Insights · From the research desk
One essay a month, drawn from the research desk’s monthly cycle. On Indian mutual fund investing, fund category dynamics, and the behaviour gap that decides whether you actually earn what your funds return.
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The 5.3 percentage point gap between the average fund return and the average investor return is the most consequential number in Indian retail investing. It is not a fund-selection problem. It is what happens between the SIP start date and the second market correction. A close reading of the Axis MF and Morningstar India studies, and what the gap actually looks like at the household level.
Every successful equity mutual fund eventually crosses a size threshold beyond which it can no longer pursue the same mandate that made it successful. Most distributors keep recommending it anyway because the brand has cachet and the trail commission is reliable. Here is how the research desk thinks about capacity, why it matters more in mid- and small-cap than in flexi-cap, and what we do when one of our shortlisted funds grows past its mandate.
Direct Plans saved Indian retail investors a meaningful amount of money. They also created an unforeseen consequence: nobody on the phone during a correction. The DIY platform model and the research-led MFD model are not competing for the same investor. Here is the honest read on who each model serves, why the choice is structural rather than tactical, and what each side gets right.
How to choose your monthly amount, your duration, and the right step-up schedule. What to do when the market drops twenty percent. How to set a SIP up so you will not stop it.
Open SIP calculator · Get the guide →How much you actually need, when you actually need it. The four mistakes that wreck retirement plans in India. The withdrawal sequence for a thirty-year retirement window.
Open retirement calculator · Get the guide →How to structure goals so they survive contact with market reality. Bucketing, time horizons, and the trade-off between flexibility and discipline. Templates for the five most common goals.
Open goal calculator · Get the guide →First Friday of every month · 11:30 am–12:30 pm IST
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The CEO posts twice a week on the research desk’s reading of the Indian equity market, fund manager interviews, and decisions we made and why. The shortest commitment if you want to hear from us regularly without joining the newsletter.
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