite: How do you mis-sell the plan?
Adding Gold and International Equity to the Portfolio: Does it enhance Portfolio Performance?
Do you believe in working with an asset allocation approach in your portfolio? Do you rebalance your portfolio at regular intervals? Is there a merit in dividing our portfolio in assets with low correlation? In this post, let us construct a multi-asset portfolio combining domestic equity, international equity, and gold and see if delivers superior performance compared … [Read more...] about Adding Gold and International Equity to the Portfolio: Does it enhance Portfolio Performance?
Franklin Debt MF: Vodafone Idea Payment (Segregated Portfolio): How will it be taxed in your hands?
There was a happy surprise for investors in Franklin Ultra Short Bond Fund recently. In January 2020, the AMC had side-pocketed its investments in Vodafone Idea bonds. In June 2020, Vodafone Idea made interest payment on these bonds and you would have received some payment. On July 10, 2020, the 8.25% Vodafone Idea Ltd. bond matured, and Franklin schemes received the … [Read more...] about Franklin Debt MF: Vodafone Idea Payment (Segregated Portfolio): How will it be taxed in your hands?
Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak: Standard Covid-19 Health Insurance Products
Covid-19 has affected our lives in the ways we never imagined. Despite the lockdown and the precaution, the cases are on the rise. While it is paramount that you take precautions and avoid getting infected, given the pace of spread, you must also prepare for the financial burden if you or one of your family members gets infected and requires medical treatment. One of the … [Read more...] about Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak: Standard Covid-19 Health Insurance Products
Bharat Bond ETFs: Second Tranche opens July 14: Should you invest?
A new fund offer (NFO) of Bharat Bond ETFs will be open for subscription from July 14, 2020 until July 17, 2020. The first series of Bharat Bond ETFs was launched in December 2019. I had written about the first tranche in detail here. The product structure remains the same. The new series of Bharat Bond ETFs are target maturity bond ETFs i.e. the Bharat Bond ETF will mature, … [Read more...] about Bharat Bond ETFs: Second Tranche opens July 14: Should you invest?
Bank FD rates have gone down sharply. What should you do?
You must learn to live with it. And I concede FD rates have gone down sharply. I copy the current FD rates from the SBI website. A common refrain is, “Fixed Deposits are giving nothing. I want to invest in debt mutual funds to get a better return”. Why? Because when we compare past 1-year returns of a debt mutual fund with the current 1-year Fixed deposit rates, … [Read more...] about Bank FD rates have gone down sharply. What should you do?
Govt. of India Floating Rate Savings Bonds (2020): All you need to know
RBI has announced the launch of the Government of India Floating Rate Savings Bonds. The bonds shall be available for subscription from July 1, 2020. In this post, let us discuss the new floating rate bonds in detail and answer the following questions. What are the important features?How is it different from the RBI 7.75% Savings Bonds?How does it compare against similar low … [Read more...] about Govt. of India Floating Rate Savings Bonds (2020): All you need to know
Using Moving Averages get more out of Equity markets
Over the past few weeks, we have been testing investment ideas and testing the performance against the simple Buy-and-hold index funds. In some of my previous posts, I have Compared the performance of Nifty Next 50 against Nifty 50.Compared the performance of Nifty 50 Equal Weight vs Nifty 50 vs Nifty 50 over the last 20 years.Considered the data for the past 20 years to … [Read more...] about Using Moving Averages get more out of Equity markets
6 years on: Performance Comparison between Direct and Regular Mutual Funds
It has been over 6 years since the direct plans of the mutual fund schemes were launched in January 2013. It is a good time to compare the performance between the direct and regular plans of the MF schemes. To recap, each MF scheme has a direct and regular plan variant. The portfolio and the fund manager are the same in both the variants. The difference is in the payment of … [Read more...] about 6 years on: Performance Comparison between Direct and Regular Mutual Funds
