Are Mutual Funds Safe?

Are mutual funds safe? No it is not! Mutual funds are subjected to all investment risks that your underlying investment asset class is subject to and many more.

Going back to the fundamental investing rule - High Risk = High Return; Low Risk = Low Return. Your returns are the rewards for managing the risk of an asset class. So if you are earning any kind of return from your mutual funds (which in most cases you are), there is a risk associated with them.

The question should not be: Are Mutual Funds safe? Which are the safest Mutual Funds? You must understand the underlying risk of these mutual funds and invest in them based on your risk taking capacity.

How to Check the Risk of Investing in Mutual Funds?

Riskomter in fact sheet - As per SEBI's product-labelling guidelines, AMCs have started disclosing the new riskometers for their funds. The five risk levels are ‘low’, ‘moderately low’, ‘moderate’, ‘moderately high’ and ‘high’. This helps investors get a better picture of the right risks associated with a particular fund. You must check the riskometer to get a brief idea of the risk of the particular mutual fund scheme.

Standard deviation - A fund's standard deviation tells you how volatile or risky a fund can be compared to the benchmark and its peers.

When prices move wildly, standard deviation is high, meaning an investment will be risky. Low standard deviation means prices are calm, so investments come with low risk. Instead of just looking at the standard deviation of a fund, you should compare the standard deviation of a fund with the standard deviation of the benchmark index to get a better idea of the risk

When it comes to Debt Mutual Funds, there are some specific factors that one can check to know the underlying risk of the same i.e.

1. Credibility of the fund

Debt Mutual Funds can invest in securities with different credit ratings, as per the scheme's investment strategy. The credit rating of the security is listed alongside its name in the mutual fund factsheet. These ratings are assigned by different rating agencies and indicate the credit worthiness of the borrower. Higher the rating, higher is the creditworthiness of the borrower, although the returns may be lower as compared to a bond issued by an entity that has a lower rating.

2. Duration of the fund

SEBI has defined categories of mutual funds based on maturity or Macaulay duration of the fund. Put very simply, Macaulay Duration is the time taken for a bond to repay its own purchase price in present value terms. Generally, the longer the maturity of the instruments that the mutual fund holds, the higher the Macaulay duration of the fund. Typically the longer the maturity/duration of the fund, the higher the expected returns. But higher duration also leads to higher volatility in returns with change in interest rates.

Simply put, ultra short duration funds, liquid mutual funds being the one with the shortest duration and underlying better credit securities (you must check the portfolio before investing) are the safe debt mutual funds to invest in. That is why we generally recommend these for any short term goals and emergency fund needs of our investors.

You can learn more about the underlying risk of Investing in Equity - here and Investing in Debt - here

Wealth Café Advice:

As explained above, mutual funds are not safe, there will always be a certain level of risk in them. You must analyze that risk based on your risk taking capacity and invest only in those funds which you understand and are okay to bear/manage the risk to achieve your goals. Do not invest in small cap funds or thematic funds because they are trending and you are a conservative person. The funds will trend while you will have sleepless nights. You can’t entirely escape risk, but you can always manage it. Understanding your risk capacity is the very first key step to help investors gain without pain. -What is a Risk profile? How to Invest basis that?

Check our course- NM 104: Basics of Mutual Funds - to learn more about Mutual Funds in detail.

Disclaimer: - The articles are for information purposes only. Information presented is general information that does not take into account your individual circumstances, financial situation, or needs, nor does it present a personalized recommendation to you. You must consult a financial advisor who understands your specific circumstances and situation before taking an investment decision

Investments / Mutual Funds - 12/02/2021

What are the factors you must check when you are looking at a mutual fund?

Are you someone investing in mutual funds using app filters like 4-5 stars or sorting it based on highest to lowest returns? Do you invest in mutual funds with low NAV and believe you bought it for cheap? Do you feel that lower the expense ratio of a mutual fund scheme, cheaper the investment for you? Do you make mutual fund investments based on hearsay or advice from your relatives, colleagues or train companions? Or, are you investing in the Best 2021 Mutual Funds suggested on someone's Instagram reels?

Well, if your answer to any of the above questions is yes, then you are at the right place. Selecting a mutual fund is an art and science that is tough to learn but rewarding in the long run.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER

Personal Needs: Your Individual requirements

Investment Objective - Every investor has an objective, a set of goals behind their investments. We all save and invest money to achieve our goals such as travelling, buying a car, buying a house etc. If nothing, then the basic objective of achieving wealth creation or financial freedom is a must for everyone. So before you start your investment it is important to pen down your goals along with the amount needed for that goal. You can learn more about this on this article here - Goal based investment
Goal Tenure - Once your objective is in place, you need to calculate the time required to achieve that goal. It will also help you to choose the right investment for you. Simply put - short term goals - invest in debt ; long term goals - invest in a mix of debt & equity as per risk profile.
Risk Profile - Now that you know the amount you need and when you need it, the next step is to understand your risk profile i.e. how do you want to reach the amount that you need. You must understand how much risk you are comfortable taking to achieve your goals. A person with an aggressive risk profile has a higher risk taking capacity and can invest, say 80% of his savings, in equity whereas a conservative person would invest a lot less in equities. The idea is that you take only so much risk that allows you to sleep peacefully, invest consistently and have a smooth ride to achieving your goals. Know more about your risk profile and how it helps you invest better in this article - What is a risk profile? How to invest basis that?

Quantitative factors: Evaluating the Fund

1. Past Return Performance

Past performance of a Fund is a starting point of what to expect from investing in a fund. However, ensure that you do not look at this number in isolation.

Every mutual fund scheme has a benchmark against which it tracks and evaluates its performance. Check how the mutual fund scheme has performed compared to its benchmark. Has it been under-performing its benchmark or been able to beat the benchmark consistently?

You should then check the returns of the mutual fund in comparison to other funds in the same category. If you are choosing a Large cap fund, you must check how well your fund has performed in comparison to other large cap funds.

All this while you must bear in mind that there is no guarantee of the past performance of the fund being repeated in the future.

2. Risk Statistics

Risk is uncertainty and variability in returns. Returns are the result of managing the risk. Some of the statistics that will help you understand the risk your fund is taking to achieve the returns you just analyzed include:.

Standard Deviation: It measures the mutual funds’ investment risk and is indicative of the stability of returns of a portfolio. With this information, you can judge the range of returns your fund is likely to generate in the future. Higher the standard deviation of a fund, higher is the risk associated with the investment.
Beta: It measures volatility of the fund compared to its benchmark. If the beta of a scheme is more than 1, then the scheme is more volatile than its benchmark. If beta is less than 1, then the scheme is less volatile than the benchmark. Lower the beta, lower the risk associated with the fund.
Sharpe Ratio: Unlike the previous two measures, the Sharpe Ratio gives you the risk adjusted returns of a portfolio. If two funds have similar returns, the one with the higher standard deviation will have a lower Sharpe Ratio. A fund with a higher Sharpe Ratio is considered better than its peers as it is able to deliver higher risk adjusted returns.

3. AUM of the Fund

AUM is the total amount invested by that particular fund. It is the total market value of the assets that a mutual fund manages at a given point in time.

Only because a Fund has a large AUM, it does not mean it is a good Fund. You need to consider other factors as well. Having said that, avoid Mutual Fund Schemes that have a very small AUM as the returns from such schemes can be very volatile and subject to large movements on exit by large investors of that scheme.

4. Cost of the fund:

As with any business, running a mutual fund involves costs. This cost is called the Expense Ratio. If you have 2 identical funds w.r.t. to the above discussed parameters, then you choose the fund with the lower Expense Ratio. Check out our article to understand it more in detail

III. Qualitative factors: Fund Manager and Fund’s philosophy

The fund manager is the professional who takes the investment decisions for your money after you invest in a scheme. The fund manager plays a key role in how your investment performs, as he/she is the person to decide on which stocks or securities to invest and how to distribute the money for a particular mutual fund.

Obviously the Fund manager is not alone and he has a team helping him do the analysis and his decisions will be based on the Objectives of the particular Scheme and the overall Fund Management philosophy.

Apart from looking at the qualifications of the Fund Manager, you must look at his experience and how long he has been managing the Mutual Fund Scheme and the performance of the Fund under him. Longer his tenure with the fund with a consistent performance should give you confidence in selecting the Fund.

A strong Mutual Fund team, guided by well defined Investment Fund Philosophy will be a great aid to an experienced Fund Manager.

Wealth Café Advice:

These pointers will give you a headstart to start evaluating the various Mutual funds schemes and shortlist them. You need to regularly track these parameters of your invested Funds, track the Fund Managers and see how your Fund is performing vis-à-vis the market.

If your day to day job does not give you the time to keep a track of your funds, you can always consult an expert whoa will do this for you. If you want us to manage your investment, you can learn more about us at ria.wealthcafe.in and reach out to us.

Check our course- NM 104: Basics of Mutual Funds - to learn more about Mutual Funds in detail.

Mutual Funds - 11/25/2021

How are investors buying mutual funds - looking at the best performing ones?

The first thing to answer before you start investing is to know “WHY” you are investing in Mutual Funds.

Debt Funds - To build a safety net, achieve short term goals and earn higher tax efficient returns compared to fixed deposits.
Equity Funds - To create long term wealth and achieve goals

Many Investors just look at the best performing funds. They would google - Top 5 funds for 2020 or Top 5 funds for 2021 and invest their money in the fund names that appear. So much so that most of the time they do not even remember the name of the fund. So many times, we have asked people - which fund have you invested in and I would get an answer saying - Umm HDFC bank? Kotak? Something DDFC…basically full confusion and no research.

Yes, when you don't know how to invest and you want to invest, choosing the best funds based on recent past performance seems the easiest choice to make. However, it would also turn out to be a bad choice.

Studies have proven that selecting mutual funds based on high-performance track records is naïve. The Star rating of various mutual funds keeps changing, a fund that is top rated in this one year, is hardly the top-rated fund in the subsequent years. Tim Courtney, a chief Investment advisor of US-based Burns Advisory, did backtesting of past performance of the funds most highly rated, he found that they usually performed poorly after they have gotten 5 ratings. Hulbert financial digest, an investment newsletter, found that if investors continually adjusted their mutual funds' holdings to hold only the highest-rated funds, a total stock market index would have beaten them by 45.8 % in the past decade (he studied funds from 1994 to 2004 in the USA). In fact over the years, it has gotten even more difficult to beat the markets and get alpha on your investments. - extracts from Millionaire extracts - How to build wealth living overseas by Andrew Hallam

Recently, even ET money conducted a similar study for the Indian Mutual Fund market and tracked the returns investors would make. As per the study, they tracked that if investors followed a buy and sell strategy with top rated mutual funds i.e. they bought the best fund and then sold them when their rankings fell, they would make a CAGR of 12.6% in the past 10 years (without accounting for the cost of investing, selling and taxation on the same). Now, instead of doing this, if the investor would have only invested in an index fund in the past 10 years (2010 to 2020), they would have made a return of 12.2%.

The cost of transactions such as brokerage, exit load, STT and capital gains taxes (payable every time you book gains on mutual fund transactions) would further reduce your returns in case of a buy and sell strategy based on the top ranking fund. Also, it is not feasible to follow this approach once your portfolio grows too much.

Some learnings from the above 2 studies are as follows:

Chasing past performance and looking out for best returns is a futile activity, it is not giving you better performances. It is only tiring you and keeping you away from focusing on important parameters.
Invest as per your goals and risk profile, finalize the funds and stick to them. Rather than looking for quick gains, understanding wealth creation takes consistency and discipline is the way.
If you want to learn on what parameters to check to select the right fund (please stop using the word best funds), check our blog - Factors to check.
If you really want to invest and make a financial plan - you can reach out to us by filling this google form or at iplan@wealthcafe.in We are SEBI registered investment advisors and can help you make sound investment decisions. You can read about our advisory services at ria.wealthcafe.in

Wealth Café Advice - “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” In search of looking for the best, you are missing on the right and the time a fund needs to create wealth and achieve your goals.

Check our course- NM 104: Basics of Mutual Funds - to learn more about Mutual Funds in detail.

Mutual Funds - 11/23/2021

Mistakes Investors Make That You Should Avoid

Hello fellow investors!

This Thursday, we are sharing a few mistakes that a beginner does when he/she starts investing and it is important that you understand them and act on it accordingly.

1. Not investing

The first and the biggest mistake investors and savers make is not doing it.
Don’t wait for that raise, inheritance, or lottery win. Start today, right now, with whatever you can.

Consider this: If you can save just 100 INR a day every day for 20 years, and earn 12 percent on it, you’ll end up with INR 30,48,395. That’s enough to change your life and the lives of those you love. So let's just start with keeping INR 100 aside.

2. Investing before doing your homework

When it comes to investing in risk assets like stocks, one mistake I’ve made is going on “gut instinct” and 20 minutes of Internet research.

When dealing with investments that can go south, don’t invest without a clue. If you’re thinking about stocks, there’s plenty of online research and information available free, not to mention TV shows and library books.

3. Being impatient

In a post called The 10 Commandments of Wealth and Happiness, the author, Stacy Johnson, offers this advice: Live like you’re going to die tomorrow, but invest like you’re going to live forever.

Stare at a newly planted tree for 24 hours and you’ll be convinced it’s not growing. Fixate on your investments the same way, and you could miss out on a game-changer.

As discussed above, your 100 INR daily grows into 30 lakhs over 20 years, you gotta be consistent and patient.

4. Not diversifying

There are two types of risk in stocks. The first is called market risk: If the entire market tanks, your stocks probably will as well. The other is called company risk: the risk a specific company will do poorly.

It’s hard to eliminate market risk, but you can reduce company risk by investing in lots of companies.

Can’t afford to own a meaningful number of companies? That’s what mutual funds are for. A mutual fund allows you to own a slice of dozens – even hundreds – of companies with an investment of as little as INR 500.

5. Taking too much risk

Everybody wants to double their money overnight. But if you’re always swinging for the fence, you’re going to strike out often.

Some investments are little more than gambling. Investments like options and commodities, for example, promise huge rewards, but the risk is also huge. Don't forget high risk = high returns.

6. Not taking enough risk

On the other side of the same coin, some investors stand like a deer in the headlights, unwilling to take even a measured amount of risk.

Instead, they keep their savings only in fixed deposits and bank, earning less than 6% (which is only reducing) and comforting themselves with Mark Twain’s expression: “I’m more concerned with the return of my money than the return on my money.”

Insured savings will ensure you never lose anything. But they’ll also ensure the purchasing power of your savings won’t keep pace with inflation. In other words, you’ll become poorer over time.

7. Paying too much attention

There is such a thing as information overload. Between the Internet, newspapers, magazines, and cable TV, it’s easy to get more than your fill of conflicting information.

Step back, look at the big picture, find a few financial journalists or others you trust, then tune out the rest.

8. Following the herd

One of the world’s wealthiest men, Warren Buffet, said, “Be fearful when others are greedy; be greedy when others are fearful.”

If you’re convinced the economy is going to zero, buy guns and canned goods. But if you can reasonably expect a recovery someday, invest – even if that day is a long way away, and even if it’s possible things could get worse before they get better.

We have seen the recovery that has happened from the below of March 23, 2020, of the stock market to current where we are almost back to what we were at the beginning of 2020.

9. Holding on when you should be letting go

Equity is best played as a long game. You should hold on long enough to see it through, but not knowing when to get out could cost you big.

Don’t obsess over your investments, but don’t ignore them either.

10. Being overconfident

The economy runs in cycles of boom and bust – when times are good, people often confuse luck with skill.

This is what happened during the housing bubble and the dot.com stock bubble and the past 4 months (March 2020 to July 2020). Being in the right place at the right time isn’t the same as being smart.

11. Failing to adjust

How you invest should change as your life changes. When you’re young, it makes sense to invest aggressively, because you have time to recoup from mistakes.

As you approach retirement age, you should reduce your risk.

12. Not seeking qualified help

While investing isn’t rocket science, if you don’t have the time or temperament, consider getting help.
The wrong help?
A commissioned salesperson more interested in their financial success than yours.
The right help?
A fee-based planner with the right blend of education, knowledge, credentials, and experience - you can contact us at ria.wealthcafe.in

Happy Investing!

Disclaimer: - The emailers are for information purposes only. Information presented is general information that does not take into account your individual circumstances, financial situation, or needs, nor does it present a personalized recommendation to you. You must consult a financial advisor who understands your specific circumstances and situation before taking an investment decision.

Investments - 06/19/2020

Understanding 'Mutual Fund Units & NAV

Hello fellow investors

More than 6 months into lockdown, 1 market crash and 1 great recovery, the only constant thing is our learning and our Thursday emails. We started writing our emails soon after lockdown and now we enjoy it so much that we cannot wait for the next Thursday to come and share some insights from the finance world with you.

In today's email, I am going back to the basics of Mutual Funds and explain what exactly are Mutual Fund Units and NAV and how they help or not help you make investment decisions.

What is a Mutual Fund Unit?

Just as share represent the ownership of Equity, units represent the ownership of Mutual funds. When you invest 5000 INR in a mutual fund and the NAV of the fund is 50 INR - you would get 100 units.

It is like buying petrol when you go to the petrol pump, you ask them to fille petrol in your car for 1000 INR. If the price per litre is INR 100, you would get 10 litres of petrol in your car.

Let's understand a few facts about Units of Mutual Funds

1. You don't need to buy 1 entire unit of Mutual Fund
You can buy a mutual fund in fractions or parts, it is the amount of money you invest that determines how many units you get. Like when you fill petrol in your car, you tell them fille petrol of INR 1000, if per litre petrol price is 72, you get 13.88 litres of petrol. The same thing happens with Mutual Funds.

2. You do not sell all your units to withdraw from Mutual Funds.
As you can partially invest in mutual funds, you can also partially withdraw from mutual funds. You can do that anytime you want (unless they are close-ended schemes)

3. Units are not the same as the share price
Equity Mutual Funds invests in Equity stocks/shares but it does not mean that units are the same thing. The share price is of an individual company and the demand and supply of that particular stock are one of the factors of their share price movements. Such does not happen to mutual fund units.

An average of all the underlying stocks of the mutual funds helps determine the value of each unit which is called as Net Asset Value - NAV.

4. NAV is the price of each unit
The price of each unit of a mutual fund is the NAV. If you want to buy 1 unit of a mutual fund, the price you have to pay is the NAV of that mutual fund’s unit on that day.NAV changes every day. So when the NAV goes up, you gain.

A high NAV does not mean that a particular Mutual Fund is better than the one with a low NAV. NAV price does not determine the value of the Mutual Fund.

NAV= (Total market value of assets invested by the fund-Expenses)/No of Units

5. Mutual fund unit price (NAV) goes up and down

As NAV is determined based on the total market value of the assets invested in by mutual fund which includes shares, bonds, cash, any interest or dividend earned by them and would also capture the movement in the price of shares & bonds, the NAV would also move.

NAV of a fund changes every day where there is a change in the underlying asset, this change helps you know if you are in profit or loss.

Mutual Funds are considered one of the most common forms of investing today, in fact it has generated a lot of wealth for investors who have understood the risk of investing in them and managed it appropriately. We will soon be launching a course on Mutual Funds and more, so stay tuned and keep reading our emailers for a detailed update on the same super soon.

Disclaimer: - The articles are for information purposes only. Information presented is general information that does not take into account your individual circumstances, financial situation, or needs, nor does it present a personalized recommendation to you. You must consult a financial advisor who understands your specific circumstances and situation before taking an investment decision.

How to Invest in Mutual Fund guide / Investments / Mutual Funds - 06/09/2020

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How to invest in mutual funds?

When investing in Mutual Funds, the investor is again spoilt for choices. Just like the numerable mutual fund schemes, the investor has the following routes to actually execute the investments. Direct Investment: Investing in any Mutual Fund involves getting hold of the Common Application Form of the scheme one wants to invest in, filling it up and signing it and submitting it along with the cheque to the Investor Service Centre of the specific Mutual Fund. If the amount of investment exceeds Rs. 50,000 in a year, then it is mandatory for the investor to first get his KYC (Know your customer) done.

Whatever route you may take, you must invest

Your Advisor: The most obvious choice is to invest through your Financial advisor. As he advises you on the investment choices, most Advisors also facilitate the execution of the investments. It saves you the work of doing the running around. A Mutual Fund Agent/Distributor: Just like an insurance agent, a Mutual Fund agent will help you make the investments. Post the banishing of entry loads on Mutual Funds(the 2.25% entry load), an agent may charge you a fee for facilitating the transaction. He may also double as an advisor. Your Bank: If you are a Do-It-Yourself investor, then investing through your bank is a good option. Banks like HDFC bank and ICICI bank offer the facility to do the investments online with no paper work involved as against the conventional route. Mutual Fund Websites: If your bank doesn't offer you online facility, you can choose to invest through the website of the Mutual Funds directly. Payment can be made online through Netbanking facility offered by the Mutual Funds. However, you needs to remember a separate password for each Mutual Fund you want to transact in. Third party Websites: The best option for a Do-It-Yourself investor is to purchase mutual funds through the online route provided by some Mutual Fund specialist companies in India. Two of them are FundsIndia.com and fundsupermart.co.in. Both do not charge any fee for opening an online account with them. Even Paytm and other apps have now started mutual funds investments. The Stock Exchanges: From December, 2009 Stock exchanges in India have started offering the facility to transact in Mutual Funds through their brokers and sub-brokers. This has widened the reach of the Mutual Funds network. However, this route has not been successful because of the brokerage cost and the conflict between the brokers' interest in frequent trading versus Mutual Funds being a long-term investment tool. At the end of the day you, as an Investor, will choose the route that offers you good service and value for money.

Investments / Mutual Funds - 10/14/2018