The Franklin Ultra Short Bond fund is a debt mutual fund which invests in various short term corporate bonds, government securities and money market instruments. If you look at the holdings of this fund, you will observe that they all carry a credit rating. A credit rating gives an idea about how safe or not is the […]
Should you have different portfolios for different goals?
Venkat has identified 6 goals in his financial plan. His own retirement due in 30 years. His daughter’s higher education due in 15 years and 18 years respectively. He needs a downpayment for his home in 10 years. He wants to maintain an emergency funds portfolio and finally, he wants to buy a car in 5 […]
Confused – Should I invest lumpsum now or through STP?
You have Rs. 50 lakhs which you want to invest in equity mutual funds. But then you see stock markets touching all time highs. You are scared, what if you invest now and the markets fall, resulting in negative returns for you? So, you are confused if you should invest all of it lumpsum or in parts through a […]
Notes on PPF, VPF, NPS and Debt funds as investment options
Recently, someone pointed out to me that the PPF interest rate is now at 7.9% – the lowest in 40 years. In fact, The interest rates on various saving schemes are falling and savers are finding it difficult to decide where to put the money for getting better returns. There is a slight problem with this thinking. We tend to look […]
Does cash holding in mutual funds affect performance?
There is a concern raised on rising cash holding levels in mutual funds. The argument against holding cash is that it can lead to underperformance as the markets may rally faster than the funds can search for opportunities to deploy the cash. Let’s see if this argument holds any water. Why is a fund holding cash in its portfolio? Point 1, a fund needs […]
Invest in Direct Plans of Mutual Funds – Do it yourself with Unovest
Everyone wants to invest in direct plans. And that’s the problem. Don’t get me wrong. The direct plan is the best thing to happen to an investor. You can now hire an investment manager, that is, invest in mutual funds directly without going through an intermediary or paying a commission. You need not buy funds […]
