No need to monitor MF investments

If you are one of those who track their mutual fund investments with the same enthusiasm and care as they put in while choosing where to invest in, then we can assure you that you are in a minority. Most people think that once they invest in a fund, the job of taking care of their investments has been successfully passed on to the fund manager. Conceptually nothing wrong but a dangerous strategy to adopt. Let us explain why.

The performance of a fund, especially equity-oriented funds, is to quite an extent dependant on the calls of the fund manager. Hence, if your fund manager quits, the investment style may change, and the fund's performance could suffer. Hence, you should carefully monitor the fund's performance any time such changes occur, and exit the fund if its performance dips drastically.

How do you keep track of your fund's performance? All AMCs provide you with their annual report, a half-yearly report (unaudited results) and a quarterly factsheet/newsletter. Over and above this, public disclosure of the NAV of a scheme happens on the AMFI website, on the AMC's own website, as well as in the financial dailies. While NAV information tells you very little other than how well your investments are doing, it is basically the portfolio disclosure that happens through the newsletters and AMC reports that one should be interested in. Also, try to gauge the fund's performance vis-à-vis its benchmark and its peers (at least to the extent possible).

The fund manager will not tell you when to exit the fund. This is something you will have to decide, based on the information available. So, keep track of the fund's performance. After all, it's your money and you should know what the fund is doing with it.