investing Archives – Page 15 of 19

Cockroach Theory for markets, investing and life

November 20, 2015 by Vipin Khandelwal

Cockroach theory – are you kidding me?

What comes to your mind when I say ‘Cockroach’? A slimy, dirty, ugly creature that you want to stay as far as possible from. And yet, much to our irritation, it appears just about everywhere.

Do you know that a cockroach can survive a nuclear attack? Yes, a nuclear attack!

The ‘keeda‘ or cockroach has amazing resilience. It can go without air for close to an hour, withstand freezing temperatures and survive underwater for half an hour.

No wonder, these special features have given rise to a cockroach theory and become an inspiration for a cockroach portfolio.

Let’s see how the cockroach theory gets applied to markets, investing and life.

How KYC and FATCA can stop your mutual fund investments?

April 17, 2016November 16, 2015 by Vipin Khandelwal

As an existing mutual fund investor, you would have done your KYC (Know your Customer). As a part of the process, you submit specific information about your identity, residence, income and political exposure. KYC is mandatory.

In case you are not sure whether your KYC is completed, you can check on CVL’s website here or CAMS website here. All you have to do is enter your PAN and the system will show your KYC status.

That is not enough!

So, if you thought you are done with your KYC, you are in for a surprise. Yes, your current KYC information is not enough. Now, there is an additional requirement that has come up for existing mutual fund investors.

Mutual Fund benchmarks: What do they tell you?

May 13, 2016November 5, 2015 by Vipin Khandelwal

Do you know what is the benchmark of the following mutual fund schemes?

If you are wondering what a benchmark is, it is an index against which the fund compares its performance. For example, a mutual fund would say that it is going to benchmark against the BSE Sensex, the bellwether index of 30 most liquid stocks. With the fund management skills, it would do better than the Sensex; means it will deliver better returns than the Sensex.

Every mutual fund scheme chooses its own benchmark.

Why did I become a fee-only financial planner?

November 2, 2015October 31, 2015 by Vipin Khandelwal

I am feeling happy today and I want to share the reason with you. I just received my certificate of becoming a ‘Registered Investment Adviser‘ from Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Vipin Khandelwal - SEBI Registered Investment Adviser

It had been a work in progress for long. Finally, it’s here. It allows me to practice as an Investment Adviser or Financial Planner.

If you are wondering as to what’s so special about having a SEBI registration, FYI, without a registration, SEBI does not allow anyone to represent himself/herself as a financial planner, advisor, investment advisor or any with other name and offering any such services.

Actually SEBI brought out SEBI ‘Investment Advisers’ Regulations 2013, under which this registration is mandatory for anyone who wants to practice as one of the afore mentioned titles.

Let me take you through a quick journey of how does one get registered as an Investment Adviser with SEBI.

Your Ultimate Money & Investing Checklist

October 28, 2015 by Vipin Khandelwal

Lately I have been receiving several questions on “where do I invest xyz amount?”. Typically, the sender wants to know the funds for starting an SIP or making a lump sum investment in mutual funds.

The issue is that this approach is half-baked. There is an attempt to jump straight to investments not understanding that there are prior steps to be completed before addressing the investment question.

Typically this results in random acts of investments (buying this and that) without knowing whether something is really a fit. Such investments can hold back your investment portfolio from delivering the right outcomes. Buying traditional insurance policies and choosing dividend option in an equity mutual fund are examples of such nonsense.

As far as money and investments are concerned, one needs to take a step by step approach. Personally, I would like to see the initial steps marked complete before the investment question is raised.

One tool that can be of great help to you is a checklist.

Direct Plans of Mutual Funds – Big Deal?

March 14, 2016October 26, 2015 by Vipin Khandelwal

Since Jan 1, 2013, all mutual fund schemes now come in 2 variants – a regular plan and a direct plan. You may ask what is the difference?

A regular plan is one, which you invest in through a mutual fund distributor and for which a distributor earns a commission. The distributor could be your friendly neighbourhood one or an online distributor like FundsIndia, Scripbox, ICICI Direct, etc. Even your banks – HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank or Axis Bank are all distributors. With all them, you can invest in regular plans only.