Investments includes economy, asset classes and portfolio construction.

Sundaram Multi Cap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth (Adjusted NAV)

ISIN Overall analysis 3-yr rolling excess returns remains below minimum and has not given good performance and TE against benchmark have also not been good overall; The fund has not given the maximum excess return in comparison to its peers; and has made little to no progress over the past 1 year. Performance analysis  Rolling

SBI Multicap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth

INF200KA18E2 Overall analysis 1-yr rolling excess returns remains below the lower quartile and has given good performance and TE against benchmark have been good overall; The fund has given the maximum excess return in comparison to its peers; and has made good progress over the past 1 year. Performance analysis  Rolling returns – 1yr rolling

Sundaram Multi Cap Fund Series II – Direct Plan – Growth

INF903JA1EF4 Overall analysis 3-years rolling excess returns of the fund has declined by underperforming its benchmark as well as its peers. This fund’s TE is moderate, IR is negative; not generating risk adjusted returns. The fund gave negative returns against its benchmark during past recent months; 3 year rolling returns stood by underperforming its benchmark

Sundaram Multi Cap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth

INF173K01FQ0 Overall analysis 1-yr rolling excess returns of the fund is negative to the index. Overall, this fund has moderate TE. The IR of this fund is in negative figures which is un-impressive. The fund gave an average return in comparison to its peers as it is above median. Fund has a good start with

Sundaram Multi Cap Fund Series I – Direct Plan – Growth

INF903JA1DT7 Overall analysis 3-years rolling excess returns of the fund has declined by underperforming its benchmark as well as its peers. This fund’s TE is moderate, IR is negative; not generating risk adjusted returns. The fund gave negative returns against its benchmark during past recent months; 3 year rolling returns stood by underperforming its benchmark

Quant Active Fund – Direct Plan – Growth

INF966L01614 Overall analysis  1-yr rolling excess returns of the fund has raised, currently generating maximum returns compared to its benchmark, while the snail trail shows that the fund had generated maximum returns by taking (-) risk. TE states that the fund is highly active, But it has a drawback of negative IR. Performance analysis  Rolling

Nippon India Multicap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth

INF204K01XF9 Overall analysis  3-years rolling excess returns of the fund has outperformed its benchmark and its peers. Overall, this fund TE is closer to the index. It has a good IR 2.2; the fund is generating risk adjusted returns. Fund manager is taking more risk and generating returns. Suitable for the investor with high-risk appetite. 

Kotak Multicap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth

INF174KA1HV3 Overall analysis  1-yr rolling excess returns of the fund is sustained between maximum and upper quartile (green) line. Fund’s snail trail chart assesses that it has been in the top left quadrant proceeding with positive excess returns by taking negative risk. TE of this fund is declined on a month-on-month basis & has a

Mahindra Manulife Multi Cap – Direct Plan – Growth

INF174V01341 Overall analysis  3-years rolling excess returns of the fund was good in the past, but in recent phases its returns have fallen somewhere between median and lower quartile. Overall, this fund has moderate TE (moderately active). IR is low which is not ideal and the fund Is not providing risk-adjusted return. This fund had

Kotak India Growth Fund – Series IV – Direct Plan – Growth

INF174K019S9 Overall analysis 3-years rolling excess returns of the fund has crossed down the maximum line, it gave the maximum return in comparison to its peers. Overall, this fund has good TE, it is moderately active. It has negative IR & has generated decent returns to its investors by taking the least risk against benchmark.

ITI Multi Cap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth

INF00XX01168 Overall analysis 3-years rolling excess returns of the fund is negative throughout the year. Overall, this fund TE has shrinked & it been moderately active, IR is average. The fund gave the least returns in comparison to its peers. It has negative risk and returns as shown further in detail. Performance analysis Rolling returns

IDFC Multicap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth

INF194KB1CL0 Overall analysis  1-yr rolling excess returns of the fund is constant. Overall, this fund has good TE, it is moderately active. IR is declining and moving towards passiveness. The fund gave the maximum return in comparison to its peers as it above median. It has negative risk and positive returns which means the fund

Invesco India Multicap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth

INF205K01MS2 Overall analysis  3-years rolling excess returns of the fund is declining throughout the chart. Overall, this fund has moderate TE, it is moderately active. The 1 year rolling information ratio of this fund is poor. The fund is underperforming its benchmark and peers. Performance analysis  Rolling returns – 3 years rolling excess returns over

ICICI Prudential Multicap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth

INF109K014O9 Overall analysis  3-years rolling excess returns of the fund is currently underperforming by -0.7%. Overall, this fund has moderate TE (moderately active). IR is low which is not ideal and the fund Is not providing risk-adjusted return. This fund is turning towards- taking positive risk to generate returns for its investors. Performance analysis  Rolling

HDFC Multicap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth

INF179KC1BS5 Overall analysis  1-yr rolling excess returns of the fund is constant. This fund’s TE has declined- but it has moderate TE, IR is moderate. The fund gave the maximum return in comparison to its peers as it is tackling around the maximum line. It has negative risk and positive returns which means the fund

Edelweiss Recently Listed IPO Fund – Direct Plan – Growth

INF754K01ML4 Overall analysis 1-yr rolling excess returns of the fund has declined, Overall, TE is between 5-13 which means the fund is ideally active. IR has gone through both positive and negative phase. As of now the fund has high TE of 9.7% & negative IR of -0.7. Performance analysis Rolling returns – 3 year

Baroda BNP Paribas Multi Cap Fund – Direct Plan

INF955L01AG0 Overall analysis (h2) 3-yr rolling excess returns of the fund is volatile enough. Overall, this fund has high TE, currently it is moderately active. The fund gave decent returns in comparison to its peers and now it is generating returns equal to the upper quartile. In June 2023 the fund took more risk and

Axis Multicap Fund – Direct Plan

INF846K013E0 Overall analysis  1-yr rolling excess returns is quite decent according to a new fund existing from 17 months as it has surpassed the upper quartile, fund is moderately active according to TE, overall, it has IR less than 1 – it is not an ideally active fund.  Performance analysis  Rolling returns –1 year rolling

Axis Capital Builder Fund – Series 4 – Direct Plan

INF846K01K68 Overall analysis (h2) 3-yr rolling excess returns is poor because the fund has generated negative returns, it has crossed down the median, lower quartile & minimum which is a worst-case scenario compared to its peers. It has negative risk & return, Fund is moderately active with a TE of 4.27%, It has got negative

Aditya Birla Sun Life Multi Cap Fund – Direct Plan

INF209KB1Y49 Overall analysis 1-yr rolling excess returns of the fund has been negative most of the time, TE shows that the fund is moderately active as the TE fluctuated between 4%-4.90%. IR is also declining month by month which also concludes that the fund is less active & inconsistent in generating risk adjusted returns.  Performance

Franklin India Bluechip Fund-Direct Plan

ISIN INF090101FN7 Overall analysis  3-yr rolling excess returns is in negative and also tracking error against benchmark has been in the range of 4-10% .The funds’ performance in the short run has been deteriorating. The fund has not given the maximum excess return in comparison to its peers; but it is gaining the returns in

Edelweiss Large Cap Fund-Direct Plan

ISIN INF754K01BW4 Overall analysis 3-yr rolling excess returns is  in the range of 3-5% and tracking error against benchmark has been in the range of 2-4% which is ideal overall and the funds’ performance in the short run has been also good. The fund has given the maximum excess return in comparison to its peer

DSP Top 100 Equity Fund-Direct Plan

ISIN INF740K01PR3 Overall analysis  3-yr rolling excess returns is in the range of negative 5-1% and tracking error against benchmark also have been in the range of 3-5% and the funds’ performance in the short run has been deteriorating. The fund had not given the maximum excess return in comparison to its peers. Performance analysis

Canara Robeco Bluechip Equity Fund-Direct Plan

ISIN INF760K01FR2 Overall analysis  3-yr rolling excess returns is in the 2-5% range which is good and tracking error against benchmark has been impressive in the range of 2-6% overall. The funds’ performance in the short run has also been good. The fund had given the maximum excess return in comparison to its peers. Performance

Canara Robeco Small Cap Fund – Direct Plan

ISIN INF760K01JC6 Overall analysis  3-yr rolling excess returns of the fund is above first quartile and TE against benchmark have been active and also the funds’ performance in the short run has been increasing. The fund had given a high excess return in comparison to its peers. Performance analysis  Rolling returns in quartiles The rolling

Aditya Birla Sun Life Focused Equity Fund – Direct Plan 

ISIN INF209K01WE3 Overall analysis  3-yr rolling excess returns is low compared to benchmark and first quartile and TE against benchmark have moderately active during 2016-17 but then started declining. While snail trail shows the risk & return in positive and as well as in negative. Tracking Error of the fund has been constant 3-6%.  Performance

Baroda BNP Paribas Large Cap Fund-Direct Plan

ISIN INF209K01BR9 Overall analysis  3-yr rolling excess returns is in the 2-6% range. Tracking error against benchmark have been in the range of 2-6%; but the funds’ performance in the short run has been deteriorating. The fund had given the maximum excess return in comparison to its peers; but has dropped to below the first

Bank Of India Bluechip Fund-Direct Plan

ISIN INF761K01FL3 Overall analysis  1-yr rolling excess returns is in the range of 2-4% and Tracking Error against benchmark has been in the range of 2-4%  for the past 6 months. The fund had given a neutral excess return in comparison to its peers; but has been going upwards in the first quartile over the

Axis Bluechip Fund-Direct Plan

ISIN INF846K01DP8 Overall analysis  3-yr rolling excess returns is in negative which is not good for the past few years  and tracking error against benchmark has been very active overall and the funds’ performance in the short run has been deteriorating. The fund had given the maximum excess return in comparison to its peers; but

Bank of India Small Cap Fund – Direct Plan

 ISIN INF761K01EP7 Overall analysis  3-yr rolling excess returns is above the first quartile and TE of the fund is active but it has declined after June 2021l; the funds’ performance in the short run has been deteriorating. The fund had given a high excess return in comparison to its peers; but has dropped to below

Aditya Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund-Direct Plan

ISIN INF209K01YY7 Overall analysis  3-yr rolling excess returns is in the range of 2-6% and tracking error against benchmarks have been in the 2-4% range ;the funds’ performance in the short run has also been good. The fund has given the maximum excess return in comparison to its peers; but has been neutral to the

UTI Small Cap Fund – Direct Plan 

ISIN INF789F1AUQ1 Overall analysis  1-yr rolling excess returns of the fund ranges between 2-8% and TE of the fund is above 6%, 1-yr rolling excess return is low compared to benchmark but the TE of the fund is reasonably active, also the funds’ performance in the short run has been deteriorating. The fund has dropped

50 shades of value investing in India

While everyone agrees that value investing is buying a stock for less than its intrinsic value, this is easier said than done. There is no one way to calculate intrinsic value. Over time Warren Buffet’s definition of value has changed from the ‘cigar butt’ approach that his mentor Ben Graham espoused to a more broader
tracking error of indian equity funds

How active and skilled are Indian equity funds?

While retail investors and advisers track various performance-based quantitative parameters such as excess returns and Sharpe ratio on mutual fund fact sheets, the professional investment consulting industry uses more advanced measures such as tracking error and information ratio to evaluate active funds. We calculated and analysed these measures for the Indian equity fund universe with
mutual fund star ratings

Do mutual fund ratings work?

Investors and advisers often use ‘star ratings’ to select the ‘best mutual funds’. They assume that the mutual fund ratings, whether denoted by stars or numbers (1 to 5) or alphabets (A, B etc) or metals (gold, silver etc), would be helpful in their selection of funds that will outperform in the future. We have

P2P lending in India

Peer-to-peer lending is a small sub-segment of the fast growing lending segment within fintech. It allows investors to lend to a diversified portfolio of small borrowers through digital platforms, thereby cutting out the traditional middlemen (like banks and non-banking financial companies) and earning a higher return. We look at the p2p lending landscape in India.
pms vs mutual funds - which is better

Are PMS better than mutual funds?

With increasing flows into portfolio management services (PMS), we hear PMS providers claiming that they outperform mutual funds as a category. We decided to take a high level look at the performance. While the median PMS performance is not too different from that of mutual funds, the dispersion of returns is higher. We suggest investors

Big Data and ML in funds research

Fund Manager evaluation demands an assessment across multiple dimensions, including the investment process, risk management, operations, and the business model. We have compiled the latest research on using Big Data and Machine Learning (ML) in funds research. — In a live webinar organised by the CFA Society India in April 2021, Sabeeh Ashhar of Morningstar

Indian financial reporting standards

In India, the state of financial reporting has changed dramatically in the previous five years. As trade expands beyond national borders, compliance and reporting standards must adapt as well. The reporting standards ensure that the transactions are reported by the firms similarly. However, standards must remain flexible and allow discretion to management to properly describe

Indian stock exchanges

There are many stock exchanges in India, but only two main ones on which most of the stock trading occurs – BSE (previously Bombay Stock Exchange) – oldest stock exchange in Asia, dating back to the 1850s, now a listed company National Stock Exchange – NSE was established in 1992 to provide a modern, fully

Hidden risks and opportunities in India

The Marsh McLennan group released a report ‘The Elephants in the Room: Hidden Risks and Opportunities in India‘ in July 2021. It’s a compendium of articles that represent key economic and social issues which organisations in India have to contend with. India recently regained the title of being the fastest growing major economy after a

Economic agenda to turn India

McKinsey released a report ‘India’s turning point: An economic agenda to spur jobs and growth’ in August 2020. This is a summary. India’s turning point A  reform agenda can be implemented in the next 12 to 18 months to pave the way for economic growth in the coming decade. With 90 million more workers in

Signals in equity trading

Trading volume and dispersion of signals  Vidhani (2020) explains about the relation between trading volume and dispersion of signals. He speaks about the disagreement between the investors in relation to the share price and regarding decisions of buying and selling. The value of the stock is compared to the current stock price. Trade is initiated

Securities market surveillance

Rules vs. discretion in market surveillance:evidence from India Aggarwal, Bhatia, Zaveri in their research paper talks about the new surveillance measure which is Graded Surveillance Measure (GSM). The reason behind introducing the measure was to restrict the trading activity of the securities whose share prices are not commensurate with the health of the firm. There

Crypto in India

What Is Cryptocurrency? A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology—a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are generally not issued

Managing interest rates

This post summarises some presentations and papers on managing interest rates in India. ‘Who Moved my Interest Rates’- Dr. Duvvuri Subbarao https://www.cfainstitute.org/research/multimedia/2016/who-moved-my-interest-rate Dr. Duvvuri Subbarao explained the challenges and dilemmas he faced as the RBI governor from 2008-2013. This was an extremely rough period for central banks across the world since the financial crisis erupted

Bond markets: issues and implications

This post collates some of the issues being highlighted by experts regarding the Indian corporate bond markets, and the implications for debt mutual funds. Debt funds are risky… Suyash Choudhary, head of fixed interest at IDFC AMC, outlines the market structure and issues – The macro Markets for financing in India Behavioural thinking and operating

Global investment consultants eyeing India?

India has been wooing foreign investments, both directly as foreign direct investments (FDI) into companies as well as indirectly as ‘foreign institutional investors’ (FIIs) or ‘foreign portfolio investors’ (FPIs) into its capital markets and alternative investment funds (AIFs). FIIs already hold a significant portion of India’s listed equity market, affecting daily market fluctuations. However, the

Share buy-backs in India

A share buyback means a company buys their own shares from the market when they want to reduce their number of shares available in the open market. Share buyback in India – legal provisions In India, buyback of listed shares was permitted by the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1999 by the insertion of Sections 77A, 77AA
Factor investing 101

Factor investing 101

Global markets are made up of dozens of asset classes and millions of individual securities, making it challenging to understand what really matters for your portfolio. But, there are a few important drivers that can help explain returns across asset classes. These ‘factors’ are broad, persistent drivers of return that are critical to helping investors
how to analyse mutual funds

How to analyse MF portfolio and performance

There are a number of attractive mutual funds and fund managers that have performed well over both long-term and short-term horizons. All mutual funds have a stated investment mandate that specifies whether the fund will invest in large companies or small companies, and whether those companies exhibit growth or value characteristics. It is assumed that the mutual fund manager will adhere to the

Differential voting rights in India – a summary

What are DVRs? Dual Class Shares (DCS) or shares with Differential Voting Right (DVR) as popularly known in India, simply mean that a company has issued more than one class of stocks with different voting rights. In other words, DVRs are shares that give the holder different voting rights compared to someone who owns ordinary

India’s GDP measurements

This post summarises some presentations and papers on India’s GDP measurements. India’s GDP mis-estimation: Likelihood, magnitudes, mechanisms, and implications This June 2019 paper by Arvind Subramaniam shows that the change in the way GDP is measured in 2012 has led to a significant overestimation of growth. The paper compiles evidence based on disaggregated data from

Unlisted stock investing

In addition to investing in the 5,000-odd listed stocks, investors can invest in unlisted stocks, either pre-IPO or delisted stocks. The CFA Society India organised a webinar on this topic – https://www.cfainstitute.org/en/research/multimedia/2018/investing-in-indias-growing-unlisted-space The webinar discusses what unlisted stocks are, their types, valuation, how to invest. Unlisted securities are not listed on stock exchange and those

Does ETF liquidity matter for investors?

The Indian asset and wealth management industry laments the lack of liquidity in ETFs, encouraging investors to buy passive funds instead. But what is liquidity and does it matter? In the recent past, two papers have been issued to address this topic – The CFA Society India issued a report on ETFs generally with some recommendations

Do you need an investment philosophy?

Recently, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion on the ‘Art & Science of Stockpicking’. I was fascinated by the topic because I had studied both art and science (actually literature and biology) at undergraduate level and then had chosen finance as a career. I had researched investing somewhat (remember this was 25

Fund categorisations: confusing segments and style

The Indian media has been discussing SEBI’s circular on categorisation and rationalisation of mutual funds ever since it came out in October 2017. I had written about the need for better fund classifications last year, so I didn’t comment further. But the news that AMFI has asked SEBI to reconsider has prompted me to share

Can better fund research fix capitalism?

“We have met the enemy and he is us.” — Walt Kelly We blame capitalism for most of our modern ills, from climate change to iPhones that die every two years. Yet we rarely bother to read the sales pitch our accountant, banker, or adviser gives us for the mutual funds to invest our hard-earned

Has goal-based investing ruined Modern Portfolio Theory?

Modern or mean-variance portfolio theory (MPT) is an important financial concept. But it has little practical value for retail investors when it to comes to asset allocation. Recently, goals-based investing has grown popular with both financial advisers and robo-advice tools. Financial advisers continue to apply an ‘”asset allocation overlay” check to ensure goals-based portfolios are

What can blow up in your portfolio?

That’s the question investors should ask when assessing portfolio risk, rather than focusing on volatility. Speaking at a speaker event organised by Indian Association of Investment Professionals (IAIP), Raj Manghani, the Managing Director – Financial Analytics for MSCI, explained scenario analysis and stress testing. Testing the ability of a portfolio to withstand shocks in liquidity, markets and

Classifying funds

Investment decisions rely on performance of funds universe including that of the median and various quartiles. Hence, the universe category definitions and classifications are very important. Unfortunately, AMCs have multiple funds in the same category with significant dispersion in returns. To make it worse, leading rating houses have different classification methodologies resulting in different classifications.

Funds research…deconstructed

I love watching cooking shows. It doesn’t matter that I don’t cook. I watch for enjoyment sake, and perhaps for the comfort of knowing that in a cooking emergency, I will be able to put something together. One concept that I always get fascinated by is that of ‘deconstructed’. Chefs separate or deconstruct the ingredients

Why we need active funds

The active versus passive debate rages on. The passive camp points out that active funds, in general, don’t do what they are supposed to do – outperform the passive benchmark. They charge high annual management fees, even in the years they underperform. They encourage intermediaries to charge fees or commissions to select amongst them (or

Why good mutual fund research is hard to find

There are many brilliant books on stock picking, from simple beginners’ guides to classic textbooks like Ben Graham’s Security Analysis and The Intelligent Investor. I could find only one credible book on mutual funds: John Bogle’s Common Sense on Mutual Funds. Bogle’s advice? Investors should put their money in index funds. A number of finance luminaries — Warren Buffett,

Why you shouldn’t invest in 5-star rated mutual funds

Ask any investor how they select mutual funds (MF) – the most common answer tends to be on the basis of star ratings. Such is the allure of stars that it doesn’t appear to matter whose stars. I know so, because I spent my career in fund research. And no matter how different my firm’s

Role of financial ratings

When people hear the leader of a country comment on how a credit rating agency should rate its debt, they realise credit ratings are important. When they read about the role of credit ratings in the global financial crisis, they get angry about the finance industry being responsible for their misery, but figure they must

How Nobel prize winners invest

Everyone in finance would know about the efficient frontier… it’s a concept from Modern Portfolio Theory put forward by Harry Markowitz in the 1950s. So Markowitz is like God in the world of portfolio management. I was always curious about how Markowitz invests his own portfolio. Imagine my delight when I found the answer in

Making sense of too many products

Like in many other markets, the mutual fund industry the world over seems to have a dazzling choice of products, but with the top few dominating assets under management and inflows. In the US, there are more funds than stocks. Even in a nascent market like India, there are more than 1,000 choices, and that’s

Fund managers need the right temperament

What kind of people make good fund managers? While everyone should be interested in this question, there is surprisingly little research on this topic. Dr Jack Gray talks to Hansi Mehrotra about his efforts and findings. While the general perception may be that investments is about numbers, investment professionals everywhere agree that money management is

Valuing real estate

Subhankar Mitra of Jones Lang LaSalle explains the basic methodologies used for real estate valuations in India. Valuations are very important in any private equity/real estate investing not only while buying and selling but also for ongoing reporting. Hence, it’s important to understand how valuations work in India. 1. What qualifications does one need to

Intro to Modern Monetary Theory

Being a professor in risk management, Professor Frank Ashe had to explain the biggest risk event in recent history – the global financial crisis. He went back to basics to understand the genesis of the credit bubble, in the process discovering Modern Monetary Theory and how government deficits are not as bad as people think.

Role of credit rating agencies

Credit rating agencies have been criticized for their role in the 2007 sub-prime crisis, which led to the global financial crisis, but it wasn’t until a recent lawsuit exposed their internal emails that it became clear to what extent they were responsible. While the global financial crisis can’t be blamed on any one in particular,

Forget track records for responsible investing

The United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment now claims over 550 signatories with more than USD 18 trillion in assets. UNPRI provides a framework for institutional investors to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment processes. Also, the International Finance Corporation has sponsored a study on the prevalence of RI in emerging markets.