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Ok, quick question.
Currently, I am having ICICIdirect account where I have all my MF holdings/SIPs.

There are 2 issues with that -
1> I cant invest in Direct plans
2> There is a brokerage charged as well.

Now, I really enjoy the convenience and flexibility offered by ICICIdirect (also happen to have an ICICI bank account).
Now, are there any other banks or brokerages who offer similar features but without the above cons?

@adimicra
You can not invest in Direct plans through third party brokerages. If you want to invest in two three direct plans with different fund houses, you need to create separate accounts with each one of them and invest which is cumbersome for many people.
ICICI direct charges brokerage (if your MF portfolio is not higher than 8 Lakhs) in addition to the trail charges which they earn from fund houses, this you can avoid by investing in few online brokerages such as 'funds india' or similar service providers.

Since I started Direct MF investments since March this year, I was looking out for a simple way to track them in one place. I was mainly interested to see the gain and some analysis.

I found www.valueresearchonline.com offers the feature where we can add normal MF's, SIP's and Stocks.
So, I manually filled up the details (which are very minimum) and now the portfolio of direct MF investments and stocks is ready.

It is much better than opening statements (with passwords) or logging on to separate websites.
I will periodically have to update the portfolio manually to keep it in sync with actual investments; still not a big effort for the extra money that will be earned.

Meanwhile, I realized that the easiest way to invest in fund houses where I have not yet invested would be:
1. Invest a small amount (say Rs. 5000) via my existing FundsIndia account.
2. Once I get the folio number, do direct investments from that MF house's website.

This helps me in reducing the paper work needed to setup the account.

I have found that Value Research does not update some of the pages of my portfolio for some strange reason. E.g. I have multiple portfolios under my login and for two of the portfolios, it does not show the 'Gain & Loss' tab, its just blank. No idea how to resolve this issue and its quite annoying.
Any other suggestions for a good portfolio tracking website?

Experts,

Need an advice on Mutual funds. I had SIP in few 5 star rated mutual funds and few MF's which have turned duds. The duds MF's I have stopped the SIP whereas the star rated funds are being continued for SIP. Now for the funds where I have stopped SIP - what should be be my strategy? Should I continue holding them in the portfolio with a hope that the return will become profitable in the coming days and then switch it to a more better fund from the same fund house. Is there any way I can do an STP from this fund and use it as SIP in another fund?

Since the markets are fairly high right now, if I were you, I'd redeem the money from the duds and plonk those lump-sums into the funds that are doing well for you. Simple enough to track and execute.

You can only do STP within the same fund-house, not among different ones.

Depending on what the duds are, you can also try holding on for some time to see if performance improves, but that is an individual decision you need to take on what those funds are, how convinced you are with their long term potential and what your long term holding time-frame/position is.

Hope this helps.

If you want to take the advantage of averaging benefit of SIPs after taking money out of duds, you can put the lump-sum into a liquid fund from the same fund house as the targeted fund. You can then execute monthly STPs from the liquid fund to the desired fund.
Mind you, this strategy will make you liable to STCG for your gains from the liquid funds.

This is another good approach that people make use of, however since my own individual position is more long-term, I try to keep it simple and simply redeem duds and park those lump-sums in my new funds. But definitely a good approach, just that I personally don't like the STCG hassle. :thumbs up

Ghodlur's choice completely as I had quoted him regarding his query.

Hi,

I generally switch funds to a better fund within the same house to save on entry load.

Please be aware that switching funds within a year have tax implications if you have booked profits. If they are equity funds and you have been holding them (last paid SIPs) for more than a year, this doesn't apply.

Tax Implications of Switching:
https://www.valueresearchonline.com/...w.asp?str=7098

http://www.bemoneyaware.com/blog/swi...-mutual-funds/

Check the ratings of your funds on valueresearchonline.com and moneycontrol.com and take a decision on whether to switch funds.

I don't think you can do do a systematic transfer plan (STP) to a better fund without exiting the dud fund. Is that what you meant? I didn't understand your last question fully.

Thanks,

Pradeep

Thanks gentlemen for the tips and quick response. I think I will wait for some time before I see some gains and then park the proceeds to a different fund. The fund in question here is Reliance Diversified Power Sector fund, the buying thought was the probable renewed interest in Infrastructure sector post the change in govt in May 2014 and the so called high claims towards the said sector reforms. I should have ideally waited for some change before venturing.

I have a second query. I used to have a SIP in a BSLMF scheme. But for the past few years the concept of direct investing have forced the SIP to be started in the same scheme direct plan option. Now there is a difference in the NAV of the two options. Should I directly switch to the direct plan option scheme? If so, I would end up getting lesser units for the invested amount. What to do? If I go ahead atleast in my portfolio there would not be two line items but only one consolidated MF scheme with total units. The MF in question is BSL Front line equity MF. Some units in normal and some units in SIP in direct plan.

If the fund has stopped performing then exit it. In these volatile days what can be done is to match exits and fresh entries so that any market fluctuations are taken care of.

@ghodlur: This is a typical problem with Mutual Funds. We are all in this boat at some time or the other. :)

Early this year, there was a hue and cry about 'infrastructure sector' and the potential growth due to the high focus from the government.
So, just like a typical common man, I started doing SIP in HDFC Infrastructure Direct-G - monthly Rs. 2500.

So, till date, I have invested Rs. 12500 and market value is Rs. 12438. So, gain is negative.

I will still complete the SIP and perhaps wait for a year after that, since the amount is not going to be substantial.

Reliance Diversified Power Sector fund is a thematic/sectoral fund and as such makes sense only if you have strong convictions about that sector. Thematic funds are risky and should at best constitute a small component of your portfolio.

Regarding your second query, if you sell ₹1 lakh in a normal plan and invest the proceeds into a direct plan, assuming you are not hit by exit fees, you will get exactly ₹1 lakh in the direct plan. Of course the NAV of the direct plan will be higher because it does not pay trail commission, but do note that NAVs of mutual funds are inconsequential. All that matters is the return.

In a year or two, the returns from your direct plan investment will start diverging on the up-side from that of the regular plan. I would therefore advise you to move to direct plans regardless of the number of units you will get so long as you do not have to pay exit fees.

For some reason, my reliance pharma direct subscription has been terminated after the first installment. I am suspecting this might be coz of my US permanent residency.

Does the recent news of india signing the FATCA agreement with US, change the situation?

My experience too is not good with HDFC Infrastructure Fund. I had invested 1L at time of budget 2014 in July last year in this and similar amount in Birla sunlife infrastructure. This has given me 5.5 / 6 percent and Birla Sunlife about 15%. Have exited HDFC Infra the day it completed 1 year.