SIP – Current Review
SIP is a famous
word. Many investors start SIP with high expectation. In the last two years,
many more fund houses and intermediaries, encouraged investors to have SIP
based investments. Have their expectations been met? If we evaluate SIP’s
performance in this fallen market, then the obvious answer would be ‘NO’. Should
we feel bad for the fate of SIP? Not really, instead it would be good to
understand what SIP actually is!
Due to the fall
in markets, the profits we get out of SIP is also falling. The best Equity
funds 1-year SIP return percentage ranges from -5% to -15%. The returns from
the other funds might be even lesser than this which is clear from the table
shown below. Is this the outcome that we envisioned while we invested? Certainly
not, our expectation was that SIP is a Superstar plan and there was no way that
it can produce losses. But in reality, the return numbers returned by SIP is lower
than the ones we expected.
Value Research’s top 5 star studded best
Equity funds profit percentage – 10 Nov 2018
|
Fund
|
Type
|
1 Year
|
3 Years
|
5 Years
|
Axis Long Term
|
Tax
|
-5.45
|
10.09
|
12.74
|
Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip
|
Large and Mid-Cap
|
-5
|
12.37
|
18.42
|
Axis Bluechip
|
Large Cap
|
-3.21
|
11.02
|
10.78
|
L&T Mid Cap
|
Mid Cap
|
-15.15
|
9.26
|
15.65
|
SIP vs Lumpsum
Some people are
now thinking that they should have invested in Lumpsum instead of SIP. It’s
like the saying “The grass is always
greener on the other side of the fence”. The closer we go, the dangers of
Lumpsum becomes visible. To understand SIP and Lumpsum, we also need to take a
closer look at Lifestyle practices. In some situations, you might not be able
to invest in Lumpsum plans. For instance, a monthly salaried person who wishes
to invest small amounts in mutual funds every month might find it comfortable
to invest in a SIP plan. Similarly, when you have the money readily available to
invest in a Lumpsum fashion, it is not advantageous to invest in a SIP based
plan. In this market fallen times, it would be more profitable if we invest
through the Lumpsum option. When we have enough money in hand, we shouldn’t be
adamant that we will invest only through SIP. In the coming months and years,
if the market keeps fluctuating, then SIP mode might be suitable.
Example to understand better
The following
table gives, returns for investment done for same amount and same duration via
Lump sum and SIP. Let us keep in mind, in lump sum, the money is with fund house
for more time, where as in SIP, money is paid in installments – hence return
varies. For simplicity purpose, we have taken the returns for the amount invested
with fund only. (See the blue shaded first case in the table, for SIP absolute
market value is less = 162707 but annual return is more = 10.10%, whereas
in lump sum, absolute market value is more
= 172451 but return is less = 6.5% this
is because in lump sum, invested amount is more time in the fund than sip, but
created less return, because investment started when market was trending higher
vale –Sensex 29220)
Fund used for
comparison = Axis Blue-chip Fund - Growth
SIP amount per
month = Rs 3,000
Return
calculations till 12/11/2018
Current Sensex = 34812 (on the day of return calculation)
Start date
|
Paid months
|
Invested value
|
Market value
|
Return
|
Sensex
|
Mode
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
27-02-2015
|
45
|
135000
|
162,604
|
10.10%
|
29220
|
SIP
|
27-02-2015
|
|
135000
|
172,451
|
6.5%
|
|
Lump sum
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
16-09-2016
|
26
|
78000
|
85,913
|
8.92%
|
28599
|
SIP
|
16-09-2016
|
|
78000
|
96,498
|
9.9%
|
|
Lump sum
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
23-12-2016
|
23
|
69000
|
74,640
|
8.32%
|
26090
|
SIP
|
23-12-2016
|
|
69000
|
97,734
|
18.3%
|
|
Lump sum
|
Some important points that we need
to know about SIP
- SIP is not isolated from the falling markets. Profit and Loss is part of the market. SIP can lead to losses too.
- During current market weakness, we should not stop investing in SIP based plans. SIP investments can turn out good during fluctuating markets.
- One thing that was evident from the table is, even when SIP posted negative 1-year returns, its 5-year returns looked to be in good shape.
- During the SIP time period itself, we can invest in the same plan on a Lumpsum option at least once. This one has a chance of turning profitable. There is nothing wrong in this and need not worry about it.
- Investing in the peak times SIP is better than lump sum – first case in the table with light blue shade
- SIP in rising market will not give better returns, lump sum at the beginning of rising market will give good returns – refer Last case in the table – light green shade.
- There are two kinds of investment options. Based on the situation and the amount of money we are willing to invest, we can invest in either of the options. It is very hard to predict or conclude which option is the best for each time period.
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