Monday, February 22, 2010

One-minute guide to understanding Mf growth and dividend option

Most mutual fund (MF) schemes have dividend and growth options. The dividend option gives out a cash flow by liquidating some units periodically, while the growth option allows the money to stay invested


0-15 seconds

What are they?

Most mutual fund (MF) schemes have dividend and growth options. The dividend option gives out a cash flow by liquidating some units periodically, while the growth option allows the money to stay invested. While filling the form, if you forget to choose one, your fund will allot you the default option, which may not be the one you really want.

15-30 seconds

How to choose?

MFs pay dividends whenever your investments earn a profit that they can pay out. If you need periodic dividends as a source of income from, say, debt funds, or if you feel the need to periodically book profits in your equity funds, choose the dividend plan.

30-45 seconds

Which is a better plan?

Neither. Dividends come out of your own pocket. When a fund declares dividend, its net asset value (NAV) comes down by that extent. If a fund’s NAV goes up to Rs15 and it declares Rs3 dividend, the NAV drops to Rs12. Dividends are good for those who reinvest them effectively or those who need them as current income.

45-60 seconds

Tax treatment

Dividends from equity-oriented funds, which invest at least 65% in equities, are tax-free. Dividends from liquid funds are taxed at 28.325%, including surcharge and cess. Dividends from other debt funds are taxed at 14.163%. Tax treatment should always come second to your needs.

Source: http://www.livemint.com/2010/02/21205200/Oneminute-guide-to-understand.html

Sebi takes investor education to schools

Class 8 and 9 students at 26 schools all over the country are taking lessons in investor education these days, courtesy the capital market regulator.

The optional three-month course teaches these students the importance of money, how to manage it and concepts of budgeting and saving.

Last month, 720 of these students received certification (of 3,000-odd who participated in the special programme). The initiative follows the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s decision to facilitate financial literacy to children before they complete their secondary education. The regulator feels catching them young is the only way of increasing the number of households investing in the equity market. The number is paltry, even after decades of a free capital market. Consumer Pyramid, a survey of 120,000 households done by the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), showed only 6.5 per cent of Indian households invest in shares and only 1.12 per cent of the total savings flow into listed shares and mutual funds.

Sebi is implementing the financial literacy programme through the National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM), set up by the regulator to improve the quality of the market through educational initiatives. A pilot project called the School Financial Literacy Programme is being supervised by the National Progressive Schools Conference. Of the 26 schools, 13 are from north India, 11 from the south and two from the east. The plan is to extend this programme shortly to 110 schools in New Delhi, covering 15,000 students. NISM is also conducting teachers’ training programs in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Calcutta South West.

Sebi Chairman C B Bhave said the definition of financial inclusion is different for the banking and security markets. “If a person has a bank account, it is inclusion from the banking sector’s perspective. But, all citizens cannot be asked to buy shares. If he cannot buy risky assets, he will be advised to buy fixed income securities.”

The regulator has also been talking to the Central Board of Secondary Education to introduce a course for financial literacy at the school level. Efforts are on to introduce a course in Marathi and talks are on with the Maharashtra government in this regard. If it succeeds, other regional language courses will be on.

Mahesh Vyas, Managing Director & CEO, CMIE, said: “It is imperative that we take basic financial services to the masses, as only 40 per cent of the population between the age of 25 and 75 years is financially included in the sense of having a bank account or an insurance policy or a demat account or a debit/credit card.

It is important that basic financial education is integrated with basic education to ensure this education permeates deep and is not mixed with the marketing efforts of financial intermediaries.”


Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=386412

Study shows large-cap funds are better bet for long-term investment

Top performers focus on blue-chip stocks, attract fresh inflows.


If you are looking to outperform the indices, then plan to hold your equity fund for the long term and stick to funds that invest in blue-chip stocks.

That seems to be the lesson from the 10-year performance of open-end equity funds that have a long track record. 58 of the 360 plus equity funds in India have been in existence for ten years or more.

These funds averaged a return of nearly 13 per cent (compounded annually) over the ten-year period, beating the Sensex and Nifty (11 per cent) and easily outpacing the broader BSE 100 (9 per cent).

Ten-year funds do better
Nearly 62 per cent of the funds (36 in number), beat the Sensex returns over a ten-year period. Only 45 per cent of the equity funds have bettered the Sensex over a shorter five-year period. This number drops to 40 per cent over a three-year time frame. This indicates that funds with a longer record have improved the investor's chance of beating the index.

Diverging returns
Top performers such as Reliance Growth and Vision, HDFC Equity and Tata Equity Opportunities have delivered returns as high as 20-25 per cent on annualised basis over the past ten years.

However, the return divergence between the top performers and the laggards was huge. SBI Magnum Infotech Fund — a fund based on the technology theme launched during the tech stock boom of 1999 — has actually seen its NAV erode by 5 per cent a year.

The other key trend is that the list of top performers is dominated by funds that focus on large-cap stocks — Reliance Vision, HDFC Equity Fund, Tata Equity Opportunities, HDFC Top 200 and Franklin Bluechip.

That goes against the common investor perception that it is mid- and small-cap funds that outperform the long-term ones. A few of the mid-cap funds such as Franklin Prima, JM Basic and Tata Life Sciences and Technology managed to make it to the list.

A few funds in the list also have a flexi-cap approach and move between mid- and large-cap stocks.

Asset growth
One significant finding is that funds that performed exceedingly well over the past ten years were able to attract fresh inflows as well.

For instance, HDFC Equity and HDFC Top 200 opened the decade with an asset size of just Rs 31 crore and Rs 85 crore respectively, but their assets had grown manifold to Rs 5,400 crore and Rs 6,086 crore respectively by end-January 2010.

That these funds saw investors putting in money is clear from the asset size growing more than the funds' NAV. Over a ten-year period, HDFC Top 200 Fund's NAV has grown at a compound annual return of 20.5 per cent, whereas its assets grew by 53 per cent. HDFC Equity saw assets grow by 67 per cent while NAV grew by 23 per cent a year.

However, some of the big names have seen a shrinkage in assets, due to sedate performance from their funds. At the start of the decade, investors pumped money into equity funds based on the lineage of the fund house, but over time it was performance that mattered. JM Basic Fund which started the decade with an asset size of Rs 943 crore saw this fall to Rs 589 crore by January. During the same period, its NAV, after hitting a high, moved back to the same level.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/02/22/stories/2010022251410100.htm

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Aggrasive Portfolio

  • Principal Emerging Bluechip fund (Stock picker Fund) 11%
  • Reliance Growth Fund (Stock Picker Fund) 11%
  • IDFC Premier Equity Fund (Stock picker Fund) (STP) 11%
  • HDFC Equity Fund (Mid cap Fund) 11%
  • Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund (Large Cap Fund) 10%
  • HDFC TOP 200 Fund (Large Cap Fund) 8%
  • Sundram BNP Paribas Select Midcap Fund (Midcap Fund) 8%
  • Fidelity Special Situation Fund (Stock picker Fund) 8%
  • Principal MIP Fund (15% Equity oriented) 10%
  • IDFC Savings Advantage Fund (Liquid Fund) 6%
  • Kotak Flexi Fund (Liquid Fund) 6%

Moderate Portfolio

  • HDFC TOP 200 Fund (Large Cap Fund) 11%
  • Principal Large Cap Fund (Largecap Equity Fund) 10%
  • Reliance Vision Fund (Large Cap Fund) 10%
  • IDFC Imperial Equity Fund (Large Cap Fund) 10%
  • Reliance Regular Saving Fund (Stock Picker Fund) 10%
  • Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund (Large Cap Fund) 9%
  • HDFC Prudence Fund (Balance Fund) 9%
  • ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan (Dynamic Fund) 9%
  • Principal MIP Fund (15% Equity oriented) 10%
  • IDFC Savings Advantage Fund (Liquid Fund) 6%
  • Kotak Flexi Fund (Liquid Fund) 6%

Conservative Portfolio

  • ICICI Prudential Index Fund (Index Fund) 16%
  • HDFC Prudence Fund (Balance Fund) 16%
  • Reliance Regular Savings Fund - Balanced Option (Balance Fund) 16%
  • Principal Monthly Income Plan (MIP Fund) 16%
  • HDFC TOP 200 Fund (Large Cap Fund) 8%
  • Principal Large Cap Fund (Largecap Equity Fund) 8%
  • JM Arbitrage Advantage Fund (Arbitrage Fund) 16%
  • IDFC Savings Advantage Fund (Liquid Fund) 14%

Best SIP Fund For 10 Years

  • IDFC Premier Equity Fund (Stock Picker Fund)
  • Principal Emerging Bluechip Fund (Stock Picker Fund)
  • Sundram BNP Paribas Select Midcap Fund (Midcap Fund)
  • JM Emerging Leader Fund (Multicap Fund)
  • Reliance Regular Saving Scheme (Equity Stock Picker)
  • Biral Mid cap Fund (Mid cap Fund)
  • Fidility Special Situation Fund (Stock Picker)
  • DSP Gold Fund (Equity oriented Gold Sector Fund)