Latest Posts

Power of Small Savings – Investment series 1

In my last article, I wrote on two key challenges, we as Robo-advisors face; i.e. “Customer mind-set” towards investments, where it comes as last priority and “Meaning of investments”, where quality is not understood.

To sum it up… how do you motivate customers?

Unlike e-commerce portals, based on current theme, it’s the deep discount that attracts. We have cases (many); where customer go to malls or retail outlet on look & feel, and finally will swap on their smart phone to check on availability & discount, and punch the order… which is obvious, where?

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July 16, 2016 Financial Planning, Investments, , , 0 Read more >

Robo Advisor

Roboadvisors

As per Wikipedia; “Robo-advisors are a class of financial adviser that provides financial advice or portfolio management online, with minimal human intervention”.

Most Robo-advisors employ algorithms, where automated investment solutions come out as output, based on customer’s data points; towards cash flow, future goals, risk tolerance, current investments etc.

Logic & working of these algorithms, which can be simple to complex, depends on the solutions offered to various category of customers, which also depends on firm’s/ founders experience & expertise.

Indian Context

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July 8, 2016 Robo Advisors, , 0 Read more >

BREXIT & my Investments

Brexit affects on your Investment

Brexit, a referendum on UK, whether to stay in the European Union or not, is finally over with 52% voters demanding an EXIT (48% is in favour of European Union). Sensex which opened with a gap of 1000 points today, with some recovery closed with 600 points down. International markets went for a full hara-kiri with 5% to 10% dive.
Will it affect India?
With European Union (EU) losing one of its members, India too can feel the heat. Rupee may depreciate because of the double effect of foreign fund outflow and dollar rise, and may lead to increase in petrol and diesel prices to an extent. The government then may want to reduce additional excise duty imposed on fuel when it was on a downward trajectory. This will

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June 25, 2016 Investments, , 0 Read more >

What’s Your Budget Personality?

What's your Budget personalities

Our personalities inform how we approach every part of our lives. From the workplace to friendships and even at home, your distinct style is uniquely yours when you interact with the world around you. This goes for budgets, too. Personalities often impact how you spend, save and manage your money, sometimes positively and sometimes impeding your progress.

Do you know your budget personality? Check out these four common types and corresponding tips to jump-start your road to better financial health. You just may recognize yourself!

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June 18, 2016 Budget, , 0 Read more >

Direct Plan Vs Regular Plan in Mutual Funds Investment

should-you-go-for-mutual-fund-direct-plans

I am confused?
There is a big hoo-ha in the market & media now a days related to “direct plans”.
What is a direct plan? How does one benefit from a direct plan? And compared to regular plan, which is better?

Let’s first understand Mutual Fund charges.
Mutual fund (MF) investments come with an inbuilt fee structure or charges, which is certain percentage of the amount invested. This charge, which is usually between 1.75% to 2.5% for equity schemes annually, is debited on the total investment made or the AUM (Asset under management) every year. In simple terms, if one wants to invest 1lac in some equity MF scheme, where annual charges is 2.5%, Rs.2500/- will be debited by the AMC (Asset management company) towards

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May 27, 2016 Mutual Funds, , , 0 Read more >

How to Create Your First Budget?

How to Create Your First Budget

There are many milestones of being an adult. Signing your own lease for the first time, being able to rent a car, having someone call you ma’am.

But being an adult also means being responsible for your own finances. Like many things, you can’t have a successful financial future if you don’t plan for it. The best way to do that? Create a budget.

Creating a budget can seem daunting, but it just requires a series of steps. See below for help on creating your first budget.

Track your expenses

Before you can start a budget full of limits, you need to know how much you’re spending right now. Take two or three months to spend normally and track your transactions in Moneyfrog.in.

Fixed expenses like rent, insurance and utilities will be easier to monitor than variable expenses, such as groceries, entertainment and travel, which will fluctuate month-to-month.

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May 20, 2016 Financial Planning, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Read more >

Rebalancing of Portfolio

Portfolio Re-balancing is important?

“Re-balancing of Portfolio” is the term, which is widely used in the mutual funds industry, by the so called media-prophets & with most of the advisors with banks/ brokers/ CFP.

What does re-balancing means? And how does it applies to one’s portfolio?

As per Investopedia: Re-balancing is the process of buying and selling portions of your portfolio in order to set the weight of each asset class back to its original state. In addition, if an investor’s investment strategy or tolerance for risk has changed, he or she can use re-balancing to readjust the weightings of each security or asset class in the portfolio to fulfill a newly devised asset allocation.

In an ideal scenario on portfolio recommendation, which is based on tenure of goals & the risk tolerance score,

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April 14, 2016 Mutual Funds, 0 Read more >

Want to cut risk and tax without compromising on returns?

While equity mutual funds are expected to beat other class of funds in the long term, short-term volatility is unbearable for some investors. For them, balanced funds are a better option because their equity exposure is usually restricted to 65-75%, and the debt portion of 25- 35% lends stability to the fund. “Though the returns from balanced funds will be lower than that of equity funds in the long term, their volatility will also be lower. So, on a risk-adjusted basis, it should give better return on a 5-7 year holding period,” says Vikram Dalal, Managing Director, Synergee Capital Services.

Both equity and debt are expected to do well in the coming years, because the expected decline in interest rate will be good for both asset classes. “Balanced funds make immense sense in periods like this, when both equity and debt are expected to do well,” says Nikhil Kothari, Director and Chief Financial Planner, Etica Wealth Management.

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February 2, 2016 Mutual Funds, , , , , 0 Read more >