M. Pattabiraman's Blog, page 7

Plan for your child’s college expenses in 12 steps!

This is how you can plan for your child’s education and marriage in 12 steps. 1. When to start planning. The moment the pregnancy is confirmed! 2. What do you do first? Evaluate your insurance cover and buy more if required. 3. How to evaluate insurance coverage?  Let us consider a couple with a two-year-old...

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Index fund tracking error screener Sep 2025

This index fund screener is based on tracking error and returns difference wrt benchmarks (also known as tracking difference). It will help users evaluate how efficiently an index fund has tracked its underlying benchmark. It will also help them understand how tracking a midcap index or the Nifty 100 or 500 differs from tracking the...

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Active Small Cap Mutual Funds vs Nifty Midcap 150

Last Updated on September 17, 2025 at 10:56 am We discuss the performance consistency of actively managed small cap funds by comparing them with the Nifty Midcap 150 index. Some readers may be surprised as to why we are not choosing a small cap index like Nifty Small Cap 250. This is because we are...

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How to use the Freefincal Equity Mutual Fund Screener

We discuss the different ways in which you can use the Freefincal Equity Mutual Fund Screener. The screener has two pages – a rolling returns sheet and a trailing returns sheet.  The Sep 2025 edition is the latest screener at the time of writing. At all times, the top link in this archive is the...

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ETF tracking error screener Sep 2025

This ETF screener is based on tracking errors and differences (ETF return minus index return). It will help users evaluate how efficiently an ETF has tracked its underlying benchmark. The tracking error is the ETF’s standard deviation minus the index’s monthly return differences. The lower the tracking error, the more efficient the ETF is in...

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Can I invest in a Nifty LargeMidcap 250 Index Fund?

We discuss what investors should appreciate before selecting an index fund tracking the Nifty LargeMidcap 250 Index Fund. At the time of writing, five fund houses – Edelweiss, HDFC, ICIC Pru, Mirae Asset and Zerodha offer index funds tracking this index. See our earlier review: Zerodha Nifty LargeMidcap 250 Index Fund Review. The Nifty LargeMidcap 250...

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What is XIRR in mutual funds? A simple example

You may have seen that mutual fund annualised returns are computed using a method known as XIRR (extended internal rate of return). We explain what this means using a simple example. When you make a single investment (lump sum for want of a better word) in a mutual fund or stock, the return (after a...

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Coast Fire Calculator – an update to the freefincal robo advisor

We have added a Coast Fire calculation option to the freefincal robo advisor. Coast Fire is best explained with an example. Suppose you are 25 years old and wish to retire by age 55. You estimate the retirement corpus required to maintain your current lifestyle to be Rs. 5 Crores. Suppose you wish to invest each...

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Equity Mutual Fund Screener Sep 2025: Shortlist consistent performers

The latest freefincal Equity Mutual Fund Performance Screener is now available. Use it to screen for consistently performing equity mutual funds. You can screen based on fund category & benchmark to identify mutual funds that offer higher returns than the benchmark while maintaining lower risk. Inside, you get discounted links to our robo advisory tool...

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Do not get emotionally attached to your mutual fund investments!

Many investors display strong emotions whenever a mutual fund or MF asset management company gets into trouble (bond defaults, redemption pressure, front running, etc.). One group blames the AMC, the regulator, and finfluencers and goes into “I want my money back mode” Another group attacks those who are critical of the AMC under pressure and...

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