[Parth46]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I was wondering what happened to one of long term favorites HDFC Equity. I was discussing with some experts, the reason that most of Prashant jain's funds are languishing is that he apparently took a long call on PSU banks which has not panned out.

Hindsight is 20/20 sir, so he may still surprise us by coming back with a bang, and those who hold on to these funds might have the last laugh, but it's true some of PJ's recent moves have been a bit surprising.

Most PSU banks are bleeding right now, with NPA's being at an all-time high, I honestly don't see these funds recovering in a hurry at all.

I really feel that in this bearish phase, I would be better served by choosing other funds rather than just blindly going with PJ and waiting indefinitely, hence my above post that being too tied with a fund manager can do more harm than good.

Cheers.

[sgiitk]

@Parth46; My other fvourite IDFC Premier has also dropped, but then the manager Kenneth Andrade (the king of SME world) decided to take a walk. I hear they have or are getting a fresh team in, let us wait and see. All, I say is that for me any one start fund is -OUT, any two star is in the close watch state. 3* to 5* I treat as about the same.

[MaxTorque]

Need some suggestion regarding my situation, I am planning to relocate another country. I have 4 ongoing SIPs in equity MFs. Can I continue investing in them or should I stop? Please guide.

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I was wondering what happened to one of long term favorites HDFC Equity. I was discussing with some experts, the reason that most of Prashant jain's funds are languishing is that he apparently took a long call on PSU banks which has not panned out.

November or December issue of Mutual Fund Insight (from Value Research) has an interview with Prashant Jain.

HDFC's equity funds have been lagging for about 2 years now.

PSUs seem to be in for a lot of upheaval and especially PSU banks. In the case of banks, many mergers are on the cards and many of them such as IDBI will start behaving like private banks.

I invested a small amount in a PSU-themed fund last year expecting the government to bolster PSUs similar to Chinese SOEs (state owned enterprises) which had a huge part to play in China's rise. However over time I have realized that that is not the direction this government is taking. It seems to be setting up regulators (as in the case of Real Estate Regulatory Authority) and giving a level playing field to private players which is also quite a smart strategy. Even a monopoly like Coal India has to relinquish coal fields through auction to private players in case they are not mining coal from it.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@Parth46; My other fvourite IDFC Premier has also dropped, but then the manager Kenneth Andrade (the king of SME world) decided to take a walk..

IDFC Premier got hit by redemption pressure when Andrade decided to retire to the Gulf. But the fact is that the fund was underperforming even before he left and they had to open it up for lump sum investment in 2014 IIRC. I confess I am one of those trigger-happy investors who exited the fund when Andrade quit. Sometime I do wonder whether such knee-jerk reactions are necessary because IDFC Premier is still beating its category even if it is not on top.

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

Need some suggestion regarding my situation, I am planning to relocate another country. I have 4 ongoing SIPs in equity MFs. Can I continue investing in them or should I stop? Please guide.

If you are relocating to the US, you must definitely stop. Once you become a US tax citizen (US resident), if an AMC gets wind of your status most of them will automatically redeem your fund. One possible workaround is to invest in India-centric MFs in the US.

[ramki067]

Hi Guys,
I have around 50k to invest now monthly to build our home in India. Todays' price to build as per plan is 35 lakhs, but in 4 years time it would cost me 50 lakhs!
Where all should I invest from now to achieve this goal of mine?

Thanks in advance.

Ramki

[S_U_N]

I noticed that DSP BlackRock World Gold Fund is up 44% since January this year.
Today, it was up by 10%.

Does anyone know what is happening?

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

I noticed that DSP BlackRock World Gold Fund is up 44% since January this year.

Does anyone know what is happening?

Interesting! It is a fund of funds that invests fully into BlackRock's World Gold Fund that invests in gold mining companies many of whom are in Africa and Australia. So it means shares of global gold mining companies which were depressed for the last 5 years have risen 44% this year, most of it in the last month.

Wonder what that means. Are commodities staging a pullback or is it only gold? Without knowing much about the gold mining industry, it is hard to say.

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

Interesting! It is a fund of funds that invests fully into BlackRock's World Gold Fund that invests in gold mining companies many of whom are in Africa and Australia. So it means shares of global gold mining companies which were depressed for the last 5 years have risen 44% this year, most of it in the last month.

Wonder what that means. Are commodities staging a pullback or is it only gold? Without knowing much about the gold mining industry, it is hard to say.

To me it appears that this fund is picking up very nicely. Is it like a contra bet?

I don't have an account to invest directly in this one, but would love to put in a small amount on a similar fund from Franklin, Mirae, BNP, HDFC, IDFC or Reliance. But I have not found anything so far.

It also appears that this would be treated as debt fund from taxation perspective. So I need to stay invested for 3 years if I don't want to pay ~30% tax.

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

I don't have an account to invest directly in this one, but would love to put in a small amount on a similar fund from Franklin, Mirae, BNP, HDFC, IDFC or Reliance.

I do have a folio open with DSPBR, but without knowing the rationale for the rise or being fully convinced of the gold mining industry, I wouldn't put any money into this fund. Bear in mind that DSPBR is usually super aggressive on their calls and when they fail, they do it spectacularly.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by Parth46

Hindsight is 20/20 sir, so he may still surprise us by coming back with a bang, and those who hold on to these funds might have the last laugh, but it's true some of PJ's recent moves have been a bit surprising.

Yes, havin stuck with him since his Zurich Mutual days I am in no desperate hurry to switch out.

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

PSUs seem to be in for a lot of upheaval and especially PSU banks. In the case of banks, many mergers are on the cards and many of them such as IDBI will start behaving like private banks.

I invested a small amount in a PSU-themed fund last year expecting the government to bolster PSUs similar to Chinese SOEs (state owned enterprises) which had a huge part to play in China's rise. However over time I have realized that that is not the direction this government is taking. ..... Even a monopoly like Coal India has to relinquish coal fields through auction to private players in case they are not mining coal from it.

IDFC Premier got hit by redemption pressure when Andrade decided to retire to the Gulf.

With a monetary oriented government, they also believe in.'The Government has no Business to be in Business'. I am waiting for the howls on the cut in small saving rates. we want low inflation, but do not want the resultant consequences.

Yes, I expect major consolidation and rationalization in PSU banks. The point is that how will the lakh crore plus of bad loans given out in high end loan melas be recouped or accounted for. A lot of this is in Infra and Real estate. The former was messed by Jairam Ramesh and Jayanti. The latter due to inflated valuations and also some rightful judicial activism.

I think Andrade said he was moving to Canada where his family is. Managing SME funds is a real tough act, and Andrade had a nose for it.

I take a slow approach to MFs and tend to hold on for a long time. See then L&T took over Fidelity the same sort of nose was there, now L&T MFs are at the top of the pile.

[searacer932]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

Didn't realize you were talking about iSIP earlier.

Online SIP is a convenience. Support for it varies from one AMC to another. Some AMCs such as Mirae, Religare Invesco, etc. do not support Online SIPs at all. Others may not support your bank. Quantum only just started supporting Citibank despite it being one of the biggest foreign banks in India.

However all of them support ECS through the banking system. Yes, it is more cumbersome than doing it online, but it is a small price to pay for investing in a quality fund.

Okay, ICICI has been set up. I have set it up for 1 year now and will need to see what will need to be done at the end of the 1 year if I need any changes.Will call and check with them then. I sent the documents over post and it all went through smoothly without any hiccups. Since I have different investment in different places I am planning to consolidate and enter the details either in Money Control or Value Research Online.

[Engine_Roars]

Hello Everyone, I am looking forward to invest in a tax saving fund. I have ICICI trading account. Request you all to help me with deciding on the fund I should invest in. I need an SIP for 4-5k per month for a period of at least 5 years.

Thanks in advance,
Ashish

[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by Engine_Roars

Hello Everyone, I am looking forward to invest in a tax saving fund. I have ICICI trading account. Request you all to help me with deciding on the fund I should invest in. I need an SIP for 4-5k per month for a period of at least 5 years.

Technically, you should be looking at 7 to 10 years. But since, you said at least 5 years, look at Franklin India Taxshield. It has been one of the top performers and more importantly, has been the least volatile fund (among the other top performing ELSS funds) over the last 5 years. Another key point is that it has been one of the most consistent performers over the last 5 years.

[saket77]

3 of my favourites as tax saving MFs or ELSS:

1. Birla sun life tax relief 96
2. Axis long term equity
3. Franklin tax shield.

Invested in the first 2 myself in last FY.

[sukhoi]

Originally Posted by Engine_Roars

Hello Everyone, I am looking forward to invest in a tax saving fund. I have ICICI trading account. Request you all to help me with deciding on the fund I should invest in. I need an SIP for 4-5k per month for a period of at least 5 years.

Thanks in advance,
Ashish

Hello Ashish,

I have recently started investing in ELSS (last financial year) and invested in Axis Long Term Equity Fund. Other options recommended are also good and you can compare them and pick which one is best for you.

What I wanted to comment on was that you have mentioned that you have an ICICI account. I hope you are not planning to purchase MFs from ICICI account as then you would be eligible for only regular plans which involve a brokerage cost. It would be better to buy direct plans from the fund house itself (which ever you choose to go with). Please consider that while buying mutual fund(s) of your choice.

Cheers,
S