investing Archives – Page 7 of 19

I did not get my dividends

October 4, 2016October 4, 2016 by Vipin Khandelwal

A recent tweet on my timeline highlighted this conversation between an investor and a mutual fund representative

Investor: The XYZ scheme has declared a dividend. But I did not receive any dividends?

Rep: Let me check. …Sir, this is because you are invested in the growth option.

Investor: Oh, so how do I get the dividends?

Rep: (Head spins)

—

My father holds shares of a large FMCG MNC. One day, I saw him smiling ear to ear.

“What is it?” I was curious.

He held the cheque in front of his face, details facing towards me. It was for a dividend declared by the company.

I didn’t want to spoil his happiness but I mentioned to him, “this dividend is nothing compared to the value of your investment. Your stock value has tripled in the last 6 years.” He simply ignored the statement.

I continued to reason, “your dividend yield is a mere 0.33%.” (Dividend yield is dividend amount / Market value of investment)

But the gyaan fell on deaf ears. He was happy in the moment with his dividend.

What is this fascination with dividends?

Parag Parikh Long Term Value Fund & Arbitrage Funds

September 30, 2016September 30, 2016 by Vipin Khandelwal

Quick workshop reminder: The next Money and You workshop is scheduled on Saturday, October 8, 2016 in Mumbai. Since there are just a few seats, you might want to give your name in advance. Click here to know details.

Know your Fund – Parag Parikh Long Term Value Fund

Unovest, recently, as a part of the ongoing series on Know your Fund, covered Parag Parikh Long Term Value Fund.

This funds comes from the PPFAS Mutual Fund which came in existence in May 2013 and has just completed a little over 3 years. It stands out for some of its characteristics which, in the context of current industry behaviour, appear eccentric.

The fund house offers only ONE scheme that is the Parag Parikh Long Term Value Fund. There is only growth option available – no dividend or bonus option.

The scheme benchmarks itself to the Nifty 500, the broad market index that is correct for its multicap character.

Know your Fund – Quantum Long Term Equity

September 21, 2016 by Vipin Khandelwal

Unovest recently did an interview with Atul Kumar, Fund Manager of Quantum Long Term Equity Fund.

Atul has more than a decade’s experience in equity research and fund management. His strong dedication and simple investment style has won accolades for Quantum Long Term Equity Fund. Atul is also the Fund Manager of Quantum Tax Saving Fund.

In this interview, Atul tells us all that is important about the fund.

Let’s begin.

HDFC Mutual Fund – Is this what investors expect?

September 14, 2016 by Vipin Khandelwal

HDFC Mutual Fund is one of the largest and the most respected fund houses of the country.

What would you expect from such a fund house?

That it would put its customer, the investor, at the centre of all that it does. I thought so too.

Unfortunately, the facts don’t support that notion.

While they might have started with it, I believe they are losing track.

They have indulged in greedy, big business like behaviour playing a upper hand and putting the investor at the receiving end. I am afraid the arrogance of being big is slowly creeping in.

Let me first put across 2 broad observations.

Does holding cash affect equity mutual fund performance?

September 12, 2016 by Vipin Khandelwal

A question that I was recently asked with regards to investing in equity mutual funds was whether a fund should be fully invested in equity at all times or should it be holding cash if need be?

There were two arguments against a stay in cash strategy.

One, holding cash can lead to underperformance as the markets may rally faster than the funds can search for opportunities and deploy the cash.

Two, how can a fund hold cash and charge a Fund Management fees of 1% to 2% or more? The investor pays fund management fee to make investment in equities, not for holding cash.

Let’s see if these arguments hold any water.

Stay away from investing in stock markets

September 7, 2016 by Vipin Khandelwal

“Sensex rises 500 points to touch an all time high.” reads today’s stock markets news headlines.

The Sensex and Nifty are touching new highs on weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Soon, they will probably soon be at their all time highs. It’s the bull market.

Source: Google/Yahoo Finance; Sensex Chart for 5 years. as on Sept 7, 2016

The social conversations have turned to stocks that one is buying or planning to buy, the sectors that will lead the bull run and the money made.

Seriously, it is hard to ignore. The FOMO or fear of missing out is gripping you. You too want to be part of it.

You want to ride the bull too.

The issue is that you have never invested before in stocks or mutual funds. Bank FDs, EPF, PPF, etc. have been your primary investment avenues so far.

But now you want more.