Suggestion on platform to invest in Mutual fund ?

POSTED BY nikhs12345 ON March 3, 2014 3:18 pm COMMENTS (17)

hello, I am planning to start investing in mutual funds. Before this i never invested in MF\’s. while surfing this site and few others i come to know about different ways to invest in MF\’s. Also come to know that there will be 2 types of MF’s for each scheme i.e. regular and direct. Also come to know that direct is beneficial in the long term and in regular fund houses pays commissions to distributors which reduces the NAV.

This is what i know, now i have some questions as given below:

1. Which platform i should use to invest in MF\’s thru SIP? I have following options  Reliance money demat account : It charges 15+tax for per SIP transaction. But i dont know if direct and regular both options can be available here.
Citi bank investment account: dont know the charges and also dont know if direct and regular both options will be available or not.

FundsIndia account: They dont charge user directly. but all the investments will be in regular type scheme. no direct scheme available. and they get some commission from mutual funds houses.
regular way of investment by filling the form and submitting. and starting ECS for each SIP.

2. Does the commission fundsindia gets from mutual funds houses is extra burden on users poltfolio value or it gets included in the reduced NAV of regular scheme which is lesser compared to direct scheme.

3. How much tough it will be to invest directly i.e without going thru the distributors?

I am planning to invest 7-10k per month in different Mutual funds. Planning to start SIP. I am not much expert in this area so can not exactly tell when to stop investment in certain mutual funds. Fundsindia mentioned that they will do portfolio analysis periodically but not sure whether they will really do.

So please suggest me how to proceed. Also please answer the questions asked above and correct me if any of my understanding is not correct.

Thanks in advance.

17 replies on this article “Suggestion on platform to invest in Mutual fund ?”

  1. Rajiv94 says:

    Can you please tell me whether one should look for MFs with lower NAVs while investing or one should only focus on the past performances of the MFs. Please clear this doubt.

    Thanks

    Rajiv

  2. akgc2 says:

    Dear Nikhs
    Check the graph from at this page
    http://www.valueresearchonline.com/funds/newsnapshot.asp?schemecode=632

    There are 2 curves at this page.

    Red : For the Total amount Invested (Rs 1000/- SIP from the date appears on the “Start Date” text box
    Black : Value of your total investment on a particular month/year.

    As you see you can change the Monthly SIP, Frequency, Start Date and End date. etc.

    Little below on this page you can see performance ranging from 1 Week to 10 Years.

    You can lot more info on this page like Expense Ratio, Fund Portfolio (Companies in which Fund has Invested) and also the Difference in teh Returns and NAV for Regular and Direct Type (Just below the Fund Name there are 2 links for Regular | Direct types).

    There are other tabs on this page like, Snapshot (Current Page), Performance, Analysis, Portfolio and Download Reports for your further analysis. ‘

    Regards
    Arun

    Regards
    Arun

    1. nikhs12345 says:

      thank you very much Arun. 🙂

  3. Hemanth Chandra says:

    @Arun Thank you for the info that we can maintain our accounts at a place in value research.

  4. akgc2 says:

    Dear Nikhs
    First of all KYC is just one time activity which you already has started and you must get verified status in a few weeks. You will also receive an email about this from CVL about the KYC verified/registered from CVL.

    This document will be sufficient for you to be KYC compliant when buying MF from various fund house.

    I am sure that you wont diversify your investment of Rs 10000/- in more than 4 MFs. It means maximum 4 fund houses.

    Portfolio analysis is not so difficult as there are various sites in the market where you can track the performance of your folio as well as other Funds, can see the past performances, recommendations etc.

    One such great site to start with is
    http://www.valueresearchonline.com/funds/default.asp

    Just scroll below on this site to see some of the recommendations, also you can check the past performance and CAGR of funds on the basis of monthly SIP at this site.

    Process is simple:

    1. Choose the Funds you want to Invest. (Max 3-4)
    2. Find out the branch for these Fund House near to your location in your city.
    3. Visit the branch and complete the formalities (Application Form and SIP Form). You can do all this in 1 or max 2 days. Many Fund houses are open on Saturday.

    For tracking of your folio performance under one account you can create an account at value research online, rediff money, money control, economic times etc

    Regards
    Arun

    1. nikhs12345 says:

      hello Arun,
      I checked value research. but i do not understand how i can check
      ” CAGR of funds on the basis of monthly SIP at this site.” on site. Can you please explain.

      thanks in advance 🙂

  5. jinesh shah says:

    Funds India has few issues regarding payment systems. One can not make payment directly to AMC and it goes via funds india.

    Better option as Ashal suggested ( and I do regularly) is to opt for Funds India for creating folios and then opt for Direct websites of respective amcs which are easy to access and register SIP under direct schemes.

    Also you can create liquid fund SIP and STP for investments triggers to maximize your returns.

    regards

    1. nikhs12345 says:

      hello Jinesh,
      I did not understand the sentence where you are saying
      “Better option as Ashal suggested ( and I do regularly) is to opt for Funds India for creating folios and then opt for Direct websites of respective amcs which are easy to access and register SIP under direct schemes.”

      Can you please explain?
      Also my KYC is in process from fundsindia So is it possible to invest thru direct mode??
      If yes is it good practice to process KYC thru fundsindia and then ditch them to go direct more?
      Please let me know your reply.

      Thanks,
      -Nikhil

  6. ashalanshu says:

    Dear Nikhil, I was not aware that you are already opting fundsindia. As your KYC is in process, you ‘ll be able to invest through fundsindia platform.

    Thanks

    Ashal

  7. arjunp3000 says:

    Hi Nikhs,
    Investing in direct schemes with the AMC has become convenient today. You can register online and keep track of your investments online as well.

    However, this involves keeping track of multiple login IDs and getting in touch with various customer support teams for your needs. The advantage of investing through distributors is that you get a single userid and password to keep track of all your investments. Accessing customer support is easy as all your queries for all the funds in your portfolio will be handled by a single person.

    As a first time investor it is also essential that you have access to a financial advisor. Here a CFP (Certified Financial Planner) will ask you to list out your short-term and long term goals and then advise you on how to reach your goals. You can periodically revise your portfolio to exclude funds that are not performing well. All these services are available for FREE with distributors like FundsIndia.

    Distributors will offer a higher NAV than direct plans as to cover their trial fees as Ashal rightly pointed out.

    As a first time investor you will also need to get KYC compliant. Distributors will normally take care of all the paperwork and even send someone to your home / office to pick up your documents.

    To get started you can start an SIP in the following funds with an investment of Rs.5000 in each
    HDFC Balanced Fund(G) – Balanced/Equity-oriented funds
    Reliance MIP(G) – MIP/Debt-oriented funds

    Do feel free to reply with any more questions that you might have .
    Reg,
    Arjun
    FundsIndia.com

    1. nikhs12345 says:

      hello arjun,
      Thanks for your reply. Good to know that you are from fundsindia.
      As i mentioned in one of the reply i am new in this field, so would prefer going thru distributor preferably fundsindia. but worry for me is loosing the benefits of direct route if distributor does not analyse my portfolio, does not give me periodic suggestions,does not suggest me a way out if portfolio is not performing well OR suggest me the scheme which gives higher commission to distributor rather than suggesting real idea scheme according to my profile.

      Can you assure me that in fundsindia i wont be facing such issues? Regarding the suggestions which u gave me for SIP; i would like to discuss about it may be in other post.

      waiting for your reply. Thanks in advance 🙂

      1. arjunp3000 says:

        Hi Nikhs,

        You can be rest assured that you will receive unbiased financial advice from out advisory team. Our financial advisors and planners will take the time to go through your entire portfolio, access your short-term and long-term goals and then carefully choose the funds that are best suited for you.

        Our business depends on our reputation for providing the best service in the industry.

        You can email me your contact information (arjun@fundsindia.com) and I can get a member of our staff to contact you.

        Sincerely,
        Arjun
        FundsIndia.com

  8. ashalanshu says:

    Dear Nikhs, no matter you opt which platform, only regular plans are availble there. So your first query is answered.

    In case of regular plan, the trail commission is already adjusted in the form of lower NAV, hence in that sense no extra burden on investor directly if the platform is fundsindia or any other.

    It’s not tough to invest directly with any AMC. My personal take for you to save you from legwork, please contact your bank and invest 10000 Rs. in a liquid fund of the AMC where you ‘ll invest in Eq. fund ultimately. Now remember, this ‘ll be in the regular fund but the KYC related job ‘ll be done by bank staff from the branch.

    Once your KYC is active, you may start investing directly with the same AMC under same folio, either online or offline as per your choice. If you wish, you may ask to create a new portfolio with the same AMC to avoid any future problem with bank related folio.

    thanks

    Ashal

    1. nikhs12345 says:

      hello Ashal,
      thank you very much for the reply.
      So i understand u correctly If i decides to invest thru platform then all will be regular plan so i can opt for fundsindia rather than going via reliance money or banks because of cost + service factors. right?

      Now regarding your KYC point. When i opened my fundsindia account they took KYC form from me. and now on this site https://www.cvlkra.com/
      its showing
      CVL KRA UNDER VERIFICATION 15-02-2014 11:42:29 05-07-2012 11:51:14
      against my PAN number. So do you think i need to go thru that 1 regular liquid fund thing?

      Also on other note funds india suggested me these 4 funds:
      Regular SIP for Rs.10,000 (Long term 10 Yrs +)

      Large Cap – ICICI Prudential Focused BlueChip – Rs. 2,500
      HDFC Index Sensex Plus – Rs. 2,500
      Large & Mid Cap – UTI Opportunities Rs. 2,500
      Mid & Small Cap – IDFC Premier Equity Rs.2,500

      Any comments about it? OR any better suggestion based on commission or other factors?

  9. Hemanth Chandra says:

    My answers to your qustions :

    1. For just investing only in Mutual funds, you just no need to have a demat account.
    If you invest in any mutual fund via any broker (including banks,online portals like fundsindia), they will not provide ‘Direct’ plan. They will just provide ‘Regular’ plan.

    2. There will not be any extra burden on the investor’s portfolio. The difference in ‘Direct’ plan NAV and Regular plan NAV is because of the commissions paid to brokers. There is no extra burden to investors except this.

    3. If you wish to invest directly which is ‘Direct’ plan, you have to visit the AMC or Karvy/CAMS and fill the form manually and submit them.
    After this,you will get a folio number in 2-3 days. These days, almost all fund houses provide online account, from which you can invest/redeem after your first investment in particular fund house.

    Ex. Suppose you made your investment in Birla Sun Life by going to AMC, you will get a folio no. Now you can transact in any no. of funds from Birla Sun Life.
    Now, If you want to invest in ICICI mutual fund, again you must go to ICICI AMC and follow the same process.

    By ‘Direct’ plan you have to make track of all investments from different accounts. If you invest via fundsindia.com all your investments, you can see at a place, but they will be in ‘Regular’ Plan.

    Not sure about the portfolio analysis done by fundsindia.

    Investing via ‘Direct’ plan only best suitable to investors who can make their own investments.

    Read this article by Manish to find whether ‘Direct’ plan is suitable to you or not.
    http://jagoinvestor.dev.diginnovators.site/2013/04/direct-plan-in-mutual-funds.html

    Regards,
    Hemanth.

    1. nikhs12345 says:

      hello Hemanth
      Thank you very much for your reply. You and Ashal cleared my most of the doubts. Yes i read that article by Manish and from there only i come to know about this direct and regular plan. Since i dont have much knowledge about Mutual funds also not sure whether i can do my portfolio analysis on my own so i was thinking about going via fundsindia to invest. But then i compared the difference in returns for a period of 10-15 years and as a greedy person started rethinking about it. 🙂
      Also other point came to my mind is, what if fundsindia or any other agent/distributor doesnt analyse my portfolio or doesnt give proper guidance then it will be whole loss-loss situation for me. Fundsindia mentioned that they do periodic analysis but i dont know if they really do. so by considering all these points thought about asking the question here.
      Also i would like to request you to go thru my reply to Ashal if you have some time where i mentioned the suggested portfolio by fundsindia and give your opinion about the same.

      1. Hemanth Chandra says:

        Yes. if the distributor or fundsindia didn’t analyze portfolio well, then as you said you will be in trouble.

        As you are totally new to mutual funds, suppose you invest directly without any proper guidance then also you might end in trouble as well.

        Also, if you invest via a distributor or fundsindia,suppose they plan your portfolio. In that case also, you must be good enough to judge the portfolio they advised is suitable for you or not.

        So, before start investing in mutual funds, please improve your knowledge by reading different blogs on mutual funds, go through the questions asked in mutual fund portal so that you will be confident enough to invest in mutual funds.

        First understand clearly what mutual funds are all about and how the fund portfolio is managed, types of funds available in market, things like that.

        Start your investing slowly in mutual funds.As you are planning for long term, if you have not started investing in PPF, better first start investing in it. Also, try RDs which will help in create a habit of saving for you.

        Ragarding your KYC, it is still in process. so you cannot invest in mutual funds until it is cleared.

        Go through videos in this link….. you will understand basics of mutual funds

        http://www.youtube.com/user/DSPBlackRockMF

        Regards,
        Hemanth.

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