Author: Naveen

  • Five years with DSP Tax Saver Fund

    My investment in DSP Tax Saver started as a tool for saving taxes. After government announced new income tax regime, I knew that the tax benefits of Section 80C would soon go away. I was about to pause my investments in DSP Tax Saver but looking at its performance I did not. And, at least as of now, I am glad that I did not.

    Is this a regular or a direct plan? I started off with a regular plan but after three SIP instalments, I learned about direct plan and switched to it. Only 1% on my investment in DSP Tax Saver is in regular plan and while rest 99% is in direct plan. So it is safe to say this is a direct plan.

    Did I beat the Nifty 50 Index? Yes, but by a small margin. While Nifty 50 Index would have given 16% XIR, DSP Tax Saver has given me 18%.

    How does my return compare to other ELSS mutual funds? I decided to compare my returns to the top ELSS fund as per CRISIL’s Mutual Fund Ranking dated 31-Mar-2023 i.e. Quant Tax Plan. Compared to Quant Tax Plan my investment in DSP Tax Saver has underperformed, and that too by a huge margin. Quant Tax Plan’s XIRR comes at 30% compared to DSP Tax Saver’s 18%.

    So, will I move to Quant Tax Plan? No.

    Am I going to continue investing in DSP Tax Saver? Yes, at least for another year.

    Investment through the years

    Returns

    Profit

    XIRR


    Related reading:

  • Four years as shareholder of Dabur

    My journey with Dabur completes four years and continues in its fifth year.

    Did I beat the Nifty 50 Index? No, my investment in underperforming since last 3 years.

    So will I discontinue investing in Dabur? I… don’t know. Just see what happened to my investment in ITC. After my investment in ITC underperformed for five years, it is now beating Nifty 50 Index. Maybe this is the time to invest in Dabur.

    So I will continue investing in Dabur? I… don’t know. Just see what happened to my investment in Samvardhana Motherson. After six years it is still underperforming. Maybe I should not put in any more money in it.

    How is my dividend yield at cost? Steadily increasing every fiscal year. But at 0.71% it is insignificant to make any dent.

    Investment through the years

    Returns

    The dividend yield at cost mentioned in the chart above, is yield at the date at which I received the dividends. Another way to look at dividend yield is to calculate it for the fiscal year.

    Fiscal yearDividend yield at cost
    2019-200.21%
    2020-210.49%
    2021-220.67%
    2022-230.71%
    2023-240.00%

    To calculate the dividend yield at cost in the above table I use the below formula.

    (Total amount of dividends received in a fiscal year ÷ Total amount invested at the end of fiscal year) × 100

    Profit

    XIRR

  • Monk or Hedonist

    I always had trouble with planning my finances for the future which always changed or simply wasn’t clear to me. This article presents that conundrum in a beautiful way.

    Most of us are monks about some things and hedonists about others. Unless we’re tangled up in thinking we need to impress others with our possessions.

    The Monk or Hedonist question is hard because what impressed you then might not impress you now. And what you appreciate now, you did not back then. This holds for the future too. So, how do you conclude what you will want in a decade or more?

    Plan less, Live More
  • Four years with Aditya Birla Sun Life MNC Fund

    My journey with Aditya Birla Sun Life MNC Fund completes four years and continues in its fifth year. Nothing much has happened here except that I have now paused my SIP in the fund considering its underperformance.

    Is this a regular or a direct plan? It’s both. I started with a regular plan with help of MFD and then from Sep-2020 I started investing in the direct plan as well. The charts below are for both of them combined. My investment is equally split between the regular and direct plan.

    Did I beat the Nifty 50 Index? No. Since last two and half years, my investment has underperformed the Nifty 50 Index.

    Did I at least beat other similar thematic funds? No. As this was a thematic fund I decided to compare with other funds in the same category. For this I chose SBI Global Magnum Fund. I wanted to understand if the underperformance was across all the funds in the category. But my investment has underperformed even SBI Magnum Global Fund. In fact, SBI Magnum Global Fund managed to beat the Nifty 50 Index.

    Am I going to continue investing in it? No, my SIP is paused.

    Considering my SIP is paused am I planning to redeem my investment? Yes, but not right away. I am hoping that someday—someday—it beats Nifty 50 Index or at least comes up with XIRR of 12% for me to sell.

    Investment through the years

    Returns

    Profit

    XIRR


    Related reading:

  • What if an 11 month old baby complains to HR?

    Hilarious!

    In the first few months of my new role, I had a lot of information to get up to speed on, including figuring how to roll over and acquiring a firm grasp on object permanence. Now, I have almost a year of experience completing my primary responsibilities — like sleeping, pooping, and communicating with individuals who are not fluent in my native tongue, and as I’m sure you’ve heard, all my performance reviews are glowingly positive.

    I am constantly revered and told that I am “such a big girl” and “so big” and “a sweet, big girl” and yet every time I attempt to partake in certain activities alongside my older, male colleague I hear “that is not for you, Reesey,” or “that’s not for babies.” There you have my dilemma.

    MY 11-MONTH-OLD BABY’S HR DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT
  • Four years with Axis Bluechip Fund

    My journey with Axis Bluechip Fund completed four years and continues onto the fifth. One key thing that happened during the last year was the Axis MF front running case and subsequent barring of 21 entities from the capital markets. And with that I also learnt about what is front running.

    Is this a regular or a direct plan? It’s both. I started with a regular plan with help of MFD and then from Sep-2022 I started investing in the direct plan as well. The charts below are for both of them combined. Regular plan holds 86% of my investment while the direct plan holds the remaining 14%.

    Did I beat the Nifty 50 Index? No. Since last one and half years, my investment has underperformed the Nifty 50 Index and the performance gap seems to be getting larger.

    Am I going to continue investing in it? Yes, at least for next one year via the SIP route.

    Did I make any lumpsum purchases in-between? No

    Am I worried about the front running case? Yes. But with SEBI and Axis MF acting on it I have decided to continue.

    Investment through the years

    Returns

    Profit

    XIRR


    Related reading:

  • Four years of SIP with Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund

    For me, any investment that beats Nifty 50 Index is good. And Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund has beaten Nifty 50 Index nearly 100% of times during the last four years. And that too with a regular plan.

    However since Oct-2021, the profits have remained more or less flat even though my SIPs have continued. And this has impacted my XIRR which is now down from its high of 45+% to 15%. It now very close to getting beaten by the Nifty 50 Index.

    Investment through the years

    Returns

    Profit

    XIRR


    Related reading:

  • Four years as shareholder of Polycab

    I have been incredibly lucky with my investment in Polycab till now. Till now. The keyword here is ’till now’. I don’t know what the future holds but if past is any indication—Divi’s Laboratories and L&T Infotech—I will probably make a big investment at peak, and the stock starts its downward trajectory erasing all my fantabulous gains.

    Polycab has been a star performer since last 4 years. Not only my returns have beaten Nifty 50 Index, my profits alone also have beaten Nifty 50 Index. The dividend yield at cost also has been above average, in my opinion. But while the returns are great but invested amount is small so it does not make enough impact in my portfolio.

    Having a stock like Polycab is both boon and a bane. Boon because profits. Duh! Bane because I never have the courage to sell and book profits. What if it goes up even more? Every time I repeat to myself—I am a long term investor.

    Let’s see what happens after five years. 🤞

    Investment through the years

    Returns

    The dividend yield at cost mentioned in the chart above, is yield at the date at which I received the dividends. Another way to look at dividend yield is to calculate it for the fiscal year.

    Fiscal yearDividend yield at cost
    2019-201.86%
    2020-210.00%
    2021-221.45%
    2022-231.27%
    2023-24 *0.00%
    * Data as of 1-May-2023

    To calculate the dividend yield at cost in the above table I use the below formula.

    (Total amount of dividends received in a fiscal year ÷ Total amount invested at the end of fiscal year) × 100

    Profit Percent

    XIRR


    Related reading:

  • Six years as shareholder of Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd [and Motherson Sumi Wiring India Ltd]

    Six years ago when I started investing in Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd, it was called Motherson Sumi Systems Limited. Over last six years the company split its wiring business into another entity called Motherson Sumi Wiring India Limited and renamed itself to Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd.

    When Motherson Sumi Wiring Ltd got demerged, the historical share price of Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd got adjusted to remove Motherson Sumi Wiring Ltd’s valuation (not sure if I am using the right terminology here, I am no financial expert). With this adjustment I cannot reliably calculate how my investment has performed historically. If I try to plot my returns, then for the first five years I am in deep red because I bought at a price which included Motherson Sumi Wiring India Limited; but the historical price does not include it (not sure if I made any sense here, again… I am no financial expert).

    So rather than the journey I will focus on the data as of today. But before that, lets have a look at the key events during the last six years.

    DateEvent
    Jul 2017
    from Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd
    Bonus 1:2
    Oct 2018
    from Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd
    Bonus 1:2
    Feb 2022Motherson Sumi Wiring Ltd demerges with 1:1 ratio i.e. one equity share of Motherson Sumi Wiring Ltd for every one equity share of Motherson Sumi Systems Limited
    Sep 2022
    from Motherson Sumi Wiring Ltd
    Bonus 2:5
    Sep 2022Motherson Sumi Systems Limited renames itself to Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd
    Oct 2022
    from Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd
    Bonus 1:2

    Now back to returns as of today. For my calculation I am using my holdings of both Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd and Motherson Sumi Wiring Ltd.

    Investment through the years

    Returns

    After six years, I am at a loss with my investment. Considering the bonus shares issued I thought my dividend yield at cost would be impressive. Alas, I was wrong. Or my understanding of bonus shares was wrong. I will have to Google ‘splits vs bonus’.

    Fiscal yearDividend yield at cost
    2016-170.00%
    2017-180.35%
    2018-190.52%
    2019-201.65%
    2020-210.00%
    2021-220.83%
    2022-230.83%
    2023-24 *0.00%
    * Data as of 25-Apr-2023

    Profit Percent

    My investment’s profit (or should I say loss): -2.5%

    Had I invested in Nifty 50 Index fund I would have a profit of 64.5%. 🤦

    XIRR

    My investment’s XIRR: -0.62%

    Had I invested in Nifty 50 Index fund my XIRR would be 12.32%. 🤦


    Related reading:

  • Five years as shareholder of Kansai Nerolac

    I had initially invested in Nerolac to diversify my investment in paints—I had earlier invested in Asian Paints. But Nerolac’s continued underperformance has made me put it in my ‘ignore’ watchlist. I have small money invested it but it is in perennial loss so let me ignore it, not look at it and it might simply go away.

    • I have invested 7 times across these five years.
    • The company pays dividends regularly and my dividend yield at cost for a year has always been hovering around 0.5%. Except for last fiscal year, 2022-23, where it was just 0.17%.
    • My investment in Nerolac has never been able to beat the Nifty 50 Index. Except for that one week in Jan-2021. Since last two years, the underperformance has simply widened.

    Investment through the years

    Returns

    The dividend yield at cost mentioned in the graph above, is yield at the date at which I received the dividends. Another way to look at dividend yield is to calculate it for the fiscal year.

    Fiscal yearDividend yield at cost
    2018-190.52%
    2019-200.52%
    2020-210.49%
    2021-220.53%
    2022-230.17%

    To calculate the dividend yield at cost in the above table I use the below formula.

    (Total amount of dividends received in a fiscal year ÷ Total amount invested at the end of fiscal year) × 100

    Profit Percent

    XIRR


    Related reading: