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No matter how skillful you are, you can't invent a product advantage that doesn't exist. And if you do, and it's just a gimmick, it's going to fall apart anyway - William Bernbach, advertising guru.
Recently, there have been several advertisements of products which guarantee highest value of NAV to investors. Such declarations appear as a relief to the layman who neither understands the intricacies of the stock market nor has the time to ‘Buy Low and Sell High’. The concept of protecting downside amidst market volatility is indeed quite interesting. However, the devil lies in the detail. Some of the important aspects of any investment product are the expected returns, investment horizon, expenses and of course, your risk profile. Let us see how most of these plans work – Timing the Returns As a result, portfolio insurance strategies of Option Based Portfolio Insurance and Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance have garnered significance. The Highest NAV Guarantee plan is based on the Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance (CPPI) model. According to this model, the fund would invest in fixed income type of securities in order to maintain a certain minimum unit value. When the fund value exceeds this floor value, the surplus is placed into stocks. With constant rebalancing of the portfolio, the aim of the fund manager is to not let the unit value fall below the base. Similarly, the proceeds in Highest NAV guarantee plans would be dynamically invested in equity, fixed income and money markets instruments. However, in Highest NAV Guarantee plan, there is no specific asset allocation that the fund manager has to adhere to unlike a mutual fund or a Unit-linked Insurance Policy (ULIP). Since Highest NAV Guarantee plans are a new product, there is no historical data to evaluate the performance of the said funds. As the policy guarantees you the highest NAV, a fund manager may follow a conservative approach and allocate your money into money market and fixed income instruments and ensure that you get the highest NAV without much trouble. At the beginning, the NAV is 10 and let’s say the fund has invested into equity. Suppose the stock market rises and NAV goes up to 12. As the fund has already made a gain of 20%, the fund manager has to maintain this NAV at least for next 6-8 years. Consequently, the fund would be rebalanced into fixed income securities to ensure that the fund maintains the NAV of 12. Thus, even though the fund manager may fluctuate from equity to fixed income or money market, the returns may not be comparable to an equity diversified fund or a ULIP. No Easy Exit
Example Please note we have not considered the taxation part in the tabular calculation.
We have considered monthly income plans of mutual funds as they have lesser allocation, about 15-25% to equity and Post Office - Monthly Income Account (POMIA) in the table. The POMIA gives an interest at the rate of 8% which is paid monthly as a regular income avenue and is not cumulative in nature. At maturity, the deposit attracts a bonus as well. For simplicity, we have considered increase in value of deposit over six years. Also, we have taken into account the average historical performance of fifteen monthly income plans over five-year period which comes to annualised 9.72%. Even though the fund NAV would rise by 50% (as in Case III), the returns at the end of the period would be lower than that in a POMIA and a MIP. Despite the Highest NAV assurance and a 20% increase in NAV (as in Case II), after deducting all charges, you are actually negative on your investment. In fact, your fund value net of all charges should exceed almost 25% in the first year itself to get your capital back from the fund. Only if the fund NAV were to double (as in Case I), would the performance better an POMIA or MIP, even if not than the equity/balanced mutual funds or equity natured ULIPs. Conclusion Clearly, these products guarantee Highest NAV but they may not necessarily provide the highest returns, rather they come with high charges. The product may assure you of the highest value of NAV but the fund manager is restricted in terms of investment decisions and may not be able to optimize the returns from the fund. Investors who are risk-averse and have a seven-eight year horizon are better off with postal schemes or bank deposits which have no charges and provide certain fixed returns. For investors who prefer equity flavor in their investments, Monthly Income Plans of mutual funds are a good option. MIPs have an allocation of 10-15% in equity with the remaining 80-85% in fixed income securities. Also, the no entry load regime brings down the cost of your mutual fund investments to much lower than these plans. Besides this, to ensure that the family is adequately protected against unexpected and unfortunate events, individuals can go for a whole life term policy which offers a better sum assured value at minimal charges. |
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Disclaimer: iFAST and/or its content and research team’s licensed representatives may own or have positions in the mutual funds of any of the Asset Management Company mentioned or referred to in the article, and may from time to time add or dispose of, or be materially interested in any such. This article is not to be construed as an offer or solicitation for the subscription, purchase or sale of any mutual fund. No investment decision should be taken without first viewing a mutual fund's scheme information document including statement of additional information. Any advice herein is made on a general basis and does not take into account the specific investment objectives of the specific person or group of persons. Investors should seek for professional investment, tax, and legal advice before making an investment or any other decision. Past performance and any forecast is not necessarily indicative of the future or likely performance of the mutual fund. The value of mutual funds and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Please read our disclaimer on the website. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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