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Mutual funds investing with CAGR has been a delight

A few years back I met my cousin and we were discussing how I should be deploying my recently started salary inflow. That was the first time I came across the term “Mutual funds”. I was never a finance person and never intended to be one. My uncle told me that I could do anything with my money but not invest them in mutual funds. He apparently had a 2 year experience with equity mutual funds and he had faced a significant loss on that front. So he was pretty much convinced that mutual funds were risky and had the potential of eroding away all your hard earned money. And so was I.

I met the CAGR team through a common friend. And trust me, I had no intentions of investing in any risky instrument ever. I was quite amused when I told them this and they responded by saying “Absolutely, you shouldn’t”. They asked me why I was so averse to mutual funds and I told them the short story that I just told you. They asked me to spend 30mins with them and they promised, they won’t sell anything to me.

So the next day, we met at one of the Bandra CCDs and thus started the myth breaking chain for me! Following are the facts that they exposed me to that day:

  1. Every investor has a certain “risk appetite”. If you love sky diving and have traded in stocks in the past, you certainly have the willingness to take some risk.
  2. Risk is not same as loss. If something is risky, it does not mean it will result in sure shot loss. You would not have been reading this if you have tried sky diving and if risk meant loss.
  3. Risk means a probability of losing money under a certain set of circumstances
  4. There are no free lunches in life. You cannot create a huge amount of wealth from banks / people / institutions who promise you a certain return, because guarantee for anything in life comes at a premium. And forgoing higher returns is the premium you pay for the guarantee you seek.
  5. Mutual funds have both equity and debt asset classes. So if you are a low risk investor who wants cannot witness some volatility in the investment from time to time, then you should restrict yourself to debt mutual funds and settle with lower returns
  6. But, if you can invest a certain fixed amount every month (SIP), let it stay invested for more than 3-5 years, witness some volatility from time to time and exit when markets are on an upswing (rather than panicking and booking profit during correction), then you can invest in a portfolio of equity funds.

It was a good half an hour knowledge session about various categories of funds, concepts such as asset allocation, risk profile, risk-return trade off and so on. They did not sell me anything, yet I was sold to their knowledge and the time they invested on me. I therefore expressed my interest to start and they suggested that I should start with a small amount to first gain conviction. Conviction not about good returns (that can only be evaluated over the long term) but how SIPs are a good way to start saving and creating wealth.

I am now a loyal CAGR client. I started with multiple SIPs as well as switched to tax saving mutual funds to save taxes.

I like the CAGR team not just for their consultative approach, but also for how they have designed their online platform. I invest my money in just two clicks and the dashboard is so informative that it gives you all the information you need as well as skips any unwarranted information. Very clean, simple, tidy without any information clutter. For someone like me with no financial knowledge, the DIY mode makes really easy for me to invest my money in mutual funds without any handholding / assistance from anyone else.

P.S. – I love the additions they make on their blogs. I feel a lot more in control of my money now!

Story has been contributed by Puneet Kochale who has been a CAGR client since January 2017. Puneet is an MBA graduate from FMS – Delhi. 

Call / whatsapp us on +91 9769356440 for a free financial consultation! Alternatively, leave a comment on the post and we shall be happy to get back!

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How are CAGR’s lawyer clients successfully managing to stay on top of their finances?

sip vs lumpsum

Lawyers are known to have extremely busy lives. With multiple cases lined up across various locations, most of their time is spent either travelling or reading tons and tons of case laws. This leaves them with very little or no time to manage their wealth. As a result, a large sum of money is almost always lying in the bank or traditional investment products such as Fixed Deposits.

How do these lawyers then stay on top of their finances?

At CAGR, we spoke to several lawyers to get their view on this subject. We received some interesting insights about professionals who are extremely busy with their work and have little time to spend on growing their wealth.

  • Nature of work is such that it demands substantial amount of time to be spent on professional requirements
  • Have some knowledge about financial assets such as mutual funds, but have little time to spend researching on the same
  • Automated digital platforms to start investing are convenient, especially if transaction time is reduced to a few seconds
  • Have an extremely high need for developing a trust based relationship with their financial planner who can cater to their queries and requests real time

With several lawyers as our clients, we have experienced the enough elements time and again. And delivering on requirements such as above has been the DNA of CAGR’s offering. In our view, lawyers need a good mix of hand holding and quick processing. Neither do they have the time to research on various investment instruments, nor do they want to spend time in transaction formalities. A trustworthy and seamless investment experience is a core requirement. In addition, every now and then we have received a Whatsapp message with a quick query about a lesser known investment instrument and a quick take on whether the concerned client should invest in the same. In our experience with lawyers, a seamless digital platform is only a hygiene factor. The reason our clients have loved us so far is because of the customized and hybrid model that we offer. Anytime Anywhere – Let us Grow Together!

Call / Whatsapp us on +91 97693 56440 for a FREE financial consultation!

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The CAGR team has ensured that my money is always invested in the best funds

I have been earning, since I was quite young. Since, I was living at home at that time, I started investing in mutual funds. My mother then told me the basic mechanics of it, which I understood. But I never had the bandwidth to get into the real details. At that time the mutual fund market was beginning to sky rocket. I entrusted the money to be invested at a major International bank, the same bank my mother banked at.

After a period of interest that I had at the beginning, I really stopped tracking my investments. My relationship managers changed often. Periodically they would let me know that my wealth was x amount, or that the recession was hitting and would affect investments. But I just went with what they were recommending. In any case, my attention was diverted to my MBA, my first job. Any surplus monies was going to be used to pay back my education loan.

One day after my education loan was over, I went back to the bank and asked them what I should do with my surplus money. They recommended some investments, and I continued investing with them. I had some trepidation this time around, because many many relationship managers had changed hands over the years. And the advice they gave me didn’t quite fit in with how I understood the financial market worked.

It just so happened that around that time a colleague of mine introduced to CAGRfunds. I met the two of the founders, and told them about my past investments. They were a small team, and I felt no harm in sending my portfolio and getting it audited for free.

When I received the details from them, I realized that the annual return of my investments at the bank was something near 6-7%, not at all what I expected (I was receiving more than that in fixed deposits!). CAGR also pointed out that I was invested in a lot of thematic funds which were doing well when I invested in them, but had been languishing in the years post that.

I took this information back to the bank and they told me something that shook my confidence in them. To my shock I realized that none of them were tracking it. Later, I understood that banks are interested in getting you to invest, but not in managing your portfolio after the investment was made.

I quickly realized that I needed someone who looked into the portfolio regularly. I asked the team at CAGR to figure out a new investment plan for my surplus cash.

They came back quite quickly with a clear plan of action. I started small, but over a period of time have invested regularly with them. They keep in touch with me quite often, poking and nudging me when I’m ignoring my investments. They give me sound and sensible advice, and reviewing my portfolio periodically. I especially like the fact that they take care to explain the logic to me point by point, even when I’m asking ridiculous questions. I’ve been a CAGR client for 18 months now, and the portfolio with them has far exceeded my expectation from the market, and has left my investments at the multinational bank in the dust.

Since that time, I’ve also recommended CAGR to several people. One of them a close friend of mine was given the financial advice not to invest, and pursue her dreams to study abroad. They created a robust financial plan for her, despite the fact that their advice meant that they earned nothing in the process. I was convinced the people at this company were not after short term financial gain, but rather genuinely had their clients’ best interests at heart.

I would whole heartedly recommend CAGR to any investor. Whether you’re savvy and have everything figured out, or are just a beginner, these guys are the guys to work with for your investment needs. If you believe that the foundation for a company taking care of your investments is trust and empathetic understanding, and CAGR is the place to take your worries too.

Story has been contributed by Ronaan Roy who has been a CAGR client since January 2016. Ronaan is an MBA graduate from IIM – Indore. 

Call / whatsapp us on +91 9769356440 for a free financial consultation!

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How To Plan Finances After Marriage (And Still Love Each Other)

Marriage is a game changer on many levels. New dreams, new goals and new relatives – all shiny and with a bucket load of expectations. Amidst this, you and your spouse will continue to build a new life together, the one filled with love and tenderness. While for some enlightened couples, managing their combined finances is a piece of cake, for a lot of us it is the biggest thorn to be carefully pruned. Financial discussions have often led to higher decibels in the household in newly-wed couples and they continue to be so until sorted out. So, how to plan finances after marriage and still love each other? Here’s how:

 1)Be Honest and Share Your Current Financial Situation

Marriage is a fresh start, or at least could be treated as one. The best way is to share your financials with your spouse with honesty and respect. If you could do this before marriage, it’s better. Often times with arranged marriage, it may not be possible but every effort should be made to get this important discussion started as early as you can. Start talking about your income, debts, and other savings and expense habits.

2)Set Down Goals

Now that you are married, you might have some dreams together – a house, an international vacation, a car, higher education, etc. Each of them needs significant investment that needs to be planned. You also have the inevitable retirement goal as part of your long-term financial planning. Write down all these goals and review them often. Doing this at the beginning of the marriage gives a clear idea of what path to financial management you need to do together for meeting those goals. For example, if you both plan to retire at 40, you have to earn and invest aggressively, save more and spend less now to accomplish that.

 3) Decide on Bank Accounts

You are not required to have a joint account just because you are married. However, one can use a joint account as a common pool, or goal-specific account while maintaining separate accounts for independence. For example, if you plan to buy a house together in five years and decide to save Rs 5000 each every month, then set up a joint account so that both can deposit Rs 5000 in it. It not only acts as a pool both are responsible for but also brings in the team spirit in marriage.

 4) Create a “family” portfolio

`Before marriage, you and your spouse had your own investment portfolio that perfectly met the needs of your goals then. In fact, you might have also invested keeping some long term goals in mind like retirement. Post-wedding is an excellent time to take a look at both of your portfolio and combine them for your money to grow for common goals. An example of a common goal is buying real estate. Combining your portfolios in to a “family” portfolio is important as it will help you plan better and define your appropriate asset allocation. Get in touch with a good financial planner to run an end to end planning exercise and kick start your family investment journey.

 4) Don’t Forget Emergency Fund

No matter what your goals are as a couple, ensure that you set up an emergency fund. An emergency fund is a financial cushion for you and your spouse when something expensive and unexpected strikes like an accident or job loss. Having money to rely on is a great stress relief and will reduce strain on your marriage at particularly bad times. Aim to save at least six months of income in your emergency account.

 5) Plan and Track a Budget

Easier said than done, but planning a budget with your spouse is one of the smartest thing you would do in your marriage. It sets financial behavior expectations from each other while helping you both visualize how it helps you get closer to your goals. Planning a budget is not rocket science. Once a budget is set, track it every day to ensure you are on plan. You can use the numerous apps that are available on your phone to do it seamlessly. Or do the old-fashioned way on paper and pen and spend some quality time away with your spouse from the white screen.