Time is ripe for conservative investors to bet on monthly income plans (MIPs) from mutual funds, say investment experts. MIPs, which have been touted as an ideal vehicle for investors looking to take a small exposure in equities, invest 5% to 25% of their corpus in equities and the balance amount in bonds and other fixed income instruments. Though these schemes aim to distribute monthly dividends (hence the name monthly income plans), there is no guarantee on frequency of dividends.

Religare MIP Plus and Taurus MIP Advantage, launched in the last two years, invest a part of their corpus in gold. MIPs offer growth and dividend options. Investors with regular income needs should opt for the dividend option. Dividend declared by these schemes attract a dividend distribution tax of 13.52%. If you opt for the growth option, long-term capital gain tax liability would be lower of 20.6% with indexation or 10.3% without indexation. Interest rates have peaked and are expected to come down. Pressure on corporate margins too is expected to ease. As both equities and fixed income are likely to do well, MIPs are a suitable option for conservative investors now.

While falling interest rates offer capital gains on bonds along with interest, expected increase in stock prices should boost the returns on the equity part of the portfolio. "Interest rates are expected to go down by 100 bps in the next one year. With renewed global investor interest in Indian equities after the recent reform measures, it is a good investment option.

The recent performance of these funds has been very promising. The debt-oriented conservative MIP category has gained 3.65% in three months ended October 25. IDFC Monthly Income Plan leads the pack with 5.62% returns in three months, followed by HSBC MIP Savings with 5.43% returns. These returns are mainly from the equity components of these schemes. S&P CNX Nifty, the market benchmark, has gained 11.66% in three months.

If you are thinking of investing in MIPs, you should look at the fund manager's strategy and asset allocation of the scheme before investing. As you would know a lower allocation to equity means you don't have to face much volatility. As for the debt part of the portfolio, a higher average maturity of the fixed income portfolio would be more sensitive to interest rate changes. If you can digest some volatility due to changes in interest rates, you can look at funds with high average maturity - more than five years - of fixed income portfolios.

He recommends IDFC MIP and Reliance MIP in this space. A point to note is if the interest rates fall, high average maturity portfolios are expected to bring higher returns in the form of capital appreciation. But if rates go up in short-term, such portfolios can show some capital loss too, bringing down the overall portfolio returns. If you are really not keen to expose yourself to interest rate risks, better stick with funds with relatively low average maturity of fixed income portfolios. Additionally, the fund manager should ideally restrict equity allocation of the fund to large-cap stocks. This conservative strategy may not deliver top of the chart performance for investors but surely minimises volatility in portfolio returns. He prefers HDFC MIPshort term plan and Birla Sun Life MIP-II Savings 5 option in this space.

Market pundits are of the opinion that if you are bullish on gold in the medium term, you can consider schemes that invest a part of the portfolio in gold. But those bullish on equities should invest in traditional MIP schemes that invest in varying combination of fixed income and equities. MIPs should deliver healthy risk-adjusted returns, comfortably beating fixed deposits in two to three years.

Some of the best Tax Saving Mutual Funds available ( ELSS Mutual Funds )

1. ICICI Prudential Tax PlanInvest Online
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5. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief '96 Invest Online
6. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund Invest Online
7. SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 1993 Invest Online
8. Sundaram Tax Saver Invest Online
9. Edelweiss ELSS Invest Online
   
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