If you are not fond of actively managed funds, an investment in a Nifty 50 index fund provides you exposure to a diversified equity portfolio. However, Nifty 50 consists of stocks from different sectors (banking, pharma, energy, commodities, IT, consumer goods, automobiles etc). Here is the sectoral breakup of Nifty 50 (as on December 31,2020). Can we better the … [Read more...] about Nifty 50 vs. Portfolio of Banking + Pharma + IT stocks: Which is better?
Mutual funds
50% Equity + 50% Gold: How does this portfolio perform?
My mother, like many housewives, invests exclusively in gold. No bank FDs. No mutual funds. Nothing. Just gold. Why? Gold is easy to buy and sell. It is easy to store. It is easy to hide from husbands. Lack of comfort with any other asset. Huge conviction (that gold price goes up). Super discipline (due to the conviction and since there is no other option). While I … [Read more...] about 50% Equity + 50% Gold: How does this portfolio perform?
What is the Best Asset Allocation for your portfolio? 50:50 or 60:40 or 70:30?
What is the best asset allocation for your long-term portfolio? 40:60 equity:debt or 50:50 or 60:40 or 70:30 or any other allocation? You will get the answer to this question only in hindsight. The best allocation for the next 20 years (2020-2040) will be known only after 2040 ends. You can run backtests and see what has worked the best in the past. While this gives you … [Read more...] about What is the Best Asset Allocation for your portfolio? 50:50 or 60:40 or 70:30?
Motilal Oswal 5-year G-Sec ETF: Should you invest?
Motilal Oswal AMC has launched a debt ETF (Motilal Oswal 5-year G-sec ETF) to track the performance of Nifty 5-year Benchmark G-Sec Index. Should you invest in this ETF? Before we get to the “Yes” or “No” answer, let’s first look at the Nifty 5-year benchmark, the pros and cons of this ETF, and look at the benchmark performance for the past 15 years. What is Nifty … [Read more...] about Motilal Oswal 5-year G-Sec ETF: Should you invest?
Which is the best date for SIP in mutual funds?
Which is the best date for SIP in mutual funds? I get this question often from my investors. My two usual reactions are: What is your lucky date?Toss a coin. It doesn’t matter. Last week, an investor asked me, “Have you done any analysis for this?” I hadn’t. I thought of giving this a shot. Data and Assumptions I have used Nifty TRI data from January … [Read more...] about Which is the best date for SIP in mutual funds?
Performance Comparison: Investing on 52-week Highs vs. Investing on 52-week Lows
You want to invest in equity markets for the long term. You are given a choice of 3 strategies. Invest every month by way of SIPsInvest only when the market hits 52-week highs.Invest only when the market hits 52-week lows. Which approach do you think will give the best results? Intuitively, investing on 52-week lows look like the winner. Because, well, you are … [Read more...] about Performance Comparison: Investing on 52-week Highs vs. Investing on 52-week Lows
SEBI Mutual Fund Risk Ratings: Is Risk-o-Meter useful?
How risky is your mutual fund scheme? How do you answer the above question? If you ask an investor, the answer will vary depending on, among other things, investor risk profile, investor mood, market sentiment and market outlook. If you ask a mutual fund house, an underappreciation of risk in the investment is guaranteed. As an investor, what should you do? What … [Read more...] about SEBI Mutual Fund Risk Ratings: Is Risk-o-Meter useful?
Nifty Factor Indices (Value, Momentum, Quality, Low Volatility, Alpha): Performance Comparison
In some of the earlier posts, I have written about momentum and low volatility investing. In this post, I compare the performance of various factor-based indices. What is Factor Investing? This blog post from S&P gives an interesting analogy. Consider Factors as nutrients and food items as stock returns. Now, different food items (pulses, milk, bread, vegetables, … [Read more...] about Nifty Factor Indices (Value, Momentum, Quality, Low Volatility, Alpha): Performance Comparison
Tax-Free ULIPs vs. Mutual Funds with LTCG tax: Which is better?
In Budget 2018, Long term capital gains tax on equity mutual funds was introduced. Prior to the change, the LTCG on sale of equity mutual funds was exempt from tax. This change brought an interesting taxation arbitrage. Taxation of maturity proceeds from Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs), offered by insurance companies, was left untouched and the maturity amount from ULIPs … [Read more...] about Tax-Free ULIPs vs. Mutual Funds with LTCG tax: Which is better?
Nifty 200 Momentum 30 Index: Review & Performance Comparison
I have written about momentum investing before. I compared the performance of S&P BSE Momentum Index TRI with Nifty 50, Nifty Next 50 and Nifty Midcap 150 indices in an earlier post (Does momentum investing work in India?). The findings were in favour of S&P BSE Momentum Index, which outperformed all 3 indices by a wide margin at only slightly higher … [Read more...] about Nifty 200 Momentum 30 Index: Review & Performance Comparison