[born_free]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Experts,



Once the best performing Mutual Fund house, they seems to be on the down slide. Would it be better if I totally exist Reliance fund house?. In the past the fund house was my major investment avenue and has returned some handsome profits.

I hold two Mutual Funds from Reliance and planning to exit completely from Reliance Mutual Fund.
I have come to realise, this fund house has short term focus and losses big in long term.

When it comes to Mutual Funds, less is more and for this reason I am planning to restrict my Mutual Fund universe to 4 Fund House and 5 schemes.

Ignore the short term performance and focus on long term, this will prevent frequent switching and consolidation

HDFC, DSP Blackrock, ICICI and Franklin are great fund houses with some of best fund managers in industry.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by born_free

When it comes to Mutual Funds, less is more and for this reason I am planning to restrict my Mutual Fund universe to 4 Fund House and 5 schemes.

Depends on the magnitude of your holdings this appears about right. You will have a total of about 15-20 funds in all. You can probably reduce the count to 10-15 with advantage.

[techcoze]

I am planning to switch all my MF investments (SIPs) to direct plans. So far I have been using Sharekhan DP for MF SIP, but Sharekhan does not offer direct MF plans (if I am correct).

I know that I can start SIP by visiting respective company's web portal, but I was thinking having single point of SIP investment for direct MF.

My friend told me about My-CAMS. Which channel would you recommend for my SIP requirement for direct MF plans?

[Nonstop-driver]

Originally Posted by techcoze

My friend told me about My-CAMS. Which channel would you recommend for my SIP requirement for direct MF plans?

AFAIK My-cams is the only resource that will offer you pure direct plans. Any other vendor will need to insert their commission somewhere. Zerodha recently introduced a service called Coin which they promote as 0 commission MF route but I haven't researched on it yet.

[techcoze]

Originally Posted by Nonstop-driver

AFAIK My-cams is the only resource that will offer you pure direct plans. Any other vendor will need to insert their commission somewhere. Zerodha recently introduced a service called Coin which they promote as 0 commission MF route but I haven't researched on it yet.

I read online that MFUIndia and CAMS are 2 options. Have anyone used them for SIP?

[blackwasp]

Would like to share my experience regarding mutual funds. Almost a year ago I got my first job, and I wanted to start saving money systematically ( especially to fund road trips). My parents advised me to start a Recurring deposit at my bank. But I wanted to start investing in MF (SIP) since I have the benefit of starting at a young age. So opened an account with Icici direct. Many of you would think why pay commission to a company when one can invest directly. The answer is convenience. I get information about the various MFs, their comparison and it's very easy to start or stop an SIP.

I started with HDFC mid-cap opportunities fund (Rs 2000 monthly ) and Birla SL Frontline Equity fund ( Rs 1000 monthly ). Since the last 7 months, I've got absolute gains of 12.02% and 8.03% respectively. Which is definitely more than the best bank rate. This month onwards I'll also be starting SIP in SBI blue chip fund.

I've also bought and sold a few shares, but that is more time consuming and needs a lot of knowledge. I will be focusing on MF only hence forth.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by techcoze

I read online that MFUIndia and CAMS are 2 options. Have anyone used them for SIP?

Yes. My-CAMS user here for the last 2+ years. Happy with it. No complaints so far. Very useful to manage several funds through a single login. I use it for both lumpsum and SIP investments. All my investments are Direct plans.
You need to visit CAMS the first time though (first time for each AMC). I have never had to visit them after that. PM me if you need anymore specific details. Will be glad to help.

[aravindkumarp]

Experts,

Although I have been investing in equity MFs for several years now, debt funds is something that I have never looked at. But wanted to give it a try last year, and invested in the following debt funds in Dec 16 with a 1 year horizon hoping these were relatively safer options. But most of these funds have given negative returns so far.

1. HDFC High Interest Fund Dynamic Plan - down 3 %
2. ICICI Pru Dynamic Bond Fund - Up 0.5%
3. Franklin India Govt Securities Fund - down 2.5%
4. Birla Sun Life Dynamic Bond Fund - down 4%

Please suggest if should hold on to them until the end of the year or move over to other options. If so, which type of funds are recommended in the debt bucket for a 1 year time period.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by aravindkumarp

Experts,

Although I have been investing in equity MFs for several years now, debt funds is something that I have never looked at. But wanted to give it a try last year, and invested in the following debt funds in Dec 16 with a 1 year horizon hoping these were relatively safer options. But most of these funds have given negative returns so far.
........
Please suggest if should hold on to them until the end of the year or move over to other options. If so, which type of funds are recommended in the debt bucket for a 1 year time period.

Friend - your investment horizon was 1 year but you have chosen wrong debt funds for this objective. All the funds you have invested in Dec-2016 seem to be long term debt funds mostly with 50-70% exposure to Govt. Securities. These funds are not suitable for 1 year investment horizon. Hence the negative returns.
You have 2 choices.
(a) If you dont need the money in the short term, leave them in the above MFs for the long term. But do not top-up.
(b) Else redeem the money (incurring loss) and invest in some short-term debt funds - Liquid or Money market funds. E.g: ICICI Pru Money Market Plan, ICICI Pru Liquid plan, L&T Liquid fund etc.

Hope this helps.

[aravindkumarp]

Originally Posted by srvm

Friend - your investment horizon was 1 year but you have chosen wrong debt funds for this objective. All the funds you have invested in Dec-2016 seem to be long term debt funds mostly with 50-70% exposure to Govt. Securities. These funds are not suitable for 1 year investment horizon. Hence the negative returns.
You have 2 choices.
(a) If you dont need the money in the short term, leave them in the above MFs for the long term. But do not top-up.
(b) Else redeem the money (incurring loss) and invest in some short-term debt funds - Liquid or Money market funds. E.g: ICICI Pru Money Market Plan, ICICI Pru Liquid plan, L&T Liquid fund etc.

Hope this helps.

Thanks srvm, that really helps. If I decide to keep them, what duration is ideal - 2 to 3 years ?

[ashis89]

I am completely new to Mutual funds and looking towards investing in them now. Please can anyone let me know HOW to do it? Do I need to open an account with any investment arm of a bank? Is there any way I can do it on my own? I don't mind learning market trends and slowly increase my investments.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by aravindkumarp

Thanks srvm, that really helps. If I decide to keep them, what duration is ideal - 2 to 3 years ?

If you decide to keep them - then my suggestion is to redeem in April-2020 or later. That way you would have kept them for more than 3 years, which means taxation on long term capital gains will be at 20% of indexed profit. You'll get indexation benefit of 4 years (similar to Fixed Maturity Plans).

[srvm]

Originally Posted by ashis89

I am completely new to Mutual funds and looking towards investing in them now. Please can anyone let me know HOW to do it? Do I need to open an account with any investment arm of a bank? Is there any way I can do it on my own? I don't mind learning market trends and slowly increase my investments.

Hi there. There are many ways to go about it. I'll share my experience. Hope it helps.

I invest in mutual funds through CAMS. CAMS is a Mutual Fund Registrar & Transfer Agency (MF RTA). You don't have to pay a penny extra (agent commission) for investing through CAMS. But you can invest in about 15 AMCs if you go through CAMS. You will have to visit CAMS office in person the first time along with documents such as Original and photocopies of PAN card, Address proof, Passport size photos, Chequebook. Pick up the application form at CAMS for your choice of AMC and fill it. Follow the procedures they tell you. Also get your KYC done at the same time.

You can choose 'DIRECT' plans over 'Regular' plans. (Returns in Direct plans are marginally higher since there is no agent/intermediary involved).
In the application form, you can choose to give your email id as login for your mycams online account. Thereafter you can invest/switch/redeem online through mycams login. You can also start SIP through this login. One login to manage as many funds as you wish - from 15 AMCs! That's quite convenient.

You will have to visit CAMS personally only once (first time you invest in a AMC). Each AMC will allot you a 'Folio number' which will be same across all funds you invest in that AMC.

Whatever bank account details you put in the application form will be the default account through which you can transact with that AMC. Money from redemption will automatically be credited to this account.

https://www.camsonline.com/Default.aspx

AMC = Asset Management Company
KYC = Know Your Customer

[GranvilleDsouza]

Hi, could someone direct me to a threat where I could get some advice. I am 24 years of age, want to start investing with a basic amount of 5k a month to say upto 8k a month. Since my parents haven't invested ever I have no knowledge first hand. I've followed and read the thread but not too sure on now to start off or which funds to choose. Also, apprehensive of going to the bank (HDFC) and then suggesting something that they can leverage and have their own gain. Inputs will be really helpful. Thanks in advance
The above post gives me a good head start in opening an account!

[bullrun87]

Originally Posted by GranvilleDsouza

Hi, could someone direct me to a threat where I could get some advice. I am 24 years of age, want to start investing with a basic amount of 5k a month to say upto 8k a month. Since my parents haven't invested ever I have no knowledge first hand. I've followed and read the thread but not too sure on now to start off or which funds to choose. Also, apprehensive of going to the bank (HDFC) and then suggesting something that they can leverage and have their own gain. Inputs will be really helpful. Thanks in advance
The above post gives me a good head start in opening an account!

The post by srvm is highly detailed and that is how you should begin.

Download kyc form from cvlkra.com, fill it up and submit it at nearest cams center.

Wait for a few days till your kyc status shows as registered on the same website.

Start sip's in mutual funds of your choosing. For new investors I usually suggest investing mostly in balanced and large cap mutual funds then include the riskier mid and small caps when they get a better understanding of investing.

One must remember that equity investments are for those with a time horizon of Atleast 5 years.

You can use the my cams app or individual mutual fund websites to begin. You can also go to the local offices of mutual fund houses to begin your sip's.
Invest equally between the direct plans of
1) a large cap fund like Bsl Frontline equity or Sbi bluechip
2) a balanced fund like Hdfc/icici/dsp balanced
3) a diversified fund like Icici discovery or Bsl equity.
If you need to save tax under 80c then replace the diversified fund with a good tax saver fund. You can add a mid cap fund later when you get more comfortable with investing.