Calculating Your Mutual Fund Returns is as Simple as 1, 2 & 3!

Understanding how mutual funds work is very important if you are planning to invest in them. Unlike the stock market which fluctuates through the day, a pricing for a fund is decided only one a day and that is typically done at the end of business hours. Calculating your return on investment is very important and is quite simple to do too. The ROI should be calculated for a specific time period and would be the total increase in capital divided by the total investment made. This percentage would give you the best idea of how well your investment is doing. 

There are different methods of calculating the profit that you have made on your investment also. Different formats are taken by different investors but the simplest two ways are to break it down by an absolute return method or by a total return in fund. 

In the absolute return method, you most important dates are the date of investing and the date of exiting the fund. You can calculate the absolute return by dividing the total chance in the NAV during period of investment and the NAV that was present at the start of your investment. With this you are easily able to figure out the return and you can use this on any kind of mutual fund. So, this is how the absolute return is calculated using - (NAV(end) - NAV(start))/NAV(start).

The other way to use a mutual fund calculator is by calculating the total return that is obtained from the fund. In this method, you include the dividends that you have received too. So add the dividends in the holding period and then remove the total change in the NAV. Finally divide this with the initial NAV when you purchased the fund. This can be calculated with - {Dividends +[NAV(end) - NAV(start)]}/NAV(start).

With these calculators, you would be able to plan your investment and know how close to your target you’ve reached.

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Why You Should Invest in ULIP: Unit Linked Insurance Plan

Investment plans should always have a firm plan and that is precisely what you get when you invest in Unit Linked Insurance Plans – it is a combination of insurance and investment. While many have reasons to think of the reasons to invest here, the honest idea is quite simple. Because it has elements of insurance as an aspect of it, you are in it for the long term. Just like you would with an insurance policy for your child or an investment for your child's wedding perhaps. It is long term and has plenty of benefits. What are they? Let's find out.

1.       You are protected: With a volatile market and not much to guarantee on economic conditions, there is a severe need to be sure of the goal you have in mind. Irrespective of the policyholder, your investment is safe. The final target which you had with the investment is cleared out in the event of death or at the period of maturity. You are safe from fluctuations and that keeps you protected.

2.       Tax exemptions: We are all struggling to reach our exemption limits with respect to tax. If your total investment is to a level of Rs 1 Lakh, this would be deductible and also the amount you get on maturity is tax free. Do note that this is applicable if the total premium paid is not over 20% of the insured amount.

3.       Flexibility: Not all investments give you this opportunity and with ULIP, you have just that. You can switch without any thought and that means a seamless and tax friendly method. You can do this at any time and change your portfolio in many ways.

4.       Long term thinking: Anyone who is planning to invest here should be thinking of exiting only after 12-14 years. That is a long time and the dividends come out only in such periods. When you enter this investment, you are protecting your long term goals and that gives you so much more than any short term investment.

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How to Calculate Mutual Fund Performance and Returns?

As we progress through our career and financial goals, there would come a time when you are required to take informed decisions on financial planning. Each time, you would have to take a call on the evaluation of the investment and how well you are planning it out. Yes, there has to be a diversified approach to your investment, but having a constant watch over the growth is a must.

Mutual funds are a common choice by many to plan out their investment for a long period. Equity based funds almost always beats other investment forms in the market today. To evaluate the performance of your fund, it is important to keep a benchmark. This benchmark will and must always give you an idea of exiting or progressing ahead.   

So, how would you go about this? Here are a few simple methods –

1.       Absolute return: The two most important dates with respect to an investment are – the beginning date and the end of the holding. This is calculated by the dividing the absolute change in the NAV from the investing period and the NAV during the start of the investment. The simplest advantage is that we can use this calculation on any kind of fund to track out the return. (NAV(end) - NAV(start))/NAV(start) would give you the percentage increase.

2.        Total return in fund: Another method to calculate the total return that has come from the fund is to include the dividends that are in place too. This can be calculated by adding the dividends which are spread across the holding period and with the total change to the NAV, divided by the NAV at the initial day. {Dividends +[NAV(end) - NAV(start)]}/NAV(start)

With these calculations, the mutual fund performance can be tracked and you would be able to know when the fund is performing well as per your ‘benchmark’.

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Know the NAV of your Mutual Funds Before you Invest

All of us know that investing in a mutual fund today is a must. There are great investment benefits and you would get certain tax benefits too. One of the key points you must follow when you are investing in them the ‘net asset value’. This number represents the per share market value of the fund you have chosen. In simpler words, it is the price with which investors are bidding to fund shares from the company and also to sell them too.

So, how do you derive this value for a mutual fund? It is quite simple – you have to add the complete total of cash and securities in the fund portfolio (the assets) and remove the liabilities that are present. For example, let’s say a fund has the assets of 3 million and the liabilities of 2 million; then the NAV of the fund would be 1 million.

The computation of mutual fund NAV is calculated at the end of every day and is of great importance to investors. You can also figure out the real time NAV performance based on the traded fund series. In other words, you can easily find out the price per unit of the fund, by dividing the NAV by the number of outstanding units. This would be different from that of a common stock that is in the stock market. While this is based on supply and demand forces, that of the stock market is purely on market sentiment.

Using the NAV of a fund, you can easily understand the present condition of the fund. You can also chart out a series to figure out how the demand for the fund would be. You would not be able gauge the performance of the fund though as it would be independent of the NAV.

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Keeping a Transaction Simple is Easy Now – Using IDFC!

Giving your customer the chance to transact seamlessly should be one of the top most priorities of every company. The customer should have total control on how he is buying and should always have every access to transact through it seamlessly. This is absolutely critical when you are buying mutual funds too – you need to have complete clarity and be able to know how you can transact with it at all times.

One of the simplest advantages with IDFC mutual funds is just that. Here are the many ways you can transact once you have made an investment.

1. Online transactions: With the internet boom, one of the biggest advantages that have come by has been the way we behave online. We want all our information on the internet and that is exactly what you get with IDFC mutual fund investment once you verify PAN number, mobile, bank account number and email address.

2. Mobile: We are all addicted to our mobile phones and it gives us perfect reason to be able to transact through a mobile friendly website. Track and view your statements within a matter of a few taps on your phone. You can also get all information you need via SMS too, it is that simple. These transactions are done with a pre-registration to ensure security at all times.

3. Phone: The good old phone is a great way to have your transactions verified too. Individual investors can track their investments too this way.

The key to having complete control on your investment is by ensuring you are aware of all the transactional insights and that is possible when you use a reliable mutual fund like IDFC. Investing your money into mutual funds is the best investment to make in every stage of your career.

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