Top Balanced Mutual Funds – Benefits & analysis of past Returns

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• Hi Sreekanth,

  I make it a point to come back to your blog whenever I can. Today I read about Balanced funds and MIP funds.

  I have a saving of 10 lakhs which I need to invest for 3-5 years as I do not need the money now.

  Please suggest which ones can I go for. Funds that can give atleast 20% annualised returns is something I would ideally want to go for. Please let me know your opinion.

  Kindest regards.

  • Dear Ksam,
    20% can be an unrealistic expectation that too for a time-horizon of less than 5 years.
    You can consider investing in combination of Short term debt fund + balanced fund (higher allocation for say next 3 years or so) + MIP fund.

    • Congratulations on completing 2 years with this amazing blog.

      I Already have kept some money in Short term debt funds.

      What exactly do you advise should be the % distribution of the 10 lakhs.
      Eg.
      3 lakhs lumpsump In HDFC balanced fund
      3 lakhs lumpsump in Tata balanced fund

      4 lakhs in birla Sunlife mip plan.

      Please advise if this looks fine. Please suggest the best way of investing this hard earned money :)

      Kindest regards.

      • Dear Ksam,
        Thank you!
        You may allocate a bit more to MIP fund if you need this money say in 3 years. Funds are good ones.

• Dear shrikanth,
  Accidentally hit your blog page and got addicted. Thanks for spreading financial awareness among masses.
  My family is blessed with daughters. My two brothers and a sister all blessed with 2 daughters. I want to invest 50k on each daughter to gift them in their marriages. The eldest one is 13 year and remaining 10, 7, 6, 6,5 .I would like to Invest as one time until their marriage. Kindly advice funds name, tax implications if any, I will redeem myself on the respective occasion.
  After reading your blog I buy term plan ICICI and may take family floater from star health next week. I will follow your financial planning advice(articles) with basics first, then, I will seek advice for investment after few months.
  Thanks

  • Dear Satish,
    Thank you for kind words.
    Suggest you to go through below articles and revert to me;
    1 - Use calculator available in this article to arrive at approx savings amount : Kid's Education or marriage expenses goal.
    2 - Gifts & Tax implications.

    • Thanks Sreekanth,
      I went through both the articles. This is gift investment, a reasonable and safe instrument will do. I read your best Debt mutual funds in India article. Therefore my understanding as follows,
      For 13 year old daughter I will opt for short term debt and remaining all, shall I make a balanced fund like HDFC/TATA.
      Should I do it lump sum or SIP as I have surplus cash. Is it advisable to do in one investment rather than dividing in each daughters name? If so, can I withdraw partial amount whenever occasion arises.

      Appreciate your guidance and advice.
      Thanks

      • Dear Satish,
        The target goal year even for the eldest kid can be around 7 years (minimum) right?
        If so, you may consider investing in a balanced fund for say next 2 to 4 years and afterwards you may switch /invest in safe investment avenues (FDs+RDs+Debt funds etc).
        You can make lump sum investments in balanced funds. But kindly understand the risks associated with equity oriented funds before investing your funds.

        • Sreekanth,
          Indebted to you for the advice.
          Cheers....

• Dear Srikanth,Your article on Top Balanced Mutual Funds is about one and a half year old.Kindly update with latest return on these mutual funds.

  • Dear Dr Bansal..The returns might have changed but as of now my picks are same as far as Top balanced funds list goes.
    However, let me re-check the list again and will surely consider your suggestion. Thank you!

• Hii kumar
  i am new investor in SIP ,Having a son 10yrs old,me 40yrs
  want to invest in 5000 Pm for 5years .please suggest me which fund i suppose to opt & get good return after 5years.

  Awaiting for your kind suggestions.

  thanks & regzrds
  Ganesh

  • Dear Ganesh..Consider Balanced fund HDFC Balance fund/ TATA balanced fund + one large cap fund like Birla Frontline Equity fund.
    Read:
    Kid's Education Goal Calculator.
    Retirement Planning goal calculator.

• Hi,
  I am Kumar age 46 wish to invest a lumpsum of Rs.25 lakh in Tata balanced fund for a term of 10 years. Is it a wise decision or I should opt STP route and a start a SIP in balanced funds ? Please suggest ?

  Kumar

  • Dear Kumar..Why do you want to invest in only one fund, any specific reason?
    STP can be a better way.

    • Hi,
      No specific reason. I am confused ,how to invest lumpsum (with low risk) in longterm to get a good return during my retirement age.Please suggest some good funds/a good investment plan for longterm.

      • Dear Kumar,
        Kindly go through these articles;
        Best Investment options in India.
        Retirement planning calculator..
        Financial planning pyramid.

• Dear Srikant,
  I am Investing HDFCLife Pro Growth Plus Balanced fund 5000Rs per month since July'2014.
  Shall i continue in this plan or should quit?
  Please help because now my asset only 91K where i invest around 1Lkah.

  • Dear Ravikant,
    It is a ULIP (unit linked policy) where in they collect your premium and invest in the fund (balanced fund) chosen by you. They also deduct certain charges from the premium and then the remaining balance is invested in the funds. One needs to stay invested in ULIP through out the policy term to get any decent returns.
    If you discontinue it now, you can get the fund value after 5 policy years and nominal interest rate would be provided.
    Do you have any other life insurance polices?

    • I have two LIC Policies.
      My question you to pls suggest whether i should continue to pay premium in HDFC Life Pro growth Plus Balanced fund or stop now...
      Also my doubt about Suknya Samridhi yogna(for my 1.6 Yr daughter) or PPF investment?

      • Dear Ravikant,
        I have given you the required details, its your call to discontinue it or not. Personally, I do not invest in ULIPs.
        I prefer mutual funds to ULIPs.
        Read:
        Sukanya Samriddhi A/c review.

        • Dear sir,can u please tell the top PPF funds.are they good with regard to interest rate and short term

        • Dear Surekha ..May I know what do you mean by PPF FUNDs?
          Are you referring to Debt mutual funds?

        • Public provident fund sir

        • Dear Surekha ..There are no top PPF funds as such. You may visit nearest Post office branch to open PPF account. It is one of the best debt investment option.

• Hey Sreekant,
  I follow your blogs before making any investment plan.I found it really helpful in making decisions.
  I recently bought axis LTE for my tax saving just by reading your blog on ELSS funds.

  I am 25 year old and I wish to make an investment portfolio.Now I can manage to invest rs.5000/month or 60,000/-year lumpsum which I will be increasing every year at 10 % .

  My goal is to get returns every fifth year interval.I choosed this return plan so that I can use money as and when required.(let us assume my personal goals - at the age of 30--house , 40- year child education, 60-retirement and so on)

  I want to get returns at the above intervals and I want to be rich when I am retiring.

  My goals are short term(3 to 5 years from now) -in which I can take high risk), midterm(10 to 15 years- moderate risk) and long term(more than 20 years-low risk) as well.

  Please help me to make my portfolio depending on my goals.

  Will be extremely helpful for your kinf advice on the same.

  • Dear Amin,
    For short-term goals, you have to invest in less risky investment options and you can take high risk for long-term goals.
    Do you have any family member(s) who are financially dependent on you? Do you have health insurance cover & Personal accident insurance cover?
    1 - Save money for 'Emergency or for short term purposes'.
    Read : List of best investment options to build Emergency fund.
    2 - For long-term goal like 'retirement', invest in EPF/PPF & as much as possible and as frequently as possible in Equity oriented products.
    Read :
    Retirement goal calculator.
    My MF portfolio.
    Financial planning Pyramid..

    • Dear Srikant,
      Thanks for reply!!
      Yes..I my parents are dependent on me.
      We have health insurance policy....(New India for my parents)(for myself employer is providing Medical insurance)
      I too personally have accident insurance cover...bought from HDFC.

      I am planning to invest in
      1.ICICI prudential vlue discovery-
      2.DSP black rock
      3.TATA balanced fund
      4.Birla sunlife MIP

      Are ther above mentioned MF are good ??
      Do MF carry exit loads and whether tax is applicable on the mature amount.

      • Dear Amin,
        1 - Kindly buy a Term insurance plan. Read : Top term insurance plans.
        2 - You may look at enhancing your health insurance sum assured through a Super Top up health insurance plan.
        3 - Selected funds are fine. Name of DSP fund?
        Generally exit loads are applicable if redeemed within 12 months.
        Read: MF taxation rules..

        • Dear Shrikant,
          Thanks for your kind advice!!

          ICICI prudential considered for Term insurance.

          DSP-BR Micro Cap Fund - RP (G).
          Also, Is there any over lap between any of the MF selected?

          Whether MF house charge any percentage on the mature amount??

          I went through "Bsst investmest options", there I came across Liquid debt mutula fund schemes : Can you suggest me any good Scheme in this cateegory??

          What is the best alternative of savings bank account for keeping money ?

          Regards,
          Amin

        • Dear Amin,
          Kindly read :
          MF overlap analysis tools.
          Generally if the units are redeemed after 12 months, the exit load can be NIL on most of the equity funds.

          Read:
          MF taxation rules.
          Best Debt mutual funds.

• Hi sree, I'm bharat age 24. I just started my career and I would like to invest rs.5000 every month for next 20yrs through sip. Your guidance would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

  • Dear Bharat,
    You may consider investing aggressively in an Equity diversified fund, Mid-cap/Small cap fund.
    Ex: ICICI Value Discovery fund & Franklin Smaller companies fund.
    Kindly read:
    Best Equity mutual funds.

    • Dear Bharat,

      If u have just started investing, the first thing u should do is to ensure that your tax-saving options are exhausted before looking at other investment options. So in your case, you can look at ELSS (tax saving MF schemes) to begin with. At your age and phase of life, this is by far the best option. You have a limit of Rs. 1.5 lakh/year which will give u tax benefit also.
      So technically u should first invest Rs. 12,500/pm in ELSS schemes and then look for other long-term investments.

      • Dear dinesh, thanks for the advice.

      • Thank you dear Dinesh for sharing your inputs.

• Hi

  I am trying to analyse balanced fund, what is your take on Franklin India Balanced Fund-G ? I thought it was more consistent?

  Thanks
  JJ

  • Ignore the previous question, because -

    I was planning to invest in a diversified fund and a balanced fund (Investment horizon around 4-5 years, lump sum investment of 1 L in each). For tax benefits I have already invested in Axis LTE fund (1 L in 2015) & SBI magnum tax gain (50K in 2014).

    For a diversified fund, I am thinking of Franklin India Prima Plus fund. Let me know your thoughts here.

    So for my balanced fund, I should not think of Franklin Balanced since the overlap of that fund with Franklin India Prima Plus is like 60+%. Please suggest me a balanced fund.

    Also is SIP better compared to lumpsum ? Or may be a lumpsum then continue with SIP of 1000 for the balanced fund?

    Btw, I am using your suggestions and fundpicker site to analyse and decide. Your articles are very useful. Thank you :)

    Thanks in advance.

    • Dear JJ,
      Franklin Prima Plus is a good fund with consistent track record.
      Balanced fund my picks would be : TATA/HDFC Balanced fund.
      For longer period, sip Vs lump sum does not really matter. If you have surplus money (lump sum), just invest and stay invested :)

      • Thank you Sree.

        • As a thumb rule, when investing in equity MF, it is always advisable to invest thru the SIP route irrespective of the period (I am assuming that if u have decided on equity MF, the investment period is bound to be long-term).
          if u have a lump-sum, then after deciding on the equity fund to invest, u can invest the lumpsum in a liquid fund of the same fund house and then start an STP from that liquid fund into your chosen equity funds. This way, u will get the best of both worlds - liquid fund will give u returns higher than your savings account and u will also balance the market volatility thru the SIP route.

        • Thank you dear Dinesh for sharing your inputs.
          Dear JJ - Do have an eye on Tax implications. Money withdrawn via a Systematic Transfer Plan (STP) is considered a redemption in a fund.

• Hi Sree,

  I am new to the world of Mutual fund investments. 10 years from now, I wish to start a portfolio in MFs.
  I am 28 years old. To begin with, I plan to invest 2,00,000 INR as of now, for a period of 3-5 years.
  From what I read in your articles, I understand that Balanced Mutual Funds are a safe bet as I am new.
  - Could you advise me which is the best plan for me. Should I carry on with just Balanced MFs or any other options?
  - In Balanced also, Equity oriented is better or Debt oriented is better?? can you name me few in both categories ... please!
  - Should I invest the whole amount (2 Lkahs) into one MF? Or should I break it down into two - three categories. If so, kindly advise which are the best options for me?
  - How much period should I decide upon? I was thinking three years!
  - Should I pay it all in one go or should I pay in monthly schemes? (sorry for the of silly question)
  - Once I decide on the scheme of MF, what is the step 2, step 3 extra?

  I know you are a busy person. Your guidance will be much appreciated!

  Thanks in advance!

  ~
  VV
  -

  • Dear VV,
    10 years from now you would like to invest in MFs or is it your investment horizon is 10 years starting from now?
    1 - Since you are new to MFs & you have a time-frame of around 5 years, balanced fund can be a better option.
    2 - Equity oriented funds example : HDFC balanced fund or TATA balanced fund.
    Debt hybrid oriented funds : Kindly read below articles;
    Best MF MIPs.
    Best Debt oriented balanced funds.
    Best Debt mutual funds.