[lapis_lazuli]

What is a good debt fund now : a short term and a long term?

Is it a good time to park some funds in a long term debt? Lump sum, of course.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by lapis_lazuli

What is a good debt fund now : a short term and a long term? Is it a good time to park some funds in a long term debt? Lump sum, of course.

Go for something called "dynamic bond fund". The fund manager decides whether he wants to put your money into short term or long term securities. That is, when he expects the interest rates to rise, he will invest in short term securities. When he expects interest rates to fall, he will invest in long term securities.

A few options:

Quantum Dynamnic Bind Fund
UTI Dynamic Bond Fund
ICICI Pru Dynamic Bond Fund
Principal Dynamic Bond Fund
SBI Dynamic Bond Fund

[blorebuddy]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Will it be possible to park retirement funds in MF to beat bank interest rates? Without risking the capital?

May not be possible without risking however suggest you to read this http://www.valueresearchonline.com/s....asp?str=34022

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Go for something called "dynamic bond fund". The fund manager decides whether he wants to put your money into short term or long term securities. That is, when he expects the interest rates to rise, he will invest in short term securities. When he expects interest rates to fall, he will invest in long term securities.

I have a differing opinion, having burnt my fingers with dynamic bond funds in last couple of years. After demonetization it was wildly anticipated that interest rates would go down. Consequently many dynamic funds stocked up on long term bonds. Did not happen. Interest rates went up, and these funds were left holding the can. The returns in last 1 year are just about 5-6 %. I know 1 year is too short a period to assess but what is the use of "dynamic" fund managers, if we investors can get better return by investing in short term bond funds, that is not play the interest rate game?
I have switched to all Short term or ultra short term bond funds now.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

I have a differing opinion, having burnt my fingers with dynamic bond funds in last couple of years. After demonetization it was wildly anticipated that interest rates would go down. Consequently many dynamic funds stocked up on long term bonds. Did not happen. Interest rates went up, and these funds were left holding the can. The returns in last 1 year are just about 5-6 %. I know 1 year is too short a period to assess but what is the use of "dynamic" fund managers, if we investors can get better return by investing in short term bond funds, that is not play the interest rate game?
I have switched to all Short term or ultra short term bond funds now.

Short/ultra short term funds are good & safe. 60% of my debt fund portfolio is in such funds. Not only are returns predictable, you can pull out funds anytime with no exit load.

However, if you want to squeeze out more juice out of lemon, you can allocate some part of your portfolio to dynamic bond funds. The funds I have listed have generated anywhere between 8.5 to 9.5% per annum historically. Most ultra short term funds offer at best 7 to 7.5%.

[skumare]

If I buy MF units (Direct plan) at MFU and have them credited to my demat account with NSDL and DP (ICICIDirect),

a) Will I see them in Unit Holdings in my ICICIDirect account?
b) Will I be able to redeem/sell them directly thru ICICIDirect or do I need to do it differently? What is the process?

[roby_dk]

How is the total amount calculated in ELSS scheme? I started SIP in Axis Long Term Equity Fund - Direct Growth and Reliance Tax Saver - Direct Growth plans two years back. I can see the total units and the amount in my monthly statements but is there any way we can check the same as of now with the compound interest value or there is no way to check this before redeeming the schemes.

[aravind.anand]

Any recommendations for tax saver Mutual fund that pays dividends?

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by skumare

If I buy MF units (Direct plan) at MFU and have them credited to my demat account with NSDL and DP (ICICIDirect),

a) Will I see them in Unit Holdings in my ICICIDirect account?
b) Will I be able to redeem/sell them directly thru ICICIDirect or do I need to do it differently? What is the process?

ICICIDirect is not a DP. The DP is ICICI Bank. ICICIDirect is the trading account.

Not sure whether you would be able to see or redeem your unit holdings in ICICIDirect.

More importantly, why do you want units to be credited to your demat account? I personally don't see an advantage of having MF units in demat account. Redemptions also is a problem, I hear. Please re-evaluate that decision.

Originally Posted by roby_dk

How is the total amount calculated in ELSS scheme?
I can see the total units and the amount in my monthly statements but is there any way we can check the same as of now with the compound interest value or there is no way to check this before redeeming the schemes.

The total amount in your monthly statements is the only total amount (as of statement date). Total Units * NAV = Total Amount. It is same for all MFs, ELSS or otherwise. Not sure what is your question.

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

Any recommendations for tax saver Mutual fund that pays dividends?

I don't recommend going for dividend option unless you are depending on the income from dividends. You lose out on compounding as dividends may lie idle in your bank accounts. Go for growth option.

[tud]

Hi Friends,

I'm entering into Mutual Funds this year. For some reason or the other I've been pushing this and decided its high time now.
I'm planning to start SIP of Rs 25k every month in the following funds.

Rs 5000 - Mirae Asset India Equity Fund-G

Rs 5000 - HDFC Mid Cap Opportunities Fund-G

Rs 5000 - Kotak Select Focus Fund-G

Rs 7500 - L&T India Prudence Fund-Reg(G)

Rs 2500 - HDFC Medium Term Opportunities Fund-G

Do you find this split up good or is there room for improvement. I'm looking at keeping this for long term retirement fund building.

Any suggestion on this would be very useful. Thanks

Also, could you tell the advantage of buying Bfs through an intermediary like FundsIndia instead of buying it directly from the MF house.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by tud

I'm entering into Mutual Funds this year. For some reason or the other I've been pushing this and decided its high time now.
I'm planning to start SIP of Rs 25k every month in the following funds.

I hope this investment of 25K is after taking into account other corpus like PF, PPF etc. You haven't mentioned your age hence assuming you are in your 30's. You should ideally invest 70% in Equity (40% Large cap fund, 30% mid cap+small cap fund or alternatively 30% in Multicap fund) and 30% in Balanced fund or a pure Debt fund.

Analyse your funds in which category do they belong and decide accordingly. Better to buy directly from the MF houses than through an intermediary.

[roby_dk]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

The total amount in your monthly statements is the only total amount (as of statement date). Total Units * NAV = Total Amount. It is same for all MFs, ELSS or otherwise. Not sure what is your question.

You mean to say whatever will be there in the statement is the total corpus including the compound interest. So if I stay invested for 15 years in the same funds the total amount will be reflected in my monthly statements. I thought the compound interest is calculated separately.

[Ithaca]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

I hope this investment of 25K is after taking into account other corpus like PF, PPF etc.

I am not trying to be a smart ass by posting this query to you and other learned members on this thread.
My query is - Is it really necessary to invest in PPF now that interest rates are down.

Full Disclosure:
My brother & I are invested in PPF since 1999 and have been maximizing our investment in PPF to the maximum allowed each year to offset the tax (80 C) we have to pay. And being the smart chaps we are, we even renewed our PPF for 5 more years in 2015.

For an academic experiment, we compared what we would have earned in PPF vs an investment in HDFC Tax saver over the same period with the same investments each year and found that we would have earned approx Rs 1.3 ~ 1.5 crores in HDFC Tax saver vs the Rs 28 L we currently have in PPF.

Does it make sense to invest in PPF nowadays when better avenues are available.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by Ithaca

My brother & I are invested in PPF since 1999 and have been maximizing our investment in PPF to the maximum allowed each year

For an academic experiment, we compared what we would have earned in PPF vs an investment in HDFC Tax saver over the same period with the same investments each year and found that we would have earned approx Rs 1.3 ~ 1.5 crores in HDFC Tax saver vs the Rs 28 L we currently have in PPF.

You have been investing for 18 years. So should'd your total investment itself be 27L? (18x1.5L)? So, how come only 28L in your PPF account?

[spookey]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

You have been investing for 18 years. So should'd your total investment itself be 27L? (18x1.5L)? So, how come only 28L in your PPF account?

Maximum investment limit in PPF has been gradually raised to 1.5 L pa over the years, maybe that's a reason.