mutual fund portfolio

How to build a winning mutual fund portfolio? (plus a Sample Portfolio)

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You and I face the same problem

There are more than 500 mutual fund schemes in India. They come in a variety of investment styles, investment objectives and options. In fact, the total number of mutual fund options that you have to choose from turn out to be more than 3000. It’s baffling.

How do you go about choosing the best ones for your portfolio that will help you meet your goals?

Given the wide range of choice, many well-meaning organisations and individuals have come up with ways to help you select the best mutual funds that channelise your savings with an intent to grow them at a reasonable risk.

This help comes in the form of ratings, rankings and opinions. Unfortunately, none of them makes your job to select mutual funds absolutely easy. At best, they act as first level filters. You still have to make choices from the reduced list of options.

What to do?

Which funds should you pick? How do you build a decent portfolio that puts your money to work while you focus on what you are good at and growing your income?

As I said, I face this issue too. And I worked to solve it for myself.

The result was a small eGuide, which takes you through the entire process of building a winning mutual fund portfolio.

I use, as my guide, my experience of helping over 500 investors, small and big, to invest their savings in a mutual fund portfolio that has helped them move closer to their financial goals. 

Building the winning mutual fund portfolio – An email seriesBUILD YOUR WINNING MUTUAL FUND PORTFOLIO

This e-series is an effort of many years of interacting and working with several investors.

You may be a newbie or a seasoned investor, I am sure, you will come to realise some of the important things to look at in finding the right funds and building your own mutual fund portfolio.

How can you get the “Build a Winning Mutual Fund portfolio” e-series?

The series is currently live on my investing blog unovest.co.

Go ahead, click here to get start.

All the best for building your own winning mutual fund portfolio!

I believe though that over the next 10 years, you would generate a return that would beat inflation easily and hence grow your wealth substantially.

239 thoughts on “How to build a winning mutual fund portfolio? (plus a Sample Portfolio)”

  1. Great post Vipin..
    Truely mindblowing and makes things simple for non finance people.

    I believe, you should also cover a deeper topic of SWP [ Systematic Withdrawal Plan]. What I mean is if you see your folio grown as per expectation and the time horizon has come or is in sight, then how should you start withdrawing the money…. basically the strategy to withdraw.

    Also, would request you to pl. look at my folio below and advice how I can make it to SIP of 50k/ month with targeting very high returns in long term. My horizon is 10 + years.

    Current Investment profile as SIP, total Rs. 30,000/- per month. Three SIP of 9000/- ended in Dec 2016. Now outflow is 21,000/- per month.

    1. Franklin India Smaller Companies Direct-G = 5,000/-
    2. Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Direct-G = 5,000/-
    3. Mirae Asset India Opportunities Direct-G = 5,000/-
    4. DSP Blackrock Micro Cap = 6,000/-
    5. ICICI Pru Focused Bluechip Equity-G = 2,000/- ENDED after 6 years
    6. ICICI Pru Value Discovery-G = 2,000/- ENDED after 6 years
    7. Reliance Small Cap Direct-G = 5,000/- ENDED after 6 years

    I would like to increase this to SIP of 50,000/-.
    Pl. advice on SIP or STP if I need to re-balance the portfolio.

    I am a long term investor, with normal target goals like:
    1. Daughter Education in 14 years.
    2. 2nd Child Education in 18 years.
    3. Daughter marriage in 20 years.
    4. 2nd Child marriage in 24 years.
    5. Retirement planning..

    Much Thanks !!
    Mohit

    • Thanks Mohit. A simple rule to follow is that any money required in the short term should not be in equities. Will try and see what can be covered on SWPs.

      Coming to your funds, why did you select these funds. Why are you not continuing with the same funds / increasing allocation in them?

      Hope you are tracking your portfolio on Unovest. http://www.unovest.co

      Thanks

      • Thanks VIpin.
        Indeed I am tracking on unovest.co

        In my folio the SIP’s ended and I could not renew on time.
        What i am looking at is a 50k / month SIP folio [agressive style] with 10+ yrs horizon to meet the goals listed above.

        Can we craft one…..

      • Dear Vipin
        Thanks for the very good specific insight. Am an investor in MFs since 2006 but was passive till 2016. My equity based portfolio is with following composition and I have 3 years to retire. Please give your feedback and opinion on the same.

        Notes :
        1. All investments are subject to exit load for one year since they are combo of new investments in Direct plans or recently switched over from regular.
        2. Close ended funds are locked for next 4 years
        3. Absolute return for 10 years till 31st Dec 2016 works @
        4 Investment up to 31Dec2016 was on Large Cap (90%) and Mid Cap (10%) given annualized return of 14% over 10 years.

        Bank&Fin – 4%
        Diverse – 27%
        Large – 20%
        Small & Mid – 22%
        Micro (open ended) – 18%
        Micro (close ended) – 3 %
        Theme 7%

  2. Hi my name is Deepak bhor 29 yrs old married man
    Can you help me out regarding my Mutual fund Portfolio
    My Currnetly Portfolio :

    DSP BR Micro-Cap Fund (G) (Growth) – 1000
    Canara Robeco Emerging Equities (G) (Growth) -1000
    Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund (G) (Growth) -3000
    Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund (G) (Growth) – 1000
    Tata Balanced Fund – Regular (G) (Growth) -1500
    ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund (G) -1000
    ICICI Prudential Focused Bluechip Equity Fund (G) -1000

    I have started my monthly SIP in above mutual fund schemes before one year. As you have seen i have purchased too may schmes
    Investing in too many funds will not help me gain maximum profit,So i have decided to close some scheme
    for e.g I am planning to close either DSP BR Micro-Cap Fund (G) (Growth) – 1000 or
    Canara Robeco Emerging Equities (G) (Growth) -1000 and contine with one schme with monthly sip 2000 Because both the schmes are in Small & Mid cap
    Same in case of Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund (G) (Growth) -3000 & ICICI Prudential Focused Bluechip Equity Fund (G) -1000
    Kindly advice me which should i close and contine.
    My risk taking ability is Moderate and I have a long term wealth creation horizon(10 Years Or More than 10 Years)

  3. Hi Vipin,

    Great article! Kudos for such informative articles.

    I just want to check whether I am going right or is there scope for recalibration in my holdings?

    Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund – Growth 2K/month
    DSP Black Rock Micro Cap Fund – Regular Plan – Growth 2K/month
    Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund – Growth 2K/month
    Franklin India High Growth Companies Fund – Growth 2K/month
    ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund – Growth 2K/month

    Total – 10K/month

    Investing horizon – 5-6 years
    Risk appetite- High
    Age 26
    Plus I hold lumpsum in Canara Robeco Emerging Equities – Regular Plan – Growth & L&T India Value Fund – Regular Plan – Growth of about Rs. 20K.

    Is there change required due to demonetization? Or should I continue like this?

    Thanks

    • Hi Rahman
      Thanks for the kind words.

      The purpose of investing in a diversified mutual fund is to allow the fund manager to seek opportunities as available and invest on our behalf in such opportunities. For this, the fund management team undertakes analysis of various sorts before arriving at an investment decision.

      Once, we have found a fund which is expected to do its job with a stated mandate, I don’t see a point in second guessing a fund manager’s call. If one doesn’t like the style or the performance, one can always move to another fund. So, GDP, economy, Presidents, PMs, demonetisation, etc, ideally, should not influence your fund choice.

      Coming to your portfolio, Individual funds matter to some extent but not that much. Your choice of funds seem to be driven by past returns to a great extent. The success of your investments and your financial plan will be determined by how long you will stay with them and how regularly you can contribute them. You may want to read this: https://vipinkhandelwal.com/getting-rich-increase-networth-crores/

      Thanks
      PS: You may want to upload and track your portfolio on smart.unovest.co.

  4. Hi Mr. Khandelwal :

    Could you please help me assess this mututal fund porfolio :

    Franklin India Bluechip Fund
    HDFC Equity Fund
    SBI Emerging Business Fund
    Parag Parikh Long Term Value Fund
    ICICI Prudential Long Term Savings Fund (Major Portion) + Canara Robecco Equity Tax Saver Fund (A very minor Portion)

    Are any changes required in my portfolio ? I am a long term investor !

    Thanks !

    Thanks !

    • Dear Dharmik
      Thanks for writing in. The funds by themselves may be good but I don’t have a background as to why you chose these funds, what is your risk profile or allocation that you have made to these funds. So, it is difficult to say anything about their relevance.
      Why did you choose these funds and not others?
      You could also upload your portfolio on smart.unovest.co and get a bird’s eye view of your portfolio composition.
      Thanks

      • I was looking for a combination of mutal funds :
        Franklin India Bluechip Fund – Equity Fund (This fund had great returns over a long period of time)
        HDFC Equity Fund – Had good returns, fulfilled my criterion of buying diversified funds and Prashant Jain !!
        SBI Emerging Business Fund – Seemed to be a good buy in Mid Caps at the time I started investing some 2-3 years back.
        Parag Parikh Long Term Value Fund – I like his investing philosophy !!
        ICICI Prudential Long Term Savings Fund (Major Portion – had good returns over a period of I think 5-10 years when I bought) + Canara Robecco Equity Tax Saver Fund (A very minor Portion)

        I assume that I am a young aggressive investor interested in wealth creation, patient (ready to wait for period in the range of 10-20 years. I invest a major proportion of my salary equally in all these funds.

      • I was thinking to make a diversified portfolio of mutual funds. Hence, I decided to get one from each of the categories of the mutual fund !

        Franklin India Bluechip Fund – Equity + Had the best returns 3 years back over 5-10 years when I started + mother of all funds over a long period of time
        HDFC Equity Fund – Diversified + Had the best returns 3 years back over 5-10 years when I started + Prashant Jain !!
        SBI Emerging Business Fund – Midcap + Had the best returns 3 years back over 5-10 years when I started
        Parag Parikh Long Term Value Fund – Influenced by his Value Investing Philosophy
        ICICI Prudential Long Term Savings Fund (Major Portion – Fulfilled my 80 C criteria & Had the best returns 3 years back over 5-10 years when I started ) + Canara Robecco Equity Tax Saver Fund (A very minor Portion)

        I am a young aggresive investor interested in growing wealth, am patient (awaiting great returns and ready to give 10-15 years to these funds).

  5. Nice Article.

    I have started investing into Mutual funds for long-term wealth creation, I am currently Investing 5000 PM into the below funds through SIP
    Franklin India Small Cap Direct
    DSP Blackrock Micro Cap Direct
    Birla Sunlife Front Line Equity Direct
    and also PPF for my Retirement and DSP Blackrock Tax saver for Tax savings.

    Is this portfolio is good enough to create a good amount for my retirement considering that I will keep investing through SIP for more than 15 Years.
    and I am also confused, By investing 1000 into ELSS and PPF am I loosing the compounding benefit from the other funds. please suggest.

    • Dear Rajeswar

      A few questions for you to think and explore:
      Why did you choose the specific funds that you have?
      What is your expectation from them in terms of risk and returns?
      Why did you choose PPF?
      What does compounding mean to you?

      Thanks

      • Hi Vipin, Thanks for the reply.

        Why did you choose the specific funds that you have?
        I have selected funds based on the 5 star ratings in each category by Crisil (from Value research Online) and also the return for the last 5 years.
        What is your expectation from them in terms of risk and returns?
        with the help of MF I can get exposure to Stock market and where there is huge opportunities and at the cost of principle as well, but since MF are more diversified, than live Stocks wanted to opt for SIP.
        Why did you choose PPF?
        I started this much before starting MF it has been 3 yrs, since it is govt sponsored and there is no risk of capital plus a tax exemption, but ever since the rate is reduced I am worried as the lock in period is 15yrs, with such time horizon we can get much more return in MF.
        What does compounding mean to you?
        Just by investing 1000 in PPF for 15 years @ 8.1 and Investing in any SIP with 15 years have a greater results its much more than that, of course past results doesn’t guarantee any future but an indicator of future.

        I hope I have answered your questions.

        • Dear Rajeshwar

          Nice to see your candid replies. CRISIL ranks and value research ratings are different. looking only at Star ratings could be dangerous. Even the rating agencies say that they are only one of the indicators and should be used along with other parameters in fund selection.

          When you are investing, look at what you want your money to achieve for you, what use can you put it to and then decide where should you invest to achieve that goal. If a PPF return is enough for you to achieve your goal, then so be it. As for the rates, look at it from the perspective of inflation. Since inflation is coming down, rates would also come down and vice versa.

          An example of goal setting is planning for retirement. Use the calculator in this note to know if you are on the right track. https://vipinkhandelwal.com/retirement-planning-calculator-9-scenarios/

          Compounding is the process by which you keep reinvesting your earnings and put them to work too to increase your wealth. You don’t withdraw money in between. That’s how compounding gets to work.

          Hope this helps.

  6. Hi thanks for this blog, it helps to extent; i am 33 and investing atleast 1L/month through fundsindia, and below are the funds that I am currently holding with equal weightage and planning to go for around 15 years, suggest;

    Franklin India Prima Plus Fund(G)
    Franklin India Smaller Cos Fund(G)
    HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund(G)
    ICICI Pru Focused BlueChip Equity Fund(G)
    Mirae Asset Emerging BlueChip-Reg(G)

      • I quite did not get your question, if it is about sailing through this volatality, my answer is yes, i am neither in hurry to withdraw nor ditherd by the sensex pull back in the last 10 days; in fact i kept adding lumsum to these funds during the fall; however i need your view on the funds and do you think i can go with these for longer ~15 years?

  7. i want to do SIP of 10000 per month for a period of 10 years. Pls suggest me for suitable funds for me. I can take moderate risk.

  8. Hi Vipin,

    Thanks for helping with such an elaborate explanation about mutual funds and how to invest. Can you please help me further to advise on my income allocation and investment portfolio based on my current position?

    I am a 25 year old professional earning a lower double digit salary per annum. I have split my income into 4 major sections (for the next 5-10 years)

    a. Daily Expenses & Insurance – 30%
    b. Long-Term Investment (Risk-taking) – 40%
    c. Emergency Fund/Debt Investments – 20%
    d. Travel/Leisure – 10%

    In mutual funds, I am following a SIP model and allocating equal SIP for the below 4 mutual funds:

    a. Reliance Top 200 Fund- Direct Plan (G)
    b. Axis Long Term Equity Fund – Direct Plan (G)
    c.Franklin India High Growth Companies Fund – Direct Plan (G)
    d. HDFC Top 200 Fund- Direct Plan (G)

    I am targeting a return of 15-20% (on entire portfolio) over 10 years.

    Kindly advise me whether I should make any changes in my income allocation as well as on mutual fund portfolio

    • Dear Utkarsh

      I can help you with certain questions for your own exploration.
      Why did you select these specific schemes? why not any other? What’s risk for you? What if you don’t meet that return target?

      If you are looking for specific advice, you may want to subscribe to one of the services at http://www.unovest.co/pricing

      Thanks

  9. hI VIPIN,

    I HAVE TAKEN 2500 SIP IN ICICI PRU VALUE DISCOVERY FUND FOR MY RETIREMENT. I AM 30 YEAR. I AM LOOKING AT THIS INVESTMENT FOR ANOTHER 25-28 YEARS.

    CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME IF THIS IS RIGHT INVESTMENT FOR RETIREMENT?

  10. Hi Vipin,

    Excellent blog. I am 35 year old and planning to invest in MFs. I want invest a lump-sum and SIP. My intention is also to put in equity MFs for long term like 10 years. I like the method you used to to filter the funds. It is ready made solution for what i want. thank you.

    I have few questions.
    1) I am yet open a demat account. I have savings account in ICICI. So thinking of opening inICICI-Direct.. Is it good? or better to open in others with low charges? Any suggestion?

    2) Your blog seems to be of year 2015. Funds filtered are still the best? or any changes help?

    3) Any suggestion to on how to plan lump-sum and SIP ? I think I am good with SIP with this portfolio. Same funds for lump-sum also?

    Thank you.

    • Dear Raju

      Thanks for the appreciation.

      Just to let you know, ICICI Direct is a distributor. you might have to pay extra charges plus it will also receive commissions on your investments. You may evaluate a platform like MFUindia.com or unovest.co to make your mutual fund investments.

      BTW, demat is not required to make mutual fund investments.

      Well, funds are more or less the same. I will soon publish an update of this post.

      There is no difference between funds for lump sum or SIP.

      Thanks
      Vipin

  11. hi vipin,
    i am regular reader of this blog.Thanks for spreading awareness regarding money and investments.

    I recently made an investment in MF SIP of 2500 in value discovery for my retirement fund.I am 30 year old. Can you suggest me if this a good investment for retirement.I also put money in PPF accounts regularly for retirement.

      • I SELECTED THIS FUND AS IT COME IN DIVERSIFIED CATEGORY AND EVEN CONSIDERED ITS PAST PERFORMENCE. EXPECTING AT LEAST 12 % RETURNS PER ANNUM TILL MY RETIREMENT.

        • Well, thanks for sharing this. You must know that Value Discovery became a diversified fund only one year ago. Before that it was a mid cap fund and hence e all the returns that you see are a result of being in mid cap stocks. Since the fund size became large, it found it difficult to manage only in mid caps and hence enlarged its scope.
          Also, past performance is no guarantee of future results.

          • ok.Thanks for reply vipin.

            Can u suggest me how should i take my approach in MF for retirement.please help.

  12. Hello Vipin,

    I came across your article and found it extremely insightful as i was mostly considering risky stock investments for my goals.

    I am currently 28 years old and need to make a lot of money decisions which i feel i am running late on.

    Below is my tentative assessment of requirements i will face and request your help in it.

    Looking to invest 1.5 lakh lump sum + 15,000 per month for now..

    – 1 year period: require 3-4 lakhs for expenses
    – 3 year period require 5 lakhs for expenses
    – 5 years period require 10 lakhs -15 lakhs for expenses
    – Also want to slowly move to a position wherein the portfolio gives me fixed monthly returns

    Overall want your help to figure out amount of money to saved to meet these targets + the funds i can distribute these monies percentage wise

    Disclosure on Current Investment
    I have started an investment in Axis Long Term Equity Fund (D) (G) plan with 5000 per month and completed 2 months SIP

    Request your help to plan..

    Regards,
    Shashank

    • Dear Shashank,
      Thanks for the kind words. Glad to know you are starting up early in life to plan your finances.

      You have laid out the basic parameters well. You can use some of the calculators on the website or generally on the web to know how much you need to do to reach your goals.

      Any money you need within 5 years, do not subject it to market risk. You can consider debt funds for short term goals, in case you are in the 30% tax bracket. There is a note on ultra short term funds on http://www.unovest.co. Do read it up.

      Hope this helps.

      All the best.

      • Thank you Vipin!

        So i understand two steps that need to be taken:
        1. look for online calculators to assess how much to invest to get these kind of returns (have looked up a few and figuring commercials).

        2. Once that is done, need to find out investment options and allocate accordingly as all calculators indicate i need a 20% return over a period of 1 yr target (2.5 lakh investment), 3 yrs target (3.5 lakh investment min) & 5 yrs target (6 lac investment) years consistently across the portfolio categories as per targets. I fall in the 20% tax bracket currently. Need your help to build an ideal portfolio in accordance to these calculator readings. Any suggestions on the mix.

        Would appreciate if you could handhold a bit at this point with an understanding that its purely a suggestion and while not holding you on it. 🙂

        Thank you very much.

        Regards,
        Shashank

  13. Dear Sir,

    My Self Sunit Singhal. I am 35 years young and working in a private firm. My annual income approx 5 Lacs per annum. I have one son of 6 year.I want to some future planning with your help.

    I wish to participate my saving with you as under mention:-

    1) Term Insurance from Ageon Religer for 50 Lacs.

    2) Maha Life Gold (Tata AIA) for 5 Lacs in the year 2010.

    3) Hdfc Top 200 – 2100/- per month from Jan’2013.

    4) Icici Focussed blue chip – 4500/- per month from Jan’2014.

    5) Jeevan Anand for 1 Lacs in 2009.

    6) Jeevan Sathi for 1.5 Lacs in year 2009.

    7) SBI Magnum Taxgain (ELSS) – 1500/- per month from Nov’2014

    My question is that – 1) Is term insurance of Ageon Religer good for me?

    2) I want to invest Rs. 5000/- for my son as well as retirement purpose for the next 15 year to collect a good amount. Pls suggest me good Mutual fund.

    I have SIP in High risk fund, if possible pls suggest medium / Low risk fund for further 10-15 years.

    Therefore kindly suggest me that my investments is good or not and for future invest.

    With Rgds,

    SUNIT SINGHAL
    9038640098

  14. Hello Vipin,

    Revisiting the article again to refresh my knowledge. I wanted to highlight that the link “Read more: John Bogle’s 8 Rules to build a winning mutual fund portfolio” isn’t getting redirected to the correct page.

    A humble request to rectify the error.

  15. Hello Sir, I’m 30 yrs old earning 80k per month and investing 21k per month in MFs. i can further invest 4k more per month. please suggest me whether below portfolio is fine or need to change with any different fund in case i would have taken high risk by choosing below funds. My Goal is to build 50lakhs by next 10 yrs and 1 crore by next 15 years. Below are my portfolio diversification details ? SIP Details as below(Monthly Basis)
    ELSS
    1)Franklin India Tax Shield ? Growth ? 2500/-
    2)Axis Long term equity fund ? Growth ? 2500/-
    Large Cap
    SBI Blue Chip Fund ? Growth ? 2000/-
    Mid Cap
    Franklin India Prima fund ? Growth ? 2000/-
    Small Cap
    Franklin India Smaller companies fund ? Growth ? 1000/-
    Diversified
    ICICI Prudential value discovery fund ? Growth ? 2000/-
    Balanced funds
    1) HDFC Balanced Fund ? Growth(Equity based Balanced Fund) ? 2000/-
    2) HDFC MIP LTP ? Growth(Debt based Balanced fund) ? 2000
    Debt Fund
    Birla Sun Life Short term fund ? Growth ? 5000
    LumpSum?
    1. Franklin India Tax shield(ELSS invested to save tax for last FY 15-16) Rs.50000/-
    2. Axis long term equity fund(ELSS invested to save tax for last FY 15-16) Rs.50000/-

    • Hi Rajesh

      Thanks for sharing.
      Why have you chosen the funds you have mentioned?
      Any reason for having a debt fund, an MIP and a balanced fund?

      If you were allowed to have only 5 funds max, what would you do?

      Get thinking. 🙂

  16. Beautifully done. Thanks a lot for a very scientific approach to short down the MF list and really actionable rather loads of theories on which no action can be taken.

    Thanks once again.

  17. I was going through the article “How to build a winning MF portfolio” and this is a verry nice and informative one.
    The article was published last year.
    Can you please revisit the MF’s and provide the latest list of 6 MF’s, if any change.

  18. Hello Vipin,

    I went through your blog and it well written, appreciate for that. I understood lot of things out of it. Also I went through your “Child Education” and “Retirement” calculator related blogs.

    My age is 33

    Let me tell you my investment and goals –

    Investment-
    1) PPF (Retirement) – 12500 per month from last 3 years (Maturity in 2029)
    2) Sukannya Samruddhi Yojana (Girl Education) – 12500 per month from last 1.5 year (Maturity in 2037)
    3) LICs – 65000 per annum from last 6 years (Maturity in 2031)
    4) Below Mutual Funds (I am looking for atleast 5 years investment) –
    a) HDFC Short Term Opportunities Fund(G) – 6000 per month from 1 year
    b) Birla SL Dynamic Bond Fund-Ret(G) – 6000 per month from 1 year
    c) Tata Balanced Fund(G) – 8000 per month from last 1 year

    Goals-
    1) Retirement at the age of 45/50, currently I am working in private IT sector and I may need atleast 75 lakh
    2) I have doughter and she is 1 year old, for girl child education I may need 75 lakh
    3) Also I may need 50 lakh for her marriage at her 21th age

    Currently I don’t have any term plan or for my family member nor they have any LICs.

    So it will be good if you can suggest your opinion, what you feel looking at my investment/goals and considering all retirement/child’s education and marriage and health related expenses. Also correct me if I am lacking doing wrong investment in any entity.

    Waiting for your response.

    Regards,
    Pravin

    • Dear Pravin
      Thanks for reading and sharing the questions.

      Have you used the calculators to know the figures required?

      Based on what you have shared, you would need to save a lot more to achieve your retirement goal at 45/50. Just try the calculator with an open mind.

      As I see, your investments are focused towards debt including your MF investments.
      You can upload your MF portfolio on smart.unovest.co and see the analysis there.

      In my view, you will have to either increase your investments significantly, or increase your exposure to equity investments to reach the goals you have stated.

      You should also take up term insurance. You can refer to the insurance calculator to find out how much insurance is required. Ditto for health insurance.

      In any case do the above things and see where you stand and what is required to be done.

      Best
      Vipin

  19. Hello Vipin,
    Appreciate your expert review on my below query !
    I’m looking to build a SIP portfolio for the next 30 months (2.5 years) to get the max returns so that my goal of around 25 -30 lakhs is fulfilled. Could you please suggest some mixture of funds to attain this kind of goal? Based on the sip calculator for this requirements, i think i have to invest around 80-90 thousand per month. And, i am fine with it.
    Appreciate your help in sharing few (maybe top 4-6 funds) that i can add to my SIP portfolio.

    Thank you in advance.!

      • Thanks for your quick reply Vipin.

        But how about my SIP plan for next 3 years (each 7k) to achieve the above goal?

        1. Birla Sun Life Monthly Income Plan II – Wealth 25 Plan – Growth (short term)
        2. hdfc balanced fund (medium term)
        3. franklin india smaller companies (smallcap)
        4. franklin india prima plus (equity multicap)
        5. dsp blackrock microcap fund (small cap)
        6. birla sun life top 100 fund (equity large cap)
        7. sbi bluechip fund (equity large cap)
        8. mirae asset emerging equities (equity midcap)
        9. birla sunlife pure value fund (equity midcap)
        10. birla sunlife short term fund (debt short term fund)

  20. Hello Vipin,
    I am very much new in Mutual fund World.My age is 34 years. I am married and have one daughter aged 5 year. My earning is around 1 Lakh p.m
    I have visited many sites but i feel you are the one who can help me to build my portfolio.
    Below are my regular expenses:
    1. House Rent : 15000 p.m
    2. Daughter school fees : 1 lakh p.a (~8500 p.m)
    3. Food and other things : 10000 p.m

    Investments :
    1. 1 Lakh Rs FD each year from last 5 year.
    2. PPF account : 5000 Rs. Pm.
    3. Term Insurance : 8500 Rs. PA.
    4. LIC : 26000 Rs. PA

    Liabilities :
    1. Insurance of CAR and Bike : 30000 Rs. PA.

    I am also planning to take home loan around 40 lakh.
    My goal :
    1. Daughter’s higher studies and marriage
    2. My retirement
    3. Finish the home loan ASAP.

    Please help me to build the portfolio that what funds will help to achieve the above goals. As i went yesterday to ICICI bank for Mutual fund a/c open and KYC submission. They sold me ICICI discovery in 2000 Rs. p.m

    Thanks and Regards,
    Shailendra

    • Thanks Shailendra for the comment and feedback.

      Have you evaluated how much you need to save for your daughter’s education and your own retirement? Here are calculators you would like use: https://vipinkhandelwal.com/category/calculators/

      Once you have that, further assess that with the home loan, how much you would actually be able to do.

      Finally, what actions would you take to reach your goals?

      If you can call your bank and tell them that you are still thinking about your financial plan and they should not process the MF application of Rs. 2000 pm.

      Hope this helps

  21. I am 53 and my wife is 48 years old. I have the following investments:

    LIC policies – Rs. 66000/- pa
    Kotak smart advantage Rs. 25000/- pa ( one year premium is yet to be paid) After withdrawals the fund value is Rs. 82000/- as on date.
    PPF account in my wife name – Paid Rs.50000/- pa for four years.
    FD with canara bank is Rs. 1,45000/- past two years.
    I would like to have a lumpsum amount of Rs. 50L . Please advice.

  22. Please change the disclaimer to:

    Mutual fund investments are subject to market risk. Past performance may or may not be sustained in the future.

    [You forgot the word “not”]

  23. Great way of filtering the fund shemes on technical basis. Sir i am 31 yrs of age with a income cash flow of 1.7 lacs per month. I have started investimg in SIP in the followimg funds ( all monthly SIPs direct growth)
    DSP BR MICRO CAP – 2500 PER MONTH
    FRANKLIN TEMPLETON SMALLER COMPANIES FUND – 5000 PM
    ICICI FOCUSED BLUE CHIP – 2500 PM
    TATA BALANCED FUND – 2500 PM
    HDFC BALANCED FUND -2500 PM

    UTI TOP 100 G – 2500 PM
    UTI MNC FUMND -G – 2500 PM

    I have term policy of 1 cr
    Have a ppf of 15000 per month
    Fixed deposits of 4 lacs

    Request you to review my portfolio and advice.
    Thinking of adding more – mirae asset emerging bluchip fund and icici value dicovery fund and few debt funds. Please advice on which debt fund to invest in for a long term security.

    I am a lil confused as to how much of my cash flow should be invested in mutual funds for a wealth creation and secure future.

    Thanks & regards

  24. Hello Mr Vipin,
    I am a new investor and my age is 29. I am a govt employee. Please consider my SIP portfolio. My objective is a wealth building portfolio with withdrawals in 5yrs, 10 yrs and 15 yrs. I am willing to undertake moderately high risks. I can invest 5K/month more apart from under mentioned SIPs.
    For 5 yrs –
    1. Birla SL Dynamic BF Ret(G) – 1.5k – Debt Short Term
    2. DSPBR MicroCap Fund Reg (G) – 1k – Mid & Small Cap
    3. HDFC MidCap Opportunities Fund (G) – 1k – Mid & Small Cap
    4. ICICI Pru Exp & Other Services Fund (G) – 1.5k – Mid & Small Cap
    (Planning to Start this ICICI SIP)

    For 10 yrs –
    1. BNP Paribas Equity Fund(G) – 1.5k – Large Cap
    2. ICICI Pru Focused BlueChip Eq Fund(G) – 1k – Large Cap
    3. Mirae Asset Emerging BlueChip-Reg(G) – 2K – Mid & Small-cap
    4. ICICI Pru Value Discovery Fund (G) – 1k – Diversified
    (Planning to Start this SIP)
    5. L & T Value Fund (G) – 1k – Diversified
    (Planning to Start this L&T SIP)

    For 15 yrs –
    1. SBI Blue Chip Fund (G) – 5k – Large Cap
    (Planning to Start this SBI SIP)

    • Please rate my Portfolio out of 10 as per my objective. Do you suggest any changes in it to meet my objective. I have Chosen the funds based on past returns and rankings.

    • Is SIP in any of the above MFs applicable for tax saving ?

    Regards ASHAY PAL.

    • Dear Ashay

      I am glad that you are making an effort. However, you need to view your investment choices a little more critically. Quick comments:

      Mid/small cap funds should NOT be a part of your short term portfolio. Rely on ultra short term/short term funds for that purpose. If at all, you need equity only large cap funds.

      Mid/small cap funds should be there in your 10 year plus portfolio and somewhat in your upto 10 years portfolio.

      None of your selection qualifies for tax savings. You need not have multiple funds, about 4 to 6 funds should be good.

      More than the rating you need to focus on to study your choices well.

      Thanks.

  25. I am a new investor in the world of mutual funds, and I need some help with my portfolio.
    My age is 27. I have two goals-one short term-3 years from now–a couple of good vacations(after marriage), and another long term, 5 years and above, Being a govt employee , my pension is in the hands of NPS(my contribution + govt contribution=5000 monthly). I hope that is enough. Within 3 years, my term deposits and recurring deposits will yield another 4 lakhs which will cover my marriage expenses. Currently I am investing 7,000 in recurring deposit. The excess money in hand I always put in term deposits for small periods of time. For tax savings I have LIC and ppf.
    I can invest another 3,000 per month in SIP.
    Currently I am invested in(all are direct and growth)
    1) DSP BR focus 25 -1000 monthly.
    2) ICICI Prudential Banking & PSU Debt fund-1000 monthly.
    3) Franklin India Smaller companies fund-1000 monthly.
    I hope I have a diversified portfolio. Should I invest more in these as a topup? Or, should, i add more funds? If so , please suggest.
    I am aware of the risks of equity. But , I do have one more question regarding this–when the market underperforms, or the fund underperforms , should I stay invested in that particular fund, or, switch to another better performing fund?
    Feel free to rebuke and advice.

    • Hi Avinaba

      I cannot tell you how glad I feel to see young people such as you taking a thoughtful step towards investments.

      From your marriage funding needs, you are taking good steps, in my view.

      Let me ask you further why did you choose the funds that you have? Specially why the Banking and PSU Debt fund?
      Once this understanding is clear, you can then decide whether you need more of the same or different funds.

      As for when should you leave a fund, please do go through this note: https://vipinkhandelwal.com/mutual-fund-portfolio-john-bogle-8-rules/

      Hope this helps

      • Thanx for your prompt reply.
        My understanding is debt funds are non-taxable before 3 years. ICICI seemed to be a pretty good performer for the last few years(I always look at the previous year’s returns, which according to your articles and Bogle’s rules should not be the only criteria). If I am in some emergency, I can redeem this,leaving my RD,FDs untouched. Low risk,low expense ratio, moderate returns.
        As for Franklin- good performer taking last 10 years in account. DSP seemed quite good too. I didn’t put much thought in the last two, equity is for long term gains was my thought, chose them keeping my fingers crossed. Had to keep myself invested, Can’t leave my money rotting in the bank.
        Hope that clears everything up.
        Please advice.

          • Total funds to be saved for retirement ₹ 7.99 crores
            Balance funds to be saved for retirement ₹ 7.15 crores
            Time to Retire 33 years
            In the first year, you need to save ₹ 2,34,840
            In the first year, you need to save monthly ₹ 18,776
            Monthly Savings
            Year 2 ₹ 19,715
            Year 3 ₹ 20,700
            Year 4 ₹ 21,735
            Year 5 ₹ 22,822

            SAVINGS REQUIRED Expd Avg rate of return (pre-retmnt)
            PER MONTH 1ST YEAR 8% 10% 12%
            Avg. Annual 0% ₹ 39,350 ₹ 25,603 ₹ 16,464
            Increase in 5% ₹ 22,455 ₹ 15,614 ₹ 10,641
            Savings 10% ₹ 10,888 ₹ 8,166 ₹ 5,977

            I copied it from the excel sheet. My current savings monthly is approx 10-13,000. So, I am quite behind in the projected target. My future looks bleak.
            Assuming I can manage another 5,000 savings(which is still short of the mark),please do tell me where else to invest (mirae assets don’t support payment from most banks-including the bank I have my account with, so please exclude mirae from your choice list).
            Thank you for your patience Sir.

  26. Excellent article , even a novice like me has got some basic understanding of mutual funds..
    A commendable effort put by you Mr vipin.

    Very informative and well written in an easy to understand language.

  27. Hi Vipin…
    I am a 28 years old guy and have been investing in mutual funds through SIPs. Your method for selecting mutual funds is pretty good. Will you have a look at my portfolio and let me know whether it is rightly balanced across all parameters? I have listed the funds below.

    1 .ICICI PRUDENTIAL FOCUSED BLUECHIP FUND GROWTH
    2. ICICI PRUDENTIAL VALUE DISCOVERY FUND GROWTH
    3. HDFC TOP 200 FUND GROWTH
    4. HDFC PRUDENCE FUND GROWTH
    5. HDFC MIDCAP OPPORTUNITIES FUND GROWTH
    6. L&T EQUITY FUND GROWTH
    7. UTI OPPORTUNITIES FUND GROWTH

    The total monthly SIP amounts to 14000 and i wish to add another 4000-6000 to it. Please suggests me other funds in which I may Invest.

    • Hi Vivek

      Thanks for the comment.

      Let me ask you, what is the basis on which you selected the funds for your portfolio? What was your thought process?

      You should also upload your portfolio on Unovest (smart.unovest.co) and see a quick analysis of the portfolio.

      Thanks
      Vipin

      • Thanks Vipin for your prompt reply.
        Basically I tried to invest more in large cap funds. However I do admit that I didn’t had long term goals assigned to each of my investments and the sole aim was value creation. Like I invested in HDFC funds in 2011-12 when most of those funds were assumed evergreen. Rest of the funds were added later to increase the investment corpus(L&T equity fund from Fidelity takeover). I selected the funds by going through various internet sites.

        Please feel free to point out any shortcomings in my portfolio. It will help me a lot.

    • STOP SIP IN ICICI PRUDENTIAL FOCUSED BLUECHIP FUND GROWTH,
      HDFC PRUDENCE FUND GROWTH, L&T EQUITY FUND GROWTH.

      WHEN U R INVESTING IN ICICI DISCOVERY NO NEED TO INVEST IN FOCUS BLUECHIP.
      WHEN UR INVESTING IN HDFC TOP 200 STOP IN HDFC PRUDENCE.

      REMAINING FOR FUNDS ARE ENOUGH FOR DIVERSIFICATION.

  28. Hi Vipin,

    Good Morning. Hope you are doing well.

    Need advise on the Tax saving for FY 2016 – 17 . Earlier I have declared the following are IT declarations for FY 2016 – 2017

    1. ICICI Pru. Life Insurance Wealth Builder (1,00,000) (Now I am going to surrender this one)

    2. Rs. 10,655 for LIC Premium

    3. ELSS Birla MF (Rs. 25,000)

    4. ELSS Axis MF (Rs. 24,000 (As as a SIP for 12 months))

    Anyway with this they will add PF amount also. (my PF is Rs. 3664)

    Instead of point no 1. (ICICI Pru. Life Insurance Wealth Builder), where I can invest and get the tax exemption?

    Please advise me.

    Thanks,
    Raja Rajagopal

    • Hi, Thanks for the wishes.

      If you are investing for long term goals, and if your overall allocation permits, you can increase your investments in the ELSS or tax saving mutual funds. Hope this helps.

      Wish you well.

  29. Hi Vipin,

    Again Raja Rajagopal. Hope you and your family are doing good. After a long gap I posting my question.

    I have taken the following Life and Pension policy : ICICI Prudential Wealth Builder II RP (My friend suggessted me this) last year. I just paid one premium. (2015)

    Premium Installment: Rs. 100,000 p.a
    Sum Assured: Rs. 10,000,00
    Fund Name: Maximiser V (5GTH) ( I do not know what is this 5 GTH)

    I need to pay premium for 5 years. I think after 5 years, no need to pay premium. Then after 10th year, they said that, will get pension.

    Kindly need your advise on this.

    Regards,
    Raja Rajagopal

    • Dear Mr. Rajagopal

      Thank you for the wishes. I hope things are good at your end.

      The plan that you have is a ULIP. You are paying quite a premium for that.

      Paying for 5 years is a typical sales pitch that is made, since that is the minimum premium payment term in ULIPs.

      I am not sure of the specifics of the policy but if you could share the policy document I might figure a way out for you, if at all. You can email to vipin@vipinkhandelwal.com

      This plan does not lead to an automatic pension. You should not take an pension from the company unless that is the best option in the market at that time.
      Just wondering, why do you need a pension after 10 years?

      Thanks
      Vipin

    • In which section of ITR2 long term capital gains on equity mutual funds to be shown.
      and which section long term capital loss of debt equity mutual funds to be shown in itr2.

  30. i am retired & I have corpus of 30 lakhs in all through various investments. Now please suggest me a mutual fund portfolio where I can get every month rs 30000 Rs. or how much maximum amount I will get through suggested mutual fund portfolio.

    • Getting Rs. 30,000 per month of income would be tough with the given corpus.
      The Senior Citizen Savings scheme can give you 8.6% per year interest.
      Why are you looking at Mutual Funds?

  31. Hi Vipul,

    Good Morning. Hope you are doing good.
    I may need some bulk amount to my sister’s daughter study after 3 year (Her plan is to study Chemical Engineering). I have some amount in my hand now (Rs. 70,000).

    Exactly I do not know, How much I may need at that time. But need some amount.

    Can you please guide me, where I can invest this money?

    Your suggestion can help me a lot.

    Regards,
    Raja Rajagopal

    • Thanks for asking. For such a short period, you should aim to invest in this fund safely. A Bank FD or a ultra short term debt fund would be a good idea. Hope this helps.

      • Thanks for the reply Vipin.

        I have already a Bank FD for 1,70,000. 15 months once I am renewing the same. However, I would like to give some amount for her study after 3 years. Let me check the Ultra short team debu fund. However, Is Ultra short team debt fund gives good return?

        Waiting for your reply.

        Regards,
        Raja Rajagopal

    • i have Old investment prior to Jan’13 in HDFC Equity regular growth and new investment after Jan’13 in HDFC Equity fund – direct growth. as expense ration of both plans are different and in regular plan expense are higher i want to know whether i have to switch HDFC Equity regular growth investment to HDFC Equity fund direct growth or not.

  33. micro sip is already running kyc completed. i want to know if to invest more than 50000
    is again i have to fill a separate sip form or i just have to give u pan card copy after getting if from income tax deptt.

  34. IF ANYONE HAVING MICRO SIP AND WANT TO INVEST MORE THAN RS.50000 IN FINANCIAL YEAR. WHAT HE HAS TO DO.

  35. Hi,
    This is Ravindra Birla, age around 26. Right Now I have LIC policies of aproxx 23 K / Year premium. Now I want to Invest some more amount for Tax saving purpose also and for Future savings also. I can Invest 10000/ month.
    I don’t have any idea about SIP. But I don’t want to take it by any agent, I want to do it by my own.
    Could you please help me on this ? How can I do SIP by my own and what are the best funds where risk is not as high but returns are good.

    • Thanks for writing Ravindra. What is the purpose of the LIC policies? Insurance or Investment?

      An SIP is only a mode of investment. If you were to invest regularly (monthly, quarterly) in any investment for example, a mutual fund, it would be called an SIP. SIP is not a mutual fund, it is a method.

      You can always invest directly using the mutual fund website or their service provider website such as CAMS. For doing an SIP, you will need to submit a One Time Mandate which will allow the mutual fund to invest money every month or so from your bank account. You need not fill cheques and forms every time again and again.

      It would be great if you can create a Common Account Number or CAN along with a PayEzz mandate. You can know about them here. https://vipinkhandelwal.com/common-account-number-of-mutual-funds/

      If you wish to invest in mutual funds to save taxes, here is another article for your reference. https://vipinkhandelwal.com/save-taxes-with-mutual-funds-elss/

      It would be great if you can write down your goals, how much you need to save and then invest for them accordingly. One such goal is retirement. Here is what you can read on it: https://vipinkhandelwal.com/retirement-planning-calculator-revised/

      Hope this helps. Thanks.

  36. can u tell me why HDFC equity and HDFC Top 200 is not performing . is the reason is size of AUM or stock picking or anything else.
    when we have to decide to change of fund when it is oversize, non performance even with piers, category average. Is there any mathematical formula for choosing fund using Alpha, Beta, SD, r-squared, Sharpe ratio. etc. or in simple way u can tell me range of Alpha, Beta, SD, r-squared, Sharpe ratio for choosing good fund in a category.

    • AS for HDFC funds, most likely, the investment strategy of the fund did not work out. However, to say they are not performing would be incorrect. They have outperformed their respective benchmarks. But other funds have done comparatively better in the last few years.
      I am not sure what is an oversized fund. I personally believe there is no mathematical formula to find out the right or good fund. It is a combination of things. At the end of it, a personal preference does come into picture. I would for example, place a high weightage to the character of a fund / fund house. That’s where funds like Quantum or PPFAS score a lot.
      Hope this doesn’t read like a rant. Thanks for reading.

  37. Please suggest me out of HDFC Equity, Franklin India Prima Plus and Quantum long term equity which fund is better for sip investment. Presently i am investing in HDFC Equity fund via sip from last 5 years but return are not upto the mark. please advise whether to continue sip in HDFC Equity or shit sip to Franklin india prima Plus or Quantum long term equity fund.

  38. Sir,
    Thanks for your article and blog. I have learned basics of investment from this blog.
    I am 34 years old and NRI. I have selected some funds and created two portfoliosRs. 10000 each (two purposes) for 15 years time horizon. Kindly go through the portfolios and give me a opinion about these portfolio.
    Portfolio 1.
    a.SBI Bluechip Direct – Growth – 20%
    b.ICICI Value discovery Direct Growth-25%
    c. UTI mid cap Direct – Growth -15%
    d. Franklin India Smaller cosDirect – Growth-15%
    e. L&T India Prudence Direct – Growth-25%

    and Portfolio 2.
    a.Birla SL Frontline Equity Direct – Growth-20%
    b.Franklin India Prima plus Direct – Growth-25%
    c. HDFC mid-cap Opportunities Direct – Growth 15%
    d.Reliance Small Direct – Growth-15%
    e.TATA Balanced Direct – Growth-25%

    Thanking You
    John

    • Thanks for writing John and for the kind remarks.
      My first question to you is in which country are you currently residing. Because if you are in US/Canada, several mutual funds may not accept your investments.

      Why do you need to have two different portfolios – specially if your time horizon is fairly long for both. I can only comment on a portfolio after I understand your risk appetite and goals and time horizon including your existing investments, if at all.

      Thanks
      Vipin

      • Sir,
        Thanks for your reply. I am from Kuwait, would like to choose Aggressive portfolio for 15 years. One portfolio for child education after 15 years and other one for retirement income.
        Regarding other deposits, I have a RD of 10 Lakh after 10 years and Fixed deposit.
        Thanks a lot
        John.

  39. Hello Vipin,
    I am a 31 yrs old married and having 2 yrs old son. my monthly salary is Rs.37000 and having a home loan EMI of Rs. 17000 for 20 yrs. Now I wish to make good corpus for
    1) child higher education after 16yrs – 25 lacs
    2) Retirement after 24 yrs – 4 crores
    3) PPF – existing every month Rs. 500.
    For above goal I can invest Rs. 5000 monthly and will increase by Rs.1000/month every year.
    Expected yearly returns minimum 12%.
    Q.1 Could you please suggest my investment is sufficient to achieve both goal, if not suggest how much need to add every month?
    Q.2 Please suggest couple of good fund to suit my requirement? I have shortlisted below fund but not yet start investment. Can I chose 2 of them and 1 or 2 other fund.
    A) SBI Magnum Multicap fund – direct plan.
    B) SBI small & midcap fund – direct plan.
    C) SBI Magnum midcap fund – direct plan.

    Waiting for your valuable feedback.

    Best regards,
    Vikrant Shrikhande

    • Hello Vikrant,

      Good to see you taking a goal based approach to investing.
      If I were to take the numbers given by you for your retirement, that is 12% return, 24 years, 4 crores – you will need to save Rs. 12,000 per month starting now and increasing it by 10% every year to reach your goal.

      Having said that, a 12% portfolio return means that you would be investing everything in equity mutual funds. Because an EPF or PPF would not deliver this return for you.

      As for your funds, why only SBI Funds that too the aggressive types?

      Do you have any other existing investments? What has been the performance so far?
      I hope your insurance and emergency funds are in place.

      Let’s get these issues sorted first.

      Regards

      • Hello Vipin,
        Thank you very much for quick respond and your valuable suggestions.
        1) I have sufficient insurance and emergency funds arrangement.
        2) Yet don’t have any existing investment but willing to take at least one SBI fund from these three (If you would suggest).
        3) Also would you please suggest 3 – 4 good funds for me.

        • Vikrant, Good to know that you have got your basics in place.
          As for MFs, I wouldn’t suggest any of the funds you have selected.
          Choosing your funds is a very personal exercise. You can refer to the portfolio i have created in the blog post. Broadly, have atleast 1 multi cap, 1 mid cap, and 1 large cap fund. Decide your allocations based on what you are comfortable with.

        • 4 Good Funds for you.
          1. Franklin India Prima Plus- Direct- Growth
          2. Birla SL Frontline Equity- Direct- Growth
          3. HDFC Midcap Oppurtunities- Direct Growth
          4. Franklin India Smaller Companies- Direct Growth

  40. “No Claim bonus”
    1) For other Insurer, if a person does not claim for 1st Five years SA increases by 50-100%. Now if they claim in the 6th year and so on.. the SA reduces to the original SA.
    2) For Max Bupa, if a person does not claim for 5 consecutive years, SA increases to double. Now if he claim in the 6 th year onward, SA remains same i.e. double.
    Example:- If I take a 10L Family Floater and continue with the insurer my SA will become 20L in 5th year providing I dont make a claim. From next year onwards my SA will remain 20L for the rest of the years/periods inspite of making claims. Also, if in any year I exhaust the 20L SA, 20L will be restored providing treatment should be different.

    I dont have much knowledge about Health Insurance, just thought it may be a good option. Providing we are very young and we also have company mediclaim policy which can take care of us.
    Please put some more light on it.

    What I want in a Health insurance:-
    1. No loading & Co-Pay
    2. No room rent & ICU limit.
    3. Claim settlement >90%
    4. Minimum Exclusion & Waiting Period
    5. Maximum Illness coverage
    6. Cashless facility with Maximum Network Hospital & my present city.

  41. Thanks for the reply.
    It does help.
    I was thinking for Max Bupa Health Companion(Family Floaters). It have a unique feauture. Can you review this Health Insurance?

    • Dear Jitendra, I am not sure what unique feature you are referring to. I had a look at the policy features and it doesn’t seem so different to me. Normal exclusions and restrictions apply.

      What exactly do you want your health policy to cover? Begin with that and then look for a policy that comes close to it. Thanks.

      • Also Max Bupa have a very good settlement ration, plus its premium are at par. Other insurer even the Govt Insurer I found the premium are quite high (I dont know whether its correct but I found on online search).
        i was searching for a 15L SA (Family Floater) where Max Bupa premium is 12K, for other it is 16K+

        Also I want to know that is there any facility to increase SA after taking a policy.
        Ex- I took a policy of 5L now. After 10 year I want to increase the SA, will I be able to increase it? What will be the cost impact?

        • OK. You should evaluate Apollo Optima Restore and Bajaj Health Care Supreme too.
          As for increasing the Sum assured you can always go for a super top up plan. The super top up comes at considerably less premium than a base policy.

  42. Thanks for your generosity. Yes I have calculated the amount for the goal. I have also calculated the required Term & Health insurance SA. Just could not able to decide till now which one to go for.

    • Let me tell you what I have. I have a online term plan from HDFC insurance and Max insurance. My health insurance is from National Insurance including my parents. Hope this helps.

  43. Hello Vipin,
    I started SIPs for some of my Long Term Goals.
    (in bracket, Term/Monthly Investment Required with 5% increase every year)
    (All Direct-Growth Funds)
    1. Child’s Education(18yrs/15000):
    A. Birla SL Frontline Equity=5000
    B. ICICI Value Discovery=5000
    C. FT india Smaller Companies=5000

    2. Child’s Marriage (26yrs/5000)
    A. HDFC Equity Fund= 5000

    3. Retirement (30yrs/25000)
    A. EPF(Mandatory)= 10000
    B. Axis Long Term Equity= 5000
    C. FT India Tax Shield= 5000
    D. BSL Tax Relief 96= 5000

    Please review the Portfolio & the Risk and Asset Allocation.

    I also want to take Health Insurance & Term Plan for Self and Wife. Can you please suggest the same for us.

    • Dear Jitendra,

      Thanks again for writing. I am happy to see you participate and engage.

      I had a look at your funds. The funds look fine.
      Birla Frontline Equity is a large cap fund.
      ICICI Value Discovery is a multi cap fund (this was a mid cap fund till a few months ago, just changed into a multi cap).
      FT smaller companies is a Mid/Small cap fund.

      HDFC Equity is again a multi cap fund (has suffered recently) but manned by a very competent fund manager.

      The question I have is for your retirement you have used 3 ELSS funds totalling 15k of SIP. I am not sure if you really need to do that much of tax savings under section 80C. Your EPF itself should cover you a lot.

      Coming to your goals, I would not be aware the amount that you would need for them as and when they become due. I hope you have calculated the amount required for your Health and Life insurance.

      I would recommend that you do a one time financial planning exercise. It would enable you to have a comprehensive look at your overall finances and recommend appropriate strategies to meet your goals.

      Hope this helps.

      Vipin

  44. Hello Vipin Ji
    Thanks For replay what you are saying is correct. I have Some LIC plan like jiavn saral in i have investing 1200K pm , another LIC Jivan Bima gold in which i am investing 10000 K PA, another LIC for children plan in which i have investing 36,000(9K *4) and i have also on reliance life insurance in which i investing 12k pm.
    and i am investing 20k PA in PPF
    So please suggest me in which MF i have to invest to get my Short Term and Medium Term goal 3 Y to 5Y.
    Where i have keep my investment in LIC or i have to quit. I have also a home loan of 9Lac so i have to pay these amount in Loan or keep investing in MF.
    Please help me to get right path.
    Thanks!

  45. Hello Vipin

    I am new in the world of mutual fund. After getting some information from some web like valveresearchonline and moneycontrol site and new paper. I have started SIP in below MF.
    1. Axis Log term equity – Growth-DIRECT -Rs.1500
    2. Birla sun life Tax Relief ”96 Fund-ELSS – Growth-DIRECT -Rs.1000
    3. ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund – Regular Plan – Growth -Rs.1500
    4. BSL Top 100 Fund – Growth-DIRECT-1000( But after 5 month i have stop this SIP)
    5. SBI Blue Chip Fund – Direct Plan – Growth-Rs. 1000
    Currently i am doing SIP for 3 Years. So kindly suggest me where my fund selection is correct or not and what type of fund i have to selected . I cam invest Rs 7000 PM as SIP.
    My Age is 34 Years and i want 10 Lac after 5 years and after 3 year i have required 5 Lac. after 10 years 40 Lac.

    Please help to create good portfolio to achieve my all goal.

    Thanks
    INDRAMANI KUMAR MISHRA

    • Hello Indramani

      Thanks for writing.

      Let’s look at your goals first.

      1. You need 5 lacs after 3 years – Short Term
      2. You need 10 lacs after 5 years – Medium Term
      3. You need 40 lacs after 10 years – Long Term

      Your funds look fine to me for long term purpose. But they would not be suitable for short term purpose. You need debt funds (liquid funds) or Bank FDs for short term. For medium term, you could use a mix of debt and equity but more of debt.

      It’s not just about getting maximum return but more important is the goal. That’s what will define the success or failure of the strategy.

      Also, the Rs. 7000 SIP will not be enough to meet your goals. I hope you are making other investments too. Of course, over time, you will have to keep increasing your investments to ensure that you reach your goals.

      While the funds are important, your discipline and patience will be equally important.
      I hope the first two funds are for purpose of tax savings.

      Best regards
      Vipin

  46. Dear Vipin

    Thanx for reply.

    1) will get pesnrion of Rs.20000/ pm after 5 yrs.
    2) I have sukanaya Acct wef Feb 16 @ 2000 pm
    3) PF -7000/- pm, FD, NPS, PPF, RD- Nil
    4) No other savings
    I have FUnds India Account as I told you earlier. Kindly Suggest me the SIPs for best returns for at least 5 yrs for Rs5000/- pm and 15 yrs for 3000/- pm . Please suggest the best as per you Survey and Vast Knowledge n experience. May be of 1000 or 2000 pm each. I want to start from beginning with your great experience. Waiting for you Kind reply

    Thanx a lot

    Warm Regards

    Ramkesh Sharma

  47. Hi Vipin,

    I am new to mutual fund. After doing a extensive research on various websites like
    valveresearchonline and moneycontrol.com i have choose some funds to start with.
    I have tried my best to diversify my Mutual Fund Portfolio. But I am still skeptical about
    my Funds choice. Can you please guide me whether i am in right direction. My SIP investment period is 15 years. And i am doing it for my retirement. My current age is 33.

    1. SBI Pharma fund ( Sector Fund ) ( 1000/- SIP )
    2. ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund – Regular Plan ( Multi Cap ) ( 1000/- SIP )
    3. Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund – Regular Plan ( Mid Cap ) ( 1000/- SIP )
    4. Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund – Regular Plan ( Small Cap ) ( 1000/- SIP )
    5. Axis Long Term Equity Fund ( ELSS ) ( 1000/- SIP )
    6. Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund ( Dept Fund ) ( 1000/- SIP )

    Thanks
    Nirmaljeet Singh

    • Dear Nirmal

      Thanks for writing.

      Quick questions:
      Why would have a pharma fund?
      Is Axis Long term for tax saving?
      Franklin India Ultra Short Term Bond is a debt fund. Is there a short term need that you have to meet? Is it in line with your asset allocation? I am sure you would already have debt investments in PF, PPF, Bank FDs, etc. If yes, then why this fund?

      I am not sure if you have compared the peers for the schemes you have selected. Do have a look at funds like Sundaram Select Mid cap, DSP Micro Cap, Franklin Bluechip, Franklin Prima Plus, Quantum Long Term Equity Fund.

      My latest blog post today will answer some of your questions. https://vipinkhandelwal.com/mf-portfolio-avoid-5-mistakes/

      Thanks
      Vipin

      • Hi Vipin,

        First of all thanks for the reply.

        Your questions:
        Why would have a pharma fund?
        I think this sector will never go down this is the best performing sector currently. And the need for medicine in india will always grow. I think i can make good money in this sector.
        Keeping in mind about long term goal.

        Is Axis Long term for tax saving?
        Yes it is for tax saving. And plus this fund has given decent returns.

        Franklin India Ultra Short Term Bond ?
        I do not have PPF, Bank FDs so investing in this fund. And plus to
        balance my overall portfolio returns.

        As compared with the peers my selected funds looks like the best if u check out the 5 years returns. As per the websites.

        Overall what do u thk abt the portfolio. Is it good for long term investment. I am expecting 12-14 % overall returns in 15 years.

        1. SBI Pharma fund ( Sector Fund ) ( 1000/- SIP )
        2. ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund – Regular Plan ( Multi Cap ) ( 1000/- SIP )
        3. Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund – Regular Plan ( Mid Cap ) ( 1000/- SIP )
        4. Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund – Regular Plan ( Small Cap ) ( 1000/- SIP )
        5. Axis Long Term Equity Fund ( ELSS ) ( 1000/- SIP )
        6. Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund ( Dept Fund ) ( 1000/- SIP )

        Thanks
        Nirmaljeet

        • Dear Nirmal

          As long as you feel confident and aware about what you are doing, it is good. 🙂 I feel your returns expectation is reasonable, though would recommend that expect more like 12%, specially when you are using that number to plan your financial goals.

          Keep learning.

          Thanks
          Vipin

    • Stop sip in pharma fund and increase sip amount in ICICI Value Discovery fund. no need of investing in debt fund Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund ( Dept Fund ) ( 1000/- SIP ). Instead of sip in short bond fund make an emergency fund of 5-6 months expenses. and put that money in any good debt fund .

  48. Hi Vipin,
    Thanx for guiding for investments in right directions

    I have SIPs for the Goal of my daughters marriage -3 yrs old), education and my retirement after 3 years. presently i am investing 15000 per month in the following schemes for last 1 yrs and can continue for another 5 yrs. Plz suggest me that i should continue in these funds or should I reduce the hard money to 7000 per month

    ICICI PRUDENTIAL EXPORTS AND OTHER SERVICES FUND – DIVIDEND – 1000
    SBI PHARMA FUND – REGULAR PLAN – DIVIDEND -4000
    UTI – MNC FUND – DIVIDEND PLAN -1000
    ICICI PRUDENTIAL VALUE DISCOVERY FUND – DIVIDEND -1000
    UTI-TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTIC SECTOR – DIVIDEND PLAN -4000
    Canara Robeco Emerging Equities Regular Dividend -1000
    RELIANCE SMALL CAP FUND – GROWTH PLAN – GROWTH OPTION -500
    MOTILAL OSWAL MOST FOCUSED MIDCAP 30 FUND – GROWTH -1500
    RELIANCE PHARMA FUND – GROWTH PLAN – GROWTH OPTION -1000

    please suggest me what should i do?

    Its a hard earned money

    I want maximum returns. Till noe i have invested 2,15,000 but value is 1,99,000 In loss of 16,000/-

    thanx

    Ramkesh Sharma

    • Dear Ramkesh

      I see a problem in your understanding of equity investments. On the one hand you want the maximum returns, on the other hand you are worried about a loss in just 1 year of investments in equity.

      When you invest in equity, you should be ready for a long haul of 10 years plus. I don’t see a reason to reduce your investment amount. However, where the investment is made can be changed.

      I hope you have your insurance and your emergency funds in place as well.

      Am not sure whether your retirement is 3 years away or 30 years away since you also say that can continue investments for the next 5 years.

      As for the scheme selection, I would like to understand your reasons for having these schemes. Why did you choose them?
      Why do you have 9 schemes?
      Why thematic or sectoral funds?
      Why do you have dividend option in certain schemes?
      Are the investments in direct plans or regular plans?

      What percentage of your savings goes into equity mutual funds?

      You can do some quick analysis, if you upload your portfolio at smart.unovest.co. Create your free account and see for yourself.

      I look forward to your responses.

      Regards
      Vipin

      • Thanx Vipin for the kind reply.

        I have chosen these funds from money control and icici direct recommendations . As per these recommendations, funds have higher returns since last 5 years and performed well. So i selected them.
        My in hand salary is 27000. out of which i invest 15000 in these SIPs. Dividend i chose for double investment as DR.
        I was new in this field. And Selected these by myself
        Sorry I mentioned my left over service is 3 years actually its 5 years
        Please you guide me as your friend for t he correct investment
        Should I switch to others fund? like ELSS, Debt Fund, Hybrid etc If yes which are best?
        I have these SIPs through my ICICI Direct Acct in which on every 1000 they deduct the charges of 17 means total amount 1017 deducts for each SIP of 1000. I have Acct of Funds India also in which they invest 1000 fully for my SIP. Plz suggest should I stop investing through ICICI Direct or ???Start in Funds India Acct???
        Please help in making my strong portfolio for at least 5 years with 7000 amount of SIP. Because I want the guaranteed returns that too secure for rest 8000 out of total 15000. This amount is not spare or extra money means its being adjusted from my main in hand salary.

        Thanx brother for making us aware of correct investments

        Ramkesh Sharma

        • Dear Ramkesh

          The information I have from you is not enough to recommend any investment. If you are saying, you are likely to retire in 5 years, then I would be more concerned about your income after that period. Will you have a pension or you would have to create your own income through the savings you will have?

          As I see, your daughter is 3 years old, your retirement is 5 years away and so her education is going to be at least 12 to 14 years from now. So there is this period in between with no salary. How will you save for her education? Any other income source?

          When I asked for the ratio of equity in your portfolio, I meant your overall portfolio including PF, FDs, insurance policies, Bonds, NPS, etc.

          Coming to your funds, I think you should stop all your investments for now. One big reason, you are paying too many charges on them. For every SIP amount, there is a 1.5% + tax as charges. The other of course is the kind of funds that are there in the portfolio. I know it is your choice but personally I would be uncomfortable with them.

          have a look at this post: https://vipinkhandelwal.com/direct-plans-of-mutual-funds-big-deal/

          Did you get a chance to upload your portfolio, to understand where it stands. Here is how to do it: https://vipinkhandelwal.com/track-mutual-funds-portfolio/

          I would not be able to recommend a debt fund or ELSS or anything, unless I know your financial facts better. Let’s be clear, the goals will decide for us the investment instrument. After all, it’s your hard earned money.

          Regards, Vipin

    • Why so many funds? Also maximum sectoral fund! Can you tell why you have selected so many funds including sectoral fund?
      Be simple and keep it simple to fulfill your goals with maximum possible returns.
      Invest in this funds:-
      1. ICICI PRU Focused Bluechip- 20%
      2. Franklin India Prima Plus- 20%
      3. HDFC Equity- 20%
      4. ICICI Balanced Fund-20%
      4. DSPBR Microcap- 20%
      And tag the funds with your goal.

  49. Hi Vipul,

    Good Morning. Hope you are doing well.

    I read all your post. It is very informative and helpful for me to understand the investment. With that in mind, I am planning to do the below investments.

    I withdraw my FD (Rs. 85,000) today. May be after 5 years I may need this money. so I am planning to invest this money in the following fund.

    1. ICICI Pru. Focused Bluechip Eq. Fund (Rs.21,250) 25%

    2. Franklin India Prima Plus OR Religare Invesco Growth Fund (Rs.21,250) 25%

    3. UTI Mid Cap (Rs.21,250) 25%

    4. Franklin India Taxshield Fund ELSS (Rs.21,250) as one time investment for 2016-17 year tax planning. (25%)

    Please guide me the above portfolio looks good or need any change.

    Note: I am doing all these investment through a agent only. Is that fine?

    Thanks,
    Raja Rajagopal

  50. dear sir

    myself dibyendu age 22 want to invest in mutual fund through SIP @1000-2000 per month for 5 year .i want to get 15-30% return from this. can you suggest me to build my portfolio.

    • Hello Dibyendu,

      Glad to see that you are planning to start early with your investing journey. This combined with discipline of regular investing will take you a really long way.

      I personally believe that a return expectation like yours is quite high. Please temper it down.

      What goal are you investing towards? Will you need the money soon or you need not look at it for 10 years?

      Think about those questions too.

      Regards

  51. Hi Vipin Sir,
    I am planning of sip for 7 to 8 years of these funds, please give me any suggestions, Thank U.

    Reliance small cap fund,
    Sbi blue chip fund,
    Tata Balanced fund,
    Uti mnc fund,
    Axis long term equity fund.

  52. Hi Vipin,
    I have been investing as SIP in the following funds for last 6-7 months but I only see them going down each time I check the status. What you suggest? Should I continue with them?

    ICICI Prudential Exports and Other Services – Growth – Rs. 10,000
    ICICI Prudential Select Large Cap Fund – Growth – Rs. 10,000
    Canara Robeco Emerging Equities – Regular Growth – Rs. 5,000

    Regards

    • Hi Vinod,
      Thanks for asking. What is the reason you have selected and invested in these funds?
      If your selection basis was strong, then there is no reason to deviate from it on the basis of a few months of performance.

      AT a core level, I hope you are aware that equities will be volatile. You are lucky to see the volatility so soon in your investment lifecycle. When you will look back at your portfolio in 5 to 7 years, you would be smiling. 🙂

      Just ensure, that you are choosing your funds for the right reasons, and not just last 1 year or 3 year performance. Let your SIPs go on for a long time and you will reap the benefits.

      Hope this helps.

      • Thanks for the prompt reply Vipin. I appreciate.

        There were 3 main reasons that I chose SIP for.
        #1. My daughter’s education (1.5 years old)
        #2. Daughter’s marriage
        #3. My retirement (33 years old).

        Do you think it’s a smaller amount compare to my goals? which other Mutual funds should I buy?

        Regards

  53. Hi Vipin,
    I am a 29 yrs old recently married and started planning for our future. Started with noting down my goals (the Short Term Needs/Goals & the Long Term Goals), I have been able to calculate somehow the required monthly investment to be made for achieving the corpus for each goal (taking inflation into account). I have mainly 4 long term goals:-
    1. Retirement, 2. Child Education (Graduation & Post Graduation), 3. Child’s Marriage & 4. A dream Vacation.
    As per calculation I need to invest additional 40000/month (+ 12000/month EPF including employers contribution which is a debt instrument ) to achieve the corpus. My question is:-
    1. Should I have separete portfolio for each goal?
    2. How should I invest or allocate to create the portfolio.
    3. How many funds should I invest in and what should be the allocation?

    • Hi Jitendra,

      Thanks for the writing in. It’s great to know that you are taking a structured approach towards your investments.

      1. Separate Portfolio – It is a personal decision. If you think you can manage all your investments together, I see no harm. I have also seen for others, who keep separate portfolios. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the investments will be different. Only they are marked separate.

      2. Here is a guide post for you: https://vipinkhandelwal.com/do-you-have-a-written-investment-strategy/

      3. 4 to 5 funds should be good enough to give you the necessary diversification. Equal amounts can be a good starting point.

      Hope this helps.

      • Hello Vipin
        Thanks for your reply. Yes I do have a written investment strategy. I have written down/visualized (Prepared an Excel Sheet) what I need in future and what are my goals are and how much and when should I invest to reach my goals. I have shortlisted some funds to invest as follows:-
        1. Franklin India Bluechip
        2. HDFC Equity (or Franklin India Prima Plus ?)
        3. ICICI Pru Value Discovery
        4. SBI Magnum Midcap/Franklin India Smaller Co (or DSP BR Micro Cap ?)
        5. ICICI Pru Gold Savings Fund
        &
        6. Franklin India Tax Shield (for my Tax Saving)

        As per calculation I need the following amount of monthly investment for accumulating the desired corpus (assuming 12% return)
        1. Retirement- 20000/month(out of required 20K i am already investing 10K in ELSS through SIP)
        2. Child Education (Graduation – 4000/month
        & Post Graduation- 4000/month),
        3. Child’s Marriage – 4000/month
        &
        4. A dream Vacation- 3000/month.

        How should I allocate my portfolio & whether my fund selection for long term are correct? You mean separate portfolio with the same fund?

  54. Greetings

    Vipin, my age is 31. In january this year, i started investing in SIP. My goal is wealth creation only. I invested in 3 funds.
    1. UTI MNC Fund (G) (Rs. 3000/- every month)
    2. UTI Midcap Fund (G)(Rs. 4000/- every month)
    3. UTI Equity Fund (G)(Rs. 4000/- every month)

    I am already investing in PPF ( Rs. 150000 every year). Whats your recommendations?

    Thanks
    Gaurav

    • Hi Gaurav,
      Thanks for writing.
      I would like to recommend two posts for you to read and reflect.

      1. 10 questions for your investment portfolio – https://vipinkhandelwal.com/10-questions-for-your-investment-portfolio/
      2. Acid test for your investment portfolio – https://vipinkhandelwal.com/the-acid-test-for-your-investment-portfolio/

      Some quick observations:
      You say your goal is wealth creation. As per your current investments, you will be investing about Rs. 1.21 lacs each year in Mutual Funds and Rs. 1.5 lacs in PPF. you would also have an EPF account, I believe. So overall, your fixed income component is high in the portfolio. Equity is definitely less than 50%, much lesser in fact, since you started to invest only this January.

      Nothing wrong with that. But you will have to understand that your average return from the portfolio is probably going to remain very close to your rate of inflation.
      As a young person, you have time on your side, so you can allocate more towards equity.

      Any specific reason all your money is invested in UTI Funds?

      Cheers

  55. Hi Vipin,

    I am new to mutual funds world & have invested in below MF (SIP) from past 7 months:

    1. Franklin India High Growth Companies (Growth). 40%
    2. Franklin India Smaller Companies (Growth). 40%
    3. HDFC Balanced (Growth).20%

    My goals are to build a corpus for retirement at age 65 (25 years from now) and for my child’s education (around 75 lakhs) and marriage (around 25 lakhs).

    Do you have any suggestions around my portfolio.

    Thanks for your valuable advice as always!

    • HI Abhishek, Thanks for asking.

      Would you know why the funds you have are a part of your portfolio? What is the reasoning in choosing them?
      Take for example, a balanced fund. If you already have enough debt based investments like PPF, EPF, Bank FD or traditional insurance policies like Money back or Endowment, what is the need for adding more debt to the portfolio?

      As for our goals, I would not be able to comment on them without knowing more details on the time, what are your current investments, etc. I would recommend that you consider talking to a financial / investment adviser and build a financial and investment plan for yourself. It may sound like a big thing but believe me it will open up several perspectives for you and help you define a clear path to your goals.

      Regards

  56. Hi Vipin,

    Very nice article. However, I missed start investing on MF. Now my age is 40 yrs. Can you please suggest me How can I save some money for my future? I do not know, how to define my goal?

    Regards,
    Raja Rajagopal

    • Dear Rajagopal

      I will use the cliche – it’s never too late. 🙂
      Can I recommend that you read through the following articles? Hopefully they should help you start getting some ideas.

      https://vipinkhandelwal.com/10-money-basics-that-you-must-never-forget/
      https://vipinkhandelwal.com/your-ultimate-money-investing-checklist/
      https://vipinkhandelwal.com/the-no-secret-to-get-your-networth-soaring/
      https://vipinkhandelwal.com/20-mutual-fund-facts/

      Let me know your questions and thoughts.
      Vipin

      • Hi Vipul,

        Good Morning. Hope you are doing well.

        I read all your post. It is very informative and helpful for me to understand the investment. With that in mind, I am planning to do the below investments.

        I withdraw my FD (Rs. 85,000) today. May be after 5 years I may need this money. so I am planning to invest this money in the following fund.

        1. ICICI Pru. Focused Bluechip Eq. Fund (Rs.21,250) 25%

        2. Franklin India Prima Plus OR Religare Invesco Growth Fund (Rs.21,250) 25%

        3. UTI Mid Cap (Rs.21,250) 25%

        4. Franklin India Taxshield Fund ELSS (Rs.21,250) as one time investment for 2016-17 year tax planning. (25%)

        Please guide me the above portfolio looks good or need any change.

        Note: I am doing all these investment through a agent only. Is that fine?

        Thanks,
        Raja Rajagopal

        • Thanks Raja for writing.

          As for the funds, I feel OK with the selection. Franklin Prima Plus is good. I would ask you to consider Sundaram Select Mid cap for your mid cap fund.

          Your time horizon for 5 years may not be enough for an equity oriented portfolio. Consider stretching your time horizon towards 10 years for this portfolio to work best.

          Well, as for doing through an agent, it means you are taking regular plans. I hope you are aware about direct plans. Read more here: https://vipinkhandelwal.com/direct-plans-of-mutual-funds-big-deal/

          http://www.unovest.co/2016/01/direct-plans-of-mutual-funds-all-that-you-want-to-know/

          Hope this helps.

          • Hi Vipul,

            Good Morning. Hope you and your family are doing good.

            Goal: My sister’s daughter higher education

            My sister daughter is studying 10th standard now. I need to save some money for her higher studies. (I do not know exactly, How much I need at that time). Hardly I have time line as from now it is 3 to 5 year.

            I have two lac in my hand now. Need your advice on, How to split this money on MF investment and get some good return after the period.

            Appreciate your advise.
            Thanks & Regads,
            Raja Rajagopal

          • Dear Raja

            Thanks for writing. I guess it will be important to determine the goal value first. If you could speak to your niece and find out what she plans to do – medical, engineering, CA, CS, MBA. Any particular institute or place in mind?

            That would help to get the discussion going and accordingly plan for the goal.

            For example, pursuing a CA or CS doesn’t cost as much as would probably others.

            Regards

  57. Sir,

    Very informative article. I am 30, and planning to start SIP in mutual funds.
    I have selected the following 10 funds, and can invest 50000 per month. Kindly advise regarding my selection, and the amount to be invested in each. My goals are to build a corpus for retirement at age 65 (my monthly expenses are around 40000) and for my child’s education (around 75 lakhs) and marriage (around 25 lakhs)

    Thanks..

    SBI bluechip fund
    UTI equity fund

    ICICI pru value discovery fund
    Kotak select focus fund

    BNP paribas midcap fund
    Mirae asset emerging bluechip fund

    Franklin india smaller cos fund
    DSP BR micro cap fund

    Tata balanced fund
    HDFC balanced fund

    • Dear Sidhesh,

      Thanks for reading and the query.
      Let me pose a few questions to you.

      Not sure why would you select 10 funds. 4 to 5 are good to cover all the scenarios. I see that you have segregated your funds from a category perspective. You can choose one from each.

      As to how much in each fund, why not equal amount in all?

      What is the basis of the selection of these funds?Prima facie looks like you have used ratings and performance as your parameter.

      Why do you need a balanced fund? I am sure you have investments in FDs, EPF, PF, or any other fixed income instruments. Does that align with your overall allocation to equity, debt, etc?

      You are making an decent early start with investing so i am sure with discipline and patience, you would be able to meet your goals.

      Hope this helps.
      Thanks.

  58. Hi Sir,
    I am 26 year old and its my time investment in mutual funds and I want to invest 6,000 INR every month I am looking for a long term investment horizon (>10yrs), is my fund selection is proper

    Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund (G) – 1500 — Long Term
    ICICI Pru Exp&Other Services-RP (G) – 2000 — DIVERSIFIED EQUITY
    ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund (G) – 1500 — DIVERSIFIED EQUITY
    SBI Magnum Multicap Fund (G) – 1000 — MID CAP

    • Hello Kumar. Thanks for reading and the query.

      Congratulations! You are making an early start. That is important if you want to reach your financial goals, faster and surer.

      I am not sure about the basis of selection of your funds. Prima facie, I find the ICICI Pru Other services fund the odd one. You can consider a fund like Franklin Prima Plus.

      Also, for mid cap did you have a look at Sundaram Select Mid cap?

      Hope this helps.

  59. Hi Vipin,

    Thanks for good article. Now i am also interested in investing in MF. I have got below recommendations (non-technical) from friends and relatives. Please can you give your feedback on these:

    UTI Equity Fund
    Franklin India High Growth Companies Fund – Direct-GROWTH
    Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund – Direct-GROWTH
    ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund – Direct Plan – Growth
    Kotak Select Focus fund
    RELIANCE GROWTH FUND – GROWTH PLAN GROWTH OPTION
    DSP Blackrock Micro Cap Fund – Dir – G
    SBI Blue Chip Fund – Direct Plan – Growth
    SBI Pharma Fund – Direct Plan – Growth

    • Dear Kishor

      Thanks for reading and the query. First off, these are too many funds to have. I am sure you got the essence of the article. Over all 4 to 5 funds max can help you meet your investment needs. After that it is only a repetition.

      I don’t know how much you need to invest and for what time. But if you are a beginner, you could be better off picking 1 or 2 funds and put your money there and over time add more. Being preferably with a large cap or multi cap fund. Please try and avoid sectoral funds like pharma or other thematic funds such as business cycles, infrastructure, etc.

      Hope this helps. Thank you.

  60. Dear Vipin,

    Indeed a great article. I need your suggestions for my portfolio below:

    1. SBI EMERGING BUSINESS FUND-REG (G)
    2. FRANKLIN INDIA BLUE-CHIP FUND (G)
    3. HDFC EQUITY FUND (G)
    These funds has been invested as a long term investment from last 2-3 years and offlate some of above funds are not performing well especially HDFC Equity.

    After few analysis and some consideration, I have come up with below two options:
    ————————————————————————————–————————–-
    OPTION#1. Continue existing fund and add additional amount in new fund:
    ————————————————————————————–————————–-
    SIP#1 (existing) (Self retirement)
    1. SBI EMERGING BUSINESS FUND-REG (G)
    2. FRANKLIN INDIA BLUE-CHIP FUND (G)
    3. HDFC EQUITY FUND (G)

    SIP#2 (New) for additional amount (Kid education)
    1 ICICI PRU VALUE DISCOVERY FUND-REG(G)
    2 HDFC BALANCED FUND(G)

    ————————————————————————————–————————–-
    OPTION#2 Stop existing SIP and create a fresh portfolio with new funds
    ————————————————————————————–-————————–-
    SIP#1 (Self retirement)
    1 FRANKLIN INDIA BLUE-CHIP (G)
    2 ICICI PRU VALUE DISCOVERY FUND-REG(G)
    3 HDFC MID-CAP OPPORTUNITIES FUND(G)

    SIP#2 (Kid education)
    1 UTI EQUITY FUND(G)
    2 FRANKLIN INDIA PRIMA PLUS FUND(G)
    3 HDFC BALANCED FUND(G)

    Will you please suggest your views on above options? Which one is good to go-ahead?

    Thanks for your time!
    G Kumar

    • Dear G Kumar, Thanks for the comment and the question. I have read your query.

      Most of the funds that you have mentioned here are good ones. I would not have a view on SBI funds.
      I have some questions for you:

      1. On what basis did you choose the funds that you have now or the ones that you have selected afresh? I get a sense that you have selected funds on the basis of past returns only. Is that right?
      2. Why are you looking at a balanced fund? Do you already have investments in PF, FD etc. Will having more debt through a balanced fund, skew your portfolio allocation?
      3. Is HDFC Mid cap selected because it has given good returns or it is a mid cap fund?
      4. why different funds for different goals? What is the time for which you will need to be invested?

      Do you invest in direct plans or regular plans of mutual funds?

      Thanks
      Vipin

      • Dear Vipin,

        Thank you for your response.

        Here are my reply to your questions:

        1. Existing funds was chosen few years back based on some friend’s recommendation. New funds are chosen based on there rating in various sites, past performance and recommendation on various blogs.

        2. As per my understanding, HDFC Balanced fund is not only a debt fund but a explorer to equity also. This fund is performing well in past and even better than some of large cap funds. Yes I do have investment in PF, FD, PPF.

        3. HDFC Mid cap selected because of both reasons – good track and mid-cap fund. Actually in order to create proper diversified portfolio, I have chosen 1 large cap, 1 diversified multi-cap and 1 mid-cap funds.

        4. Both goal having different tenure. For example, Education next 12 years and Retirement next 15 years.
        Different funds was chosen to diversify my investment amount.

        My current SIP investment is via FundsIndia platform.

        Could you please suggest accordingly.

        Thanks
        G Kumar

        • Sure. I understand now.
          With HDFC Balanced, the point is that it has allocation to debt also. If you invest in that, in a way you are investing additional money in debt too.
          HDFC Mid cap is not a pure mid cap fund, for your information. It has a good amount of money invested in large caps too. A pure mid cap fund is something like a Sundaram Select Mid cap.

          Between the two options, you have created, I would say you can go for Option 2.

          For reference: do visit the following article link:
          http://unovest.co/2015/12/how-not-to-select-mutual-funds/

          Did you have a chance to visit http://www.unovest.co.

          Hope this helps.
          Thanks.

          • Again, Many thanks for your suggestion.

            Can I ask you why you have suggested Option#2? Just for my understanding and knowledge.

            Also, Is it advisable to select same funds for 2 different portfolio or its good to diversify it as I did?

          • Well, I only went by what you had stated. 🙂
            “Actually in order to create proper diversified portfolio, I have chosen 1 large cap, 1 diversified multi-cap and 1 mid-cap funds.”

            Division of portfolios is a mental thing that we do. And I guess it helps by tagging goals so that we know what is the investment supposed to do. You may have the same funds in those portfolios. It is not necessary to have different funds.

            Thanks
            Vipin

  61. Hi Vipin,

    I have invested in below MF (SIP) via fundslindia from past 3 years:

    1. Franklin India Blue-chip fund (Growth)
    2. HDFC Equity fund (Growth)
    3. SBI Emerging Business Fund-Reg (Growth)

    I want to increase my SIP amount by 10000 monthly. I got a suggestion from my friend/agent to invest in some new funds instead of investing in existing fund in order to make more diversified portfolio. Below are the funds suggested:

    1. Franklin India Prima Plus Fund(G) –> Diversified/Multi-cap fund
    2. Franklin Build India Fund(G) –> Sector fund
    3. HDFC Balanced Fund(G) –> Balanced fund

    As my understanding, that we should not invest in more than 2-3 funds,
    1) So is it advisable to invest in above new funds or investing in existing fund should be good for my portfolio?

    2) How is above suggested funds? Is it good to invest on them?

    Eagerly waiting for your suggestions.

    Note:
    1. These are long term investment.
    2. I have invested in PPF also.

    Thanks,
    Nitin Gupta

    • Dear Nitin, thanks for reading and asking. Prima facie your funds look good. Overall 4 to 5 funds are enough that give you diversification across investing styles and market capitalisation. However, if you are very sure about what you want even 2 to 3 funds are good enough.

      A few questions for you to think over –
      why do you want to invest in a sector/thematic fund?
      Why are including a balanced fund (you have already said that you investing in PPF so the debt investment is taken care of there)?
      Why is SBI emerging Bluechip a part of your portfolio? Why not a Sundaram Select Mid cap?

      I hope you have studied your funds well before taking an investment decision.

      Hope this helps. Cheers.

      • Hi Vipin,

        Thank you for your reply.

        1. Actually I don’t want to invest in sector fund, its my agent suggestion to invest in different type of funds like sector, balance, multi-cap for diversification.

        2, I agree with you on balanced fund since PPF is already there.

        3. SBI emerging was choosen 3 year ago based on my analysis that time for best in small cap.

        4. My primary goal is retirement planning, another 15-20 years from now.

        So can you please re-suggest based on above information? I mean what should I conclude here?

        Thanks again for your great articles and good job.

        Nitin

  63. Dear Mr. Vipin,
    You are doing a great job.
    I am a retired person aged 65 yrs from Bharat Petroleum. I do not have any outstanding liabilities and invested money in SCSS,POMIS,PPF and balance in bank fds. I take 80 C benefit by depositing in PPF account. Like many other retirees, I am also now worried with falling interest rates and protection of capital from continuous rising inflation.
    I shall be grateful if you could suggest a brief investment strategy with specific fund names to care for future years.
    Warm Regards
    KBS Negi

    • Dear Mr. Negi,

      Thank you for reading and the feedback.
      Coming to your query, I would need to understand the numbers before anything can be recommended. Some questions to help:

      1. What is your current income requirements?
      2. How are you meeting your current income requirements?
      3. Do you receive a pension? Is it indexed to inflation?
      4. What is the current size of your investments and how much is invested where?
      5. What is the current rate of interest on your investments?

      For how long do you wish to plan, as in till what age?

      If you wish so, you can send me this information via email in vipin@vipinkhandelwal.com.

      Thanks again.

  64. Very nice and informative article on asset allocation. What about the need to have a debt fund also in portfolio?

  65. Hi Vipin,
    Really wonderful article and i will need few weekends to go through all the post. I have a query If i am having retirement horizon or child marriage (>20yrs) goal why cant it me only in Midcap and smallcap investments. Isnt this a long time to tide over any 2007/8 financial crisis. As any midcap fund will also be having some Large cap exposure. Also there will be some exposure to PPF/EPF/FD as well. For Ex: My goal >20yrs, my portfolio
    1. Midcap/Smallcap – 60-70%:
    2. PPF/EPF/etc – 20%
    3. Large cap/balanced : 20-10 %
    My maintain similar portfolio for 10 yrs and then slowly next 5 yrs move to Largecap/ balanced fund and last 5 yrs move to debt funds.
    Thanks, ritesh

    • Hi Ritesh
      Thanks for reading and the query.
      Well, it seems like you are someone who understands the investing bit. If you know what you are doing and understand the inherent risks, you are better off doing it.
      As for your question, it is expected, and not a certainty, that markets will do well, that mid caps may outperform large caps, that you would be in control of your emotions, that you would rebalance your portfolio periodically and that you will care more about your goals than market movements.
      If you have a undoubted, confident YES answer to all of the above, I would suggest go ahead with what you have thought. Else, you are better off having a professional advice you. 🙂

      Keep reading and sharing your thoughts.

    • Hi Ritesh,

      Your’s and Mine thought process regarding investing is almost similar 🙂 (Finally found someone who invests like me).
      My horizon is >25 and thinking the same way you are thinking for future.

      My only concern here is revision of portfolio, like how and what should be done to make it more profitable. As I am investing mostly in Mid -cap ( almost 70%) currently I am seeing my profit eroding and I am OK to continue with it because it will regain it once market is up.

      Do you have some point to point and specific condition under which one should Exit a particular MF or should I just sit and do nothing after portfolio is created.What strategy do you apply.
      Waiting for your reply.

      Regards
      Rakesh

      • Hi Ritesh, Good to know that you find similarity of thought process. 🙂

        If you have deliberately taken a higher exposure to mid caps, then you have to be super patient. As you said your time horizon is 25 years plus, then what is the need to panic now.

        I am sharing again this link for your reading:
        https://vipinkhandelwal.com/profit-booking-in-mutual-funds/

        As for exiting an MF, I wouldn’t have a sectoral or thematic fund in my portfolio.
        Next, if the fund fails to beat even its benchmark over say 2 years, then it should be shown the door asap.
        Next, if the fund continues to seriously underperform compared to other funds in the same category, over 3 years or so, then it would be time to reconsider the fund.

        Hope this helps.

      • Hi Rakesh,
        This was something i thought about before this bloodbath but as rightly said by Vipin in the following reply we need to be super patient. I am still looking for something which should give that answer.
        I planned to start shifting to large cap atleast 7-10 yrs before my target. this is to avoid any bloodbath, secondly if i somehow i do reach my corpus around that time then i will shift the target corpus to safer side and continue taking exposure to MF midcap to some extent.
        FYI, i am quite new to this world of investing just completed 4 yrs so i might be naive for these ideas and maybe keep on changing depending on the situation.

        Thanks ritesh

  66. hi vipin…
    greetings…
    its great to have people like you helping and advising others in their financial planing…

    i have recently put in my money in these below mentioned funds(90 lakhs)….pls take a look n advise on the portfolio..
    i time horizon is 25 yrs and i will stay invested no matter what for 25 yrs….
    goal is wealth accumulation about 50-60 cr …
    plz advise whether it will be possible..
    best regards
    1. Tata Balanced fund –Rs.10L
    2. L&T Prudence fund –Rs.10L
    3. SBI Magnum Balanced fund –Rs.10L
    4. ICICI Pru balanced advantage fund –Rs.10L.
    5. Franklin India Prima Plus-Rs.9L
    6. ICICI Pru Discovery fund-Rs.9L
    7. Kotak select focus fund-Rs.8L
    8. BNP Equity funds-Rs8L.
    9. Reliance Equity Opportunities fund-Rs.8L
    10. SBI Magnum global Fund-Rs.8L.

    • Dear Asootosh

      Thanks for your comment. Can we convert this discussion into a learning opportunity?

      May I ask what was the basis on which you selected the funds that you have invested in?

      I see a random selection of funds. I am not able to figure out why have you invested in these funds.

      As for the goal of Rs. 50 crores, this 90 lacs is not going to be enough… Even if you take a growth rate of 12% over 25 years, you will end up with Rs. 15 crores approx. 12% return looks more appropriate for your current portfolio.

      At 15% growth rate, you will have Rs. 30 crores approx. For a 15% return, you will need to invest in aggressive, high risk funds.

      What plan option have you invested the money in – direct plan?
      I am really glad that you are planning to be committed to your investments for 25 years.

      I look forward to your response.

      Thanks
      Vipin

  67. hi vipin

    my self raja sen, age-43 yr, i want to invest on mutual fund what will be the good portfolio for me for time period 10+

  68. Hi Vipin,

    Thanks for such an useful article and information.

    I am going to start my mutual fund portfolio and here are my selected fund.

    My time period is 10+ years and would prefer to have a conservative portfolio and expecting annual 15% of return.

    – ICICI Pru Focused Bluechip equity (20% allocation)
    – HDFC Balanced (20% allocation)
    – HDFC Midcap Opportunities (20% allocation)
    – ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund (G) (20% allocation)
    – DSP BlackRock Micro Fund (20% allocation)

    And I would like to see your thoughts on the selection of funds.

    Thanks in advance,
    Sanjay

    • Dear Sanjay

      Thanks for the comment and the question.

      What you have built is not a conservative portfolio but a moderate to aggressive portfolio. You have three funds HDFC Madcap, ICICI value discovery and DSP Micro cap which are into mid, small and micro cap category, with 40% allocation. That’s an aggressive approach.

      For a conservative portfolio, you should have funds like Quantum Long term equity, Franklin Bluechip and HDFC Prudence or HDFC Balanced. An equal weight in these 3 should be good enough.

      Hope this is helpful.

      Regards
      Vipin

      • Thanks Vipin for your quick response and letting me know that my portfolio is more towards aggressive.

        But when I see HDFC Midcap and ICICI Pru Discovery funds, I found that they have many large cap companies along with mid cap in their portfolio, hence I thought these funds are not very aggressive like DSP Micro Fund.

        How about this updated allocation.
        =========================
        ICICI Pru Focused Bluechip equity (Large Cap) – Allocation 30%
        HDFC Balanced (Large/Mid/Debt Fund) – Allocation 20%
        HDFC Midcap Opportunities (Mid to Large Cap) – Allocation 15%
        ICICI Prudential Value Discovery (Mid to Large Cap) – Allocation 15%
        DSP BlackRock Micro Fund (Small to Mid Cap) – Allocation 10%

        Please correct, if you still see some changes. And as I said, I am expecting 15% of returns for 10+ years of period.

        Thanks,
        Sanjay

        • Your portfolio still looks aggressive.
          Here is a suggestion for a conservative portfolio.
          Large cap – 80%
          Midcap – 20%

          You are better off selecting individual funds for them as they are more likely to stick to their mandates.
          Do not make returns your only criteria.
          Regards

          • Thanks Vipin for correcting again,

            Will you please help me removing one fund from the above selection that is very like overlapping, and then giving % allocation to make a good little conservative to aggressive portfolio.

  69. Hi Vipin,

    Great post and analysis. Just want to add that you should put more stress on SIP based investing. Even from the returns you shown SIP based investing gives way better returns. Also in a long term scenario of 10 yrs it almost nullifies the pain one experiences during bear phase of market rather one can find comfort in the thought that he/she is accumulating more units in the bear phase.

  71. Excellent Post Vipin…..I appreciate the time and effort you have actually invested in helping a lot of people like me who knows that they want to invest however fail to do so due to lack of knowledge and experience in investing.

    This is second post by you that i am going through and trust me it is as good as the previous one. Please keep me posted about anything that you write. You already have my email address.

    Best part about your writing : It makes sense!!! Keep up with the good work and good karma!!

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