ELSS Mutual Funds 2021

SIP refers to periodic investment in an MF. In this option, you commit to invest a pre-decided amount, at regular intervals, and you get allotted Units based on an MF’s NAV. E.g. Suppose you do an SIP of Rs. 1,000. If, for the 1st month its NAV is Rs. 15, you get 66.67 units. For the 2nd, the NAV is Rs. 25, so you get 40 units. For the 3rd, the NAV is Rs. 20, you get 50 units. At the end of 3 months, you have invested Rs. 3,000 and received 156.67 units at an average NAV of Rs. 19.2.

A Direct Plan means you investing directly thru' an AMC/MF website. As there is no Distributor involved, returns generated by this plan will be higher by the percentage fees paid to a Distributor. We, at MoneyWorks4me, encourage investors to invest in Direct Plans.

Regular Plan is when you invest in an MF scheme through a Distributor or Broker. This means you will end up paying some fees to the Distributor. The fees are directly paid by the AMC to a Distributor. For you as an investor, it is reflected in the lower NAV values, and higher Expense Ratio than a Direct Plan.

It is the Fund House or the company responsible for managing investors’ money, and in turn, all the MF schemes.

The money collected by an MF Scheme is invested across asset classes like stocks, debt Funds, gold and cash. The market value of these investments at any given time minus the MF’s liabilities is known as the Fund’s AUM. (E.g. If a Fund’s value of investments is Rs. 100 Cr and liabilities Rs 5 Cr., then AUM is Rs. 95 Cr.) Though, a large AUM denotes a Fund’s popularity and success, it also means restrictions on investing (Fund will have to invest mainly in large companies) and difficulty in replicating past high return performance.

It is the price per unit of the MF scheme. On any given day, NAV is the price at which any investor invests in an MF scheme. NAV = [the market value of all the securities held by the scheme minus its liabilities] ÷ the number of units. Since, market value of securities changes every day, NAV of a scheme also changes every day. Similar to a stock price, a high or low NAV does not affect our investment decision.

A Benchmark is a popular index like the SENSEX, NIFTY or BSE 100, against which a Fund’s performance is gauged. A Fund is supposed to choose a Benchmark based upon the market-section it invests in. E.g. a Mid-Cap Fund may use NSE Midcap Index as its Benchmark. It makes sense to invest in an MF, only if it has consistently beaten its Benchmark performance over a 3-5 year period.

The Expense Ratio is the fee charged by a Mutual Fund for managing its investors’ money. It is shown as a percentage of the Assets Under Management (AUM). E.g. if you invest Rs. 10,000 in a Fund with an Expense Ratio of 1.5%, then you are paying the Fund Rs. 150 to manage your money. As a general rule, you are told to avoid Funds with high Expense Ratio. However, it can also turn to be a good investment, if it consistently generates excess returns (Alpha) over its Expense Ratio.

Load is the fees charged for buying (i.e. Entry load) and selling (i.e. Exit load) MF units. SEBI has scrapped the Entry load wef August 1, 2009. Some Funds may charge Investors an Exit load only on early exit (e.g. within a year of investment) to encourage long-term investment behaviour.

Rolling Returns consider performance on every day or week (or any specified frequency) of a defined period, and hence, tell you how you would have fared regardless of when you chose to invest. E.g. A monthly five-year Rolling Return is return from 1-Jan-2013 to 1-Jan-2018, 1-Feb-2013 to 1Feb-2018, subsequently for all months. For 3-yr or 2-yr rolling, the year changes respectively. We advise our users to look at Rolling Alpha, because it allows you to evaluate the consistency of a Fund’s performance over time - including the ups and downs of market cycles.

Choosing growth option means you will not receive extra units for Dividend declared by the Fund. Instead, the amount will stay invested in the Fund, thereby compounding your returns. Choose this option, if you prefer capital appreciation over regular income from your investment.

An Open-ended Fund or Scheme is one that is available for subscription and re-purchase on a continuous basis. These schemes do not have a fixed maturity period. Investors can conveniently buy and sell units at Net Asset Value (NAV) related prices which are declared on a daily basis. The key feature of open-end schemes is liquidity. The opposite is closed ended where the fund cannot be sold very easily.