The Mutual Fund Show: Are Bond Schemes Right For You?

A bond fund is for people eyeing a fixed instrument with a relatively short time horizon, say experts.

(Source: Freepik)

Given the various schemes on offer, including bond funds and thematic ones, investors may be confused about which one to invest in.

In terms of the recently launched high beta funds by Motilal Oswal—the Nifty Realty ETF and Nifty Smallcap 250 ETF—Ladha said, "It makes sense for an aggressive investor with a time horizon of over seven years."

These are open-ended schemes, tracking the respective indices. The Nifty Realty ETF fund reflects the performance of real estate companies, he said.

According to Dhawan, one should invest in real estate funds when the sector is trading close to peak of its valuations on a forward price-to-book ratio and while "the index is trading significantly above +1 standard deviation".

Now is ideally not a good time to invest in small caps due to their valuations and investors should "trim allocations in the space", he said while talking about the Nifty Small Cap 250 ETF.

He pointed out that "regulators themselves are concerned about the froth in valuations".

Query 1: I am investing Rs 10,000 per month in SBI Energy Opportunities Fund (Direct Growth). I want to know if it is the right fund or should I diversify my portfolio further?

Name: Rabilal Chhetri | Age: 35 years

Ladha: Investing the complete amount in a thematic-based fund can be a bit risky. If he is an aggressive investor, he can probably look at a small-cap fund or multi-cap fund, provided his time horizon is more than five years.

Vishal Dhawan: Investing in one single theme is probably too risky. Diversification might actually serve you better.

Query 2: I am investing in the Mirae Asset Large Cap, Mid Cap funds and along with a few others. They have been underperforming for the last 2 years. Should I book profits or switch to another fund?

Name: Deepak | Age: 32 years

Vishal Dhawan: If someone is a long-term investor, I don't think it is necessary to make changes every couple of years. You need to pare down the mid-cap exposure.

Anand Ladha: Give some time to your fund manager to perform.

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WRITTEN BY
Shreya Sur
Shreya covers trending stories, business news and political news at NDTV Pr... more
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