What is the best Mutual Fund to invest?

There is no single best fund to invest. There are different types of funds that can be chosen for different types of requirements.

The fund that is most appropriate for most Indians is the Equity Large and Mid Cap fund, which invests in shares of Indian companies listed on the National Stock Exchange or the Bombay Stock Exchange. The reason why this type of fund is most appropriate is because most Indians do not invest in equities in a systematic long term manner to build wealth. The absence of this fund in your portfolio will cause large and lasting damage to your financial well being. These funds are best used for investments of 10, 20 even 30 years. An investor can choose to supplement these funds with Small and Mid Cap funds to boost risk and return. For a young person investing for a long time, this is the fund that matters.

For those who wish to place large sums of money for a short period of time, it is better to go with short term debt funds. These funds are easily replaced by bank fixed deposits, but they are usually better than bank FDs. In any case, even if you do not have these funds in your portfolio, it will not cause much harm unless you are placing very very large sums of money idle in a bank account. This is a 'nice to have' fund for most Indians, and a 'must have' fund for cash rich Indians.

Other funds are useful if you have a specific view on the share market. For example, infrastructure funds, pharma funds, technology funds, etc. are useful only if you believe that these sectors will do better than the economy as a whole. Similarly, long term debt funds are useful if you believe interest rates will fall.

From here on complexity in Mutual Funds increases. There are many funds for many different requirements. There is, however, NO single best fund.

Are there any secure Mutual Funds?

Most certainly.

Debt funds are safer than Equity funds, and the safest Mutual fund would be a Liquid Debt Fund. Other debt funds such as Government Bond Funds, Income funds can be risky because they are extremely sensitive to changes in interest rates.

A Liquid Debt Fund is a great place to park money:

1. It provides slightly above the 6 month Bank Fixed Deposit Rate of return

2. You can invest or withdraw money at any time

3. After three years of holding taxation is very low

4. Interest is NOT taxed until you withdraw

5. Tax is charged only on the money withdrawn

6. There are certain specialized Equity Mutual Funds that give returns similar to a Liquid Fund called the Arbitrage Funds, but these are much more complex.

So a Liquid fund is quite safe, but there are no guaranteed returns in ANY mutual funds.

And then safety is a relative concept. With a Liquid fund you can be around 90% certain of positive returns above an FD rate in a year. So it is safe only for a short duration.

Over a period of ten years, the Liquid fund is very dangerous because you can lose a lot of money due to low returns. If you had put in Rs. 100 in a Liquid fund 10 years ago, you would have about Rs. 200 now. If you had put money ten years ago in some of the 'risky funds', such as diversified equity, the money would have grown to Rs. 900 by now. This is how you can lose Rs. 700 in trying to protect Rs. 100.

What is an SIP, How do I start one?

Systematic Investment Plans, or SIPs are simply a convenient way to invest in Mutual Funds month on month. You select a fund, choose a date, choose an amount to invest, and the period for which you would like to put in money. Once you have selected all of this, you need to fill a few forms and the money will be automatically placed in your mutual fund account from your bank account every month on the date selected by you.

Simple, Powerful. Convenient.

A Systematic Investment Plan is a matter of convenience and not an obligation. you can stop the investment at any time, you can withdraw the invested money at any time, and you can invest more money at any time.

An SIP can also make you very rich. For example a Rs. 5,000 per month SIP for 20 years on the 7th of every month will help you invest Rs. 12 Lakhs (5000 x 12 x 20) in small monthly amounts. And your money will grow because SIPs can be very profitable. An investment of Rs. 5,000 per month over 20 years should give you about Rs. 80 Lakhs (15% annual return). These gains are tax free and uncapped. If I calculate that MF SIPs give you returns similar to what they have done in the last decade and a half, then you should make Rs. 1.5 Crores in 20 years (20% annual return). But there are no guarantees on returns.

To begin an SIP takes 10 minutes. You need to:

1. Complete a KYC

2. Select a fund

3. Open a folio

4. Request an SIP.

Write to us if you want to start an SIP today and we will help you with all four steps.

How do I make Rs. 10 Lakhs in 10 years?

You can generate Rs. 10 Lakhs by simply putting Rs. 5,000 per month in a debt fund for ten years. These are fairly predictable and stable return funds where your money will be at minimal risks. You could end up making Rs. 9 Lakhs or you could end up making Rs. 11 Lakhs based on what interest rates turn out to be in the future.

You can also generate Rs. 10 Lakhs by investing Rs. 3,500 per month in a custom designed mix of ELSS and other Mutual Funds. Returns here are not stable. You could end up with as little as Rs. 7.5 Lakhs, but importantly you could end up with as much as Rs. 18 Lakhs.

For a ten year horizon, it is better to invest in Equity Funds rather than debt funds. Write to us or call to set up the investment.

Want to Invest in the Stock Market?

Investing directly in stocks is one of the fastest ways to lose money. An individual investor is the worst informed, has the slowest IT systems, has the longest chain of brokers to market and has the highest costs. He has zero risk management and holds his losses, often growing them as he seeks to 'average' the price of his holdings. Everybody loves the retail investor, because ultimately, it is he who gives free money to all the other players in the market. No market is truly in a bubble until the retial investor is pumping in money freely and directly.

Fools invest directly in the stock market.

Smart guys invest through Equity Mutual Funds. These funds are tax free after a year of holding, can be used to provide 80C tax benefits, have provided historical returns of over 15% to 17% per year (some have provided more than 23% per year), and are fully liquid - you can put in more money or take out money at any time you want. Most importantly, you get an expert to manage your money.

What are the Sensex and the Nifty? How can I invest in them?

The Sensex is a number based on the average share price of a list of the 30 largest companies in India. To calculate it they took the prices of the top 30 companies in India, calculated an average, set that average at 100 in 1979 and are now measuring changes since that date.

Nifty is similar, but covers 50 companies and started at a different date.

You can invest in Sensex or Nifty through a variety of ways:

1. You can buy Index Futures.

2. You can buy an Index Exchange Traded Fund

3. You can buy an Index Mutual Fund

4. Or the best way - you can buy a Mutual Fund that uses the Sensex or Nifty as its benchmark.

A Mutual Fund that uses the Sensex or Nifty as its benchmark is the simplest, most effective way to invest in the India growth story. It is also the most important part of your personal financial plan because it is responsible for creating up to 90% of your personal wealth.

Write to us at SphereGreen.Investments@gmail.com to invest or to ask any questions regarding your personal investments in Mutual Funds.