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The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) declared the annual weighted average returns (see graphics) for the National Pension System (NPS) investment funds on May 15. Although, the returns look impressive but when you are looking at a long-term product, you can't set much store with just one indicator of annual return. You need to understand the product fully and your commitment towards it.

A look at the returns

Since most pension fund managers track Nifty, we looked at the returns of the Nifty index for FY13. Nifty returned 6.05% in FY13. "Nifty return doesn't take into account the dividend yield which index funds factor in their return calculation. Dividend yields can make a difference of about 1.5-2 percentage points. So if the returns are more than Nifty by that margin, it means the funds have returned close to the Nifty returns," said Manoj Nagpal, CEO, Outlook Asia Capital, a wealth management firm.

For an investor, the maximum exposure to equity is capped at 50% but for the other two schemes - government and corporate debt - you can invest up to 100% of your money. However, there isn't a benchmark that can be strictly comparable. Mukesh Jindal, partner, Alpha Capital, a financial planning firm based in Gurgaon attempts a comparison. "If you look at the Crisil 10-year Gilt Index, for FY13 it has returned 11.25%. Even other mutual funds that invest purely in government securities have returned in the range of 12.54-14.89%. Looking at these numbers, the NPS government scheme has outperformed most of the other comparable schemes," he said.

Even the corporate debt scheme looks like an outperformer. "If you compare the corporate debt scheme to Crisil Composite Bond Fund Index, NPS scheme has outperformed by a huge margin. Crisil Bond Index Fund returned 9.24% compared with 14.19% of the NPS scheme. Other comparable mutual funds have returned in the range of 11.12-12.62%," said Jindal.

Understand the product

The one-year return definitely looks impressive but it's not enough to take a decision. NPS is still in its infancy stage and need to be understood well. An investor needs to look at diversification, risk appetite, liquidity and tax issues.

Lock-in: Since it is aimed at targeted savings, it locks in your investments till 60 years of age. If you wish to withdraw it before you turn 60, you will have to annuitise at least 80% of your money. Annuity is a pension product that gives you a periodic income for life. At 60 you can withdraw 60% of the money as lump sum. The remaining 40% needs to be annuitised.

Returns are market linked: Even as the returns are impressive these are not the final returns. That's because this is a market-linked product and the returns are not guaranteed. But if you take Public Provident Fund or Employees' Provident Fund, if you are a salaried individual, the return on your investment is guaranteed once declared. NPS is taxable: The amount you contribute qualifies for a tax deduction of R1 lakh subject to a maximum of R1 lakh under the overall section of 80C of the Income-tax Act. On maturity, the 60% of the corpus that you can have as lump sum is taxable.

What should you do?

NPS is not meant for equity investors since the scheme caps equity investment at 50%. But even for an investor who is looking to balance her portfolio with a limited exposure to equity, there have been certain changes in NPS that needs a mention. Unlike the original idea of investing in equities through index funds, PFRDA has allowed pension fund managers to invest directly in stocks, although with guidelines to ensure investments in large and liquid stocks and caps to mitigate concentration risks. This has made investments in equities riskier as it has introduced the risk of the fund manager's choice.

But if you want to invest in debt schemes, then you should first maximise your EPF and PPF. The scheme offers no liquidity and makes it mandatory to annuitise a part of the corpus on maturity. Investors looking to save for retirement should first invest in guaranteed products such as EPF and PPF before looking at NPS

Have a proper asset allocation and maximise your debt savings first with PPF and EPF before you look at NPS.

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Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds ( ELSS Mutual Funds ) to upto Rs 1 lakh and Save tax under Section 80C.

Invest Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

These links can be used to Purchase Mutual Funds Online that are regular also (Investment, non-tax saving)

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Applications

These Application Forms can be used for buying regular mutual funds also

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

1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan Invest Online
2. HDFC TaxSaver Invest Online
3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund Invest Online
4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund Invest Online
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

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms

Buy Gold Mutual Funds

Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

 

Low expenses ensure that such passive funds don't disappoint investors

John C Bogle, the US born legendary mutual fund veteran always insisted on bringing down the costs of fund management for the simple reason that any savings on costs by the mutual fund scheme that you have put your money in would add to the corpus. And in the long run, this could make a substantial difference to the total corpus you accumulate compared to what you would have got if the costs were higher.

The result of such a logic was the launch of exchange traded index funds, popularly known as exchange traded funds (ETFs), although late ly other types of ETFs have also been launched in the market with varied degrees of success.

ETFs are usually passively managed funds, meaning these funds track some bench mark index or the price of some physical or financial as sets and, unlike regular mutual funds, do not try to out perform their benchmark index by regularly buying-selling the portfolio of stocks.

So, ETFs naturally come with much lower costs compared to actively managed ones. In India, the average costs for ETFs could be in the range of 0.50-100 basis points (100 basis points = 1 percentage point) per annum. Compared to this, actively managed equity funds can charge up to 2.80% per annum. As a result, over the years, not only the savings on costs would get compounded, even the performance would get compounded and adds to your portfolio.

Supporters of the active fund management style often say that good fund managers can beat the market and give you higher returns, but the fact of the matter is at times even the best of the fund managers also underperform the market. One of the best things about ETFs is that if you are invested in an ETF, you would get a return that is on par with the market.
The chance of you being disappointed with your re turns in comparison with the market returns is very low according to an official at a domestic fund house.

Gold ETFs outshine others

Some of the basic attributes to look for while selecting an ETF are liquidity (how quickly you can sell your ETF without adversely affecting its market price), expense ratio (lower the expense ratio, better managed it is) and tracking error (the variance of its NAV from its underlying benchmark).

In India, of about Rs 13,000 crore worth of investors' money that is invested in ETFs of various types, about Rs 11,000 crore is invested in gold ETFs. The balance is in various other types of ETFs, like the ones which have an underlying market index, some sectoral indices, or some foreign indices.

Of the total 20-25 ETFs available in India, a majority are gold ETFs, catering to the huge popularity of gold as an investment for a large number of Indians. Globally, however, the scenario is quite different. In the US for example, the inflows into ETFs of all types together, of late, are surpassing the inflows into mutual funds. The main reason for the muted response to ETFs in India is that distributors get no commission for selling these products. In comparison, these distributors earn about 70-80 basis points per annum as trail commission for selling equity and hybrid mutual funds.

In the case of ETFs, brokers can get brokerage co mission when they are bought or sold on the exchanges. But in India, brokers mainly thrive on frequent buying and selling by their clients while the same does not (and should not) happen in the case of ETFs, veterans of the ETF space say. Since they (distributors) don't get commission, they don't sell passive funds.

So, a new model is being tried in the market. Under this, you as an investor would be required to pay the seller/distributor of the ETF while the seller/distributor will not take anything from the fund house whose scheme is being sold. In this way, the seller/distributor will be answerable and responsible to the investor fully rather than running after higher commission from the fund house and often trying to sell mutual fund schemes to an investor which may not be the best fit for his/her financial needs and risk profile.

Happy Investing!!

We can help. Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write back to us at PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

---------------------------------------------

Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds ( ELSS Mutual Funds ) to upto Rs 1 lakh and Save tax under Section 80C.

Invest Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

These links can be used to Purchase Mutual Funds Online that are regular also (Investment, non-tax saving)

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Applications

These Application Forms can be used for buying regular mutual funds also

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

1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan Invest Online
2. HDFC TaxSaver Invest Online
3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund Invest Online
4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund Invest Online
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

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms

Buy Gold Mutual Funds

Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

 

In the case of situations where the prime purpose is that of saving and the risk appetite is low, endowment plans and money back plans are the best possible options

THE concept of life insurance is not a new one. However, the purposes it fulfills go a lot beyond providing financial security upon the death of the breadwinner of the family. In addition to securing a person's future, life insurance also offers various other benefits too. These days, life insurance plans have evolved into an investment tool along with the benefit of protection and savings, catering to various risk appetites. These benefits can be availed of through the various types of life insurance covers that are available today.

Reasons for which you should have life insurance: Protection: The most basic kind of life insurance plan that one could opt for is a protection plan, also known as a term plan. The main purpose of this type of a plan is purely that of provid ing life cover. In a term plan, the insured does not get any benefit if he/she survives the policy term, but is beneficial to secure the family's financial future in case of premature death.

This type of life cover is also usually the cheapest kind of life insurance.

Investment: The next available option in life insurance is an investment plan. For people who are open to taking risks, unit inked insurance policies (Ulips) are a good choice to go with. These are market linked plans that give customers the opportunity to participate in capital markets. Ulips are a flexible option, and allow the customer to choose the type of fund that they would like to invest in as per their risk appetite. Ulips also come with a death benefit and maturity value, thereby, helping you build a corpus and providing security in case of a premature death.

Savings: In case of situations where the prime purpose is that of saving and the risk appetite is low, endowment plans and money back plans are the best possible options. These plans help you to sys tematically save for financial goals such as your children's education, their marriage, a long desired holiday to name a few. These plans are relatively safer comparison with Ulips as they invest in secured assets. At the same time, they also offer some guaranteed benefits, further securing the corpus.

Retirement: Also known as pension plans, this type of life insurance policy allows you to build a substantial corpus over the years. Such a plan will enable you to live the same lifestyle, upon retirement, that a regular income would. In order to build the corpus in retirement plans, an individual can invest regular amounts during their working years, during their working years, and contribute towards the retirement plan.

In this type of a plan, upon the vesting date, out of the corpus, one needs to buy an immediate annuity plan which starts pension immediately, as per selected options.

Happy Investing!!

We can help. Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write back to us at PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

---------------------------------------------

Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds ( ELSS Mutual Funds ) to upto Rs 1 lakh and Save tax under Section 80C.

Invest Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

These links can be used to Purchase Mutual Funds Online that are regular also (Investment, non-tax saving)

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Applications

These Application Forms can be used for buying regular mutual funds also

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

1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan Invest Online
2. HDFC TaxSaver Invest Online
3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund Invest Online
4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund Invest Online
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

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms

Buy Gold Mutual Funds

Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

 

Birla SunLife'95

Strategy

It follows a multi-cap approach to achieve capital appreciation and income from debt allocation of up to 40 per cent. This multi-cap approach depends on the risk return profile of various sub segments of the market. The fund managers primarily focuses on long-term growth for identifying stocks. The fund books profits to balance the debt-equity allocation and occasionally holds cash.

 

The fund managers do not dynamically manage the allocation between equity and debt. They prefer to take advantage during rising markets by increasing the equity exposure. The debt portfolio is actively managed and fund managers bet on bonds and debentures of quality companies with strong balance sheet and high credit rating, without hesitating to take high maturity bets.

 

Performance
One of the oldest funds in the category, it has outperformed the category average on 14 occasions in its 18-year history. The performance has been achieved in both rising and falling markets. The fund manager sticks to the mandate of investing beyond 60 per cent in equities, with the exposure going above 65 per cent on most occasions.

 

In the past 6 years, this fund has been a regular top-quartile performer. Moreover, investments in a well-diversified portfolio of quality stocks such as ITC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys, NTPC, Yes Bank and Reliance have helped in its superior performance. Such performance is also due to the fund's ability to increase its exposure to equities at the right time. For instance, it was quick to redeploy cash into equities in 2009. But, when the markets are down, this fund tends to move towards safer debt investments and cash and is able to check the fall better than many of its peers.

 

In the past 5 years, Financial, Engineering, Diversified with FMCG, Healthcare and Services have been the top-5 sectors, with single stock allocation less than 5per cent.

Happy Investing!!

We can help. Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write back to us at PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

---------------------------------------------

Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds ( ELSS Mutual Funds ) to upto Rs 1 lakh and Save tax under Section 80C.

Invest Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

These links can be used to Purchase Mutual Funds Online that are regular also (Investment, non-tax saving)

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Applications

These Application Forms can be used for buying regular mutual funds also

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

1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan Invest Online
2. HDFC TaxSaver Invest Online
3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund Invest Online
4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund Invest Online
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