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First time I read this, I was like :Shockked:
Then I understood that you meant 'thread' :D

Above post from bullrun87 has explained everything I wanted to share. Go ahead and start investing in 1 Large Cap fund, 1 Balanced fund and 1 Diversified Equity fund.
If income tax savings under section 80C is of importance then choose a good 'Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS)' from a good/reputed AMC.


+1. I agree.

Dear Friends,

I have a long term horizon (7-10 years) horizon. My risk appetite is pretty good and need recommendations from all of you to pick some good equity based MF schemes. I am just going to be 40 in coming months and currently have two liabilities in terms of an auto and home loan.

I have been investing in the market since 2011 and my current portfolio consists of:

1. HDFC 200 (G)
2. DSPBR Small & Midcap (G)
3. DSPBR Top 100 (G)
4. Franklin India Blue Chip (G)
5. Franklin India High Growth Companies (G)
6. Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund (G)
7. HDFC Balanced fund Regular plan
8. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund (Tax Saving)
9. Quantum Long Term Equity Fund (G)

All the above were purchased through my ICICIDirect account.

In the month of September 2016, I had to discontinue all of my SIPs because of a medical emergency in the family as I had to divert money. At that time I had SIPs in no. 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9. I did not divested any of my units from any of the schemes.

Things are not moving back to normalcy and now I can again start SIPs to the tune of INR 30,000. Finally I am planning to take the direct mode of SIP and rather through ICICIDirect. I have already started two SIPs of INR. 8000 each in no. 2 & 6. That is when it struck me to take opinion of larger group of BHPians.

• Kindly do help me in selecting a few more SIPs to meet my monthly target of 30k.
• My last SIP for scheme at no. 7 was in April 2015. So far it has given me good returns. I am planning to sell this one and prepay my auto-loan. Will this selling can lead to some tax as its a balanced fund?

Kind Regards...Vikas

I invested in the same funds and also a couple more debt funds last Oct-Dec. Although there was a slight bump up post demonetization, it fell badly since Dec because RBI did not bring down the interest rates.

I am still investing via SIP in the all the above funds. The "loss" is not as much now as the interest rate drop expectations have been toned down. The funds have started giving small positive returns in the last couple of months.

If you have a short horizon, then absorb your losses and switch to Short term funds. If you can keep it for 3-4 years, then continue the funds (probably add via SIP also), and wait for the next interest rate cycle to trend down (High Risk- High Return strategy).

Did you mean 'things are moving back to normalcy'?


Regarding the above point, here is the answer: HDFC Balanced Fund is an equity mutual fund since it invests about 70% in equities and the rest in debt instruments. A fund must have a minimum of 65% in equity stocks in order to qualify for tax benefits as an equity-oriented fund.
Since your last SIP was in April-2015, your gains in this fund will be classified as Long Term Capital Gains - and therefore no tax liability.
Please see my previous post for details (here).

However you still need to declare the profits in your income tax returns. Click here to see my earlier post related to this.
Hope this helps.

Regarding the other point, I'll need some more time to answer them.

Check recent performance of HDFC Top 200. If you have a long horizon (8-10 years) as you have said, you may want to take more risk with HDFC Mid-cap Opportunities.

Good idea to go Direct than via ICICIdirect. It will save you a considerable amount. Ensure that you are having the same folio number. Otherwise only the new units will be Direct, and you will end up with multiple folios.

Consider STP instead of SIP, especially if you have 2 or more funds from the same fund house. Add up the amounts per fund house, start an SIP in a liquid (or Ultra short term fund). Then do an STP to the equity funds. Liquid or UST funds give a slightly more returns than your savings bank but the bigger advantage is the flexibility - It is easier to change funds (for e.g. HDFC 200 to Mid-cap opportunities) than SIP.

You are right. My bad :D . Thanks for answering the query on Balanced fund. Will wait for your response on other one.

Thanks a lot DigitalOne. I think I've gone for new portfolio just to differentiate between my purchases. So what you mean to say is that I can add same newer direct units in same portfolio? But if I've already paid for them through ICICI direct then how I can get the 'direct' benefits for the older units. Look forward to your clarification.

Once again thanks to both of you for your suggestions.

I see that you are already investing Rs.16,000 per month across 2 SIPs - both Small and Midcap Funds (which can be quite volatile).
For the remaining 14000Rs , I suggest the following:
1. Rs.7000 SIP (Direct plan, growth) in Quantum Long Term Equity Fund which is a steady performer in the Diversified Fund category.
2. Rs.7000 SIP (Direct plan, growth) in SBI Blue Chip Fund which is a good performer in the Large Cap oriented fund category.

Hope this helps.

Wish to invest lump sum in tax saving MF. Had invested 75k each in Axis long term and Birla SL tax relief 96 last year. Have to identify 2 different MF's for this year. So that I can invest whenever the market cracks or comes near 27-28k.Had invested last year in july and sept, currently the returns are 13% and 9.5%. Any suggestions for this year ?

Send a letter (they may not accept E-mail) to the funds/registrars stating that you wish to change the folio from ICICIDirect to Direct mode. It will get changed in 10-15 days. Your folio will no longer be visible on ICICIDirect and start appearing on the funds' sites itself.

I did this for various funds back in 2013 when Direct plans were introduced. This is well-worth the effort. As a bonus, you might be rid of ICICIDirect relationship manager calls also.

My suggestions:
1. Tata India Tax Savings Fund
2. DSP Blackrock Tax Saver Fund

Friends,
I am looking to invest in MF for the very first time in my life. I am very confused and am not able to choose the fund. I do have access to ICICIDirect account. Below are my criteria:
- Long Term, say 5-8 years.
- SIP
- Need not be Tax beneficial.

Request your inputs on this.
I have been investing in the "traditional" FDs and RDs and realized(lately though :Frustrati ) that the returns are just OK. I would like to get into this untouched territory now.

Welcome to the group. There is wealth of info on this thread. Go through the recent pages in detail and most of your questions will be answered. Also refer to valueresearchonline.com to compare funds.

Is this step required? Once a folio is created, it can be activated in the Fund's website and then you can invest in direct funds without affecting existing funds.
I have done this for few AMCs and I was able to use same folio to have both regular and direct fund units.

If the above works and you are able to get the lowered expense benefit for older investments also then good. I wrote the process I followed back in 2013. The AMCs pay a trailing comission to the brokers for existing investments; this is not applicable for Direct investments. It makes sense to change your older regular investments to Direct.

I agree with you. The mentioned step is not required. Once a folio is created, we can then deal directly with the fund site. You can also switch existing fund to Direct fund. That's how I converted all my funds to direct ones.