When it comes to mutual funds, diligent investors can find plenty of information in the public domain that can help them make their investment decisions. There is information on how to invest, when to invest, which funds to choose, how to choose funds, the risk involved in mutual funds and much more. However, there’s not much to be found on exit strategies for mutual funds, typically making this the biggest challenge for investors. Having conviction around an exit strategy becomes especially relevant whenever markets are correct; without it, investors panic and exit based on sentiment rather than a well-planned strategy.
Many times investors try to time the markets by exiting their investments with a hope to re-invest at lower levels. This is a classic case of “market timing”. Also, at times, investors tend to treat mutual funds like stocks. A stock can be underpriced or overpriced and hence, there could be a case to exit an expensive stock vis a vis a mutual fund. A mutual fund, on the other hand, is a basket of investment products and the price of each unit reflects the value of the products in the basket. Hence, the question of over-valuation or under-valuation does not arise.
Knowing how to exit from a mutual fund is as important as knowing when to exit and can make or break your wealth building process. Exiting from a fund should not be done based on market swings, except in case of emergencies. One must do it thoughtfully, with a plan of action.
Here are a few instances when an investor should consider exiting from the scheme.
1. Achieved or Nearing Financial Goals? Exit from the Scheme and Invest in Less Risky Assets
When you are nearing your financial goal sooner than expected, your focus should be on preserving the corpus. When you are nearing your goal, your ability to take risks reduces. Remaining invested in an equity fund once the goal is reached could be counterproductive at times.
If you have achieved your financial goal earlier than planned, you can exit from the scheme and shift your corpus to a liquid fund or even a bank fixed deposit to preserve the accumulated amount.
Either way, to protect the corpus you have amassed, when you are one or two years away from your goal, switch to less risky funds where the equity component is negligible.
2. Want a Regular Income from your Mutual Fund Investment and Seek to Preserve your Capital? Do Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP)
If you want a regular cash flow from a mutual fund scheme, do not switch the same to a dividend option. It will be more efficient if you follow a SWP. This is an excellent facility, offered by mutual funds and it is also extremely tax efficient.
When you choose a SWP plan, it allows you to redeem your investments in a phased manner. You can direct your mutual fund investments to your savings account. In a SWP, the value of a mutual fund reduces by the number of units you withdraw.
Let’s look at the example given below to understand better. If you have your desired corpus of INR 1,000,000 in a fund, assuming that you redeem only 7% per month (INR 5,383) for a year, the amount will be taxed as per short term capital gains at 15% for withdrawals upto one year and long-term at 10% for above 1 year. Also every year the value of the fund would reduce due to withdrawal and increase/decrease due to market movements.
The total withdrawal as per this illustration is approximately INR 70,000 and if you had invested this in a dividend option, the tax liability would have been approximately INR 21,000 (assuming a 30% slab) whereas in the growth option your capital gains tax is INR 2,500.
3. A Shift in Fundamentals? Review and Rebalance
When a fund undergoes a fundamental change, the risk profile also shifts. This could be on account of a change in the fund manager, a change in the fundamental attributes of the fund or a change due to regulatory norms.
If the fund manager changes, his unique management style could affect the fund’s performance. Some of his decisions might deliver good returns while others may not, even though his decisions are well within the mandate.
Do track the fund performance over six to 12 months after the fund manager changes. If it underperforms drastically then you need to review the entire portfolio and you may need to re-align your investments in that fund.
Some fundamental attributes of a scheme are its structure, investment pattern, etc. An example of a change in fundamental attributes could be if a banking fund changes its mandate to also include non-banking financial company (NBFCs) in its portfolio. If the changes are not in line with your investment objective, you may consider an exit option.
Regulatory changes include instances like SEBI introducing a 25% cap on large cap, mid cap and small cap each for multicap fund portfolio holding. This had caused quite an uproar and SEBI had to introduce a category called flexicap.
Most fund houses did change their names as they did not want to rearrange their portfolios. Some funds like ICICI Pru Multicap Fund, Invesco India Multicap Fund, and Nippon India Multicap Fund realigned their portfolio as per the capping norms.
If such changes occur and you are not comfortable with their impact on the scheme, as it does not align with your objectives, then you can exit from the scheme and rebalance your investment portfolio.
4. Consistent Underperformance of a Scheme? Switch to a New Fund
It is observed that not all schemes perform consistently and that past performance of the scheme shouldn’t be the only criteria used to invest in a scheme. But while redeeming it is vital to note the consistent underperformance of a scheme for a prolonged period.
Check for returns across various time periods and compare rolling returns of a fund that is performing poorly compared to its peers and the benchmark returns to see how inconsistent the fund’s performance has been. At times like this, an investment advisor plays a pivotal role, specifically for an investor who is not aware of the nuances of finance.
Do research and try to understand the reason for its underperformance. Explore whether the entire scheme category has fared poorly or if the scheme is holding beaten down stocks in its portfolio, or if a fund manager has changed or if a particular sector is hit by any regulatory changes and the fund manager took undue risk. In short, find out why the scheme has performed poorly and gauge whether it is a one off case or the adverse factors will persist. This will help you in taking a call on whether you should exit or not.
If an equity scheme is underperforming continuously for three years or more as compared to its peers, you could consider exiting the scheme and transferring your investment to a similar fund that has a proven track record. But before investing in a similar fund, do a quantitative and qualitative research of the scheme.
5. Change in Asset Allocation? Rebalance Portfolio
A change in asset allocation of your portfolio sometimes occurs due to market movements. At other times, a change in your personal situation, such as a change in age profile, necessitates a change in your asset allocation. In such cases, you could consider rebalancing your portfolio. Asset rebalancing will help you even out investment returns and could even force you to “sell high” and “buy low”.
For example, if your asset allocation is 65% equities and 35% debt. If equity markets go up and the equity allocation goes up to 70%, you may need to consider reducing your equity allocation by redeeming investments. It is important to maintain your asset allocation because it keeps your tolerance for risk at the most comfortable level.
6. Demerger and/or Merging of Asset Management Company (AMC)? Review and Rebalance
Let’s consider the rare event that the AMC whose schemes you have invested in is sold to another fund house and the scheme gets merged with a similar scheme of the latter. Then evaluate the scheme’s performance, objective and holdings to see if they have changed or not.
AMCs are sold for different reasons; however, it is unlikely that the objective of the merged scheme would differ from the one you initially invested in. If the performance of the merged scheme continues to be satisfactory, stay invested but if it is unsatisfactory, replace it with a similar new scheme from a different AMC.
7. There is an Emergency? Exit from the Scheme or Pause your Systematic Investment Plan (SIP)
In case of any emergency, when your emergency fund is insufficient to deal with the situation, you can consider exiting from a scheme. If you are not able to continue to pay your SIP instalments you can also pause the monthly SIP for a while.
Most AMCs do offer an option to pause SIPs, if you find it difficult to continue because of any unforeseen emergency. Stopping your scheme investment will stop you from growing a bigger corpus and it could become difficult to start an SIP again.
The other option is to withdraw the previous SIP amounts and re-invest to continue with your investments but do not stop your SIP investment. If withdrawal is imminent, ensure you withdraw funds which are non-performing first and then the performing funds; even in performing funds first look at redemption from long-term and then short-term.
Bottom Line
Patience is the most important attribute needed in investments and specially when there are sharp dips. It is however, important to check your emotions and not get carried away by the buzz in the markets. Stay on your path of asset allocation and avoid market timing.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
