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Sanjeev Govila |458 Answers |Ask -Follow

Financial Planner - Answered on Jun 16, 2023

Colonel Sanjeev Govila (retd) is the founder of Hum Fauji Initiatives, a financial planning company dedicated to the armed forces personnel and their families.
He has over 12 years of experience in financial planning and is a SEBI certified registered investment advisor; he is also accredited with AMFI and IRDA.... more

Asked by Anonymous - Jun 09, 2023Hindi

Hello, I have a portfolio of Mutual fund with majority 65% towards small cap ( SBI Small Cap, Axis Small Cap and HSBC Small cap earlier L&T emerging business fund) and 20% in Mid cap (Axis Midcap, Kotak Emerging Business & HSBC mid cap fund) and 15% in Large Cap funds. This is purely long term plan( my retirement) and I don't need any fund as of now as I have FD's for my emergency need. I am also invested directly in stocks mainly large caps. This investment for me in all is more than 1.5 Cr. I want to invest another 50 lakhs purely for my child future educational needs which I would be requiring after 15 years. I would like to understand should I go ahead with mutual funds or I can try PMS services.

Ans: First of all, you have a good portfolio but it is very risky and a little over-diversified. You have invested in 3 funds for each category which is more than I would recommend to anybody.

Regarding your query on investment options to accumulate the amount for Children’s education need, both - mutual funds and PMS services - can be good option for investing your money. However, there are some key differences between the two that you should consider before making a decision.
• Cost: Mutual funds are typically less expensive than PMS services since mutual funds have a lower expense ratio, which is the fee that is charged to investors to cover the costs of managing the fund. However, PMS have a heterogeneous charge structure that can vary on the basis of performance, or fixed charge structure irrespective of performance, that may or may not justify/align to your requirement/objective.
• Incidence of Tax – In Mutual Funds, all the transactions that the fund manager does - whether he buys or sells any stock, are not liable to be taxed to you. It doesn't affect your tax liability. You are liable to capital gains tax only when you actually redeem your money invested in the fund. But in the case of PMS, all transactions done by the fund manager will be treated as your own transactions and will be liable to capital gains tax.
• Flexibility and liquidity: Mutual funds offer more flexibility than PMS services. This is because mutual funds can be bought and sold easily and generally carry no lock in. PMS services might have lock-in periods and exit loads if exited before 1 - 2 years depending on the fund.
You could invest your money in a low-cost, diversified mutual fund that is designed for long-term growth. This would provide you with the potential for growth over time, while still minimizing your risk. Risk management is equally important when it comes to critical life goals.

There are various mutual funds available for educational reasons, such as the Children's Gift Fund (Mutual Fund) and even a well-diversified regular MF portfolio. You can use those to meet your long-term educational objectives.

Disclaimer:
• I have just no idea about your age, future financial goals, your risk profile, other investments and whether you would have the nerves to not get unduly perturbed if stock markets go temporarily down.
• Hence, please note that I am answering your question in absolute isolation to other parameters which should definitely be considered when answering a question of this type.
• I recommend you to also consult a good financial advisor who would look at your complete profile in totality before you act on this advice given by me.

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