Mutual Fund Direct plans have been around for over 5 years now.
Under direct plans of mutual fund schemes, you invest directly with the mutual fund house. There is no intermediary or distributor involved. Hence, you save on intermediary costs. This reflects in better returns as compared to regular plans of MF schemes.
Under regular (or distributor) plans, you invest through a distributor or an intermediary. AMC compensates the intermediary on our behalf. Thus cost (expense ratio) is higher for regular plans. Remember you do not pay anything directly. AMC does and that results in higher cost and lower returns.
Everything else (portfolio, fund manager etc) is the same for direct and regular plans.
That direct plan of an MF scheme will provide better returns than the regular plan of the same MF scheme is a known fact. It is a mathematical construct. Nothing can change that. But how much better?
Must Read: Why you should invest in Direct plans of Mutual Fund Schemes?
How have Direct plans fared as compared to Regular plans?
Now that we have data for over 5 years, let’s assess the outperformance of direct plans over regular plans of MF schemes.
I have picked up a few popular funds across categories.
You can see both the plans (direct and regular) started with the same value on January 1, 2013. Over the years, NAV of direct plans has risen faster than NAV of regular plans. This is because direct plans provide better returns than regular plans.
Do note this gap will only continue to widen.
You can also see that the difference in NAV varies across the different types of funds. Looks much higher for equity funds as compared to debt funds.
Do note I have picked just one fund from a category. These funds are not representative of their fund categories. For instance, the difference in return between direct and regular plans need not be the same as ABSL Frontline Equity Fund. It may be higher or lower depending on intermediary compensation or other accounting policies followed by the fund house.
Let’s see what this leads in terms of absolute returns.
You can see the difference between the value of your investments in mutual fund direct and regular plans. As mentioned earlier, this difference will only grow over a period of time.
If you feel this is not a big difference, note this is the difference for only 66 months (5.5 years). You invest in equity mutual funds for a much longer duration.
You can see that the difference is not as high in the case of debt funds.
What will be the difference between mutual fund regular and direct plans over the long term, say 20 years?
Nobody can tell with certainty.
If we make an assumption that the difference in returns (XIRR) will be same as has been in the past 5.5 years, then we can try to assess the impact. However, there is no guarantee that the difference in returns will stay as it is. It can be higher or lower.
All you can say is that direct plans will certainly provide better returns than regular plans.
I have considered XIRR for 66 months for direct and regular plans (from MorningStar). I assume the performance (XIRR) of direct and regular will remain the same for the duration of 20 years. I know the assumption is unrealistic but it gives an idea (so, please play along).
If this wouldn’t nudge you to invest in direct plans of MF schemes and switch your existing regular plans investments to direct plans, nothing would.
Depending upon the MF scheme, the difference in corpus over 20 years varies from Rs 61,000 to a massive Rs 62 lacs.
And this is the power of compounding. What looked like a small difference in percentage returns leads to this massive difference in absolute numbers in the long term.
If you were having second thoughts about investing in direct plans, the above numbers will clear out all the confusion.
And the difference could have been bigger. From what I have seen with at least a few AMCs, they charge a transaction fee if you are investing in regular plans. The transaction fee goes to the distributor. For instance, if you are investing Rs 10,000 (lump sum or through SIP), Rs 100 (1%) will go to the distributor and only remaining Rs 9,900 will get invested in regular plans. I have not considered the impact of this Rs 100 in the above numbers.
What should you do?
Simple. Invest in direct plans.
Now, there are many mutual fund direct plan websites. You can register with these websites in a few minutes and start investing in schemes across AMCs.
If you have been investing in regular plans, you can also switch your existing investments in regular plans to direct plans once the exit load period is over (typically 1 year for equity funds) and capital gains taxability becomes benign.
Switch from regular plan to direct plan of an MF scheme is considered redemption from the regular plan and fresh investment in the direct plan. Hence, exit load and capital gains liability may arise on redemption of such units in regular plans. Moreover, your investment is direct plan will be subject to fresh lock-in, if applicable and exit load period
Read: You can get discounts on MF investments too
However, there is a caveat
Direct plans are meant for Do-it-Yourself (DIY) investors. DIY investors have time and skill to research select and review mutual funds on their own. Not just that, they have requisite investment discipline. When it comes to investments, investment discipline is paramount.
If you are a DIY investor, then it is almost criminal to invest in regular plans. So, if you are investing through portals such as ICICIDirect, it is time to move on to direct plans.
Alternatively, you can seek professional advice from a SEBI registered Investment Adviser (RIA) or a fee-only financial planner. Such an advisor can help you select the right funds for you and inculcate investment discipline. Subsequently, you can invest in direct plans.
A SEBI RIA will charge a fee for the service. The fee can be a flat charge or a percentage of your MF portfolio. Try to find an RIA who charges a flat fee (rather than a percentage of your assets). You will pay much less over the long term if you opt for flat fee structure, especially for large portfolios.
On the other hand, if you are not confident about your research skills, your investment discipline is suspect and still do not want to pay the fee, you will do well to stick to a good local distributor and invest in regular plans.
Do not fall for a mere 0.5% to 1% p.a. excess return in direct plans. I concede that a difference of 1% p.a. will compound to a large difference over the long term. However, cost of bad fund selection, portfolio design and poor investment discipline can be much higher.
I have seen portfolios where investors have invested in 40 mutual funds and not more than Rs 10,000 in each of those funds. They feel they are diversifying by investing in 40 mutual fund schemes. A few invest in mid and small-cap funds only. A few think 25-26% p.a. is a given in equity funds. Such investors must seek professional advice.
So, if you are not Do-it-yourself investor, you must decide whether you want to go to a distributor or a SEBI RIA.
Disclosure: I am a SEBI registered Investment Adviser and hence I may have vested interest in asking you to seek services of a SEBI Registered Investment Adviser.
78 thoughts on “Performance Comparison: Direct plans vs. Regular plans of Mutual Funds”
good information. I’m investor and new to the field. i found this article very informative. i found pain in Purchasing of direct fund. example: i had purchased SBI direct fund (say some fund name) and being investor i thought of buying other banks. for this i have to log in their website and get/buy fund. when i wanted to review all my investment the year end i dont have single point to address/check. any solution for this ??
Dear Suryaprakash,
Glad that you liked the post.
You can register with MF Utility.
With MFU, you can invest with 25 funds houses from a single interface.
Go through the following post for more on this.
http://www.personalfinanceplan.in/mutual-funds/how-to-register-with-mf-utility/
Very informative article. I personally found CAMSOnline more convenient than MFU. Have to admit, I gave up on MFU pretty soon. Can anyone do comparison between the two.
You can invest through CAMSOnline too. The drawback is that you can invest with only those AMCs that are serviced by CAMS.
Will we able to switch to other mutual funds (e.g as provided by Scripbox/FundsIndia) in MFUtility easily depending on market trend?
Not sure if I got your question.
If the fund is from of 25 AMCS which have signed up with MFU, you will be able to view that investment (made from FundsIndia/Scripbox) in MFU. You can transact in those folios too.
With MFU, there is no robo-advisory or automatic re-balancing facility. You have to do everything on your own.
Hi Deepesh,
Wonderful article!
I started a SIP of Rs 6000 in Franklin India Taxshield – Growth (ELSS) fund on Feb 2016. But now I want to stop this SIP. I don’t want to redeem the units, just want to stop further investment in this fund. In online statement of this fund, I see remaining installment as 41. So would there be any loss/charges if I stop this SIP in the middle (In my statement for this fund I see following: Load Structure: w.e.f 03/08/2009 Entry Load – NIL; Exit Load: Nil )
Thanks,
Ankit
Thanks Ankit.
There are no charges for SIP cancellation.
Capital gains tax liability and exit load implications arises only at the time of redemption of units.
How can we redee an ELSS.. i think they hve a lockin period of 3 yrs!?
You can’t. You have to wait for 3 years.
Dear Deepesh,
During purchasing MF DIRECTLY, we have to purchase at a higher NAV. Even the MF purchased DIRECTLY is beneficial over the MF PURCHASED REGULARLY?
Debnarayan
Yes Debnarayan.
The NAV of direct plan is higher because it provides better returns. Both regular plan and direct plan started at the same price on January 1, 2013.
Direct plan offer better returns despite a higher NAV.
Suggest you go through the following post.
http://www.personalfinanceplan.in/mutual-funds/nav-of-direct-plans-is-higher-than-regular-plans-of-mf-schemes/
Hi Deepesh
Great article.Thanks
Thanks Sharanu!!!
Please do share the post on social media pages.
I am an investor who is planning to invest in the market.
i have been burnt by attempting to invest direct in stocks which is when I started thinking about mutual funds.
My understanding is that the that the whole point of investing in mutual funds is to lets the experts (fund managers) manage your investments, since the investor may not have the time or expertise of tracking the market.
Now it seems that there are advisors for investing in mutual funds as well ! Isn’t that that having a runner for a runner when the batsman is injured?
I understand that mutual funds are generally focused on specific segments and an investor ideally should diversify his portfolio which is where he may need help in deciding which funds to invest it.
Can you help me understand how involved would the SEBI RIA be?
For example if based on the initial recommendation if a fund is not performing well after certain duration of time, would the SEBI RIA reach out to me and suggest changing it?
I am very much in favor of going for Direct Plans but not able to weigh the disadvantages of not having an expert for ongoing advice and recommendation
Dear Sneh,
At the outset, I must say you can expect my answer to be biased.
You are right. Not everybody needs an advisor. Many can do without one. Suggest you go through the following
http://www.personalfinanceplan.in/opinion/do-you-need-a-financial-planner/
Many can even do without a fund manager i.e. investing in stocks directly. I know people who scoff at those who invest in mutual funds.
In my opinion, a good advisor can add greater value than picking the right funds for you. And “Right” does not mean the best performing fund. It is about structuring a portfolio and picking the right type of fund in line with your goals/requirement.
For instance, I have seen portfolios with only mid and small cap funds.I have seen portfolios with over 50 funds. I have seen investors who consider 1 year as long term. Someone asked a few days back, “Sensex has gone up for the last two days but why my debt funds are down. Those should be up too. He was an investor for 25 days in the market”
Not difficult to see that such investors can do better with advice. A good advisor can help you tide over indecision.
A good advisor can help you with investment discipline and review/rebalancing.
So, it depends on the investor. You, as an investor, must make the choice.
Personally, I feel runner is not the correct analogy.
Before the advent of technology platforms, advisors could also help on operational front. However, I don’t see much value add from advisors on operational front now.
Think other aspects we have already discussed over phone.
Hope the answer helped.
Good luck!!!
hello sir,
Very nice article. thanks for wonderful information. i will share this information on social media
Till now i was using icici direct portal and was purchasing only regular mutual fund plans being unaware of direct mutual funds plan. I had invested in hdfc balanced fund(regular plan) few days back and icici balanced advantage fund(regular plan) few days back and also i have started SIP(only 1 installment paid) in various equity funds(regualr plan)
Now since i came across this knowledge,i registered for mutual fund utility website and got my CAN number.
Now what should i do?
Shall i hold for 1 year and then switch to direct plan (do short term capital gain apply and exit load apply)?
shall i immediately switch to direct plan?
shall i stop SIP(regualar plan) and hold those units for 1 year and start fresh SIP(direct plan)
Thanks Prakash.
First of all, stop any further investments in regular plans.
Hence, stop any SIPs in regular plans.
Start fresh SIP in direct plans.
For the existing investments, you can hold for 1 year and then switch (or you can switch right away if you are not making a profit).
For equity funds, holding for less than year will result in short term capital gains, if any, on redemption. For exit load, you need to check for every scheme. Typically, it is 1% if you redeem within 1 year and nothing after that.
Thank you so much sir for your reply.
Sir, one more thing i was confused about is that when i logged onto individual AMC website, my email was not updated as per my KVC details.
Also multiple KYA like CAMS, Karvy, and CVL are there, what is there role.
Do i need to submit KYC form in all of these to access all AMCs?
Your e-mail is not captured or the e-mail is not updated?
Happened with me once. I simple created a transaction from MFU in that folio. E-mail id automatically got updated.
What about other AMCs?
You need to update KYC at a single place. Will be updated automatically at other places.
CAMS and Karvy do back office work for AMC. AMC may not have office in every city. CAMS and Karvy provide them local presence.
CVL is a KRA for KYC purpose. Btw, you can do KYC at CAMS/Karvy offices too.
Well written. However, I have personally seen and my personal experience is if we are going through direct plans, it becomes like a stock trading and its almost impossible to hold back when market is falling. In today’s time, people have herd mentality, if they read two news channel showing market will fall, a person would end up selling it.
Thanks Tejas.
I agree with your point to an extent but this does not happen with everyone.
Hi Deepesh,
I switched most of my regular plans to direct plans in July 2016.
Do they come under the ambit of LTCG tax, if imposed in budget 2017?
Regards,
Hi Srinivas,
Let’s not speculate.
Unlikely that the regulation will be retrospective. If such change is made, it should come from FY2018.
Dear Srinivasa RAo,
Kindly suggest how you change regular plan to direct plans.
Pls.tell process.
Hi Deepesh,
Very useful article.Lot of new info for me. I am a retired person.Want to move around Rs.50 lac from bank FDs to MFs immediately. I am attracted to direct plans but can not do much running around.I am based in Andheri,Mumbai. How should I go about it. Kindly suggest alongwith names of MFs.
Regards,
Thanks Mr. Gupta.
If I may ask, why do you want to move Rs 50 lacs from FDs to Mutual funds?
I read your article and infact best article which has explained with examples n fully informative.
I have a SIP of Rs.10000/month going on for the past two years. I invested around 12.5lacs in MFs recently through an agent. I want to invest a lumpsum amount of Rs35lacs. Since the money is big, despite having read multiple articles on MFs and tracking there performances throu net, I was little apprehensive doing it myself. what if select funds and don’t know to re-balance at the right time, etc. So, I have already approached a financialadvisor(Finmitra) for portfolio planning.
What I want to know is, say I continue with them for few years (3-4yrs), and then switch to Direct plans,
1. how tedious it would be?
2. what are my loses, will i loose too much?
3. I am not worried about lock-in period since my invts are for long term…10yrs?
4. Can I go ahead with this plan or abandon the planner and start looking for RIA?
4. My SIPs are in Equity and two years old, so can I start converting them to Direct plan systematically?
Please advice…thank you
Dear Yavika,
If you need a financial planner or RIA now, you will need them later.
Don’t think that it is a one-time activity. There is enough noise around to keep you confused on a regular basis.
The cost of a poor financial decision is likely to be much higher than the cost of an intermediary/advisor.
Moreover, financial planner is a very loose term.
If you are ok with investing in regular plans, suggest you work with a MF distributor.
If you want direct plans and save costs, go with a RIA. Will be a good choice to go with a flat fee model (rather than those that charge asset linked fee).
Please understand I am a RIA too. Hence, I may have vested interested in asking you to seek services of a RIA.
Now to your questions.
1. Not much of an effort.
2. What losses?
3. ok
4. answered above
5. You will have to stop SIP in regular plan and restart in direct plans.
Thank you for the prompt reply….I will look for a RIA in my area first. If I don’t find one, then I’ll go with Regular plan for 3yrs and later as and when I learn/understand better about MFs, I may switch to Direct plans. That should be fine I hope!
By loses, I meant LTCG tax…but at present, all my MFs are Equity ones. As far as I understand, there will not be tax deducted. But still I want confirm if there would be any LTCG tax incase I redeem my SIP/lumpsum after the lock-in period?
thank you and regards.
LTCG (holding period > 1 year) on equity mutual funds is exempt from income tax.
Hi Deepesh,
I need some advice from you. I am 30 years old. I am investing in following MF(s) but in regular growth plan through ICICI Direct.
1) ICICI PRUDENTIAL FOCUSED BLUECHIP EQUITY FUND – GROWTH (For last 5 years – SIP Monthly 1000)
2) SBI BLUE CHIP FUND – REGULAR PLAN – GROWTH (For last 1 year – SIP Monthly 1000)
3) Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund – Regular Plan Growth Option (For last 1 year – SIP Monthly 2000 .. recently increased to SIP 5000 for last 2 months)
4) AXIS LONG TERM EQUITY FUND – GROWTH PLAN ELSS For last 2 years – SIP Monthly 4000)
After going through several posts I understand that direct growth plan is much better if i can look after my investment myself. Do you suggest me to convert all of them to Direct Plan?
What I think I will face following difficulties:
1) ELSS is 3 years lock in period. What should I do? Also do you recommend me to continue to invest in AXIS LONG TERM EQUITY FUND as it’s CRISIL rank is deteriorated.
2) For Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund, there is no option to invest lump sump amount that will be redeemed from my current investment for the purpose of switching to Direct. Please let me know what do you suggest?
I am thinking about switching the fund only when I do not need to pay Short Term Capital Gain Tax and Exit Load. As it is SIP so, for them I am planning to invest the amount immediately that will not come under Short Term Capital Gain Tax and Exit Load.
Hi Pallab,
If you are a do-it-yourself (DIY) investor, it makes little sense to continue with regular plan. Go direct.
You can switch keeping in mind exit load and STCG tax implications.
Can’t comment on specific funds.
For Mirae fund (with the restriction you specified), don’t think you can do much. You can perhaps setup a STP from regular to direct plan.
Hi Deepesh,,
I started Two SIP each of Rs 1000 in Franklin India High Gr Companies Fund – Gr Plan &BSL Frontline Equity Fund-Gr on Jan 2016. But now I want to stop these SIP. Because these fund are regular fund now i want invest in direct plan in same fund.kindly suggest how can i change regular plan to direct plan.
Hi Krishnan,
How did you start these SIPs?
Hi Deepesh,
First of all thanks for your prompt reply. i had started these sips through broker.
Hi Krishnan,
If you want to invest in direct plans, you need to stop SIPs in regular plan and start in direct plan.
You will not be able to start SIP in direct plan through your broker. You will have to do it online or visit mutual fund or CAMS/Karvy offices.
Please understand “Regular plans” are not evil. A broker/distributor puts in effort to provide you service and deserves to be compensated. The cost of picking up a wrong financial product can be much higher than the distributor commission.
Additionally, he/she can help with picking up the right funds for you and investment discipline. If you think you need such assistance, you may consider sticking with regular plan.
thank you so much
i have two daughter and i’m long term investor (approx.10-15 Years.)my friend met me to broker.
Hi Deepesh I had invested many mutual funds like Reliance tax saver growth fund,IDBI Equity advantage growth fund,SBI Small & Midcap fund ICICi Pru value doscory fund SIP investment and many others also invested in regular plan. I want to switch in direct plan. But I have problem to tracking the fund value and to identify best mutual funds in future in which I can invest. Sir I want to know know best mutual funds having great returns. I want to SIP investment of RS.5000-8000 every month.
Dear Mr. Tyagi,
If you can’t manage portfolio on own and need investment advice, it is better to go through a MF distributor or a SEBI Registered Investment Adviser.
Going direct when you can’t select funds or manage investments can be tricky. Cost of a poor financial product will likely be much higher than cost of advice.
You have two options.
1. Go to a distributor and invest in regular plans.
2. Talk to a SEBI RIA and invest in direct plans.
My Email ID is hgtyagi11@gmail.com
Quick question, since LTCG for Equity MF are tax exempted, do we still need to show the gain in our ITR-2 form?
Yes
Hello Deepesh,
thanks for the detail explanation and its very useful.
I have some doubts in mind for regular and direct MF.
1. I recently start SIP from karvy portal. so i can not start SIP in direct MF from karvu ? right ?
2. I checked http://www.franklintempletonindia.com/en_IN/investor/funds/price-snapshot website where i can see regular and direct MF. so i can buy both from this website ? then what exactly difference in both ?
3. To buy direct MF , everytime I need to go to related MF house site and buy ?
Thanks,
Gaurang
Hi Gaurang,
You are welcome.
1. I have not tried Karvy portal. Therefore, can’t comment.
2. The difference is in NAV.
3. Not really. There are many portals through which you can invest in direct plans. Suggest you go through the following posts.
http://www.personalfinanceplan.in/mutual-funds/invest-online-in-direct-plans-of-mutual-fund-schemes/
http://www.personalfinanceplan.in/mutual-funds/how-to-register-with-mf-utility/
Even apart from portals mentioned above, there are many portals that let you invest in direct plans. Do note there will be cost involved in investing through such portals.
Hi Deepesh,
Thank you for sharing such a good knowledge here!
I already have investments in direct plan. However, I am now having inconvenience trying to find a dashboard like feature to view my complete portfolio since the funds are spread across CAMS/Karvy.
Can you shed some light if any online portals are available for direct investors to track portfolio and perform transactions, even though paid?
Thanks
There are 40-50. Please search on the internet.
I do not have any view on any of the portals. Therefore, wouldn’t mention names.
I use MF Utility but the presentation is quite basic. You may not like it.
Btw, you can download statements and upload on ValueResearch website. That should give you good enough presentation and data analytics.
Hi Deepesh,
Thank you for your inputs here.
Can you please suggest how do I get access to MF Utility? I don’t see any registration page there.
Thanks.
Hi Prabhu,
Please go through the following post.
http://www.personalfinanceplan.in/mutual-funds/how-to-register-with-mf-utility/
Hi Deepesh,
i have been reading your articles and it was very nice , And thanks for sharing such valuable information for all. . i have few queries . could you please help me out.
i have Icici direct account but if i will invest on MF from icicidirect that would be regular plan.So,i want to invest in direct plan. for Example SBI blue chip
1)Can i see all the information regarding the SBI MF i select in the the http://www.sbimf.com (AMC).
2)Can i able to stop my SIP in mid (planned to invest for 2 years and want to stop after 1 year) and redeem.?
3)Can i able to switch to any other plan in SBI MF in its site.
4)Can i link my bank account number to AMC site and do all things online.
please correct me if i am wrong .
thanks
Thanks Yudhistir. Please share the post with your friends too.
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Yes
Hi Deepesh ,
Thanks for your prompt reply.I will definitely advice my friends to follow up these articles.
i have few more queries regarding MF. Please guide
i want to invest through MF Utility .
1) Is it purely online service. i don’t want to reach any office as i have all documents ready to process online/send Online.
2) CAMsOnline/karvy/MFUtility which one will be good to carry on?
3) Is it safe to invest through MF Utility for future perspective ?
4) If you have some demo presentation to open account in MF Utility through Online ,please share.
5) According to you which will be best 5 mutual funds to invest currently.
thanks
Hi Yudhistir,
1. Suggest you go through the following post.(www.personalfinanceplan.in/mutual-funds/how-to-register-with-mf-utility/)
2. Your choice. I use MFU (https://www.personalfinanceplan.in/mutual-funds/list-online-direct-plan-platforms/)
3. What do you mean by safety? If you are talking about investments, your investments are not going anywhere even if MFU were to shut down.
4. Please refer to (1). Do not have demo. Steps are described in the post.
5. I am bound by SEBI RIA regulations. Can’t offer advice without risk profiling and suitability analysis. Therefore, offer such services only on a professional basis. Please refer to Offerings Section on the website.
Hi Deepesh,
Thanks for the informative and valuable article.
I am new to mutual fund investing, and has purchased just one ELSS through ICICI direct till now, and want to invest in Balanced mutual funds through direct plans.
So, for instance, if I have to invest in HDFC Balanced fund, so, should I buy it from HDFC Mutual fund website ?
I read some articles online, but still I am not sure, what does individual fund house means, and how we can purchase mutual funds from them.
Hi Jitendra,
You are welcome. Please share the posts with your friends too.
There are multiple ways of investing in direct plans. You can do it through AMC website.
You can invest through MF Utility. or you can try out many portals that let you invest in direct plans.
Suggest you go through the following posts.
https://www.personalfinanceplan.in/mutual-funds/list-online-direct-plan-platforms/
https://www.personalfinanceplan.in/mutual-funds/how-to-register-with-mf-utility/
https://www.personalfinanceplan.in/financial-planning/demo-how-to-purchase-mutual-funds-through-mf-utility-website/
HDFC Mutual Fund is an AMC or the fund house.
Thanks for the prompt reply.
I’ll check the links that you mentioned..
Hi Deepesh,
I am a new investor in mutual funds and started in direct plans for long term SIP and now thinking to do more investment in lumpsum.
My concerned is, if after certain period of time suppose my mutual fund is not performing well then what action i need to do
Hi Suneil,
Difficult to comment.
Equity funds are long term investments. You need to put short term under-performance behind you.
I prefer to give my investments a long rope.
However, if you feel the there is reason behind underperformance and the poor performance will continue, you can exit.
Hi Deepesh,
My financial adviser has started SIPs in following REGULER funds:
HDFC Prudence Fund (G) 3000/- per month
Reliance Retirement Fund – Wealth Creation Scheme (G) 4000/- per month
Birla Sun Life Bal. 95 Fund (G) 3000/- per month
ICICI Prudential Savings Fund (G) 10000/- per month
Please advice if the selection of fund is appropriate or not as I am looking for 3 lacs with short period of time. Also do I continue with him or switch to investment in direct funds?
Thanks & Regards,
Hi Jigar,
It is unfair on my part to comment on someone else’s product choices.
He/she may have made recommendations after knowing much more about you.
If the investment horizon is short term ( What is short term for you), then you should not invest in equity funds.
You have a retirement fund too. Please consult your requirements again with your adviser.
Hi Deepesh,
i have opened account in MF Utility. But i am not seeing any direct schemes . for amc like sbi,birla,DSP,Axix there are no direct plan. Could you suggest why is that so? shall i open in amc site directly?
thanks
You have to select Direct on the purchase page.
Suggest you go through the demos on the following page.
https://www.personalfinanceplan.in/financial-planning/demo-how-to-purchase-mutual-funds-through-mf-utility-website/
I want to invest in the DIY way.
Is it a bad idea for me to invest lump sump amount, let’s say 1000-5000 in different MF, who are toppers in their category (like large cap/mid-cap/balanced equity and debt oriented ) for 1 year and review their performance before I can make a bigger investment. Meanwhile, I am also browsing the internet for past few months to buck up my knowledge about MF.
I have invested about 1 lakhs in as many as 22 MF this way and monitoring them and haven’t spent anymore from last 5 months.
Will I be able to learn about MF this way or should I go to an adviser? Should my experimental phase be more than 1 year or 1 year is enough to learn with these investments?
Hi Neetish,
22 funds is too many.
If you are willing to put in the requisite effort, you can do without an adviser.
However, you must notice the big “If”.
Learning about investments is not just limited to picking up the best performing funds. It is much more than that.
1 year is a very short time frame. With investments, there are many things that you can learn only through experience.
So, keep at it. Good luck!!!
If you can’t do on your own, it may be a good idea to consult a SEBI RIA.
Hello Deepesh,
I am an active reader of your website & your articles/advices are invaluable for people like me.
I am planning to start investing in SIP through MF Utility platform (Direct Plan MFs) from next month. I have shortlisted some MFs after thorough research & come up with two portfolio options:
SIP amount: Rs 20,000/-. Tenure: 10-15 years.
Option 1:
Scheme Name Category SIP (Rs)
HDFC Balanced Fund Balanced 4,000.00
SBI BlueChip Fund-(G) Largecap 4,000.00
Kotak Select Focus Fund(G) Diversified 4,000.00
Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip-(G) Midcap 4,000.00
Reliance Small Cap Fund (G) Smallcap 2,000.00
Franklin India Smaller Cos Fund(G) Smallcap 2,000.00
Total 20,000.00
Option 2:
Scheme Name Category SIP (Rs)
L&T India Prudence Fund-(G) Balanced 2,000.00
HDFC Balanced Fund Balanced 2,000.00
SBI BlueChip Fund-(G) Largecap 2,000.00
Mirae Asset India Opportunities Fund – Growth Largecap 2,000.00
Kotak Select Focus Fund(G) Diversified 2,000.00
SBI Magnum Multicap Fund-(G) Diversified 2,000.00
Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip-(G) Midcap 4,000.00
Reliance Small Cap Fund (G) Smallcap 2,000.00
Franklin India Smaller Cos Fund(G) Smallcap 2,000.00
Total 20,000.00
Which one is a better portfolio? Or can you suggest any better portfolio? I invest in VPF @ Rs 5000/- per month so I don’t want to invest in debt & Liquid funds.
Thanking you of your advice in advance.
Regards
Locke
Hi Locke,
Thanks for your kind words. Please share the posts you like with your friends too.
I do not comment on portfolios in public forum. Moreover, there are limitations as an Investment Advisor in how I can advise.
As I see, you have tried to choose a mix of balanced/large cap/multi-cap, mid cap and small cap funds. Nice approach.
3-4 should do.
I prefer lesser number of funds in the portfolio.
EPF/VPF is meant for retirement. Liquid funds, you use for short-term savings and emergencies.
Assuming the portfolio is for your retirement, you are going 20K in equity and 5K in debt (~10K if your employer is making a matching contribution). Just ensure if this is the right allocation for you.
Nice article Sir. Thank you.
I had been investing in Mutual Funds through njfundz since few years and its through a broker. There is no visible transaction fee or brokerage so I was always wondering how the brokerage firm makes money. For the experiment sake I started 3 direct SIPs but until I read this article, I was thinking that the NAV is same for both direct and regular plans and now I feel I am a big fool. Now I am going to switch.
I would need one advice from you. Are there direct SWP plans and will they be better ?
Thanks Ganesha!!!
Will appreciate if you could the post with your friends too so that they can also understand the difference.
I am not sure if I got your question right.
Anything that you can do with regular plans (SIP, STP, SWP etc), you can do with direct plans too.
Dear Sir: Thanks a lot for the great stuff and making a eye opener article. actually i was doing all my investments in the Regular funds and was actually wrong reading this all . Now i wish to understand 2 things all thought i am partially clear with that points from your post but still:
1. I have huge investments what i did in last 2 years almost, i wish to switch them to my Direct plan [ From Growth Regular to Direct ] Please guide me if there are any constraints other than exist load (I can wait for the exit load cut-over period to get completed )
2.What should i do, stopping All the SIP immediately and starting with fresh as its been only 2 years.
Please help me out on this.
Thannks
Thanks Anjani.
Suggest you go through the following post.
It will answer all your queries.
https://www.personalfinanceplan.in/mutual-funds/switch-from-regular-to-direct/
Let me know if you still have any doubts.
Why their is difference in return in l&t large cap fund direct Vs regular growth in regular plan 5 years return show 31% and in direct growth plan 15%
Where did you check the returns?
Sir,
I have accumulated 50 Lakh from regular schemes and my my current SIPs are 40K. Kindly let me know how much tentatively I would save if I choose direct route. Agent commission will be saved from new direct SIPs or from already accumulated corpus ? Thanx.
An agent gets paid so long as you stay invested in regular plans and their commission is a percentage of your assets.
Let’s ignore SIPs for now.
Assuming a commission of 0.75% on equity funds (it is likely to be higher), you implicitly pay 37.5K on corpus of 50 lacs per annum.
If this portfolio grows to 60 lacs, you will pay about 45K per annum.
If you are a do-it-yourself investor, switch to direct plans. No point incurring commissions.
If you need advice, you can continue in regular plans or seek advice from SEBI RIA.
Dear sir
I want to start SIP for Tax saving ELSS, can I purchase them directly from fund house ?
can I invest lump sum for Tax saving ELSS as a direct plan ?
Thanks
Arvind
Yes Arvind, you can buy directly from the fund house.
Yes, you can also invest lumpsum in direct plan of ELSS.
Hi Deepesh,
Great information and eye opener. I am investing thr agent and in long term it will hit my return,,
I have two queries if you could answer it please..
1. What would be the best time to redeem from current regular plan to direct plan.. for amount i have already invested and what would you suggest for existing SIP which also via agent ?
2. What you think about investing in index fund..if yes can you suggest which one?
Regards.
Sam