Tag: Fund Selection

A thematic fund’s portfolio is made up of stocks from companies in different industries that have something to do with the theme of the fund. Some investors might not know how each of these industries is growing. You can decide if certain sectors can help you make a lot of money if you know enough about them and how they relate to the subject of the fund. So, thematic funds are a good choice for investors who like to keep up with the news and are good at researching a wide range of industries. Investors can decide if they want to put their money into a certain topic by keeping an eye on a lot of places and getting useful information.

4. Things to think about before putting money into theme-based funds

Investment Goals: Before buying these funds, you should be sure of what you want to do with them. If you want the best return on your theme fund investment, you should invest for more than five years. It’s not hard to see why. Any business needs enough time to reach its full potential. So, when you put money into these funds, you should have long-term goals in mind, like retiring early, paying for your child’s college, etc.

Investment Risks: The benefits of investing in theme funds may seem appealing, but it’s important to know the risks that come with it. It is a very dangerous way to go. Because of this, people who have never invested before are told not to buy themed funds. Let’s look at the main risks that come with these funds:

Semi-Diverse Portfolio: Compared to sectoral funds, which don’t offer any variety, a theme fund’s portfolio is a bit more diverse. It does, however, offer fewer ways to spread out your investments than other equity funds, like multi-cap funds, whose portfolios include securities from many different industries. Since these equity funds don’t have a theme, it’s less likely that all the stocks will fall at the same time than it is with thematic funds.

Some themes could take longer to develop than expected. Even if some of us can see that a theme has a lot of potential in the near future, say in the next four or five years, our predictions are likely to be wrong. It might take longer than we thought. There were a lot of brand-new funds with themes, and many investors hoped to make money from them. Even though infrastructure has been a topic for more than ten years, there hasn’t been much progress. When investing in themed funds, an investor may have to wait up to 20 years to see a profit. There is a risk of time with theme funds.

Expense Ratio:

You need to be honest about the costs that cut into your profits. For managing the thematic funds you want to invest in, Asset Management Companies (AMC) will charge you a fee called an expense ratio. This fee is mostly used to pay for the fund’s overhead costs, such as the salary of the fund manager and marketing costs. The fee is charged once a year.

5. Taxation of Thematic Funds

What matters are the profits after taxes. You should know how taxes work with that kind of money. The capital gains you made when you sold your theme fund are taxed based on how long you held on to it.

If you sell your investments within a year, the profits are considered short-term capital gains (STCG), and you have to pay 15% tax on them.

Long-Term Capital Gain Tax (LTCG):

Gains from any investment held for more than a year are considered Long-Term Capital Gains and are taxed (LTCG). Gains of up to Rs. 1 lakh are not taxed in a fiscal year. Gains of more than Rs. 1 lakh are taxed at 10%.

These are the important things to know about Thematic mutual funds. To start investing in them, open your demat account with Zebu today.

Each mutual fund is based on an asset that brings in money. Large-cap funds’ underlying assets are the stocks of some of India’s biggest companies based on market capitalization. In a similar way, thematic funds are made up of stocks of companies that all have something in common with a certain theme.

For example, a fund with an ESG theme will invest in companies from different industries that have done well in terms of the environment, society, and the way the company is run (from technology to financial services to FMCG to Consumer Durables).

Because of this, thematic funds are different from traditional investment strategies like market capitalization (large-cap, mid-cap, small-cap), style (value & growth), and sectoral investing (pharma, technology, infrastructure). As long as it has something to do with the topic, it invests in many different industries and market values. SEBI also says that 80% of a company’s total assets must be invested in stocks and securities related to stocks of a certain theme.

1. What are the pros of investing in thematic funds?
More options for diversification than sectoral funds.
When you invest in a sector fund, your portfolio is limited to that sector, so you don’t have any other options for diversification. Your portfolio will suffer if the sector is doing badly for any reason. Thematic funds, on the other hand, invest based on a theme and may include stocks from companies in different industries. This gives you a bit of diversity. For example, think about a fund whose main focus is on manufacturing. This fund puts its money into a wide range of engineering, chemical, and construction businesses. So, even if businesses in one area aren’t doing well at a certain time, businesses in other areas will keep your portfolio from falling apart in a big way.

2.Returns that beat the market

If the investor chooses the right theme to invest in, thematic funds may produce amazing returns. Still, we need to realise that getting the theme right is harder than it seems. It requires that you keep an eye on the things you’re interested in and pay attention to the news and headlines all the time. If, after all your hard work, you really nail the topic, thematic funds could pay off in a big way for you.

3. Who is a good fit for thematic funds?

Investors with a high risk tolerance:
Thematic funds are one of the high-riskmutual funds. When a portfolio is put together with a theme in mind, it limits the kinds of investments that can be made. It would only be able to put money into companies with shares in that area. So your portfolio has a little bit of everything. If for some reason this theme doesn’t come true, there is a big chance of losses. So, these ETFs should only be bought by investors who can handle high risk.

Investors Who Want Long-Term Returns: It might take a while for a subject to reach its full potential. For example, we’ve known since the early 1990s that software and internet technologies had a lot of potential. But now, 20 years later, we can really see how these ideas work in the real world. So, it takes time and hard work to turn these topics into profitable investments. If you’re an investor who wants to make money over the long term, thematic funds may be a good choice for you. People who are just starting out with investing are told not to put all of their money into themed funds right away.