[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by Mpower

How did everyone do with their MF portfolios in 2015? Looks like Sensex had a pretty disappointing year as far as returns

I took the opportunity of the downturn in 2015 to prune my portfolio from 7 MFs to 3. Here is how they performed over the last one year.

Giant/Large Cap fund: -1.81%
Mid Cap fund: 13.84%
Small Cap fund: 19.74%

Overall not too shabby, it still beats FDs. My overall portfolio is showing an annualized return of 22% since the time I started investing in MFs.

I strongly believe in "Time in the market", not "Timing the market" based on my own personal experience.

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by Mpower

How did everyone do with their MF portfolios in 2015? Looks like Sensex had a pretty disappointing year as far as returns

That is a good question.

I did almost all my MF investments for Year 2015 from the month of July (the period before that was mainly for investing in PPF.)
The only exception was the SIP that I started for my son from March 2015.

The short story is I made zero profit from the MF investments. In the short term, this looks bad, but eventually things will change.

The investments from 2013, 2014 have also reduced in value (from 40% returns to under 30% and even lower).


Having said that, my notional profit in stocks has gone up tremendously. This is prompting me to put more and more into stocks directly.

[sukhoi]

Hello,

A very happy new year to all. Feel like 20 and look like 16, Happy 2016.

Well it is January and that time of the year when tax proofs need to be submitted. This time around I am planning to invest in ELSS and have narrowed down to the following three:
1) Axis Long Term Equity Fund
2) Franklin India Tax Shield Fund
3) BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund

Queries:
1) Is it a good idea to spread investments over 3 funds or should I consider 4 or 2?
2) Is the above a good selection or should I consider some others too. Suggestions. These are the top rated funds (direct plans) as per value research online.

Regarding KYC
As per CVL KRA, my KYC status is "KYC REGISTERED - New KYC" with DOTEX KRA. CVL n NDML say "Not Available" and CAMS & KARVY was not checked. Now when I go to invest online with Franklin India and check KYC Formalities then it says "You have not completed KYC (Know Your Customer) formalities. To invest through this facility, you need to be KYC registered."

I am not sure what to make of it since CVL KRA shows me as KYC registered yet Franklin says not. Could someone please explain what does "KYC REGISTERED - New KYC" means?

Cheers,
S

[sgiitk]

afaik FT is handling its own KYC. They are not on CAMS or Karvy for anything. Registration online is pretty simple, and I did it. In fact they send you a mail with the details as well.

[Latheesh]

I am thinking of starting SIP in following 3 funds (equal amount)

1) Birla SL Frontline equity Fund - Large Cap
2) Franklin India High growth companies fund - Multi Cap
3) HDFC Midcap opportunities Fund - Mid Cap

Your comments and suggestions please

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

I am thinking of starting SIP in following 3 funds (equal amount)

1) Birla SL Frontline equity Fund - Large Cap
2) Franklin India High growth companies fund - Multi Cap
3) HDFC Midcap opportunities Fund - Mid Cap

Your comments and suggestions please

Just my personal opinion, but I feel the funds you mentioned have had their best years behind them. Of course, past performance is never an indicator of future performance.

Multi-cap really doesn't make too much sense as their allocation is usually predictable. Most just invest in large caps/small caps in the ratio 60:40 or somewhere close to that. Owning a multi-cap fund also means that it will skew your MF portfolio towards large caps since even many mid cap funds also own large cap stocks. Please bear in mind that in India, multi cap funds usually fare only marginally better than large cap funds -- I haven't a clue why this is the case.

Also bear in mind that most category classifications are not entirely accurate as MF managers add in other stocks to get a kicker. So a large cap fund may invest in mid caps to boost their overall performance. Similarly a mid cap fund invests in large caps to provide stability to the fund.

I prefer funds that invest in a particular category only, such as large cap, mid cap or small cap, which are particularly challenging to find as to do so I have to go through the constitution of its portfolio. Then I invest in one fund in each category. That way in addition to my SIPs, I can put in additional money on a category depending on my outlook at that point in time.

[Latheesh]

Thanks for your views nowahat?, Do you have any fund suggestions for specific large, mid and small caps which I can look in to?

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Thanks for your views nowahat?, Do you have any fund suggestions for specific large, mid and small caps which I can look in to?

I usually choose from the Mint 50 list since they select based on 3/5-years quartile performance which fits in nicely with my investment horizon.

By the way just to show you how fluid the categories are, BSL Frontline (Giant: 62%, Large: 26%, Mid: 11%) is categorized here as Multi Cap even though UTI Opportunities (Giant: 63%, Large: 16%, Mid: 18%) which is classified as large cap has more mid cap stocks.

[Parth46]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

I am thinking of starting SIP in following 3 funds (equal amount)

1) Birla SL Frontline equity Fund - Large Cap
2) Franklin India High growth companies fund - Multi Cap
3) HDFC Midcap opportunities Fund - Mid Cap

Your comments and suggestions please

I would replace 1 with Franklin India Prima.

Would replace 2 with Franklin India Smaller Cos/ICICI Value Discovery

Would continue with 3 or also perhaps look at DSP BR Micro Cap.

The Mint 50 link shared by Nowwhat is a good resource as well.

Please do your due diligence with all of these funds and be 100% convinced before investing.

Cheers,
Parth

[deepv]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

afaik FT is handling its own KYC. They are not on CAMS or Karvy for anything. Registration online is pretty simple, and I did it. In fact they send you a mail with the details as well.

CAMS, Karvy and FT pretty much cover all funds, and had done them earlier.

But today I was purchasing online on ICICIPru site, and they asked for FATCA/KYC again.
Had to spend additional few minutes to be allowed to do purchase.

Originally Posted by Latheesh

I am thinking of starting SIP in following 3 funds (equal amount)

Latheesh, you might want to take a peek at VRO, I find their notes pretty handy.

[deepv]

SEBI comes up with added guidelines for corporate debt investment - Improved norms for Debt MFs.

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

I usually choose from the Mint 50 list since they select based on 3/5-years quartile performance which fits in nicely with my investment horizon.

Originally Posted by Parth46

The Mint 50 link shared by Nowwhat is a good resource as well.

Please do your due diligence with all of these funds and be 100% convinced before investing.

Cheers,
Parth

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. After going through the same I shortlisted following 3

1) ICICI Prudential Focused Bluechip Equity Fund - large cap
2) Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund - mid cap
3) Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund - small cap

Your views please.

[Parth46]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. After going through the same I shortlisted following 3

1) ICICI Prudential Focused Bluechip Equity Fund - large cap
2) Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund - mid cap
3) Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund - small cap

Your views please.

Looks fine to me, I'd go ahead if I were you..Good funds with a good track record so far. Been working for me as well, 1 & 3.

Cheers,
Parth

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. After going through the same I shortlisted following 3

1) ICICI Prudential Focused Bluechip Equity Fund - large cap
2) Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund - mid cap
3) Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund - small cap

Your views please.

All good choices.

ICICI Pru Focused Bluechip has AUM just shy of 10,000 crores which is the big league for Indian MFs. Over the past year or two, it has underperformed a tad and it has lost its investment objective mentioned in its name -- that of focusing on a few select companies -- It is now so big that it can no longer invest in a few. Sometimes I wonder whether I should move to SBI Magnum, but then that fund goes through its own ups and downs.

Mirae is a South Korean fund and they have one of the few gems in the mid cap space. Astonishingly, this fund has lower beta than their flagship India Opportunities fund which invests mostly in large caps.

Many overlook the smaller cap category, but this is the one that gives outsized returns. Here, BNP Paribas and DSPBR Microcap (Bear in mind the latter is more into small cap and therefore more risky) can be good choices as well.

2016 looks like a rocky year, so you should be ready for some loss. SIPs would be the best way to build a base and once you do that and have a notional profit, you can also invest lump sums once in a while. As usual, go only for direct plans.

[Latheesh]

Thanks nowwhat? and Parth46 for your views and suggestions