ASSET ALLOCATION IN DIFFICULT TIMES

As we all are aware that there is a lot of uncertainty around Covid since the last couple of years and interest rates on fixed income investment products are trending downwards, investors are looking at asset allocation which can help them to make planned and strategic calls for their portfolio. Instead of being fully invested in debt or equity, an investor must have a diversified portfolio across various asset classes such as debt and equity, gold and for that matter even real estate.

The initial stage of asset allocation is to make the investment objective outline. This will assist an investor to shortlist the investment instruments best suited for achieving the financial goals. For long term investments, investors must have pre requisite vision and goals in mind such as buying a house, marriage of children, retirement etc and their decisions should be based on building a portfolio that will assist them to achieve these goals.

It should also be remembered that in a goal based investment with a multi year time horizon, market volatility is your acquaintance. Investing over the long term is one the smartest ways with which investors can achieve their goals. When investors take investment decisions based on sentiments, then they are exposed to higher risk and therefore a higher amount of losses. A long term investor can reverse losses by holding and having patience and thus overcoming short term losses in equities.

In this article, we will discuss how investors can do asset allocations in tough times.

MULTI ASSET FUNDS FOR ALLOCATION MIX

Multi asset mutual funds can be a good alternative for asset allocation mix as they invest in a combo of debt, equity and gold exchange traded funds. These funds are highly diversified than hybrid or balanced funds. One of the prime merits of multi asset funds is that higher returns from a specific asset class can offset poor returns from another asset class.

Usually multi asset funds have an equity allocation of around 65% and the rest is in gold or debt. The fund manager does the reallocation of the asset mix depending on returns and volatility. Investors do not have to pay any extra if the fund house does the rebalancing. Experts suggest that these funds are better than investing in bonds, stocks and gold directly as the fund house does the rebalancing and assists the investor to hold a diversified portfolio. An investor can invest in multi asset funds through SIPs.

To invest in these funds and form your portfolio, you can get in touch with our financial experts and planners at ZFunds.

GOLD IS A GOOD DIVERSIFIER

Gold prices are increasing as various central banks across the globe have announced large scale quantitative easing measures. The precious metal is becoming a risk free asset class to hold on and its rising prices are indications that global worries are still there. For individual investors, investment in gold can be a useful diversification tool. Ideally, it should be 5 to 10 percent of the total portfolio.

Experts have also suggested that any correction can be a good entry point for investors to take long term positions. While most Indians prefer to invest in gold in physical form, SGBs (Sovereign Gold Bonds), Gold ETFs or mutual funds are really efficient ways to invest in this precious metal. One can also invest in gold funds through SIPs and in case of ETFs one can buy each month. Nevertheless, SGBs are a better way to invest in this metal as the investment will earn interest over it.

EMERGENCY FUNDS IN DEBT

An investor should keep some cash, ideally in short term FDs or liquid funds of mutual funds to tide over any emergency. Investors often use liquid funds for investing in equity oriented funds through systematic transfer plans. Investors can also look at overnight funds as they invest purely in bonds with maturity of only upto a day. Liquid funds held for more than 3 years are eligible for LTCG tax with benefits of indexation. If redeemed before a span of one year, the investor will have to pay tax as per one’s tax slab.