Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms

Buy Gold Mutual Funds

Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

 

Difference between Stock Investing & Mutual Funds Investing

 

When we say Equity, what comes to your mind – Stock or Equity Mutual Fund? While a single stock or a mutual fund both comes under the category of Equity and they are good option for long-term investment and needs periodic review. There are some differences between stock investing and mutual fund investing that is done by a common man. It’s a good idea to know where they differ and in which situation they differ, so that one can take better investing decisions. Let’s look at the main differences

Volatility

When you invest in a single stock or bunch of stocks (3-5 scrips), the change in it’s value is very high. On a given day it can be extremely volatile. It can give you 20% return and sometimes -10% loss also depending on the environment. This can be very exciting and at the same time very disheartening and gives you a feeling that you need to “act fast”.

 

Mutual fund on the other hand is not that much volatile by nature, as the diversification is very large and at a time 50-100 stocks are covered. Different kinds of stocks from different sectors and market capitalization are involved in mutual fund and the over all change in value is thus less volatile (other than extreme days).

 

Return Potential

This is very much in line with the above point but still let’s look at it separately. There are lot of success stories where someone got quick rich by investing in equities directly and it can happen, but those are rare happenings and require lot of work and analysis, patience and belief in what you have picked. If you want superb returns in short time and you believe you can research well, you can go for stock investing directly but then risk is also more.

 

Mutual funds are known to deliver good returns (not in line with stocks, but still very good). So you can expect handsome returns from mutual funds but not unbelievable like stocks return. This is mainly because the money is diversified across different stocks (read ideas) and chances of all of them becoming a super success in short time is impossible.

 

Monitoring Required

Stock investing is a personal affair and you are doing it on your own the decision of what to sell and what to buy is on you. Even in case of long-term investing, you might have to keep an eye every quarter or yearly unless you have really spent some good time in picking the good stock. You need to also keep an eye on news and sector specific developments.

 

Monitoring in mutual funds is relatively low because the job of monitoring is anyways done by the fund manager who is paid SALARY to filter through the fluctuations. He constantly adds and removes the stocks from the portfolio. This can be a positive point, but sometimes it can be a negative point also if there is too much of churning.

 

SIP Investment

Mutual funds are known for possibility of SIP (monthly investment). SIP in mutual fund works and is recommended as a great way for a salaried person to invest in equity markets for long-term basis without understanding the working of equity markets.

 

However SIP in stocks do not work. Yes, some companies provide you the facility of SIP in stocks, but it’s a terrible concept. There is no diversification and SIP in a particular stock does not make sense because the risk is with single stock. A stock can be in a bad phase for years and decades, whereas in a mutual fund the bad performing stock is weeded out.

 

Asset Class Restriction

Stocks investing is restricted to Stocks only. You can choose a large cap stock, mid cap stock or small cap stock, but finally it will be equity asset class. However, mutual funds can invest in mix of asset classes. There are equity funds, debt funds, gold funds, Mix of Equity and debt also. To top up, even balanced funds are there which can adjust the asset allocation on its own, so in a way mutual funds are more superior in terms of features compared to a single or bunch or stocks.

 

Conclusion

Mutual Funds are actually collection of stocks only but just because it’s a group of stocks the characteristics are not very similar to that of stocks. You should be clear about all the points of difference and only after that you should decide whether to invest in Stocks directly or take the Mutual Fund route.

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