[Oxy]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

2. Consequent to point 1 above, it may become difficult to track across 8 separate fund houses. So you may want to reduce it to 3-4 AMCs.

Makes sense.

But what if I am not keen on doing this tracking? I just want to start saving for my retirement, so basically looking to begin with a few SIPs and maybe check on an yearly basis if my portfolio needs any tinkering.

[SmartCat]

I do not subscribe to "difficult to track" too many mutual funds logic. We work 8 hours a day and 5 days a week. Spending 10 minutes of your time per week on your mutual fund portfolio is not a big ask. Also, if you don't have time to track 10 mutual funds, you don't have the time to track two MFs either.

However, it does NOT make any sense to invest in 5 or 10 mutual funds with similar investment philosophy. Eg: 5 different large cap mutual funds, 5 different liquid funds etc. You might as well stick to just one mutual fund for each investment class.

We have a large offerings of mutual funds that invest in different asset classes -

- Index /largecap stocks
- Midcap/smallcap stocks
- International stocks (USA, China, emerging markets etc)
- Govt bonds/ Corporate bonds
- Liquid funds
- Gold

Each of these mutual funds offer non-correlated returns. You are not utilizing mutual funds properly if you are just sticking to 2 or 3 funds.

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by Oxy

Makes sense.

But what if I am not keen on doing this tracking?

Originally Posted by SmartCat

I do not subscribe to "difficult to track" too many mutual funds logic.

I spoke from personal experience. I have been doing SIP since 13 years. Right now I invest around 70k per month, 20 transactions (3 SIPs + 17 STPs), across 7 AMCs, and multiple fund categories.

By tracking, I didn't mean only performance. You have to keep track of when SIPs are ending and remember to renew it. Earlier I have missed renewing SIPs ; I then started tracking using a personal Excel file.

The SIPs I have are long duration SIPs for the Liquid/Ultra ST funds, which acts as source funds for my STPs. I just tinker with the Systematic Transfer Plans on need basis now.

As SmartCat rightly says, tracking is a personal discipline.

[bluevolt]

Does it make sense to redeem current MF holdings which are giving negative returns and invest the redeemed amount in FDs to recover losses?

It will take 1-2 years of FD to recover the loss and to make amount equivalent to original invested principle!

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

Does it make sense to redeem current MF holdings which are giving negative returns and invest the redeemed amount in FDs to recover losses? It will take 1-2 years of FD to recover the loss and to make amount equivalent to original invested principle!

Depends.

- You are new to the markets.
- You have a significant amount of money invested in equity mutual funds, compared to your other investments
- You can't stop thinking about 10% to 15% "loss", and worried about losing more.

Then maybe you should consider exiting the funds and move to fixed deposits. Get back into the markets only after some research and planning.

Else, continue holding on to your investments. Going by past history, there is 100% probability of recovering your capital (plus more) if you hold for 10 years.

[audioholic]

Since the market was on an uptrend for sometime, my Mutual Fund portfolio is running pretty well, and based on the valuable tips here, I reduced investments into Equity and also want to park some of the gains as well as the cash in hand into a Debt fund(s). Like others, with what time I have in hand I spend a few minutes towards the end of the day for these matters and maintain a spreadsheet to track my investments into funds and currently have funds of SBI, Mirae, ICICI and HDFC. The larger chunk of the money is in SBI and Mirae and I want to invest in Debt funds of these AMCs so that I can easily switch in and out of them when needed. As a start, I switched some units in SBI to SBI Magnum Gilt fund based on some very basic research. Similarly, I want to move some money from Mirae Equity funds to Debt. Any suggestions within Mirae or is it a wiser choice to go with a different AMC?

Thanks in advance

[Miyata]

Is anyone into commodities trading or possibly MFs dealing in commodities? Any references for good articles/books on the topic?

I was thinking of Lithium, Cobalt, and few other metals/commodities, but have to educate myself a bit on the topic.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

I then started tracking using a personal Excel file.

Originally Posted by audioholic

Like others, with what time I have in hand I spend a few minutes towards the end of the day for these matters and maintain a spreadsheet to track my investments into funds

Gents, do you mind sharing your Excel template for mutual fund tracking, SIPs etc?

Originally Posted by Miyata

Is anyone into commodities trading or possibly MFs dealing in commodities? Any references for good articles/books on the topic? I was thinking of Lithium, Cobalt, and few other metals/commodities, but have to educate myself a bit on the topic.

Over the long term, a basket of commodities will offer inflation returns. After all, inflation is rise in prices of commodities and finished goods (whose prices depend on base commodity prices). This means commodities are not long term investments. You are better off with fixed deposits, since they offer inflation returns too. People who invest in commodities have a "trader" mindset. You need to be nimble enough to get in and out of commodities at the right time.

Anyway, SEBI gave permission to mutual funds to invest in commodities a few months back. It will take time for fund houses to launch commodity mutual funds. Your best bet right now to trade in futures in MCX exchange.

Hot Commodities by Jim Rogers is the best book for learning how to invest in commodities based on fundamentals.
https://www.amazon.in/Hot-Commoditie.../dp/0812973712

However, it is lot simpler to invest in mutual funds that primarily invest in commodity stocks. The oldest such fund is the SBI COMMA Fund that has returned 9.5% per year since its inception in 2005
https://www.valueresearchonline.com/...chemecode=2812

You can also consider international commodity stocks funds:

Aditya Birla Sun Life Commodity Equities Fund - Global Agri Plan
https://www.valueresearchonline.com/...chemecode=9316
DSP Mining Fund
https://www.valueresearchonline.com/...hemecode=10799
DSP World Energy Fund
https://www.valueresearchonline.com/...hemecode=10559

If you want some Cobalt/Lithium exposure, DSP mining fund is your best bet.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Gents, do you mind sharing your Excel template for mutual fund tracking, SIPs etc?

Mine is simple. I have this sheet on iCloud drive so I could update it from anywhere. Once I get home I can share the template but it is pretty basic. I started with a single sheet which lists down the funds I have invested in as columns and months as the rows. I enter the money invested in each fund every month to track how much I am investing every month. This gives me an idea on where I am investing and can easily sum up investments over time or over multiple funds. Recently, I added a second sheet which I update with Sensex and the profit loss of my portfolio just to track how it progresses wrt to the market as I mentioned a few pages earlier. This is the only sort of offline tracking I do apart from having a portfolio in valueresearch with all my investments.

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Gents, do you mind sharing your Excel template for mutual fund tracking, SIPs etc?

Mine is a very simple Excel since I am not tracking performance. I am only tracking start/End dates. The file has four sheets. First sheet has AMC names, folio numbers, and masked passwords (which only I and my spouse can decode).

Second sheet for SIP/STP has these columns:


Third sheet for FMP investments which I used to do and stopped since couple of years.



Fourth sheet for all bonds/NCDs that I hold.



I track performance only via the NSDL-CAS monthly statements.

[skumare]

Are there direct/regular categories in PMS also? I am planning to invest in a PMS via ICICIDirect and I am sure there is a distributor fees benefit for ICICI.

As the PMS fees are published upfront and there is no further scope to charge a client, I am guessing there is no direct/regular MF scenario in PMSs. I think the distributor gets their referral from within the published PMS fees and the client is not charged extra. Am I guessing it right?

[RiGOD]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

However, it does NOT make any sense to invest in 5 or 10 mutual funds with similar investment philosophy. Eg: 5 different large cap mutual funds, 5 different liquid funds etc. You might as well stick to just one mutual fund for each investment class.

Need a bit of advice on my investment portfolio mate. I've been investing in MF's as SIP's since 2015 in the following funds

-Franklin India Taxshield (ELSS, mostly Large Cap stocks) - 20% of monthly investment
-Franklin India Focused Equity Fund (Multi Cap) - 20% of monthly investment
-Franklin India Smaller companies Fund (Small Cap) - 20% of monthly investment
-ICICI Equity & Debt Fund (Hybrid) - 20% of monthly investment
-ICICI Multi Asset Fund (Hybrid) - 20% of monthly investment

Now almost five years down the lane, all the funds except the Smaller Companies Fund (1.5%) are giving a returns of around 9-10%. My financial goal being long term wealth creation, any suggestions on whether to keep going with the current funds or switch/start off with some other funds?

Thanks in advance

[Thebat]

Originally Posted by skumare

Are there direct/regular categories in PMS also? I am planning to invest in a PMS via ICICIDirect and I am sure there is a distributor fees benefit for ICICI.

As the PMS fees are published upfront and there is no further scope to charge a client, I am guessing there is no direct/regular MF scenario in PMSs. I think the distributor gets their referral from within the published PMS fees and the client is not charged extra. Am I guessing it right?

ICICI Direct receives about Rs.75000 per PMS sold with a ticket size of twenty five lakhs.

I do not recollect the exact name of the charge but there is a certain "Upfront Charge or expense" that is charged from the customer by the PMS service which goes towards a distributor like ICICI Direct. This charge would reduce your invested amount. ICICI would also get a trail comission every year you stay invested out of your fund management charges.

You can buy the PMS directly from the company which would save you some big bucks.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by skumare

As the PMS fees are published upfront and there is no further scope to charge a client, I am guessing there is no direct/regular MF scenario in PMSs. I think the distributor gets their referral from within the published PMS fees and the client is not charged extra. Am I guessing it right?

Don't have much idea about PMS, but I keep receiving performance reports from www.pmsbazaar.com as Whatsapp forwards.

Originally Posted by RiGOD

Need a bit of advice on my investment portfolio mate. I've been investing in MF's as SIP's since 2015 in the following funds

Very difficult to suggest funds within a "category". It is like choosing between apples, bananas and oranges. Can't say for sure if an apple is better than a banana!

Majority of funds are decent. If a fund underperformed last year, it might start sprinting the next year. As long as a fund meets the following criteria, it is a good fund according to me:

- Well known fund house
- Decent sized assets under management (say Rs. 5,000 cr)
- Has been around for atleast 10 years (so that you can see how it performed after considering 2008 crash returns)
- 3, 4 or 5 star valueresearchonline rating.

I think it is better to spend time strategizing, rather than choosing a particular fund. Strategizing means:

- SIP amount or manual investing or a mix of both?
- Fund strategy (largecap, midcap, smallcap, multicap)?
- Asset allocation (percentage allocated towards equity, bonds, gold, international stocks, liquid/money market funds)?

[adi.mariner]

My Mutual Fund portfolio consists of Large and Mid Cap Funds. I am investing with a horizon of atleast 10 years and do not have any plans to redeem before that. Does it make sense to invest in Debt Funds for diversification/risk reduction?