It is well known that selecting mutual funds from thousands is a tough job. If an investor were to left all to herself to pick one of them, it would be a journey through hell. However, there are several good people out there working to make life easier for the investor. One of the solutions […]
Should you invest in dynamic bond funds?
“Can I invest in a Dynamic Bond fund? They seem to be giving good returns.” my friend asked me. My friend’s investment thinking starts at returns and ends there. It is time to enlighten a bit. What are Dynamic Bond Funds? Dynamic bond funds are a unique category of debt funds, where the intention is to make […]
Versus the benchmark – The pitfalls of evaluating mutual fund performance
A mutual fund scheme is required to have a benchmark. SEBI wants every fund to choose and share comparative performance with this chosen benchmark. A benchmark is typically a publicly available market index such as the Sensex, Nifty 50, Nifty 500, BSE Mid cap, etc. This is true for equity funds. In case of debt or hybrid funds, some institutions, such […]
Should I invest in this mutual fund scheme? (Download a 20 point MF selection checklist)
Out of the thousand of schemes and options, a mutual fund investor faces a hugely complex job of figuring out those 5 or 6 schemes that should make it to his/her winning portfolio. Further, once the investments start, there is something more attractive that keeps showing up. Then there is opinion from the media and the experts. A lay investor […]
Debt Mutual Funds and Structured Obligations (SO) – Does it mean more risk?
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 […]