List of Best Equity Diversified Mutual Funds for 2009

POSTED BY Jagoinvestor ON August 19, 2009 COMMENTS (390)

Which is the best Equity Diversified Mutual Fund ? . I am going to list down some of the best Mutual funds which I have figured out from Valueresearchonline.com . I am listing down 6 Equity Diversified Mutual Funds and 3 Tax-saving Mutual funds . I will highlight the main points of Mutual funds like its History , its performance and its Portfolio Allocation.

Best Equity Diversified Funds

These funds are suitable for people who are looking for long term investments and are ready to take the risk of mutual funds .

DSPBR Equity-G

  • 12 year old fund , Return Since Launch is at an excellent : 24.6%
  • Strong 5 yrs return at 33.4% beating its benchmark by impressive 8.4%
  • 50% Portfolio in Small and Mid cap Companies (Risky Fund, with High Potential)

DSPBR Top 100 Eqt Reg-G

  • 6.5 year old fund , Return Since Launch is mind boggling : 36.8%
  • Strong 5 yrs return at 30.6% beating its benchmark by 6% .
  • 80% Portfolio in Large and Giant Companies
  • Looks less risky Fund compared to DSPBR Equity-G

HDFC Top 200

  • 13 year old fund , Return Since Launch is excellent : 25.3%
  • Strong 5 yrs return at 31.8% beating its benchmark by 7% .
  • 65% Portfolio in Large and Giant Companies and 30% in Mid caps . Well Diversified Fund
  • One of the best funds available with long term Track record . Must Have

Magnum Contra

  • 10 year old fund , Return Since Launch is excellent : 27.6%
  • Strong 5 yrs return at 35.86% beating its benchmark by astonishing 11% .
  • 55% Portfolio in Large and Giant Companies and 35% in Mid caps and Small cap .

Reliance Regular Savings Equity

  • 4 year old fund , Return Since Launch is 21% even with the bloody market Crash.
  • Strong 3 yrs return at 21.5% beating its benchmark by 12.5% speaks for its potential in Future .
  • 45% Portfolio in Mid caps and Small cap makes it a Risky and Aggressive Fund .
  • With minimum investment required of Rs 500 , It can find a small corner in one’s Portfolio
  • Only for Risky Investors , Its a new Fund and hence does not have Strong and Long track record like its seniors .

Sundaram BNP Paribas S.M.I.L.E. Reg

  • 4.5 year old fund , Return Since Launch is 22.5% even with the bad markets.
  • Good 3 yrs return at 16.5% beating its benchmark by 7% .
  • With close of 75% Portfolio in Midcaps and Small cap makes its Fund with heart of real Risk takers . Don’t get into this if you don’t like messy markets . It can take your heart our of your body and play hide and seek with it .

You should see this Video to understand how to choose a good mutual fund on your own

If you are fan of Jagoinvestor or Manish , you might like to Fill up the Fan Book

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Best ELSS Mutual funds (Tax Saving Mutual Funds)

These are tax saving Funds , used for saving the tax under Sec 80C upto Rs 1 lac . Suitable for investors who want to invest for long term and also require tax saving .

Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver

  • One of the oldest Tax saving Funds with 10 yrs of Strong Track Record
  • Return Since Launch is 22.3% .Strong 33% return in last 5 yrs beating its benchmark by impressive 6.5% .
  • Very good performance in last 2-3 years in falling markets with 17.3% return in last 3 yrs which is almost double of its benchmark returns .
  • Well diversified amoung Giant , Large and Midcap companies makes its a Good fund .
  • A little aggressive fund with 55% portfolio in just 3 sectors of Energy , Finance and Construction , betting on India’s future ..
  • A very flexible fund know for its adaptability with any situation makes it suitable for every kind of investor.

Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver

  • One of the oldest Tax saving Funds with 16 yrs of Good Track Record
  • Return Since Launch is 15% which is decent enough in such a long term .
  • Very good performance in last 5 years with 30.5% return beating its benchmark by impressive 7% .
  • Mind Boggling 60% return in till date in current year (2009) shows that some great potential is building in this fund .
  • Well diversified amount Giant , Large and Midcap companies makes its a Good fund .
  • High Concentrating in midcaps (around 50%) makes it a risky Fund .
  • Minimum Investment of Rs 500 makes it an attractive choice for Risky Small Investors .

HDFC Tax Saver-G

  • This one is the quite genius who does not shout much about its achievement . Not much appreciated among its peers but has one of the best long term track record which has ability to put all the tax saving funds in shame .
  • One of the oldest Tax saving Funds with 13.5 yrs of excellent track record.
  • Return Since Launch is 34% which is an unmatched achievement in itself .
  • Close to 29.5% returns in last 5 yrs beating its benchmark by 6% .
  • It is now becoming more aggressive by increasing its allocation in Midcap funds .

Note : This is not an exhaustive list of Good funds . There are many good funds which are not here . Its just a Compilation of funds which I personally feel are good ones and have ability to perform in Future . All the funds have high Equity Allocation and can be very risky . You should invest in these only after understanding your Asset Allocation and Risk-appetite to handle the ups and downs of its performance .

I will come up with the compilation of some good Sectoral Funds , Debt Funds and Balanced Funds later . Watch for it ๐Ÿ™‚

Comments Please and let me know which fund is your favorite and why . If I had to choose 1 fund , it would be Sundaram Tax Saver because I did a detailed Analysis of it myself and It went ahead of SBI magnum which had number 1 position from long time .

Source : ValueResearchOnline

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390 replies on this article “List of Best Equity Diversified Mutual Funds for 2009”

  1. Chirag says:

    Hi Manish,

    what are your thoughts about investing in axis long term Equity fund and franklin India taxshield..?

    1. Great funds .. Go with them !

  2. shiva says:

    HI BRO…

    i Love your blog…nice mesgs about life ,money and good things.
    Still those ELSS FUNDS are good in this year also bro.i,e 2016.
    i am looking to invest 2000 per month for tax saving in ELSS .
    Please suggest bro.

    Have a good and health life bro.

    1. Hi shiva

      I can see that you are interested in investing in mutual funds. I want to share that now you can invest in mutual funds with Jagoinvestor as your advisor

      We create a FREE online account for you, from where you can invest and redeem online.

      Our team will be happy to explain you more on this.

      Find more at http://www.jagoinvestor.com/solutions/invest-in-mutual-funds
      Manish

  3. Kiran says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am an NRI and was recently hoodwinked by an HDFC agent into investing in Progrowth Flexi insurance plus investment scheme. I have realised that it is not worth it and would like to surrender it. Could you please recommend equity based mutual funds which can give high returns in long term (10 yrs)? I can take medium to high risk. I would appreciate your resoponse.

    Thanks
    Kiran

    1. HDFC opportunities is one good option !

  4. Kavya Nair says:

    Hi Manish,

    It must feel great to be the top personal finance blogger in the country!

    I am a 33 year old IT professional and have been investing in mutual funds since 2005. My risk appetite is medium to high, while my investment goal is a retirement corpus of 1 crore.
    My portfolio is as below (cost of investment -9 lakh so far)
    HDFC Index Fund – Sensex Plus Plan
    HDFC Top 200 Fund
    HDFC TaxSaver
    HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund
    SBI Emerging Businesses Fund
    SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme
    Reliance Equity Oppurtunities fund

    I am currently investing monthly 20K SIP into Reliance Equity Opp ,another 15k SIP into HDFC Mid-Cap Opp fund and 10k into SBI Emerging Businesses Fund .

    I have 2 questions
    1. If I continue with current SIP pattern for another 5-10 years and then put only 10k into any equity fund , will I be able to achieve my goal?
    2. What do you think of my current portfolio? Would you recommend downsizing of my portfolio?

    Thanking in advance

    Regards
    Kavya

    1. Hi Kavya

      I think one has to spend a lot of time to calculate things .. its a better fit for our Q&A forum – http://www.jagoinvestor.com/forum

  5. Vikram K P says:

    Hi Manish,

    Thank you for mentioning the best Equity related MF under the heading “List of Best Equity Diversified Mutual Funds for 2009”. Request you to provide similar information for 2014. If this information is already published, please provide the link so that I can refer to it.

    Regards, Vikram Premkumar

    1. Will take some time on this

  6. Raj says:

    Dear Manish,

    Thank you so much for quick reply.

  7. Raj says:

    Dear Manish,

    Recently I came to know about this blog & became a fan of your work. I am 35 years old and having two children. My yearly Invstment is as below:

    Rs. 18000/year in Term Insutrance (LIC – Amulya Jivan; Anmol Jivan)
    Rs. 2o,ooo/year in other LIC Policy (Jivan Anand; Jivan Saran; Triple cover)
    Rs. 15,000/year in PPF
    Rs. 16575 / month Home Loan EMI

    Now, I am planning to invest Rs.3000/ month in Mutual fund for long term. can you please advice which MF is suitbalbe for me to invest?

    1. I think you can start with a fund like HDFC Prudence !

  8. Vijaya Kumar says:

    Recently I came to know your blog. Then I got to know lot of things by studying articles one after the other. Now I can say I am addicted to your blog.

    I am 29 yrs. old. I can invest monthly Rs. 4000. So please suggest me a good MF or any other thing for long term investing.

    I need a minimum two from Equity Diversified Funds & minimum one from ELSS Mutual fund. Tell me in what ratio I can relocate the amount. Thanks in advance.

    1. You can invest Rs 2000 in HDFC tax saver and another 2k in HDFC Prudence !

  9. Anubhav Saini says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am a new investor got recently awakened regarding my financial future.

    I am 26, need to spend 2000 in MF’s… My 1st choice is 1000 in HDFC Top 200 (G)
    where should i invest the other half? Or should I split up into 500-500… Kindly suggest.

    Also i invest nearly 70,000 per year in PPF, been doing so for past 3-4 yrs.. Is this investment ok or shall I increase it??

    Best Regards
    Anubhav Saini

    1. Hi Anubhav

      You should not split such a small amount. 1k in HDFC top 200 is fine !

      1. Anubhav says:

        Hi Manish,

        Thanks for your response, I am sorry I couldnt explain properly..
        1. 1000 in HDFC Top 200 and
        2. Another 1000 into some other MF? I was asking about this 1k? Shld i invest 500 x 2 or full 1k in one?

        Regards
        Anubhav

        1. Invest full 1k in another fund

  10. J.Arun says:

    Hi

    I am 28 now and wish to retire by 60 i have made one time investment in uti dividend yeild and brila dividend yeild fund both devidend reinvestment option for rs 60000. my query is that is this two schemes enough to generate a corpus of 5000000 when i am 60 years old ?

    1. No its not enough ..

      1. j.Arun says:

        Hi

        Then please sujest some funds for one time investment for my target

        1. HDFC Prudence is a good one

  11. Kripa says:

    Thanks! Manish
    Noted!
    what money proportion do you think in this?
    regards

  12. Kripa says:

    Hi I am new in MF investment.
    i am planning to invest 4000-4500 per month in MF as per bellow can you please suggest me in this.
    its sufficeant amount in the starting or should i plan 6000-7000pm
    my planning
    HDFC top 200- rs. 1000/-
    UTI Opportunity โ€“ rs. 500/-
    Franklin India Tax shield- rs- 1000/-
    Reliance Equity rs-500/-
    ICICI Prudential focus blue chip rs. 1000/-
    Birla MNC Mid Cap rs. 500/- (confused)

    please suggest + or โ€“ of money investing as above
    Thanks in Advenced

    1. These are all good funds .. I would just say invest in first 3 funds .. thats all !

  13. d.chakraborty says:

    At the very onset, i would like to appreciate your good work in bringing such knowledgeable articles and info to the masses.
    I am very new to the investment world and i have just started saving some money p.m after around a year of working in a private IT firm.I need some help regarding where and how to but MFs.
    I am ready to invest in 4-5 SIP plans of Rs.5000/- from 2-3 AMCs that i have shortlisted after doing some research on the internet regarding MFs.I have a salaried account with icici bank.I can easily start SIPs p.m. auto debit from that bankโ€™s fundhouse.But for the other AMCs, i have a few queries.The queries are –
    1) do i need to open savings acct with HDFC to invest in their MFs ?
    2) I dont want to manage my funds from different directions, so is there a way to invest in other funds from ICICI bank ? can i buy MFs from DSP,reliance,UTI using my ICICI account.
    3) Also i need auto-debit SIP for all the funds from my salaried account.Is there a way to do this?
    4) Also could you enlighten me about the need for demat accounts ? (I have heard that they are not a neccessity for mutual fund investments.Then what is their utility? ) ..

    Your answers would be highly helpful.

    Thanks in advance.

    1. 1. NO , you can invest with an account with them

      2. YEs, thats possible , note that you can also do it with Fundsindia.com , because with ICICI you will pay demat charges + SIP charges seperately .

      3. Yes, thats possible

      4. They are needed to buy SHARES and ETF’s .

  14. Gopal says:

    Dear Manish
    I have SIP 2000 for 20 yrs target and now i want to pour some extra amount on that same Fund and extend that target period to 30 yrs. plz tel me how i can do the same .Is it possible to adjust it in previous folio and how.

    1. No , for that you will have to open another SIP

  15. Mohsin Mirza says:

    Hi Manish,

    I want to invest 8000 Rs per month for 25 -30 years in order to accumulate a.5 crore at the age of 60. Where should I invest? I am a high risk taker. Do have a back with other source of Income. Please give specific fund or policy details

    1. Just invest in equity mutual funds in that case !

      1. Mohsin Mirza says:

        Can u suggest any thing here i.e., which funds. Franklin blue chip has received large vote here. In how many mutual funs I should invest, I am looking for 4 mutual funds. How do i diversify within this funds or do i need to diversify here. I am a guy who invests and forget cant keep track for years.
        Thanks for your prompt reply.
        God Bless

        1. Better invest in just 2 funds in that case

      2. Mohsin Mirza says:

        I was not 5 crore instead 2.5 crore sorry for typing error.

  16. nitin pant says:

    hi manish….
    i m nitin .i m new to mutual fund. i have monthly savings of 15000 RS. plz suggest me some mf for 1 yr and 3yr ….ready to take risk…… i have not invested any where…waiting for valuable advice..
    thanks…

    1. Nitin

      How much drop can you see in your mutual funds?

      1. nitin pant says:

        WELL I HAVE GOALS FOR 1 YEAR AS WELL AS 3 YEARS….SO WHAT EVER BEST U FIND , PLZ SUGGEST…
        WAITING 4 UR VALUBLE REPLY…

  17. anoop singh says:

    thanks manish for guiding me with a suitable reply, can you recommend me some good equity diversified funds.. how about HDFC equity funds, and how much money should i invest and for how long,
    thanks.

    1. anoop singh says:

      waitng for ur reply…..

      1. HDFC Prudence or HDFC top 200 are good funds , you can invest as per your capacity into these funds for long term like 10 yr

        Manish

  18. anoop singh says:

    hi manish,
    my name is anoop singh from lucknow,U.P. my request is to guide me on my financial plannings. i am a private sector employee, and my earning is about 3 lac/ p.a.i am 29 yrs old and recently got married in april,and live in my parents house.

    i have insurance in LIC india( money back ) sum insured is 1 lac, strated in 2004, p[remium-2720/quarterly

    onother policy in max new york life(life gain plus) sum insured is 3.2 lac started in 2006.- 1250/p.m

    policy with met life (metlife smart gold) sum insured is 1.2 lac started in 2008- premium-6000/ half yearly

    max new york life(six year term pay) sum insured is 4lacs started in 2012- premium – 10654/ quarterly

    recently i have invested in three mutual funds scheme in april.
    reliance gold fund -1000/p.m
    HDFC top 200-1000/p.m
    HDFC mid cap opportunity- 1000/ p.m.

    plase look at my portfolio and guide me for investing as i can invest rs 2000/pm more on mutual funds.
    also i have taken icare-term insurance plan from aegon religare ,yesterday,for an annual prium of 6740/p.m. &now as i wish to surrender/ switch from metlife insurance policy.which are the good funds where i can get maturity benefits also..
    i,ve just got married last month, please advise me for my current portfolio…

    thank you
    anoop singh
    mobile no: 91-8400254124

    1. I think you should first stop all the junk policies , then you should go ahead with your plan of investing in those mutual funds , but in that I can see that HDFC top 200 is one good fund which can be appropriate for you , but other funds are not that known or suiting your situation at the moment . Just go for one or two more equity diversified funds only.

      Manish

  19. Amol Limaye says:

    Hi Manish,

    i am 34 now and married,having a homeloan of 15 lakhs.
    My plans will be:-
    1) Repayment of loan within 5 yrs.
    2) Child education and marriage
    3) Good corpus at the time of retirement(may be around 7-10 crore)

    Current income : 80000
    investment : 100000( LIC)
    Recurring deposit : 10000 ( Per month)

    Please suggest me what will be good investment and which is product i can look for
    Regards

    Amol Limaye

    1. Amol

      Its too generic information .. but the thing you can do is first get a proper term plan with good cover , chalk out how much you want to prepay your home loan so that it can be closed in 5 yrs and rest just put in Equity mutual funds with long term in view

      Manish

  20. Anil says:

    Hi Manish,
    Currently i am investing on 2 funds as a SIP(2000 each) i.e.
    1) HDFC Top 200
    2) ICICI Bluchip

    I am planning to add 1 more , can you please tell me which i have to take and whether my existing choices(mentioned above ) is good or not?

    Thanks
    Anil
    I

    1. Anil

      In general your funds are good .. but you have better choice in today’s world .. also unless you mention what are your goals and what kind of risk taker you are, its difficult to suggest anything

      Manish

      1. Anil says:

        Hi Manish,
        Thanks for your comment..
        I am 31 now and married,having a homeloan of 20 lakhs.
        My plans will be:-
        1) Repayment of loan within 5 yrs.
        2) Child education and marriage
        3) Good corpus at the time of retirement(may be around 7-10 crore)

        Is it ok to stick with the SIPs for fulfilling all the objectives, or i have to take some other plans.

        Thanks
        Anil

  21. Chandrakant Suryawanshi says:

    Dear Mr. Manish Chauhan,

    First of all thank you very for your intiative to guide peoples for investment planining..

    Right now I am investing in the following funds through SIP route. Please guide me, how far I am correct with these funds…

    1. HDFC Prudence (G) – 1000/-
    2. HDFC Top 200 (G) – 1000/-
    3. Kotak Midcap (G) – 1000/-
    4. Kotak Opportunity (G) – 1000/-
    5. Reliance Growth (G) – 1000/-
    6. DSP BlackRock Equity Fund – Growth – 1000/-

    For long term consistent performance, I Would like to know whether I should continue investing in the above mutual funds or stop some MF & reinvest in the best among the above funds..
    I would like reduce MF quantity to 3 only.. so please suggest the best among the above..

    Please help me to get the right path. By looking in to the market situation its a right time to think for best MF.

    Regards,
    Chandrakant S.

    1. Chandrakant

      Dont invest in 6 funds , just 2-3 funds are good enough

      Manish

      1. Chandrakant Suryawanshi says:

        Dear Mr. Manish,

        Thank you very much for ur quick reply..
        I have started investing in all 6 funds from last year Dec11. Rs. 1000/- each..
        So its right time to choose best 3 funds among 6..
        So please help me among all 6 funds which 3 funds are best to continue SIP…
        Also let me know how i can distribute Rs 6000/ PM in selected 3 funds to distribute the risk..
        Thank you very much in advance..

        Thanks & regards,
        chandrakant S.

        1. Chandrakant

          thats too much thinking .. You need to so little homework to see which of these funds have given better returns in 3 and 5 yrs time frame , which of these have outperformed their peers and benchmark , I would like to you catch the fish , rather than asking for the fish directly . You can do it

          Manish

          1. Chandrakant Suryawanshi says:

            Dear Manish,

            Yes you right i have already reviewed the performance & found the following funds better –

            1. HDFC Prudence (G)
            2. HDFC Top 200 (G)
            3. DSP BlackRock Equity Fund (G)

            Pls suggest your opinion..?
            Thanks in advance..

            regards,
            chandrakant

            1. Chandrakant

              Yea .. these 3 are good funds .. keep them .. just make sure you have a long term view and you dont get distracted with volatility

              manish

  22. BIKASH PAL says:

    Dear Manish,
    I am very new to Investment. I am a service holder. I save Rs.3000.00 per month. I want to invest in some Diversified Mutual Fund (SIP) minimum 3 nos for diversification. Please Suggest me where i can invest .

    Please don’t ignore. I am waiting for your suggestions.
    Thanks a lot.

    1. Bikash

      You can choose HDFC Top 200 , DSPBR top 100 and ICICI Discovery Focused

      Manish

  23. praveen says:

    Hi,
    Dear Maneesh,
    I am new to this area(savings ,investing(i am a born baby for this area))
    My name is praveen ,age 26 and i am earning 32,000/pm.Other then my expenditure I will be remaining with 22000/pm
    I heve a educational lone to clear the amount 6.5lack (with 14% intrest).if pay EMI then i need to pay 15000/pm for six years, then i will be remaining with 7000/pm to save or to invest.pleas give me an idea so that i can clear my lone amount faster, and i can save more. so far i have no idea of savings, investing etc,etc coz there were elders to look after the family now i need to do that job. pleas help me in how to save,invest money so that i ll be verry thank ful to you people,. i am about to start EMI.

    1. Praveen

      Education loan is good debt as it helps you build your career + also gets you tax benefit (interest part is fully exempt) . So you can pay off your loan for 3 yrs in the same way and then later after 3-4 yrs, start paying more of your loan each month to complete it faster .

      Manish

  24. vishal says:

    Hi Manish,

    Could you help me understand which one is best in returns or yeilds
    1) Divident Payout or 2)Divident Reinvest (growth)

    I had invested thru SIP for 6 months , 5000 each month in HDFC Tax Saver but have to discontinue as I started EMI for Home Loan. I again think of starting it with 2000-3000 a month. Should I go for 500 on different days in a month (total Rs.2000-3000) or Rs.2000-3000 on a single date a month. Which will yield more?

    Vishal.

    1. Dividend reinvestment would be better , but why not take “growth” option , which you didnt mention , dont make it too complicated , just start a SIP in HDFC tax saver for 500 or 1000 ..

      Manish

  25. Poornima says:

    hi manish,
    i want to invest in mutual fund for long term . I am new in this field. Can u pls suggest me the best funds available and also the way to invest in the fund.

    thanx
    poornima

  26. Sudhakar says:

    Hi Manish,

    I need suggestion for my MF investement, I am 27 years old.

    1) Short Term 1-2 years, monthly 5k investement, which MF to be selected.
    2) Short Term 10 years, monthly 5k investement, which MF to be selected.

    Thank you
    Sudhakar

    1. Sudhakar says:

      correction to my question

      Hi Manish,

      I need suggestion for my MF investement, I am 27 years old.

      1) Short Term 1-2 years, monthly 5k investement, which MF to be selected.
      2) Long Term 10 years, monthly 5k investement, which MF to be selected.

      1. Sudhakar

        For short term you need to be in some debt fund or pure MIP (growth) option . I have done a post on it , have a look

        For long term, better be with Equity funds or ETF’s

        Manish

  27. Sudhakar says:

    Hi manish,

    how do you rate HDFC young acheiver periem.
    i am planning to invest 1 lk per year for next 10 years. to build a corpus of 60lk after 15 years for childern education+marriages.
    is this agood product ?

    bye
    Sudhakar

    1. Sudhakar

      Thats 17% CAGR return , who is guaranting it to you ? Its just indicative returns give to you by agent it seems . Why not equity funds

      Manish

      1. Sudhakar says:

        Hi manish
        my plan is to put 1lk for 10 year, after that 5 years in sleep mode. so end of 15 years , it can build corpus of 50 lk-60 lk . which can be use for retirements plan. i do have other mutual funds investemsnt also. but just wanted to go to ulip as long term results would be more..

        is this fine?

        1. thats ok , but its coming to 17% return , how will you get 17% return ? Who is guaranateeing you those kind of returns ? Or are you taking that 17% as a “sure shot” thing

          Manish

  28. Ram Goyel says:

    Manish – great website, kudos to you!

    I followed your advice last year and started a SIP of 4,000/- each in Birla Sun Frontline Eq – A, HDFC Top 200, Reliance Rel Sav Eq and DSPBR Equity fund – all growth.

    With a view of 12 years, should I stay with the Reliance Rel sav and DSPBR equity since their returns have not been very good and shift to any other fund like DSPBR Top 100 or Franklin India Bluechip?

    Thanks for your advice.

    1. Ram , I can see you asked the same question on the forum , it will be answered there ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

  29. Ahmad Zaib says:

    Hi Manish,
    Excellent articles on finance and savings!

    One thing which I’d like to add here is that this article is more than 1.5 yrs old (approx.).
    I thin kyou should update this article for newcomers on your blog, so that they get to know the latest status of mutual funds.

    Thanks and all the best in future.

      1. Ahmad Zaib says:

        Thanks Manish!

        You are fast… ๐Ÿ™‚

  30. rajesh kumar says:

    Hi Manish,

    i am 46 yrs old, i am looking for an SIP policy of Axis bank. Is it correct option. if i take axis equtiy fund of Rs.1000/- per month. i can take moderate risk can u please suggest me which mutual fund will suits my requirement.
    Thanks in advance

    regards
    Rajesh

    1. Rajesh

      There is nothign like “SIP policy” , It means investing in mutual funds monthly , thats all . Axis equity funds might not be the best option , you already have long term winners in market m go for those .

      Manish

  31. hi Manish, i want to know about SBI’s SIP……..
    how is it performing and all……….plz advice whether its worthwhile for conservative investors to invest in it……are there chances of capital loss in it?

    1. Shilpa

      SBI is the AMC name , it has 100’s of mutual funds , what is the exact name of the mutual fund ? You can understand how is it performing by looking at its 5yr , 3yr and 1 yrs returns at valueresearchonline.com .

      Definately there are chances of capital loss as equity mutual funds are risky and have high risk/return .

      manish

  32. Balbir says:

    I know it is silly but it asking silly question is not crime here ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Return of the mutual fund (after 3 or 5 years) are taxable?

    I got while while money (after paying tax on my income) then I invested 1 Lakh in the mutual fund, and after five year it is 1.5L (guess) then I will have to pay income tax to 1.5L lakh again? or is it just 50K (1.5L – 1L) on which I would have to pay the income tax?

    Kindly clarify ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. balbir

      At present there is no tax on equity mutual funds profit after 1 yrs , but frmo Apr 2011 , that will change and you have to pay tax ๐Ÿ™‚

      You have to understand a simple thing for taxation , tax is applicable on your earnings for a year, how it happens does not matter ๐Ÿ™‚ . So if you earn Rs X in some year, you have to pay tax on that .

      manish

      1. Balbir says:

        Thanks Manish ๐Ÿ™‚

        I was treating it like Fixed Deposit where I have to pay income tax only on the fixed profit after the maturity and not on the capital. I guess it happen as the TDS.

        Hmm, Mutual fund doesn’t work on this way.. I am thinking if I get 15% annualized return over a period of 5 year then I will have to pay 10% absolute income tax (based on tax slab I am). So My Net profit is just 5% ๐Ÿ™

        or I am calculating it wrong?

        1. Balbir

          No you pay tax only on the profits, so if you pay 10% tax , then 10% of 15% is gone and you get 13.5%

          Manish

  33. sachin says:

    HEY EVRY1
    ISNT D TAX SAVERS GOING TO B EXTINCT
    THEY ARE NOT LIKELY TO CHANGE THE DRAFT..
    ESPECIALLY NOT THIS PROVISION!!!
    SO WHY INVEST IN TAX SAVERS SPECIFICALLY???

  34. Swetha says:

    Hi Manish,
    You blog is really helpful to a newbie investor like me.
    I have a query:
    I usually break up the 1-lakh investment in this fashion:

    ULIP – 30,000 Rs per year
    Insurance policy – Premium of 4,000 per year
    I have also opted for Voluntary provident Fund (that is, I contribute the same amt as my company does, comes under tax benefit)
    I invest the rest in PPF to round off to Rs.1 lakh.

    I hear from people that ULIPs are not an intelligent option of investment. I have an option of choosing not to invest after 3 years or can invest up to 5 years and then discontinue. Which one do you think is better?

    Also, I would like to invest about 15-20K in open ended MF thro SIP. Which one is good to go for Considering medium – high risk? Looking at a horizon of 5-10 years. And growth or Dividend reinvestment?

    Also, I hear ppl saying that that tax saver MF dont perform like non taxer saver ones. I feel this is a myth. Let me know if this is true.

    1. Swetha

      ULIP’s are not suitable option given their charges and complexity , if one wants to invest anyways , one should choose a low cost ULIP and invest for long term like 10-15 yrs , one should not invest for 3-5 yrs , that only brings up the cost .

      For SIP in mutual funds you can look at HDFC Top 200 , DSPBR top 100 and Birla Frontline equity as some options .

      Tax saving funds are good options because you save some tax through them , otherwise they should perform in the same way, some study might be required to get into details

      Manish

      1. Swetha says:

        When you say “one should choose a low cost ULIP and invest for long term like 10-15 yrs , one should not invest for 3-5 yrs ”
        Do you mean that i should discontinue paying 30k every year from 3rd yr onwards and stay invested and not exit this for 10 years?
        Or do u mean pay every year for a time frame of 10 years?

        1. sachin says:

          hahaha
          pay every year.

        2. SACHIN says:

          KEEP ON IVESTING IF YOU HAVE THE SPARE MONEY
          ULIPS LIKE UTI,ETC GIVE GOOD RETURNS.

        3. Shweta

          Would be better if you pay for whole 10 yrs . continue it as most of the cost has been paid already by you .

          Manish

  35. Raghu says:

    Hi Manish,

    i am 28yrs old and working as a software engineer, i am looking for an insurance policy risk cover around 50Lac along with good returns. but i read online that take a term policy and invest the rest of the amount is better.. is it correct option. if i take term policy can i invest rest the amount in mutual funds. i can take moderate risk can u please suggest me which mutual fund will suits my requirement.
    Thanks in advance

    regards
    Raghu

    1. Raghu

      You should go for pure term insurance and invest rest in good funds like HDFC top 200 , HDFC equity , DSPBR top 100 or Birla front line

  36. Balbir says:

    I am planning for a SIP of Nifty Junior BeES (http://www.valueresearchonline.com/funds/fundanalysis.asp?schemecode=1545)

    But I am not sure how to buy it offline and initiate a SIP. Fund details in value search says ‘NO’ for SIP option.

    Do I have to buy it using my trading account (SBI CAP SEC) online every-month?

    1. Balbir

      Its an index fund , I am not sure of the option it gives for SIP , but there are sites like fundsindia.com which an help you set an SIP in an index funds , check with them ,

      Manish

  37. Amey says:

    Hello Manish…..
    I earn 4lakh pa.I want to invest short term for 2 years up top.What do you suggest in this scenario.My first objective is to save tax but I would like to do some smart investments.I have a good risk appetite

    1. Amey

      There is no short term investment for tax saving and if there is , its for minimum 3 yrs and also risky in nature . So you have to understand that great return with minimum risk comes from long term investments only .

      You can invest in Debt funds for short term like 2 yrs

      Manish

      1. Amey says:

        Thank you for replying so quickly.The thing is I will go abroad for higher education in 2 years , so all that I’m concerned first is to save tax and second to get acquainted with the financial world. Can you please suggest me what measures can I take to save tax for the next 2 years

        1. Amey

          If you are on higher education , then you will not be earning , then why do you want to save tax for next 2 yrs, because you will not have to pay income tax anyways ?

          Manish

          1. Amey says:

            I did not get you Manish.Right now I’m working for a MNC and I will have to pay tax accordingly.I will tell you my objectives.I come from a engineering background with zero knowledge of financial world.But when my first salary got taxed I started reading up on this.So come today first things I want to do is if it’s possible do short term investment which can increase my total cash for doing my masters.This short term period is of 2 years.If I cannot do that then take sufficient measures to save tax for the next two years.So I would like to know short term investments to save tax.

            1. Amey

              OK , I got it now , I actually thought that you are already doing studies, but now realise that you want to go for higher studies in 2 yr .

              Now , coming to the point , If you want to invest any money to save tax , that money will get locked for atleast 3 yrs , not less than than . And instruments which are for 3 yrs like Mutual funds or ULIP are risky investments ,so if you want to do safe investment for tax purpose you will have to lock in your money for long, atleast 5 yrs (tax saving FD) .

              There is no instrument where you can do tax saving and also get the money back in 2 yrs .

              Manish

            2. Amey says:

              Manish if let’s say I want to invest 36k in something as a risk which can give me good returns with no intentions to save tax.What do u suggest

            3. Amey

              Again your level of risk is not defined here, how much aggresive can you become, you can invest directly in some stocks or go for midcap/small cap/sectoral mutual funds .

              Manish

            4. Amey says:

              Pardon my lack of knowledge about this domain, but I’ll say I’ve average risk ability to transfer it in equity I would like to invest 50K as risk in the market.Now wat do u suggest

            5. Amey

              Go for some Balanced fund then , have a time horizon of 3-5 yrs and expect around 12% CAGR , DSPBR balanced and HDFC Prudence are good ones .

              Manish

            6. Amey says:

              You have been of great help Manish.I’ve decided to invest in HDFC Prudence as my risk venture.FOr my Tax savings I’m thinking of going with DSPBR Tax Saver and deciding between HDFC Tax Saver or Templeton

  38. v-2sahb says:

    Manish

    Firstly, god bless you for the great job you are doing my friend by educating people about investments.
    I will be 24 in Dec and will be planning to save for my marriage. (I have an education loan I need to repay first which should be over by then).

    Can you advise me the best way to save/invest money for the duration of 3 yrs:-
    13K p.m. for 1st yr
    17K p.m. for 2nd and 3rd yr
    with assured returns after three years.
    I do not expect high returns so my risk appetite is very less (Max 10% on equities) for this saving/investment.
    Please keep in mind, I would need to take out all my money after the period of three years.

    Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

    JI Admirer
    v-2sahb

    1. v-2sahb

      Basically your first priority is no-risk product . With the time horizon of 3 yrs the best thing which would work for you would be RD (recurring deposit) + Debt oriented funds .

      So you should put 50% of your money in RD each month and 50% in debt oriented funds which dont have more than 25% of equity, as you will put 50% in these debt oriented funds , your overall equity exposure wont be more than 12.5% .

      Check my article on Debt oriented mutual funds in archives section

      Manish

  39. Harish says:

    Hi Manish,

    After going through the article and subsequent comments, I have started following SIPs for 10 years.
    1. HDFC Prudence , 3000/- pm
    2. HDFC TOP 200, 1500/- pm
    3. Reliance Regular Savings Equity, 2000/- pm
    4. Sunderam Tax Saver, 3000/-

    I will continue track the portfolio whether it is on right track or not.

    I have tried to mix the portfolio with good of equity, balanced and tax saver funds. It would be great if I have your feedback on above portfolio. Moreover, I’m planning to invest Rs. 5000/- as SIP in few other MFs…hope you can suggest few others MFs apart from above (one equity and one balanced).

    Your feedabck will help me in preparing a good portfoilo.
    Regards
    Harish

    1. Harish

      Tax saver funds are equity funds only , just that they have 3 yrs lock in .

      In your portfolio everything is equity oriented , that is good for return but dont forget the risk , Dont be surprised if you see your portfolio down by 50% in a big crash , are you ready for it ?

      If the answer is no , then you might need to reduce the equity exposure .

      No need to buy more number of mutual funds , 2 is good , just increase the amount .

      Manish

      equity, balanced and tax saver funds

  40. Manish Awasthi says:

    Hi Manish,

    I assisted my collegue and his wife in his Portfolio Creation . They have taken SIP of 2000 each in below funds They can invest of next 7-10 years. I would like to know your Comments on below portfolio. ( Keeping in consideration They married recently and dont have any loan ).

    My collegue’s protfolio :-
    HDFC Top200
    Reliance Growth
    Sundram Tax saver

    His Wife Profolio :-
    IDFC Premier Equity
    Sundram SMILE
    Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver..

    Regards
    Manish

    1. Manish

      Its pretty simple to say that all the funds they have a either diversified pure equity funds . This involved risk , the question is not just if they can get 12-15% return over their time horizon , the other important question is will they be able to bear the volatility which will come along the way .. What if thier portfolio sees a 50% erosion in next 1 yrs due to a severe market crash , will they be intact with their plan .

      Overall just let them know that they are very confident of what they have planned , It should not just be a decision hearing from some one that “Equity should give great returns in long run” , thats very generic and a higher level statement .

      Manish

      1. Manish Awasthi says:

        Hi Manish
        Yes, They are intact with plan and they are confident of what they have planned.

        To be on safer side , I have also added PPF to their portfolio .

        I have one query regarding PPF for my protfolio Will ask in my Next question

        Regards
        Manish Awasthi

  41. Manish Awasthi says:

    Hi Manish,

    I’m looking for 2-3 Aggressive Midcap &ELSS funds for lon term horizon around 10 years. any suggesstion.

    Regards
    Manish

    1. This might help : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/08/list-of-best-equity-diversified-mutual.html

      Also see valueresearch online for mid cap funds list .

      Manish

  42. Aprameya says:

    Hi Manish,

    Thanks so much for filtering out the above funds from the crowd. It really makes it so easy for people like me to make a choice. I have opted for the following 4:
    1) HDFC TOP 200
    2) Reliance Growth
    3) Sundaram BNP Paribas Tax Saver
    4) Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver
    I selected Reliance Growth instead of Reliance Regular Savings Equity based on history though the latter seems to be more attractive from previous few years. Is it ok?

    Cheers,
    Aprameya

    1. Aprameya

      thats a tough thing to tell . both of them are different and such a deep level of analysis is not possible right now due to time contraint . may be you can put the reasons and points on why the Reliance Growth a more attractive one compared to RRSE

      Manish

  43. A S Bhalaik says:

    When should we expect article regarding best mutual funds of 2010?

    1. AS Bhalaik

      Soon ๐Ÿ™‚ . I will do it very soon ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

  44. Jitendra says:

    I want to Invest Rs. 5000 in Mutual month though SIP for long time about 15-20 years, Can you please tell me funds in which i can invest for long period.

  45. Tony says:

    Hi Manishbhai,

    I often visit your site for information. This let me to create an another blog which provides a full list of all available mutual funds in one page with it’s daily NAV. I update this list DAILY with some outsource help from INDIA.

    does this make sense ? it’s at listmf.blogspot.com

    Your blog give a detail analysis and my blog provides a simple full list of all mutual funds in specific currency(INR, SGD etc.) I was wondering if I could link specific schemes to your specific blog posts for details.

    do write me back in my “about us” comment if interested.

    Tony Parera

    1. Tony

      Ya sure , link to me if you wish , no issues ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

  46. Dhanya says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am new to the investment market. I am 27 years of age and married. I am planning to invest via SIPs and shortlisted the following for initial investments of Rs.1000 per fund.

    1.DSP Blackrock Top 100
    2. HDFC TOP 200
    3. HDFC Equity
    4. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
    5. Reliance Growth – Growth
    6. SBI Magnum Contra
    7. Birla Sunlife Frontline Equity Fund.

    Could you kindly let me know how is the list? And any suggestion??

    Thank you.
    With regards
    Dhanya

    1. Dhanya

      All the funds are pure equity oriented, you can cut down the list to 3 funds . Choose funds from different AMC , dont ask me which ones ๐Ÿ™‚ . You can learn about analysis on the blog ๐Ÿ™‚ , there are enough articles , see archives .

      Manish

      1. Dhanya Arun says:

        Thank you Manish.

        The problem now is I feel all of them are good and not able to finalise. Please help. If you had to choose 3 from that list, which ones wud u go for? And are there any schemes that would be beneficial other than equity diversified ones? As mentioned, Im hardly aware of these. Equity diversified growth funds are where I could see most of the people investing.

        Regards
        Dhanya

        1. Dhanya

          I would pick 3 random numbers and then choose 3 funds , because I am as clueless as you are when picking the best 3 , because there cant be any .

          Manish

      2. Dhanya Arun says:

        Ok…let me make another attempt.

        1.DSP Blackrock Top 100
        2. HDFC TOP 200
        3. SBI Magnum Contra.

        Please let me know if this is fine.
        Also I want to invest in 2 tax saving schemes.
        How about Sundaram BNP Paribas Tax Saver and HDFC Tax Saver-G?
        Kindly advice.

        1. Dhanya

          Looks good . Make sure you understand what are contra fund .

          Sundaram and HDFC are good

          1. Dhanya Arun says:

            Hi Manish,

            Thank you. Well, I went through one of your videos on how to select a mutual fund and have zeroed in on the following:

            1. HDFC Equity
            2. HDFC TOP 200
            3. DSPBR Equity ( or is TOP 100 better??)
            4. ICICI Prudential Dynamic

            Tax Saving schemes
            1. HDFC Tax Saver
            2. Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver

            I am also planning to invest some money in PPF.

            How does this sound now?

            Thanks for all this tremendously useful information and especially for the video on how to navigate around valueresearchonline.

            With regards
            Dhanya

            1. Great ๐Ÿ™‚

              Looks good

              Manish

          2. Dhanya Arun says:

            Hi Manish,

            Regarding contra funds, what I understood is that when everybody runs say north, contra funds run south?? It was topping all the lists that I was searching for on the net..thats y selected it. But now not really that enthu abt it.

            All this has really started looking interesting u know….

            Thanks!
            Dhanya

            1. Just make sure you keep learning and you will discover a lot of things .

              Manish

  47. Kaushik says:

    Hi Manish,

    Again a wonderful article. While I believe the list you provided is better and to make it best I would add Reliance Growth Fund to it!. I have been personally investing in it for last 5 years now and I have never repented my decision! I have a confusion though, with MF’s and the returns thus calculated, if you can show some light!!

    As a laymen I take the NAV as my measuring point, not good I know but that strikes me the most ๐Ÿ™‚

    Lets take an example to support my view between two mutual funds: Reliance Growth and HDFC Top 200.

    If I would have invested in 10,000 rupees with Reliance in 1995 (When it started with 10rs/unit) and today with the NAV at 432, my 10,000rs would become 43,200 rs in 15 years.

    At the same time for HDFC Top 200 same 10,000 rupees at inception would fetch me somewhere around 18,300 rupees (today’s NAV 183) in again 14 years (since it started at 1996).

    Now I see a clear difference of around 25,000 rupees between these funds.

    So my question would be, does NAV make any difference as I see above? If yes then why is CAGR for both of them is almost same with around 4% difference only?

    Another big confusing part is it says that Reliance Growth fund (G) gave a CAGR of 29.32% since inception. If I put these figures in a compound interest formula with Principle — 10,000 rupees, years — 15 CAGR — 29.32% and compounded annually, then the actual value of my 10,000 rupees now should have been 4,73,135.40 rupees. But it is only 43,200 rupees now. Why????

    Confused,
    Kaushik ๐Ÿ™‚

  48. Madhu says:

    Hi Manish

    I wanted to invest ELSS MFs. I selected Fidelity tax advantage fund, Canara robaco, HDFC tax saver.
    But am thinking instead of Canara can I go for ICICI tax fund.

    What’s your call on these funds.

    1. Madhu

      I like HDFC Tax saver , SBI , Sundaram , Canara

      Manish

  49. Harikrishnan says:

    Hi,

    I am currently having the following portfolio

    a.) Funds with monthly SIP of rs.3000

    1.)HDFC TOP 200
    2.)HDFC Prudence
    3.)Reliance vision
    4.)Quantum Long term equity fund

    b.)Buying GoldBEES ETF one unit per month

    c.)I heard that Benchmark S&P CNX 500 fund with VIP setup will be good one for long term which i planning to start.

    Pls advise on this.

    Thx
    Hari,

    1. Harikishan

      your investment cant be advised without understanding your requirement and other factors .

      Manish

  50. sachin jobanputra says:

    Hello Manish,

    Have looked into your understanding and its great, and the way ur sharing knowledge is excellent. Thanks for your great efforts.

    I have some MFs (SIP) in which im investing:
    Fidelity tax adv, Fidelity International, ICICI Prud Service, ICICI Prud Infra, Reliance Growth.

    Apart from Rel Growth and Fidelity Tax advantage..none of them are giving good returns.. ๐Ÿ™

    I read your articles for investing..best funds in 2009..suggested by you..

    Would like ur advice, i can afford around 5k permonth to invest in SIP..can u pls suggest some good funds.to invest in.

    Thanks and Regards

    1. Sachin

      How much time have you been investing in ? May be you are looking at their general performance and calling it “Bad” . it might be timing ? What are the returns by their category and peer MF ? If you have invested in last 2-3 yrs , chances are you are sitting on bad returns which is fine .

      MAnish

      1. Sachin says:

        I am invseting from last 03 years now.

        I saw the performance of the all of them on valueresearchonline.

        Fidelity tax adv, Fidelity International, ICICI Prud Service, ICICI Prud Infra, Reliance Growth.

        Found Fidelity International, ICICI Prud Service, returns are below average.

        Can i continue investing in remaing ones, and can close the above 2…?

  51. SHILPA AGARWAL says:

    Hi Manish this is Shilpa Agarwal, BBA final year student making a project on mutual funds….I wanna make a comparison of funds of govt n pivate sectors….plz suggest some fund houses on which i can focus to get d relevant details….
    Regards
    Shilpa

  52. Sanjeev says:

    Hi Mnish,

    What is your opinion on DSPBR Focus 25 fund?

    Thanks,
    Sanjeev

    1. Sanjeev

      Looks good to me , Can be volatile because of concentrated portfolio , can comment more once it hits the markets

      Manish

    2. FOCUSSING ON ‘ALPHA’

      FOCUSSING ON โ€œALPHAโ€

      DSP BLACKROCK has come with a New Fund Offer (other than the FOFs) after nearly 4 years. And it has come out with a Exciting Fund called DSP BlackRock Focus 25 Fund.

      Unlike DSPBR Top 100 Fund which is restricted top 100 companies by Market Cap., this Fund has the entire gamut of stocks to choose from and thus could provide an Alpha.

      The Fund aims to invest the core of the portfolio in Large Caps and balance in multi caps in the Top 200 market cap companies. The Fund Manager has indicated that he intends to have largest exposure to Banking and Financial services as the outlook appears bright for the sector.

      The new DSP Blackrock Focus 25 Fund aims to distill the best of the fund house’s stock picks in a concentrated portfolio of high conviction bets.

      And yes, being a concentrated portfolio, the Fund will have a potentially higher risk/return profile than a diversified fund.

      Surprisingly, the Fund has chosen SENSEX as its Benchmark, whereas BSE200 would have been more appropriate.

      The fund will be managed by Apoorva Shah who also manages two 5 Star Rated Fund, namely DSP BlackRock Equity Fund and DSPBR Top 100 Fund which has been a very consistent performer. A clear reflection of the stock picking ability of the Fund Manager.

      The fund is positioned in between a pure thematic fund and a diversified fund.

      It is a known fact that concentrated portfolio mutual fund schemes often produce outstanding results. These funds tend to raise and fall more than the market and other diversified equity funds.

      RECOMMENDATION :

      While on the face of it, the Fund looks to be a Double Edged Sword, the pedigree of the fund house gives comfort.

      First Time Investors., this Fund is NOT for you. You have better options available.

      Investors with reasonable risk appetite could look at taking a bet in this Fund. The fund has potential for high returns, albeit with high volatality due to its limited diversification and should be avoided by conservative investors. Investing through SIP is highly recommended to get advantage of the high volatility this Fund is expected to have. Avoid Lumpsum investment., unless you are following it up with SIP.

      Ideal for long term rather than short term.

  53. Amol S says:

    Manish,

    Do u know how to find out that a particular MF is investing in Large Cap/Mid Cap/Low cap companies ? they do show which companies they are investing but not seen a clear word about large/mid/small cap mutual fund.

    Is there standard(in terms of asset) set for a company to call it as large or mid or small cap

    thanks

    1. For any fund , go to valuereasrch -? Portfolio option of mutual funds , you can see the allocation .

      Example : HDFC top 200 : http://new.valueresearchonline.com/funds/portfoliovr.asp?schemecode=104

  54. Kunal says:

    Hi Manish

    as you suggest that in long run choose any fund whose 10+ years return is in top 15 if one want to go strait.

    i found these stats from value research

    Fund : 10 yr return : 10 yr rank
    1) Magnum Contra : 32.63 : 1/39
    2) Tata Growth : 21.81 : 15/39

    1) 24000 Annualy invested for 10 years

    Corpus after 10 yr. : 1545508

    2) 24000 Annualy invested for 10 years

    Corpus after 10 yr. : 829938

    Huge Diffe : 715570

    what you say on this
    how a person choose a fund in this case

    1. You can say there is huge difference because you are seeing this difference after many years , but today you cant say which one will perform better . we can just have a good idea based on their past performance .

      Manish

  55. Kunal says:

    Hi Manish
    I need your expert advice on these points

    I) ———–

    I have started the SIP in Nov 2008 of Rs. 500/- Each per month in following funds through agent with long term horizen (15 Yr. +)

    1) Magnum Global Fund – Growth
    2) Magnum Multiplier Plus Scheme 93 – Growth
    3) SBI Blue Chip Fund – Growth
    4) Reliance Natural Resources Fund Growth Plan – Growth Option ( Growth )

    but now i feel that i should have chosen
    these funds

    1) Magnum Contra
    2) Reliance Growth
    3) HDFC Top 200
    4) Reliance Regular Savings Equity

    should i move to these funds or stay with existing one and what would be the cost
    as mentioned in offer document 1% if exited before 1 year.
    here i have a a confusion
    i) is it 1 year from the start of SIP
    ii) or 1 Year from the each SIP amount (in such case all SIP Amount after Nov 2009 will be charges 1% )

    II) —————-

    I want to start a new SIP for Tax Saving of Rs. 1000/- per month
    want to select 1 out of these.

    1) HDFC Taxsaver-G
    2) Canara Robeco Eqt Tax Saver-D
    3) ICICI Pru Tax Plan-G
    4) Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver-G

    your suggestion ?

    1. Its start of each SIP , each payment is seperate .

      HDFC taxsaver and Sundaram are one i like .

      Manish

      1. Kunal says:

        what about my question no I)
        should i stop my current Mutual fund (Equity Diversified)
        and go for

        1) Magnum Contra
        2) Reliance Growth
        3) HDFC Top 200
        4) Reliance Regular Savings Equity

        awaiting yr reply

        1. Kunal

          This cant be answered in isolation, but the funds which you mentioned later looks good to me .

          Manish

          1. Kunal says:

            Hi Manhish

            pl find te details of investment

            Scheme |Last Price |Quantity |Inv. Price |Overall Gain |Gain% |Latest Value
            Reliance Natural Resources (G) |9.96 |1116.788 |8.06 |2,119 |23.54 |11,119
            SBI Blue Chip Fund (G) |14.27 |857.541 |10.5 |3,237 |35.97 |12,237
            SBI Magnum Global Fund (G) |51.85 |279.135 |32.24 |5,473 |60.81 |14,473
            SBI Magnum Multiplier Plus (G) |77.63 |163.994 |54.88 |3,731 |41.45 |12,731

            please suggest . should i move nad if yes should i use STP or Lum sum redemption and invest in other funds.

            awaiting 4 yr reply

  56. Kavita says:

    Manish,

    I just came across your site two days ago and i have already quite a bit of content through archives, let me compliment you for the excellent blog and the kind of information that you put in sucha simple language so that even people new to investing can understand. I liked all tha calculators that you have put up here.

    I have one question, if I have a lumpsum amount of say Rs 50,000 and i want to invest in MFs only, should i put the whole amount or should i go for a sip and break it gradually

    Another qs is the returns from amutual fund of say 12- 15% or more , does it happen with Dividend option or growth option,

    What are the adavantages and disadvantages of both the options if you can mention.
    Keep up the good work.
    Thanks and Regards

    1. Kavita

      Welcome to the group . regarding your two questions

      1) Lumpsum investment : You should spread your money in many months, the way you do is you put your lumpsum money in a debt fund and start a STP (SIP from debt fund to Equity fund) . That will make sure you you do SIP + some debt returns , look at my STP article , check archives .

      2) Yes , the growth happens in both options ,however the final growth which you will see in dividend option will be less as there is periodic payments in form of divident , look at https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2008/04/mutual-funds-options-growth-dividend.html

      Keep commenting .

      Manish

  57. milind says:

    Manish,

    Continuing to my previous comment one question here :
    I saw one fund DSPBR Equity with both Growth and Dividend option and got surprised. The Dividend option has high NAV value than that of Growth option. Isn’t it little strange. Ideally a Growth NAV is always high(that’s why we call it growth) and Divident is low but with this fund how come dividend NAV is much higher than growth ? Also, is it possible that growth fund and dividend fund has different launch date ? it’s same fund..right For D fund launch date is April 1997 and for G fund the launch date is june 2007. Strange ?

    Please reply
    Milind

    1. Milind

      That can be the case , Dividend option was launched 1997 and the growth option is launched in 2007 . thats the reason .

      Manish

  58. milind says:

    Manish,

    DSPBR Equity-G that you have referred in this article is a growth fund. Just saw on valueresearchonline site and it shows that the fund has launch date is June 2007. You are probably talking about dividend fund which launched on April 1997. Also, by any chance do u know what is institutional and regular plan difference here ?

    Thanks,
    milind

    1. yup

      it was meant to be growth , my bad .

  59. Arindam Mukherjee says:

    Dear Mr. Manish Chauhan,

    Thanks for your caring response. From your site, I have learnt excellent material โ€“ value buying stock based on PE value. You have suggested that must buy when PE value below 11 and must sell when above 25.
    Could we use this measure in investing mutual fund also?

    Regards,
    Arindam Mukherjee

    1. Arindam

      That will be interesting thing to find out !! .. why dont you try out ?

      Manish

  60. Arindam Mukherjee says:

    Dear Mr. Manish Chauhan,

    I have one question to ask you. Please do not ignore it, even it seems to be very silly.

    Right now I am investing in the following funds through SIP route. Please guide me, how far I am correct for my future goal.

    HDFC TOP 200 โ€“ Rs. 2500.00 (For My Son Education โ€“ next 15 Yrs.)
    HDFC Equity โ€“ Rs. 2000.00 ( For Our Medical Expense โ€“ next 10 Yrs.)
    HDFC Prudence โ€“ Rs. 500.00 ( For My Retirement Life)
    Reliance Vision โ€“ Rs. 1000.00 ( Same)
    Reliance RSF โ€“ Rs. 250.00 (Same)
    HSBC Equity โ€“ Rs. 1000.00 (Same)
    Sundaram Focus โ€“ Rs. 500.00 (Same)
    Magnum Contra โ€“ Rs. 500.00 (Same)
    Birla MidCap โ€“ Rs. 1200.00 (Same)

    Ques 1: For long term consistent performance, I had to choose three funds from HDFC without considering diversification of AMC. Is it good or are there any alternatives? Please help me get the right path.

    Regards,
    Arindam Mukherjee

    1. Arindam

      Your funds are good , but its too much diversification . Just HDFC top 200 , Reliance RSF , HDFC Prudence and HSBC Equity was enough. Too much diversification here .

      Will you acheive your goals ? Depends on how much you want to generate ? 12% is the realistic return you should expect .

      Manish

  61. ram says:

    hi Mr manish i want to invest 50,000 rs in mutual funds.plz tell me, is this the right time to invest?which fund is better? i am new to investing, please tell me couple of funds names.

    1. Ram

      for SIP there is no time which is best if you want to do it for long term , choose any funds from this article .

      Manish

    2. Do SIP and choose funds from this article

  62. Prashant says:

    Hi Manish,
    I just investe 15K in 3 funds 5 k each for period of 15-18 years.
    1. HDFC TOP 200
    2.Reliance Equity Advt fund
    3.Birla Sunlife frontline equity fund

    Also i m planning to start the weekly SIP (total 3 k per week) could you suggest good funds for weekly SIP. e.g week 1 of the month will invest 1 funds (2 K ) , week 2 -other fund etc
    Pls suggest me will be work better than monlty (as it will avg the risk better, i think)

    Pls advice on the above.Thank you,

  63. Anuj Joshi says:

    Manish
    110 crores(surprised)…how are you calculating?
    as per my calculation it will come to 1601032…on 10 lakhs @ 4 % per month
    how I am calculating?…10 lakhs take 4 % of that comes to 40K add it to principal comes to 1040000…then taking 1040000 as principal amount you continue…you will end up with 1601032 at the end of 12 months
    Your 60 percent return per year is correct…above example explains that
    By liquidity I mean in stocks and futures I can quick take up short positions and sell my holdings as per market conditions…some mutual funds comes with lock in periods…thats a problem as well.

    1. Anuj

      My bad , Its was not 160 , its was 116 crores and I was talking about 15 yrs period . i just applied simple compound interest formula .

      Manish

    2. Anuj

      My bad , Its was not 160 , its was 116 crores and I was talking about 15 yrs period . i just applied simple compound interest formula .

      Tip : while replying , hit “Reply” button on the comment and then your reply will be just below the comment you are reply and it will be in threaded fashion ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

  64. Anuj Joshi says:

    Hi Manish ,
    Nice to see your prompt reply,Option Trading…well you rarely see people getting successful with option trading…those who claim to be successful(consistent) I doubt their claims.I have never traded in option,mainly because I have seen people sharing their unpleasant experiences.
    People feel that mutual funds always make money in the long term,that may be because economy generally grows at least in certain percentage in 30 years.But dont you think we should see return in not just in absolute way (in money terms)but try to see it relative to time as well?Historically be have seen long extended bull markets and relatively short sharp bear markets…thus the common belief that in long term you make money!!Even if I make returns which are same as mutual fund I would prefer trading because it will offer liquidity to me.Thanks for sharing 25-50 range as average return of traders,from you experience
    6-10 percent per month is excellent…but I would be happy with 4 percent per month as long as it is consistent every month.
    Good luck
    Thanks and regards

    1. Anuj

      4% a month is great , that translates to 60% per annum which is amazing , even this looks very optimistic in long run , as 4% return per month on compounded basis can turn 10 lacs into 110 crores , which looks too imaginary kind of return , I would say 2-2.5% return per month on compounded basis is something a very good trader can target and lesser the target , easier to achieve .

      What do you say ? I didnt understood how big difference is there in liquidity fom trading and mf .

      Manish

  65. Anuj Joshi says:

    Hi Manish
    Great article…even I like to browser value research from time to time and see how mutual funds have performed.I dont own any mutual fund,I am a full time trader,but I use mutual funds as a benchmark for my returs as a trader.
    Is it possible for you to compare returns of mutual funds with individual trader.I can’t get any data for individual traders
    As far as my returns goes they have been quite volatile,but out performed mutual funds in bear market and underperformed in bull market,I guess that the same story with any professional trader
    What ever financial instrument we choose,success ultimately depends on timing the entry and exit.Although it is impossible to find peaks and troughs in markets,but that is what is required for final success.
    I have recently started a blog and this discussion came up,that made me think whether it is right to spend such a lot of time learning trading or just use mutual funds.Although I am a hardcore fan of trading but this thought of average returns seems very interesting
    So what is the average return of a trader ?
    Cheers…

    1. Anuj

      Nice to see your comments on this topic ๐Ÿ™‚ . I traded options for 1.5 yrs and terribly failed ๐Ÿ™‚ . Even though I learned a lot and will get back later , for now i am out of it and I earn much more than I did when I traded , ie : 0 .

      I think the average trader would be making somewhere around 25-50% , and your idea of mutual funds return being benchmark is great . with mutual funds you can make X amount in 30 yrs , with Trading you will be able to make it in 8-10 yrs itself or little early , thats good ๐Ÿ™‚

      I know traders (mid cap stock traders) , who generate 6-10% return per month and thats amazing ๐Ÿ˜‰ . what do you say ?

      Manish

  66. Ramesh Mangal says:

    Hi Manish,
    congratulations and heart-felt thanks your efforts.
    i have some ideas regarding the selection of a mutual fund. One should consider the following parameters:-
    1. the tenure of the fund manager. it is probably not the right thing to consider the performance of an equity fund for a longer term than that of the current manager. he should atleast have 1-2 bull phases and 1 bear phase.
    2. returns since inception is not a good concept. if a fund starts at a low index level and another better fund starts at a higher index level, you may are not be comparing correctly. A 3-year or 5-year or even 10-year return is better regardless of the total return since inception.
    3. the less your active fund is churned, statistically the fund has a better chance of good performance. the idea is the fund manager should be confident of the stocks that he chooses and persist with them for a longer term. im not confident in a fund manager who shows 200-300% turnover ratio. this translates into an average holding period of less than 4-6 months. if even he is not confident of his selection of stocks, my confidence in him is also shaky. moreover, less churning translates into a lesser fund management charge also.

    so for a good fund, there should be long manager tenure, less churning, lower FMC with an above average return preferably.
    e.g. fidelity equity, hdfc equity, templeton india growth,franklin prima plus, etc to name a few.

    what do you think?

    Ramesh

  67. Rush says:

    Hi Manish,
    I am 29 yr old. I am investing about 25% of my annual income now. Is this time good to invest so much? ShouldI wait for some more time or is it OK to invest now? If it is OK to invest now?
    Pls suggest me the best funds to buy at the moment considering their futureperformance.
    Thanks for the suggestions
    -Rush

  68. PR says:

    Hi Manish

    I have a small query. Around a year back, I enrolled for SIP in Sahara Growth Fund. But, now, I see that it is lagging it’s peers in performance by a wide margin. So, now I’m thinking of stopping this SIP and switching to HDFC Top 200 or HDFC equity fund. Is it a good strategy? My current SIPs are in

    1. Quantum long term equity fund
    2. Fidelity Equity Fund
    3. DSP Blackrock top 100 equity fund
    4. Reliance Growth Fund (For having midcap in portfolio)
    5. HDFC Tax saver (For tax saving).
    6. Sahara Growth.

    I would earn a favour if you can comment on it.

    Thanks and the best regards
    PR

    1. PR

      Yes, looks good idea to shift from that fund now . HDFC top 200 is good . Better have just 3 funds. 1 tax saving (HDFC taxsaver is good) and 2 other non tax saving , HDFC top 200 and one more , you can look at a mid cap fund like Sundaram select midcap ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

  69. Tony says:

    Hi Manish,

    I need some advice for my investments. (Age 28)
    My invstments are
    1. SBI Life ULIP 24000 (3-Year lock in Period , Started in 2007 & already paid for 3 years)
    2. SBI Life ULIP 25000 on my wife name (3-Year lock in Period , Started in 2008 & paid for 3 years)
    3. Birla sun life tax relief 96 SIP plan (1000/- montly started in Nov 2009)
    4. LIC Jeevan Astha (36000-/ Paid in 2008)
    5. LIC Market Plus – 1 (3-Year lock in Period , Started in 2010 paid for 1 year now)

    I have two Queries —
    Whethere I should continue with my 1st , 2nd & 3rd ULIP or withdraw from it?
    Also suggest me some good Large Cap MF for investment through SIP as I am totally new to this?

    Thanks in advance..
    -Tony

    1. Tony

      Better get out of ULIP’s if you cant manage it well . 3rd one is a mutual funds , isnt it ?

      You can choose some funds mentioned at this article . No ?

      Manish

      1. Tony says:

        Thanks for reply,
        Yes, 3rd one is MF. & will go for good MF suggested here…

        – Tony

  70. Naveen Mittal says:

    Hello manish,

    I need to invest in mutual fund 10,000 for long term. can you please suggest me which mutual fund i have to invest where i can get maximum return. i am ready to go for high risk.
    And can you please also guide me for a good medical insurance policy for my parents. My dad age is 53 and mom age is 49. i need to pay less premium for this.
    waiting for your earlier response.

    Thanks,
    Naveen Mittal
    09328647199
    2k6.naveen@gmail.com

    1. Naveen

      For mutual funds choose from : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/08/list-of-best-equity-diversified-mutual.html

      For Insurance you can look for apnainsurance.com as it depends on individual need only

      Manish

  71. rajeev says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am a policy holder of icici prudential life insurance.and the plolicy is Lifetime super.
    i am paying a monthly SIP of 3500 to this policy.

    And if i look into my ac on the net it is showing as follows.

    Fund Name NAV (INR) # Units Fund Value (INR)
    Balancer Fund 31.6 2881.51985 91056.0257
    Maximiser Fund 59.21 301.22698 17835.6507

    Total: Rs. 108891.6764

    What are these balancer and maximiser fund?

    One of my friend told ,if you switch it to maximiser fund i will get more returns. IS it true?

    Please guide me whether i should switch my total money to this maximiser fund or not.

    If u advise me to switch it to maximiser fund,which is the best time to switch it to maximiser in the following cases.

    a. When the market is at low levels
    b.OR when the market is at high levels.

    One of my friendadvised me that” post budget the market will go down then u switch it to maximiser so that u will get more returns”IS it true?????
    Please advice me on this confusion.
    Thanks in advance.

    1. Rajiv

      You need to understand ULIPs well . There are differnet type of funds in ULIP which have more equity and less debt (more riskier) and less equity ad more debt (less risky) . so Balancer is less risky and low rewarding and Maximizer is high risk , high rewarding .

      As your friend said , maximizer can give better returns , but at the cost of risk , risk means , it might not happen also . are you ready for it .

      Manish

  72. Rush says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am planning for an investment of about 100K in the next 2-3 months. I have invested in Reliance Pharma, UTI Master Value, ICICI Discovery. I chose to invest in these funds based on their returns in the last 3-6 months. But I feel, I should know how they perform in the future. Please advice me whether to continue investing in the same funds or to start any other. My preference is on high returns. I can take some risks. Time horizon is longer than anyear.
    Thanks for your advice in advance ๏Š
    Rush

    1. Rush

      All of your funds are risker one’s it seems .. 1 yr is a short period and there is a big risk or downturn , just saying “i want high returns and can take some risk” is not good . are you able to take that risk financially ? Can you imagine the situation when you lost 60% of that investment , is that ok ?

      Better choose balanced funds if you cant .

      manish

  73. Vivek Mishra says:

    Hi Manish,

    You site is doing great job for educating new investor like me.
    Yesterday I have taken my first mutual fund HDFC Top 200.
    Please help me to plan my investment in MF
    I have selected four equity MF for 5 years. Please comment on them or suggest better.
    1. HDFC Top 200
    2. Reliance Growth
    3. SBI Magnum Contra Fund
    4. Sundaram Select MidCap(Growth)

    I am 30 year old. I want to invest 4000 every month. Please suggest me which is the best approach to invest, In a month one thousand on each selected MF or invest 4000 in one mutual fund.

    Please comment of NAV of mutual fund. For exanple if a fund have nav=100 and I have invested 10000 for 5 years. Please tell me what would be the MF return after 5 years if nav=100.

    My understanding about MF NAV is, if nav=100 and invested money=10000. I’ll get 100 unit and after 5 years if nav is same like 100 my return would be (number of unit)*NAV. Please comment……..

    Thanks & Regards,
    Vivek

    1. Vivek

      You can diversify your 1k in each of 4 funds you have mentioned . JUst remember and accept the Equity risks .

      Regarding NAV thing , yes your formula is correct . if you have NAV of 100 today and you get 100 units , and after 5 yrs , if NAV is 200 then you get 200 * 100 = 20,000 . But thats not the main thing . what you should ask is what is the actual per year return in percentages . See IRR or CAGR return post on this blog , see search box or archives .

      Manish

  74. Priya Ranjan says:

    Hi Manish

    Excellent site!! Keep up the good work.
    One more excellent fund comes to my mind. that is Quantum Long Term Equity Fund. I am investing in this fund through SIP for 3 years now and it did very well in protecting capital in the crash time. A very very good fund, i must say.

    – Priya Ranjan

    1. Priya

      Thanks for sharing this , I looked at fund and it looks good ๐Ÿ™‚ . not very old though

      Manish

      1. PR says:

        Hi Manish

        I understand that you offer financial planning service also. If that is correct, can you please let me know you fees?

        Best Regsrds
        PR

  75. rajenderballa says:

    .

  76. Prabhat says:

    Hi Manish,

    I need some advice on my financial planning.
    What is your email address, so that I can send you my details.

    Thanks.
    Prabhat

    1. manish says:

      Hi Prabhat

      I offer Financial Planning services for a fee . You can contact me at manish@jagoinvestor.com . Incase you just have 1 or 2 basic questions . I would love to answer them

      Manish

  77. varun says:

    hi manish,
    can u give me some fruitful guidelines,on how to start my own blog?..
    as i am thinking to start with wordpress.com…
    what u guide..?

    regards
    varun

    1. Varun

      Why dont you mail me ? Did you try searching for this on net first ?

      manish

  78. varun agrawal says:

    thnks manish…

    i know the new tax code is under discussion but you have to do the investments skillfully,,,
    and but if the ppf amount deposited after april2011 will be taxed on maturity, so it is advisable in this 15 months to credit in ur ppf account as much as u can ( not more than 70 k )

    what u say ?

    regards,
    varun

    1. manish says:

      Varun

      Considering that new tax code comes into effect , still the PPF would be the best in debt category as the same rules of taxation will apply on all the products . Also with PPF i think the rules will not be applied for amount deposited till Mar 2011 .

      Manish

  79. varun agrawal says:

    dear manish

    1. what is ur opinion about the IDFC premier equity fund as it performing so well since inception ( more than 5yrs ) return rate is 25% approx ( i.e. more than hdfc top 200, and dsp blackrock top100 equity )…?

    2. and how would u rate UTI dividend yield and UTI opportunities fund, as they are also giving handsome retun ( ~22% for more than 3yrs ) ?

    3. And i read in feb-2010, money today issue dat as per the new tax code dat will be applicable from april 2011, it is not advisable to invest in ELSS scheme as the redeem amount after 3yrs will be taxed, so the people shud invest in ULIPS?…what is ur opinion abt dat?..

    regards,

    varun agrawal

    1. manish says:

      Varun

      The MF you mentioned at 1 and 2 are great funds .. I already that the list I gave is not exhaustive and hence should not be taken as the final list .

      Regarding new tax code , until it comes into force , I would like to not take it as a criteria to decide the investments now .. Its still in discussion

      Manish

  80. Himanshu says:

    Hi Manish,

    After going through this whole blog and postings by others,I have started investing 2K p.m. in HDFC Top 200 mutual fund. At this stage, I have decided to keep pouring this amount for five years. I am totally new to SIPs, do you have any rough idea as to how much maturity amount i can expect at the end of five year, would you suggest me to increase the tenure by 5 more year.

    Thanks – Himanshu

    1. manish says:

      Himanshu
      You can expect around 12% return (you might get more also .. but be safe)

      >>> 2000 * (1.01) * (1.01 ** 60 – 1)/.01
      164972.73310994645

      You can expect 1.65 lacs assuming 12% .,.

      Manish

  81. Harish Kumar says:

    Hi Manish,
    From last few days, I have been following your website. I’m really impressed with your response and clarity about the thoughts.

    However, I’m to Mutual funds, but would like to start few SIPs (Rs. 2000). I can invest spend Rs. 6000. May I request you to suggest me some good funds so that I can keep investing money for a longer period of time….say 5 to 7 years.

    Regards
    Harish

  82. Harish Kumar says:

    Hi Manish,

    From last few days, I have been following your website. I’m really impressed with your response and clarity about the thoughts.

    However, I’m to Mutual funds, but would like to start few SIPs (Rs. 2000/-). I can invest spend Rs. 6000/-. May I request you to suggest me some good funds so that I can keep investing money for a longer period of time….say 5 to 7 years.

    Regards
    Harish

    1. manish says:

      Harish

      thanks for the comments . Assuming you have a moderate to high risk appetite and a return expectation of close to 12-15% . you are better off putting money in equity diversified funds : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/08/list-of-best-equity-diversified-mutual.html

      Let me know what other things you are looking at , you should choose growth option

      manish

      1. Harish says:

        Thanks Manish

        Well, I can take some moderate risk (avoid high risk). However, Yesterday, I have started following SIPs (Before that I have gone through the suggested article and subsequent disucssion carried out by various user).

        1. HDFC Prudence – 2000/- pm for 15 years
        2. DSPBR TOP 100 Growth – 2000/- pm for 15 years
        3. Sundaram select midcap Growth 2000/- for 15 years

        Would like to have your view on the above investment planning…
        Subsequenlty, In next 2-3 months, I would like to start 2 new SIPs…Your suggestsion and advice will help me…

        Looking for your valueable suggestions.

        Regards
        -Harish

        1. manish says:

          Harish

          Yes .. all the funds you have choosen are good funds .. But before that have you decided your asset allocation ? How much of your money will be in equity and debt ?

          May be its time to look at some debt intruments like PPF , Debt funds , bonds .. Atleast Debt oriented funds ..also the funds you have taken right now should be linked with some long term goal like child education , retirement . IS it ?

          Manish

          1. Harish says:

            Yes Manish

            The funds I have selected is for long term investment. Yes you are right I need to think about few debt funds, bonds etc…

            Would you like to suggest few debt funds / bonds etc.?

            Regards
            Harish

  83. varun agrawal says:

    hi manish,

    1) well which scheme of sbi life shield term insurance is good?
    evry 5yrs. 50% increase in sum assured
    or evry yr. 5% increase in sum assured

    2.) and the longest term this scheme is providing 25yrs, and i am of only23 yrs..means i will be covered upto 48 yr of age only…but i want the cover upto60yr..
    it means i have to take the term insurance again at the age of 48 yr, when the premium rate will be too high?…or i shud go for term insurance at the age of 35 so dat i will covered exactly upto 60yrs.?

    3). or is there any other insurance company which is providing the cover upto 60 or 65yrs of age, without any term limit.?

    regards,
    varun

    1. manish says:

      Varun

      1. you are asking a wrong question . We cant say which is good or bad . you have to decide which suits you .. both are different and with different cost . I think the first one is ok for me personally , if you want your cover to jump fast , then opt for the second one .

      2. yes thats true , or the better thing would be to take another cover when you are age 35 ๐Ÿ™‚ . so that it can contunue till you are 60 .

      3. there will be many , LIC will be one of them .. check yourself .

      manish

  84. varun agrawal says:

    hi manish,

    again a good postโ€ฆdat u post regarding ” missselling “…

    a very good brain washing article, for this indian mass.especially..
    ..keep it up..
    very soon i wil start my blog also..but right nw i m in learning phaseโ€ฆ
    its a gud learning frm u..and ur postsโ€ฆ
    i hope i will get ur support alws to kick all these stupid and greedy agents , who just see there benefits rather than providing a good solution..
    so i will also put my step forward , to remove this financial ignorance among the indian public especiallyyyโ€ฆ.
    and i knw we can do it..
    so done..!!!.

    regards,
    varun

    1. manish says:

      Varun

      I have already replied to you on this … check your last comment on another post .

      Manish

  85. suraj says:

    manish,
    Thanx for rep.

    Is
    Is it complicated to invest with AMC office?

    suraj

    1. manish says:

      Suraj

      It wont be that complicated . Just that you have to go to their office , ask them the form to invest in some particular MF and then fill the form . Thats all .

      Manish

    2. rajenderballa says:

      If you want to invest in 5 different funds then you shud visit all AMC offices, If you do it thru demat account, then all the funds will be consolidated at one place and have the flexibility to transact online, start SIP or stop SIP and also purchase/switch/redeem etc when ever you want.

      1. manish says:

        Yeah .. That gives a point that if we want to invest in more than 1-2 funds and need convinience too .. Then its better to do it online through demat account ๐Ÿ™‚ Good point ๐Ÿ™‚

        Manish

  86. suraj says:

    hi manish,
    Thankx for resolve my confusion.I want to invest through SIP. Is it possible to invest through Dmat account .How can i get opened Dmat:? please tell me the process.
    thanx again

    Suraj

    1. manish says:

      Suraj

      There is nothing much I have to tell here .

      1, Open demat account -> choose the company ,-> goto their site or phone number and tell them you want to open

      2, From your demat account there will be way to buy it . try it ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

      1. PRAMOD says:

        Hi Manish,
        Let me congratulate you for your wonderful articles on this blog which indeed is informative to all the investors especially those who wants to enter the market like me.
        Well, I have started Investing in MF from this month under SIP. My pickings are 1. HDFC top 200, 2. Bnp paribas smile, 3. Birla sunlife forntend, 4. magnum contra, 5. hdfc prudence. Rs 1000pm each. I have demat with Canmoney which allows only these funds, i wanted to invest in relaince growth fund and DSPBR top100 but canmoney doesnt allow. what is the option available for me. Can i invest online by visiting the concerned website? I tried but not possible it seems. As I am working abroad and can invest 15000 pm to MF alone after investing in share market and lic, ppf etc.. Please let me know whether my portfolio is ok. Eagerly waiting for your reply.
        Regards,
        Pramod

        1. Pramod

          Your fund choices are good at this moment . First you should change your demat account to some standard one , anyways you dont need to have demat for investing in Mutual funds .

          You can invest online in mutual funds from their portal , but for the first time you have to do things physically, for people like you , the best thing would be to take services of Fundsindia.com who offer hassle free online transactions in mutual funds , read the post about them on my blog https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2010/04/interview-with-fundsindia-com-podcast.html

          Read readers comment also . Make sure you dont have more than 4-5 funds .

          Manish

          1. PRAMOD says:

            Thanks for your quick response.Pl let me know the standard DP which you are referring to.

            Regards,
            Pramod

            1. ICICIDIrect , HDFC Demat , Reliance Money , Sharekhan

              Manish

            2. PRAMOD says:

              Manish,

              Can you please let me know, how can i open a demat account with ICICI direct from outside india? Can I download the application form and fill and sign the same and give it to my wife who will be traveling to india next month or i should visit in person to open the account??

              Pramod.

            3. Pramod

              Only ICICI customer care would be able to tell you the exact procedure , I dont think it would be possible without your signatures . Check it .

              Manish

  87. suraj says:

    Dear Manish,
    I have read your views and comments about mf I want to know 2 things.
    1. HDFC top 200 is recently not so high in rank, does it matter to invest in this fund?
    2.does MF agent gets commission direct to customer after ending the entry load ?

    1. Suraj

      1. Good point . Its like asking Sachin Tendulkar is not performing well these days, he is not in ICC rank 5 , so can we remove him from team? In the same way, Every mutual fund also goes through bad and good times, so dont judge them in short term .. Anything in top 10 is good fund . If you compare other funds who are rank 1 or 2 today with HDFC tax saver , most of them will sweat in front of it ๐Ÿ™‚ .

      2. If I understand correctly , you are asking “if agents get commision from customers even after entry load is banned” . The answer is yes , may be . So IRDA has said that now all the money you invest in MF will full be invested , You can deal with agent on your own and decide how much you want to pay him . So it can range anywhere from .5% – 2% in todays world . I would say dont pay more than 1% in anycase .

      What Mutual funds are you looking at ? Why dont you invest through Demat account or directly ? You have demat ?

      Manish

  88. varun agrawal says:

    dear manish

    its true as being a newcomer i have to invest through SIP, but now in my case i have to invest 35k to save tax .either in PPf or in ELSS .
    dats y i was asking dat i shud invest in hdfc taxsaver or bnp tax saver / or sbi magnum tax saver??..in a lumpsum 35k..or divide equally in all these?..as for now….
    for next yr to save tax, definitely i m goin to start SIP…so plz guide..?

    regards,
    varun

    1. manish says:

      Varun

      First thing is that make sure you dont have short term money commitment , If yes , then invest money and save tax . Else pay tax .

      You can invest in Sundaram or HDFC , both are good . You can invest in lumpsum in one or two (divide it) . The advantage of SIP is that it diversifies your investment over different time and hence reduces the risk part (and return potential too).

      Manish

  89. sushil kumar sinha says:

    hai, manish, i am intrested in also ETF.At presently kotak etf is as NFO.please suggest me.is NFO taken or not

    1. manish says:

      Sushil

      NFO in ETF is very different than NFO of Mutual funds . But anyways better for with other ETF’s like benchmark ETF for nifty .

      Manish

  90. Great post! keep them comin… thanks for all your hard work.

    1. manish says:

      Thanks for comment ..

      What are your views on misselling and how can we remove it in some years ?

      Manish

  91. varun agrawal says:

    hi manish
    1. it means online purchasing is not gud of mutual fund?..
    2. shud i invest in hdfc taxsaver, and bnp tax saver / or sbi magnum tax saver??..in a lumpsum 35k..or divide in all these?..
    3.is fundsindia. com safe for purchasing of mutualfund?…
    4. i wanna buy a car after 2 yr so in a lumsum shud i invest in debt fund or balanced fund for 2yr..?tell me the name of fund also..
    thnks in advance.

    1. manish says:

      Varun

      1. there is nothing wrong with online transaction , but it has a cost . If you want convenience and everything at comfort of a click , then go for online investing , its all about what are your preferences .

      2. It is advised to so SIP for newcomers . Lumpsum has its own advantages , if market shoots up after your investment , then you gain most in Lumpsum rather than in SIP . but because its not advised to time the market , its better to go with SIP for newcomers atleast .

      3. I cant say anything . There are people who have done through them and they are satisfied .

      4. Its good that you do not take much risk if your goal is critical . better look at HDFC prudence or some other debt funds listed at https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/11/list-of-best-debt-oriented-mutual-funds-for-2009-2010.html

      Manish

  92. sushil kumar sinha says:

    hi,manish, i am engineer as 34 years.my sallary is 4 lakes per annumm.i would like to invest in mutual fund throught sip,per month 6000.please guide the mutual fund

    1. Sushil

      For long term investment it would be a good idea to invest in mutual funds mentioned at : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/08/list-of-best-equity-diversified-mutual.html

      If you are not a big risk taker or you want to invest for short term try : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/11/list-of-best-debt-oriented-mutual-funds-for-2009-2010.html

      Are you not interested in ETF ?

      Manish

  93. vivek says:

    hi manish
    i am having icici pru discovry fund and sundaram smile fund both growth opton and mode of payment is through SIP, my question is can i put some lumpsum amount in these funds in the same folio and are there any extra charges for that.

    1. manish says:

      Vivek

      Your next lumpsum payment does not depend on your SIP . It will be totally a new thing.

      Manish

  94. varun agrawal says:

    hi mansih
    thnks for the reply.

    1) mainsh shud i go to AMC’office to invest or online banking account is safe ( as HDFC’s Investment service account)?..but as they are saying they will charge only 400rs/-per year for maintenace and no any transaction cost?…is it true ?..and hw abt the fundsindia.com is it safe to invest through it?..
    2). i want to invest 10k p.m., so what shud be my weightage in equity, balanced. and debt funds/.as i m of age 23 and no dependents..and i m medium risk taker?..
    3). do my choices are vaild..
    1. hdfc top200 (2000/-pm sip)
    2. dspbr top 100 equity (2500/-sip)
    3.sbi magnum tax gain ( 1000/-) – for tax saving also
    4. reliance regular savings equity (1000/-)
    5. Sundaram BNP paribas balanced fund ( 1000/-)
    6. sundaram select midcap fund ( 2000/-)

    so what u think is this ratio, or choice of fund is valid, or in which fund i shud do more / less?

    4). So this yr in which ELSS scheme i shud invest 35k in lump sum?. ( sbi magnum tax gain, hdfc tax saver G, or sundaram tax saver, or canara robeco equity tax saver )….plz guide..

    1. manish says:

      Varun

      1. Go to AMC office and invest , that will save your any transaction cost .

      2. There is no single answer to this . It will depend a lot on your preference . It wont matter a lot if your ratio is little less or more . Just have some appropriate numbers (high equity less debt)

      3. looks good . Shifting things here and there wont affect a lot .

      4. Diversify in some good funds . I personally like Sundaram , Canara . Make sure you understand the risk of ELSS. There is no guarantee than after 3 yrs of lock in there will be profits for sure .

      Manish

  95. varun agrawal says:

    dear manish,
    sorry for asking silly thinngs..as it is already given on ur blogs.
    but from 2 last days in my part time i m reading ur blogs, and gathering information as much as i can gather..?…
    but very soon i will read all the postings and try to utilize those learnings in my upcoming investments…{ once again thanks for these posting;;]
    the effect of this site on me is now at this level, dat i have started thinking at speed and want to take some steps as early as possible..?
    i also have sent u a friend request on orkut, i hope u will approve it…[:)]
    ..but some ques. i wud lik to ask..?.
    1). i want to start investing in 2/3 MF’s as early as possible means with in this months. for 20 yrs period. i have told u my monthly saving is around 16k/- pm so inwhich ratio i hav to invest in which products?..mans hw much in MF’s , hw much in PPF’s etc.
    2). please tell me hw much of SIP i shud invest in each fund..?
    3). i have no dependents . as i am not married and my father already have a good business..and property..so shud i go for a term insurance now?..
    4).I need to save tax this yr for this i have to invest around 35000/- ?. (plz guide me for this query)

    with best regards
    varun

    1. manish says:

      Varun

      Nice to see you are reading my blog so much , Glad to know . Here are the answers

      1. You can invest in any of the mentioned funds . I cant give exact names and it does not matter. Pick at random . How much in MF and how much in PPF is a question which depends on your age and risk appetite and your financial goals . 80:20 looks good

      2. Decide the annual investment and divide for per month

      3. No Financial dependents = NO insurance

      4. Invest in ELSS/PPF for 35k . from next year do your tax planning early .

      Manish

  96. varun agrawal says:

    hi manish,

    thanks a lott…for providing such a good information regarding MF’s.
    i am an enginner, age 23 , having monthly saving of around 16000/ p.m.
    but i am facing, lack of knowledge in driving my investment plans.
    and already18 months have passed doin job..mostly i have invested in Fixed deposits.
    but as this yr i came in to tax payee segment, so i started thinking.My father or colleagues told me to take a LIC jeevan anand or jeevan saral of 5lacs sum assured.with 25000/- PA installment of 20yrs.
    but i confused whether after 20yrs it will fulfill my needs. Becoz as i knw insurance plans are not to increase ur wealth with high returns. and at this stage i want to increase my wealth with better returns with low risk.So i came to knw about MF’s.But how to start with it?.From ur articles i came to know about 2/3 fund dat are very gud.just now i applied for ppf account,i think a gud option for investment as well as tax saving.but for my wealth creation in which mutual fund i shud have to invest ?..and with what amonut of SIP in respective MF?….please manish advise me..
    and tell me procedures too buy mutual fund?…as neither i have demat account nor i consult to agent?..
    plz advise manish…
    i will be awaiting…[:)]

    1. Varun

      All your problems have very easy solutions . Dont worry .

      Regarding LIC policies
      —————————-

      You are thinking very right . Those policies are not at all worth . Low yields , not value for money . Just blood sucker policies . Please oppose your father and colleagues .

      mutual fund i shud have to invest
      ———————————————

      You should choose some good long term options discussed at : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/08/list-of-best-equity-diversified-mutual.html . Dont loose your sleep over choosing the best one . there is none . What will really make your wealth grow is consistency in investing and letting it grow over long term .

      tell me procedures too buy mutual fund
      ————————————————–

      There are 3 ways

      1. Get an agent and pay him commision (convinient/costly 1-2%)
      2. Do it yourself by filling form etc at AMC office (some work / free)
      3. Do it through your demat account (ICICI/HDFC has it , some commision here)

      Regarding your Education in this area
      —————————————————-

      1. https://www.jagoinvestor.com/archives
      2. http://www.subramoney.com/
      3. http://www.shyamscolumn.com/
      4. Read Outlook money and Money Today Regularly .
      5. Think a lot logically and Ask every small thing from agents and companies
      6. Ask me

      What do you think ? ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

      1. varun agrawal says:

        first of all.thanx a ton manish…for answering my queries..[:)]
        manish..what do u mean by consistency in investments..?…
        and by long term?…means 5 or 10yrs can we call it long term investments?…
        and how these dividends is paid in MF’s ?…and what is this NAV stands for?…
        supoose i started investing in HDFC top 200 ( sip 2000/-pm) and in DSPBR top 100equity req-G ( 2000/-pm) and in reliance regular savings equity ( 1000/-pm) it means for 10 yrs, i invested around 6lacs/- then how much return i shud expect.and how will it be paid to me..?..
        ..
        please guide me?..
        and tell me how shud i choose my AGENT?..means what thing i shud consider in choosing an agent?..as i am new ?..but i hav believe in u..[:)]…
        can u tell me about some best agent ?…
        and manish shud i invest in stocks through ( agent)…
        i am an medium risk taker..?..
        please guide..{:)]

        1. manish says:

          Varun

          Most of your queries are answered on this blog

          1. What is meant by long term : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/03/what-is-long-term-in-share-market.html
          2. how these dividends is paid in MFโ€™s : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2008/04/mutual-funds-options-growth-dividend.html
          3. what is this NAV stands for : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2007/11/what-is-mutual-funds-easy-explaination.html
          4. how much return i shud expect. : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/10/4-charts-which-will-change-your.html

          I would suggest you first go through some articles and educate your self . After reading them , put up your questions . But first try to find them on the blog yourself ๐Ÿ™‚

          see : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/archives

          Manish

  97. Hiren Bawalia says:

    Hi Manish,

    I would like to invest through SIP around Rs. 2000 – 2500 (monthly) in HDFC Top 200, Reliance Regular Savings Equity, Sundaram Select Midcap.

    Kindly suggest how shud I move ahead.

    Thanks in advance.

    Hiren Bawalia

    1. Great

      You can just start the SIP now . You can do it from

      – An agent
      – Demat account (your demat account should allow mf investing , ICICI has it)
      – DO it directly , go to AMC office and fill form yourself

      Manish

      1. Hiren says:

        Hi Manish,

        Thanks for your advice.

        Hiren Bawalia

  98. Shantharam says:

    Manish,

    Would like to know if it will be wise to invest in Gold funds like AIG World Gold and DSPBR World Gold as the SIP facility cannot happen with Gold ETFs ?

    I thought of buying some units of Gold ETFs every month. But, it seems impractical as i might not be regular.

    Your Views..

    Shantharam

    1. manish says:

      Shantharam

      both are different things .. gold funds is nothing but equity funds , investing in shares of companies involved in mining of gold and same kind of work , whereas gold etf is purely gold investing . Both are different and should be used for different reason ๐Ÿ™‚

      manish

  99. Rajani says:

    Manish, I am planning to start SIP with 5 or 6 funds. I selected 12 funds, every one looks fine, Can you please help in eliminating few of them… may be your choice of funds from below list.

    1 HDFC Top 200
    2 Reliance Growth
    3 SBI Magnum Contra
    4 HDFC Equity
    5 Birla Midcap
    6 Birla Frontline Equity
    7 Sundaram SMILE
    8 Sundaram Select Midcap
    9 DSP Top 100
    10 DSP Equity
    11 ICICI Discovery
    12 Reliance Regular Savings Equity

    1. manish says:

      Well.. you are asking a tough question . there is no guarantee that the funds which i choose will beat others , If its long term i would say most of them will be able to give your required returns .

      i personally would like to invest in

      1 HDFC Top 200
      8 Sundaram Select Midcap
      9 DSP Top 100
      12 Reliance Regular Savings Equity

      1. Rajani says:

        Thanks Manish, I will start with four of them and will include one more HDFC prudence.

        1. manish says:

          Yup looks good . HDFC Prudence is amazing .. Go with it

          Manish

  100. Great picks, Manish. But I am surprised that you have missed out two good ELSS funds, here, namely
    Birla Sunlife Tax Relief96
    Religare Tax Plan
    Among the equity Diversified Funds, you could have also added the Birla Sunlife Equity Fund.
    Further, to add to your list of 9 funds, why not make it 10 funds, by adding a Balanced Fund, namely HDFC Prudence fund, the BEST in the category.

    1. manish says:

      limited space ๐Ÿ™‚

      thanks for these funds ๐Ÿ™‚ . they are also good ones ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

  101. rvrrao says:

    it is useful for all.

  102. rvrrao says:

    your suggestions are very useful for peoples in the world

  103. Srikanth says:

    Manish ,
    gr8 post and informative responses. Thanks.
    BTW, did you do any research about fund manages from india with good track record. If you can share with us that would be very helpful. Also, some good website for tracking fund managers and investments.

    1. manish says:

      Srikanth

      For now I have not done any study like that . Will think about it in future

      Manish

  104. Raj says:

    Yes, I agree. So I can choose G right based on long term performance of D, even though G is only two years old.

    1. manish says:

      Yes , thats correct ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

      1. Raj says:

        Thanks a lot manish

  105. Raj says:

    Thanks Manish, I do understand NAV does not matter, Just was curious to find whether choosing G option would be better or not as it was not even mentioned in valueresearch web site. More over why G option was started in 2007 and not introduced during all these 12 years

    1. manish says:

      “Why G was not introduced before 12 yrs”

      This is something i cant answer ๐Ÿ™‚ . There may be many reasons like that time people were more interested in buying D option and not G option OR may be becasue the markets that time were stagnant for long time and hence D option was more attractive that time than G option ๐Ÿ™‚ . there can be many reasons . its out of my scope right now to guess ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

  106. Raj says:

    Hi Manish

    DSP Equity D is 12 year old fund with good long term performance (NAV around 52) where as DSP Equity G(NAV around 14) is new fund. Will it be choose DSP Equity Growth instead of DSP Equity Dividend? Is there any difference with respect to performance and returns?

    1. manish says:

      Raj

      Dont look at NAV . that should never be looked at . The reason why D option has NAV of 52 is that its an old fund , its started in 1997 and it has taken many years for NAV to grow . whereas growth option is just 2 yrs old (2007) . The performance of both the funds are impressive ๐Ÿ™‚ . you can include it in your portfolio .

      NAV is just like a person Name, doesnt matter if its long or short , what you have to look at is a person internal strength and attitude ๐Ÿ™‚

      Are you trying to build your investment plan ? What else are you thinking of ?
      Manish

  107. debt outlook for 2010 says:

    Hello Manish,
    very informative article on debt funds,

    with the current default/situation of worldwide debt market, will it affect the india debt market
    i have liquid cash need to invest in Debt funds for 2 years with a low risk appetite,
    i can afford a 5% dip in the capital,
    which debt funds would you advise or should i look at MIP

    1. manish says:

      Err … this is post regarding equity funds ๐Ÿ™‚ . I guess you wanted to write comment on debt funds article ๐Ÿ™‚ . Anyways ๐Ÿ™‚

      You can invest your money in the funds mentioned at https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/11/list-of-best-debt-oriented-mutual-funds-for-2009-2010.html

      Manish

  108. Prabhat says:

    Hi Manish,

    I need some advice related to my financial planning.
    I am 31 years of old with a monthly take home income of 50K after deducting my loan EMIs.
    I am married and have a kid of 1 month old.
    Following are my current investments
    1. 8K per month on HDFC ULIP. I started in Jun 2006.
    2. Insurance from LIC for myself, 24K per year. I started in 2002
    3. Insurance from LIC for my wife, 16K per year. I started in 2008

    I have invested some 30K in few MF long back. Haven’t started any SIP.
    I need your advise on my current investment plan. Also I have around 3 lakhs with me.
    I want to invest long term for my child. Please suggest me a proper plan to invest.
    Please let me know if you need any more information to suggest a proper plan.

    Thanks.
    Prabhat

    1. manish says:

      Prabhat , I am wondering how can I give you any financial plan with this much of data . But anyways here are basics things .

      ULIP investment : please relook if you are able to handle it effectively . If you are not switching at proper time and are not interested in it , then there is no much point continuing the ULIP .

      LIC Insurance : the main thing is Cover , which you have not told me, make sure you have adequate cover .

      Your Wife Insurane : Is she earning ? If yes , only then she needs to be insured .

      Making a full financial planning is a big activity and takes a good amount of time and focus ,.If you need a personalised Financial Planning service , mail me personally .

      Manish

  109. Young@Market says:

    Hello Manish,

    Recently I noticed a fund which is bit new (Hardly 5 year old). But the method looks good…. Fund is TATA Equity P/E. What is your observation on the same. How do you evaluate this fund? Thanks in advance. What I observed is that they are holding to their stocks for a while giving enough time to generate capital appreciation.

    1. manish says:

      Hi Young@Market

      Tata Equity P/E is a unique mid cap fund . the Fund invests in companies which are undervalued (uses PE to judge) . So most of the shares are from midcap . Risk and return profile of this fund is extremelly high . So stay with it if you are a risk taker , else move to a large cap oriented fund .

      manish

      1. I am sorry, Manish, I beg to differ from you. Tata PE fund may look mid-cap baised but the fact that the fund invests in companies which are quoting at Low PE and hence fall less during Market Falls, (check out the fund’s performance in 2008 and you will agree with me), and hence the Fund is for Risk-averse investors and could be looked at by Conservative investors. The Fund holds Large, Mid and Small Cap stocks in its portfolio.

        However, please note that the fund, due to its Value investing strategy will NOT give handsome returns during Bull Markets.
        .-= Srikanth Matrubai´s last blog ..FIDELITY GLOBAL REAL ASSETS FUND =-.

        1. manish says:

          Srikanth

          If you look at my comment , I never said that fund is not good . Infact I have myself told that “stay with it the fund if you are high risk taker” . Give that the funds portfolio contains 75%+ in small and mid cap stocks, how do you say that it suits risk averse and conservative investors ?

          Manish

          1. Yes, Tata PE Equity Fund does have a majority of its holdings in small and mid caps. I agree with that. But you seem to have missed the point that the fund invests in stocks which are quoting at a PE lower than Nifty PE and thus the Fund follows a “Value Investment Strategy”.
            Funds that follow this strategy tend to fall less than the broader markets because their selected stocks are usually less volatile.
            It has outperformed both the equity funds category average and the benchmark BSE Sensex over various time periods.
            The portfolio is quite diversified with investments in around 40 stocks. The top five stocks have, on an average, accounted for more than 25% per cent of the portfolio making it less susceptible to changes in the fortunes of a few companies.
            Because of this ‘safety first’ strategy, the Fund is suitable for Risk averse investors.

            1. Srikanth

              thanks for your views , looks like I missed some point , Should we compare stock PE with Index PE , is it a valid thing to do ?

              Manish

  110. Darrel Rivers says:

    hi
    I am a great fan of your blogs and find them very informative and extremely helpful.
    I am new to investments, and I am planning to start S.I.P. in HDFC Top 200 (2000/-), DSP BR Equity G (1000/-) and Reliance Regular Savings Equity (500/-). Could you kindly review my financial plan and make suggestions as required.

    darrel

    1. manish says:

      Hi Darrel

      All the funds you have choosen are great funds . Just make sure that you accept the fact that these all funds are risky and the fund value can go up and down heavily and hence volatility would be high . For long term , these are good choice . go for it .

      Just that I would like to clear a simple thing . The fact that you call this as “Financial Plan” is not correct . This is just “investment plan” and that too a short , uncomplete , little part of your big “Investment Planning” ๐Ÿ™‚ . Financial Planning is much more than this .

      I hope you agree
      Manish

    2. Rajib says:

      Manish,

      Really nice to see your suggestion for finiancial planning. Could you please advice me also for the same as I am already investing in HDFC TOP 200 (INR 2000 ), Tata Infra (INR 1000) and Reliance RSE (INR 1000) through monthly SIP and now want to invest another INR 10,000 pm for next one year.

      Rajib
      09836022335

      1. manish says:

        Rajib

        You can now look at some other alternatives like

        1. Gold ETF’s
        2. Debt Oriented Mutual funds : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/11/list-of-best-debt-oriented-mutual-funds-for-2009-2010.html
        3. Nifty ETF’s

        You should maintain the balanced between Debt and Equity both , depending on your age .

        Manish

  111. anwesha says:

    Dear Manish,

    Thanks very much for your guidance.

    anwesha

  112. anwesha says:

    Dear Manish,
    Very nice and informative postings!
    I would like to invest in a good mid-cap oriented mutual fund, having a nice track record of at least 3 years. Could you please help me out in picking up the better ones among the following MFs?
    I have high risk appetite and I’m ready to invest for 5+ years through SIP investment.

    Reliance Growth
    Birla Sunlife Mid-cap Plan A
    Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Midcap,
    Sundaram BNP Paribas S.M.I.L.E. Regular
    Reliance Regular Savings Equity
    IDFC Premier Equity Plan A
    TATA Equity P/E
    ICICI Prudential Discovery

    You can also suggest any other good fund in the above category that I have left.

    1. manish says:

      Below 3 are some good funds in risky mid cap category .

      IDFC Premier Equity Plan A-G
      Sundaram BNP Paribas S.M.I.L.E. Reg-G
      Sahara Mid-Cap-G

      Next 2 funds are also midcap funds but with some amount of concentration on large caps .

      UTI Opportunities-G
      Reliance Regular Savings Equity

      Note : Make sure you invest in Mid-cap funds only if you accept the fact they the negative returns from them can be disastous . All these funds mentioned above have given close to -50 % return in 2007-2008 . And money invested in these funds in 2007 is almost same now .

      Manish

  113. Ravindra says:

    Dear manish jee I finalyze to take 2 mutual funds namely HDFC top 200, and DSPBR top 100 for Rs. 2000 SIP in each I want to run them at leaset 10 years from now then evaluate. These are large cap fund so I hope they will do good in 20-22 years so that i can continue after 10 years. to manage risk i want to take HDFC prudence fund or DSP Black rock balanced fund what do u say.
    Also i want SBI contra as mostly it large cap with contrarian view? Am i right..

    I had given some exercise to my MF agent to give me comparison of different child ULIP plans but he didn’t send me till now. I tried hard to compare different child ULIP but it is so complicated some like HDDFC give the comparison chart with service tax also other don’t give. I was searching for ULIP plans because the new cap on the charges imposed on them after dec. 2009..so i thought it may be useful.. but still i thought MF+term will do better..
    If you come across any child plan with lowest charges please suggest me I want to have a look on that..
    So I dicided to take little pain to go to the mutual fund AMC office and fill the form to start my SIP.. 2 hours job .. and I dont have to pay his 2% commission for just filling the form…I kicked off my MF agent..for any new SIP

    1. manish says:

      Great ๐Ÿ™‚

      First point is that , you can not rely on a single MF for 22 yrs . So make the best choice now and in couple of years they will change and may be new one’s comes , So that time you have to shift to other funds . That is not a big deal . Your choice of funds is good .

      SBI contra is good , assuming you know what it means and how they work . At the end , if you take responsibility of what you are doing and know the effect and its impact and also accept it . You are always right ๐Ÿ™‚

      Regarding Child ULIP’s i have no much idea . Its same as other ULIP’s with some other features which make is more suitable for child related goals . Why dont you start a thread in Forums here and see if there is anyone with his views . Leverage others knowledge . Also try to call different companies and ask them .

      Manish

    2. Dear Ravindra,
      If your investment horizon is 20-22 years, then you should be looking at Diversified Equity Funds and not Large Cap funds. Diversified Equity Funds give you Higher returns then Large Cap funds.
      Though your choice of funds is good, I would prefer to have Diversified Equity funds like Birla Sunlife Equity Fund, Fidelity Equity Fund which have given consisitently good returns in all types of markets.
      Going for Balanced Funds for such a long period of time would limit the scope for Higher returns.
      I am sure Manish agrees with me.
      .-= Srikanth Matrubai´s last blog ..FIDELITY GLOBAL REAL ASSETS FUND =-.

  114. Ravindra says:

    Dear manish jee,
    The calculations I mentioned was on the expected return of 10% including every charges of ULIP and MF. So the net yield for ULIP is 8.27% and net yield for MF is 7.8 % considering both grows at the Same rate ie. 10% year by year in future. If we consider both can grow 15% scenario may be different.

    I did these calculations for 22-24 years? I understand the market goes up and down but 22 years is a long time so we can ignore short term fluctuations considering ours is a developing market and GDP can grow on average 8% during next 20 years.

    I donโ€™t care what will happen to the market in 1-2-3 year. Most of the experts canโ€™t time the market, none of the experts predicted market can overcome from the recent crisis so sooner. I know experts in CNBC, NDTV profit etc. saying market will go 6000-7000 just 10 month back. They change their views so frequently.

    My point is whether I should go to a product which is less costly or I have continue paying these fund manager who even canโ€™t beat their benchmark (Some of them).

    People say ULIP is costly but in long term it comes out that it is less costly than MF. The most important charge in the ULIP is FMC which is 1.25% in the fund I have considered in GROWTH option, and MF charges in form of expense ratio which on average 2-2.5% for well diversified fund.

    I am still confused which is cheaper??? In long term ULIP or MF. You can calculate MF + Term plan VS ULIP plan on
    http://www.apnainsurance.com/insurance-advice-india/calculate-ulip-mutual-fund-calculator.html

    sorry to take your too much time please comment whether my points are in right direction.
    BTW my MF agent now asks 2% commission for their service after removal of entry load from MFโ€™s. He just gets the form filled by me and submits to the office he manage my funds through some software in which I can see detailed holding (which helps me otherwise I have to do all the calculation once in a year), he also give list of good funds time to time which I conform from different sources one like valuresearchonline site before taking any major decision.

    Thanks its too long if you have time I can continue later also . ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. manish says:

      Ravindra

      The first thing you have to do is get rid of your mf agent , he is of no use . better use fundsindia.co .. they are free .

      Regarding ULIP or MF confusion .. the return provided by MF is much higher than 10% in long term ,also the return given on valueresearch is after afctoring in Fund charges . so you should not be deducting 2.2% from 10% which you calculate it .

      Other aspect is Simplicity .. you are concentrating on just return , which is supreme indicator . But apart from that there are other things like how flexible it is to stop it , restart it , understand it ,etc ..

      So you have to decide if you want 10% return with 90% complication , or 9% or 9.5% return with 0% compication ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

  115. Ravindra says:

    Dear Mr. manish
    I read this article and was amazed by the way you reply people, So i also have some problem with my investment ๐Ÿ™‚ I hope you will get some time to answer.
    I am 32 yr. i have a liitle girl of age just 4 month.
    I did some calculation i need 34 laks after 22 year and another 30 laks after 24 years ( 7% inflation). I searched some CHILD ULIP plan and try to calculate the return given by ULIPS in 22 years and 24 years time frame, with same amount of term plan + mutual fund combination. The net yield for best ULIP i found comes out to be 8.27% (@10%) including FAC, mortality, FMC, PAC and service charges. which looks to beat MF+TERM plan considering on average diversified funds have expanse ratio 2.2, and also I have to pay premium for TERM plan.

    So Please suggest what i should do my limited knowledge show that ULIP can beat MF in long term considering both perform in same line.
    Does ULIP give same return as MF. ( If not it will be expansive to change ULIP if selection goes wrong, if MF we have flexibility to change the fund)??
    In ULIP i can manage the fund ( e.g. i can put money in debt 1-2 years before i need money, IN MF i can also do the same but then I have to put in FD or post office and I have to give tax on that)

    I am very confused i am not able to decide whether I take ULIP of take MF + Term plan.
    Please suggest me something.

    Thanks
    Ravindra

    1. manish says:

      Nice confusion

      So the first thing i need to understand is why do you think 8.27% return of ULIP will beat MF + Term combo , you didnt give me any reason ? what does 2.2% expense ratio has to do with it ? May be i dont know ๐Ÿ™‚

      Next thing is you said that you can manage ULIP by shifting money from one fund to another ? Do you have expertise for it ? Do you understand what kind of expertise it requires ? or do you know that it needs expertise at all ๐Ÿ™‚

      ULIP is a good product , But is it suitable for you? Its like having a very beautiful high maintenance wife with big ego . its not the point of good or bad, the point is can you handle it ? Do you have the expertise ?

      ULIP’s switching might look like just a phone call , but when to switch ? If you switch at wrong times then it can create a disaster ๐Ÿ™‚ , like say you invest 100 in ULIP and then you have it in Equity fund , markets start falling and you shift it to Debt because its safe now .. But markets do not go down then and keep moving up , but because you have shifted and are fearful that it can go down again, you do not switch now .. now equity keeps going up and you dont switch now because its too late .. suppose equity gave 50% return in 6 months , so what could have become 150 will still be 104 in your hands , now out of frustration of loosing the potentail profit you put your money back in Equity and suppose you104 goes up to 120 after going up and down .

      Now market starts falling but slowly , but having seen the up days you know that its normal , markets go up and down , so you wait and are confident that you will make money , but market keeps coming down and you are still hopeful that you will make money , Now market goes down by 30% in another 6 months . You 120 is now worth 90 now because equity has under performed .But if if you were invested in Equity and didnt do anything (no swithces) still you would have made 115-120 at the end of 1 yrs .

      Yeah .. i have made the numbers myself and this is just illustration , but the point of this exercise is that switching at wrong time can be bad at times , and keeping quitefully invested in something and not doing anything can be good . Switching is nothing by small sister of trading in markets which i can not recommend you at all .

      Manish

  116. amit says:

    manish i want to save 6000 per month.(BY SIP) FOR LONG TERM.
    in to cateogries
    1)BALANCE FUND &
    2)EQUITY DIVERSIFIED MUTUAL FUND

    PLZ SUGGEST M SOME BALANCE FUNDS AS WELL AS EQUITY DIVERSIFIED FUNDS.

    THANKS
    AMIT

    1. manish says:

      Some good Balanced top funds are ::::

      HDFC Prudence
      Magnum Balanced
      DSPBR Balanced
      Tata Balanced
      Birla Sun Life 95

      Some good Equity funds are at : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/08/list-of-best-equity-diversified-mutual.html

      Manish

  117. Jubi says:

    Manishji,
    What is your opinion about investing a sum of 15K in
    Sundaram BNP Paribas Thematic fund PSU which was launched recently?
    I am waiting for your advice than my MF advisor.

    1. manish says:

      Jubi

      Dont go for NFO’s .. or any new fund offer. . Go for regular Equity diversified ..

      Manish

    2. If you are particular about PSUs as a investment strategy, you would be better off investing in Religare PSU fund. Here’s why http://goodfundsadvisor.blogspot.com/2009/12/sundaram-psu-opportunities-fund.html
      .-= Srikanth Matrubai´s last blog ..FIDELITY GLOBAL REAL ASSETS FUND =-.

  118. Shilpa Agarwal says:

    hi manish, its a nice post..i m a bba student making a project on MFs n i would choose HDFC top 200 as i hav done a research on it n hav found it is better amongst many other

    1. manish says:

      HDFC top 200 is amazing fund . However every fund is different and you cant compare everything with this fund .. This is a Equity diversified mutual fund and has to be compared with funds in same category .. So overall its a winner .. there are other funds too .. but this one is great ๐Ÿ™‚

      what all funds did you like ?

      Manish

  119. Jubi says:

    Manishji,
    I, a salaried man with 4lakhs per year, am totally new to the mutual fund world.
    With the advice of some local MF advisers I did the following so far.
    1. A 1000 per month SIP with ICICI Pru Infrastructure fund Divident reinvest
    2. A 1000 per month SBI Life Child Plus
    3. Rs 50000 per year for three ears in SBI Smart ULIP
    Now I want to start one more SIP and was planning to start with Birla Sun MIDCAP for long term.
    Then the agent said about the abolishing of Entry load by SEBI and he would be charging
    1.5%. It’s OK and justified if he gives valuable comments. Then I checked whether this
    man giving good suggestions with you blog. The ValueResearch link given
    by you was much helpful. According to this site for a 5 year term Birla Sun MIDCAP
    do not have a good track record. This means he was not showing me the right way.
    He should have suggested me to go for at leat BNP Paribas. What’s your opinion?

    1. manish says:

      @Jubi

      Yup .. looks like he didnt do very well as an agent .. Not sure why has has suggested you things which he did.
      1 is ok but not too good
      2 is bad (stop it after completing 1 yr)
      3 is totally bad (stop it)

      1.5% commision is too much for this agent adn 1,5% for what !! .. mutual funds or everything including ULIP ? He is already getting commision for ULIP .. you dont need to pay anything for ULIP ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

  120. vivek chowdhry says:

    hi manis
    please clarify what is dividend yeild plus growth in Birla sun life dividend yeild plus (G) fund

    1. manish says:

      Dividend yield Funds are those funds whose strategy is to invest in those companies which give good dividends back . The strategy is to buy those companies at cheap valuations . However most funds do no comply with their own set objective and take unnecessary risk , but of which they are sometimes a lot of profit . Over all the funds is ok , not bad .
      Why dont you put money in Equity funds for long term through SIP ?

      Read an article about Dividend yield funds here :

      Manish

  121. vivek chowdhry says:

    hi manish
    i need a bit of advice frm you regarding my investments.
    i m a doctor, age 36, married single kid, my salary is Rs. 1 lakh per month, i have follwing investments-
    1)i have booked a flat of Rs.33 lakh for which i hv been alloted a loan of Rs 26 lakh. EMI will start frm nov-2010.till then i hv to give intrest.
    2) LIC of 31000/- annual premium
    3) mediclaim frm star health of SI 5 lakh
    4) SBI-life Smart ULIP -50000/- ANNUAL for 3 yrs in nov 2009
    5) Mutual funds(all i hv taken in this month only)
    a) DSP BR top 100 equity fund (G)-SIP 1000/-
    b) Birla sun life dividend yeild plus(G)-SIP 1000/-
    c) ICICI Pru Discovery(G)-SIP-1000/-
    d) Sundaram BNP paribas SMILE (G)-SIP-2000/-
    6) PPF A/C since 2 yrs with a balance of 8000/-
    Now i want to take 2 more funds like UTI Opportunity fund(G)
    & DSP BR Equity fund (G), ONE TERM INSURANCE PLAN .
    Please guide me whether i m going in right direction and please tell me if any correction is needed

    1. manish says:

      Vivek

      Its not enough data to give advice on portfolio restructuring , Its takes more time and things . But With this much information and assuming general things . Here is what I would have done .

      2: Find out what is the IRR of your current LIC policy , Use IRR (see my article on it) . I am sure the IRR wont cross 6% . so you should be surrendering this policy because it cant give you returns which you can make in long term .

      4: Stop this policy (stop paying the premium) . ULIP is taking too much money from you and complicated enough to be discarded .

      – Increase allocation in PPF .
      – Take a term policy , I dont recommend names , but I like AR and SBI personally , you can check iTerm . Split insurance into 2 .
      – DSPBR equity is good .

      You are doing good overall. try to read as much as you can and then you should be able to take care of your Financial Planning in a good way in some months ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

  122. Jaswinder Singh says:

    Hi Guys,

    I would like to add something to your discussion about the Dividend Payout option in Mutual Funds.

    As per my understanding –
    1. Dividends are always Tax free.
    2. Dividend Distribution Tax is Nill for Equity Schemes of Mutual Funds and it is 14.163% for Debt schemes.

    As most of the schemes mentioned here in this post are Equity schemes, therefore they should be exempt from tax.

    Please let me know if it is not the case.

    Manish, thanks a lot for tremendous work in this blog. I am sure it is helping a lot of people like me.

    Thanks & Regards
    Jaswinder Singh

    1. manish says:

      Jaswinder

      you are totally correct ๐Ÿ™‚ . thanks for your kind words , The blog is made of awesome readers and commentors like you , not just my writing ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

  123. VJ says:

    Dear Manish,

    Just came across you postings here. Very interesting and informative postings, indeed! Helps individuals decide their insuranmce needs. I have some questions and hope to get some answers from you: (for the record, I am 51 years old!)

    I only have a Money Back policy in force since 2000 with a SA of Rs.1,00,000 more from the tax saving persoective.

    1. I ‘mistakenly’ took a ULIP-with-insurance policy called Money Plus 1 from LIC of India and paid two annual premiums (2006 and 2007) of Rs.45,000 each, for a 16 year policy. I did not pay for 2008 and 2009 (not yet). Do you think I should continue/discontinue with this policy?

    2. After having gone through your postings and visiting other portals, I am deciding to go with a combination of Term Insurance for Rs.25,00,000 for 14 years (retiring at 65) with accident and temporary/permanent disablement, and a health insurance (Rs.5,00,000). Please advise. Which companies’ plane would suit me?

    Thank you very much in advance for your tips.

    VJ

    1. manish says:

      hmm…

      What is the Insurance cover ULIP is providing you ? Is it too small like 2-3 lacs , If yes , then just pay the last premium and also make sure all your money is swtiched to Debt Option , may be 80 Debt and 20 Equity , but mainly it has to be Debt because its not recommended that you have lot of it in equity at this age .

      Mainly see ULIP as your Investment vehicle now .. Already you have paid 2 premium and most of the cost is covered from you . So lets go with it now .

      Also apart from this , take a term insurance , take iTerm from Aegon Religare , thats the cheapest one at the moment .

      1. Narendra says:

        Dear Friend,

        for cheapest risk cover you can consider Birla Dream Plan, even though it’s ULIP but you can customise as a term plan too & believe me it’s even cheaper than religare i term plan.

        1. manish says:

          Nice .. why dont you give us full Details ๐Ÿ™‚

          Manish

    2. Amit Kumar says:

      Hi Manish
      I am a 25 years old software engineer,and my earnings are little more than 30,000 pm.I can save upto 15oooo at the moment.My plan is to invest in PPF,Pension plan ,Term plan and some good mutual funds through SIP.
      Can you throw some light about best of each of the mentioned products.Regarding term plan ,I am confused between Religare and HDFC term plan.Can I rely on religare.
      Also would it be good idea to invest half in hdfc and half in Religare for term plan.
      Thanks.
      Amit

      1. Amit

        Your first priority should be to get your self protected . hence your prefered line of products should be

        1 . Term Insurance
        2. Health Insurance
        3. SIP in mutual funds/ETF linked with your most important goals in life .
        4. PPF can be ignored for now , Your equity component is taken care by your EPF right now .

        Dont take Religare in term insurance at the moment , there are many issues at the moment with that, better you split between others , LIC can be one of them .

        Manish

  124. Asif says:

    Manish,

    Could you please help me out in picking up 2 best Equity-diversified Midcap MFs among the following MFs ?
    I have high Risk appetite and ready to invest for 5+ years.

    HDFC Equity
    Reliance growth
    IDFC premier
    Sundaram Select MidCap
    DSPBR Equity

    Thanks in advance.

    1. manish says:

      @Asif

      You are trying too hard .. There is nothing like best among these .. The only parameter you can judge is long term returns , but there is very little gap and it would be change the ranking in coming 1 month , 1 yrs or 5 yrs .

      Pick any , its not worth trying to pick the best , nothing like that .

      Manish

  125. Prakash Legal Services says:

    Beware,
    ULIP plan give gain only in logn term period which start normally after 10 years. ULIP plans take almost 50% of your first premium amout as various charges and take charges after it almost Rs. 900/- per years.
    But Mutual Fund is differ but only for those loves to take risk. always invest small- small amount in various Mutual Fund. So that you may take less risk.
    only advise not promished.

    1. manish says:

      yup .. you are correct . ULIPs are long term products only , People are buying it for short term which is not correct .

      Manish

  126. Prakash Legal Services says:

    DSPB Launched a new MINING FUND, It may give you 22% interest if take risk.
    one who loves to risk may earn more. only advise not guarranty. use you own mind not depend to only on others.

    1. manish says:

      I am just wondering from where did you get that figure of “22%” , other wise I accept you views . Let everybody know ?

      Manish

    2. Dear Prakash,
      How on the earth did you arrive at the figure of 22%?????
      Yes, the fund is good and one worth investing. Click here on the investment merits of the fund. http://goodfundsadvisor.blogspot.com/2009/12/dspbr-world-mining-fund-unique-theme.html
      .-= Srikanth Matrubai´s last blog ..FIDELITY GLOBAL REAL ASSETS FUND =-.

  127. Ankita says:

    Hi Manish,
    Your Blog is really very helpful. I am a S/W Engineer and my monthly salary is Rs 20000. I have savings of Rs 50000 for investment with me and save around 10,000 Rs every month. I plan to invest 10,000 per month in SIP. I have already started a SIP of 3000 Rs in HDFC Top 200. Please suggest me more funds to divide the remaining 7000 Rs. I have also invested 10000 Rs lumpsum in HDFC Top 200. Please suggest me how should I invest my savings . I’d lik to invest in gold etf also as I read online and in newspapers its giving remarkable returns. Please advise. Thanks in advance.

    1. manish says:

      @Ankita

      thanks ๐Ÿ™‚ .

      Some other good mutual funds at : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/08/list-of-best-equity-diversified-mutual.html

      Dont invest too much in Gold ETF’s , I would suggest buy gold ETF for not more than 10% of your total portfolio . Amazing returns is ok , but its not guaranteed always .. And Gold is anyways too much high these days ..

      At the end , these things are the last question you should answer , your first question is

      1. what kind of risk taker are you
      2. What are your financial goals in coming 1 yr , 3 yrs , 5 yrs , 10 yrs , 40 yrs .
      3 etc etc

      once you answer these , its very easy to answer these questions ๐Ÿ™‚

      Manish

      1. pravin says:

        I take issue with the ‘gold etf is not that great because it is not guaranteed return’. well neither are equities,nor is debt. there is always risk.to say that equities are less risky than gold is to ignore history. i visited a gold shop last weekend. the gold price history they displayed show gold price in 1979(when sensex started) around 900 rs.index started at 1000.now index is 17000,gold is also 17000. gold is an excellent inflation hedge contrary to what MF and equity sellers say(it is in their interest to run down gold).

        1. Pravin

          Great point ๐Ÿ˜‰ . I would like to do an article on this topic . Looks good , more inputs ?

  128. manish says:

    @Raja

    Its not a right thing to say that you should invest more or not ..
    Your current investment plan looks good . You should now try some Debt products . You can try some debt funds now or try PPF .

    Manish

  129. Raja says:

    Dear Manยญish,

    Thanks for your all articles very helpful.
    As your advice I start SIP with small amounts each Rs. 2000 *24 months as below
    HDFC Top 200 * 2000 * 24
    Reliance Regular Savings Equity * 2000 * 24
    Sundaram BNP Paribas S.M.I.L.E. Reg * 2000 * 24
    ICICI Prod * 2000 * 24

    Still I have excess amount to invest around 200 k. What is your advice?
    Do I directly purchase or SIP with two good among (either HDFC Top 200 or your advise ) .
    I already enough real-estate invested and start investing in stocks, I am aggressive , do you advise some debt funds?

    Thanks in advance.
    Regards,
    Raja
    .-= Raja´s last blog ..Trust Objectives =-.

  130. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Ashwani

    Ok , in that case you are correct ..

    Manish

  131. Ashwani says:

    Manish, I was refering to Equity based mutal funds only, in whose case DDT is not applicable. Only Debt funds have DDT. So in case of Equity based MF's div reinvest is same return as Growth. (with added option of booking profit in times of high valuations in market by changing over to Div payout on record date).

  132. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Lakhwant

    Its not a right thing to choose 2 out of 3 , one can never tell that.. It will change after 1 yrs anyways .. chooing 2 best out of those 3 is overdoing the analysis .

    Choose any of them , all are good .

    @mr

    All the index funds would have performed very much same , the only difference would be how much of tracking error do they have . the best thing would be to go to valueresearchonline and choose one with least tracking error and good over all returns ..

    @Anonymous

    Yes you sre correct , its DSPBR Equity-"D" , my mistake , but it would not much difference overall .

    @Ashwani

    When you say "div-rein" is same as growth , its not correct , If a fund was at 100 and now its gone up to 130 and div declared is 20 , first dividend will be declared (after deducting DDT and then that money will be reinvested again) so the amount will be less than the growth one .

    Div-rein will make sure after new tax code comes into picture , agreed .

    manish

  133. Ashwani says:

    Hi, regarding Growth opttion or Div reinvest I feel that Div reinvest is the best. Sometimes If I need some money and I know that a particular fund I'm invested in is coming out soon with a dividend I can change from Div reinvest to div payout, which is not available in Growth. Otherwise I keep option as Div reinvest, which pretty much works the same way as growth.
    Also, when markets are low it is good to keep div option as reinvest and markets are over heated I think about changing the otion to Div payout and book some profits in the form of dividend paid out. So, overall div reinvest option the best, according to me. Just my 2 cents.

  134. Anonymous says:

    I beleieve DSPBR Equity-"D" is 12 years old fund and not DSPBR Equity-"G" as mentioned in the features of this fund in your list.
    Please Correct me if I am wrong.

  135. mr says:

    I generally believe in index funds. If one has to pick just one fund for long term investing (say 15 years) and SIP in to it every month, which funds would the gurus here suggest?

  136. Lakhwant says:

    Hi Manish,
    I have invested in – HDFC Top 200 (G) and Sundaram Tax Saver (G).

    My wife has invested in – Sundaram Tax Saver (G).

    Now, we both want to invest in one more MF each. I have zeroed down on three Funds – DSP BR Top 100 (G) / DSP BR Equity Fund(G) / Birla Sunlife Frontline Equity (G).

    Please suggest which two are better out of these 3 and if (D) is better than (G) in the light of new Direct Tax Code.

    Also, please suggest if we should invest more in MF as after the above investment we both will have 5 MF investments in SIP of 2000/month

    -LS

  137. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Mutual Funds Investment

    Yeah .. I am sure people will benefit from it .

    Manish

  138. Mutual Fund Investment says:

    Interesting post! The sharing will obviously guide the investors about the Mutual fund selection.

  139. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Bhagwad Jal Park

    I hope you are talking about this because of the new tax code.

    We would need more information on this like what will be the LTCG tax applicabale and other rules need to be clear .

    With current information 2) Dividend Reinvestment with DDT would beat the Growth option .

    Manish

  140. Bhagwad Jal Park says:

    I guess the prime question is, which of these two is better?

    1) Equity Growth with LTCG
    2) Dividend Reinvestment with DDT

    Any thoughts on this anyone?

  141. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Amarnath

    seems to be fine .. Its not going to make "much" difference anyways ..

    The other alternative is to change it to growth now and then take action as per what happens in 2011 ๐Ÿ™‚ .. but as i said .. its not worth the change .. so chill ..

    Manish

  142. Amarnath Awargaonkar says:

    Dear Manish,
    Having read the article –
    I have as of now kept my money in the dividend reinvest option, if the tax regime changes,
    If dividend distribution tax is levied i will go for growth option,
    If LTCG is introduced (as proposed in direct tax code) then i will keep the money in dividend reinvest option,
    Is it okay?

  143. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Amarnath

    Thanks for the link .. it was very knowledgable ๐Ÿ™‚

    Manish

  144. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Amarnath ..

    Ok change it to growth now ..

    Manish

  145. Amarnath Awargaonkar says:

    Dear Manish,
    Taking dividend option was a easy way but i would not have earned much keeping them in a bank so i thought it would be better. Any way if you suggest i will go for the growth option.
    Regards.

  146. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Amarnath

    Why do you think that it will be tax free ? and what will be tax free ?

    The amount you get at the end when you sell it OR the amount which you get reinvested as dividend .. As far as I know that way it works and will work in future is same .

    This is how it works right now ..

    Your mutual fund declares dividend , which you get after they already cut dividend distribution tax of 14.something % . once it gets reinvested , that reinvested amount will be seen as fresh investment and hence if you sell your stuff before one year .. the part which is upto will attract short term capital gain ..

    so if on Jan 1 , 2009 you bought mutual fund worth 1 lac and on Oct 2009 , you get 10,000 worth of investment reinvested , then this 10k will be considered as fresh investmnet , and now if you sell on Mar 2009 , then this 10k of investment will be seen as STCG and tax accordingly .. All this is true before the new code tax and after also ..

    Point me to any article or news which says that it will be tax free ? May be I have not seen it then ..

    I guess you are confused with the part which says that "dividend from shares will be tax free even after Direct code tax" , which is a different thing ..

    Manish

  147. Amarnath Awargaonkar says:

    Dear manish,
    I plan to save regularly for minimum 5 years through SIP. I thought both DSP and reliance funds invest in large caps while sundaram is in midcaps.
    I took the dividend reinvest option as it would be tax free (as per the direct tax code) if i had taken growth option i would have to pay a hefty sum in taxes. Am i wrong here?

  148. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Amarnath Awargaonkar

    Excellent , that is a great acheivement , Taking action is the toughtest part and you have taken that step , its worth appreciation ..

    Your Funds choice is also good . There are some things which you could have improved

    – You could have choosen growth option , and not divident reinvestment , Can you tell me your reasoning for choosing it ?

    – Regarding Term Insurance , make sure you choose another company this time for your Insurane ..

    – I hope the mutual funds are suitable as per your risk appetite .. All the funds you have taken are high risk fund , funds are good , but the important question is are they suitable , If yes , great !!

    Manish

    1. Pradyut Bhaumik says:

      hi Manish,
      why you are saying to Amarnath to go for another company for 30L term insurance??
      is there any advantage to go for 2 or 3 different company for term insurance?
      I am going to take a 75L term insurance from LIC ?
      shall I break it and take it from 2 different company??

  149. Amarnath Awargaonkar says:

    Dear Manish,
    Remember we had discussed about the PPF+SIP+Term insurance combo.
    Well i am glad to inform you that i have started PPF exhausted all my limit of 70K in ppf and also have started SIP in three funds DSP top 100 equity, reliance growth fund and Sundram BNP paribas Select Midcap fund, for all funds dividend reinvest is the category i have selected.
    Term insurance by the end of december i would increase it by 30L more. what are your suggestions?

  150. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Ratnmani

    Your selection is good . Reliance Regular Savings Equity and Sundaram select midcap are funds which can suit you if you want to get aggresive . Its good that you understand that you are aggresive . but i would suggest to put money in these atleast for 2+ yrs and through SIP only .

    Thanks for the appreciation btw ๐Ÿ™‚
    Manish

  151. Anonymous says:

    Hi Manish,

    I thoroughly read your articles on mutual funds and found them exremely helpful in selecting a few mutual funds, in fact your blog coupled with valueresearchonline were the only sources of info for me.
    I have selcted –
    DSP BR TOP100 for its diversificn large cap cos. and high 5 yr rtrn

    HDFCTOP 200 for its performance

    and I seek your opinion on my selection and a suggestion, whether I should invest in BSL dividind yield or reliance regular savings, for I seek an aggressive fund for handsome returns.

    ratnmani

  152. Anonymous says:

    Guys, thanks for replies ๐Ÿ™‚
    I will continue with active funds for now … I was seriously thinking to get half of my SIPs in index funds/ETFs and searching for data to check whether I should go ahead or not.

  153. Business Pandit says:

    Theoretically, index funds (ETFs or otherwise) are very nice. But they don't work well in India. Active mutual funds beat them by miles in returns, expense ratio and tracking error are very high. See http://businesspandit.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/efficient-market-hypothesis-in-india/

  154. Manish Chauhan says:

    You are correct about ETF and SIP

    Regarding Index Funds , Medium term performance has been around 20% + (5 yrs) which is good . I have no idea about ETF . but it would be around same considering you are doing your rebalancing .

    Manish

  155. Anonymous says:

    hmmm,
    thanks for reply.

    As per my understanding, major difference between index fund and ETF:
    1. cost is high in index fund compared to ETF. (low compared to actively managed mutual fund)
    2. SIP in ETF is manual effort while SIP in index fund is automated stuff.

    The other thing for which I am not sure is dividends. As per my understanding, dividends are reinvested in index fund which is not the case for ETFs.
    But the problem is that, even though MF houses have luxury to have dividends to use as fund management charge and brokerage, they do bad job (or are willing to do bad job) in terms of not able to reach even index performance.

    I am interested to know which one has performed well say for last 10 years in India.

    Can you share some thoughts/statistics here?

  156. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Vishu

    I also agree that those two funds are great and very good. Just that we have limited space on article ๐Ÿ™‚

    Manish

  157. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Anonymous

    Index Funds are active funds , where fund manager has to buy and sell shares and maintain the portfolio in the same ratio as index has different shares , which change over time . Index Funds are mutual funds and hence not tradable on stock markets .

    ETF's are tradable instruemnts which tracks the index , they are passive insturments which means no one has to be actively doing something there .

    One can buy a fixed quantity per month if you have to do SIP in it . Mutual funds dont provide that facitlity

  158. Vishu says:

    Hi, I agree with Nikhil.. Birla Sunlife Front line Equity Fund is vvery good MF and I also find Reliance Diversified Power Sector Fund is great too…

  159. Anonymous says:

    Nice Post ๐Ÿ™‚
    Can you share some more light on index funds and ETFs, what are advantages and disadvantages of both? How can we buy ETFs in SIP manner?

  160. Manish Chauhan says:

    @NIkil

    As I said that my list is not exhustive list ๐Ÿ™‚ . SBL Frontlife equity is also a great fund . Good returns and less risky i would say .

    Manish

  161. Anonymous says:

    Hi Manish,

    Good Post..

    I think One Fund is missing..

    You should select Birla Sunlife Front line Equity Fund..

    Give your Idea..

    Nikhil

  162. Manish Chauhan says:

    @income.portfolio

    They are CAGR returns .

    @Orangesplaash

    yeah .. they are very good funds and come at the top . good to have in the portfolio .

    @~sr

    BNP Midcap fund is also a nice fund .

    Regarding Index Funds , they are also a good alternative to non-index funds which i have mentioned . they are less risky and have more stability in returns ..

    Average 5 yrs returns stand at 20-25% range, so its a good tool for wealth building . I would also recommend to have a look at consitent investment in ETF's

    Manish

  163. Anonymous says:

    SMILE has a higher expense ratio… MAYBE midcap fund from BNP will be a better option – longer track record, lower expense and new fund managers performance is decent.

    what are your thoughts on index funds? Do active funds really beat the market? Or law of reversion to mean takes the glare away from today's popular funds. Curious to hear some thoughts on it?

    ~sr

    1. Index Funds in India have more often than trailed not only the Diversified Equity Funds but the Index Benchmarks itself.
      I always prefer Diversified Equity Funds.
      .-= Srikanth Matrubai´s last blog ..FIDELITY GLOBAL REAL ASSETS FUND =-.

  164. Orangesplaash says:

    Good review. I have also reviewed a lot of Mutual funds and then zeroed down on HDFC top 200 and Relliance RSF.

    Good to see both of them in your list, it kind of improved my confidence in those 2 funds ๐Ÿ˜€

    Keep writing!!

  165. income.portfolio says:

    the returns since inception you mentioned, are they CAGR or total returns?

    1. amol walunjkar says:

      what is the full form of CAGR returns ? I was just watching at moneycontrol.com and I could see the returns are there since inception. so how does that differ from CAGR returns ?

      1. Amol

        See this : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2008/09/3-most-important-formulas-you-should.html

        CAGR = compounded annual growth rate , its the return which an instrument has provided per year .

  166. Manish Chauhan says:

    @Rakesh

    Thanks for putting up your views and suggestion .. I am sure they are very good funds .. As i said , there are many good funds which are not on the list of mine because i was just putting 9 ofthem ..

    However , i was not excited with IDFC premier because it a hardcore Midcap fund with 80-90% in Midcaps and still its performance is at par with HDFC Prudence which is a balanced fund . What do you think about it ?

    Manish

  167. rakesh says:

    Hi Manish,
    Good post, Reliance Growth and IDFC Premier Equity funds are very good midcap funds.

    Rakesh

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