Which AMCs of mutual funds have you placed your trust in over the long term and why?

Q&A: Questions & Answers
1

Hi everyone,

I’m 23 and have only recently begun my long-term investing journey in India; at present, before I choose specific mutual funds, I’m trying to find out how experienced investors evaluate the AMC or the fund house that manages the funds.

For those people who have been investing in mutual funds for many years and who have placed their trust in AMCs over a long period, what was it that led you to place that trust in them?

I am particularly interested in things that may not be obvious from recent returns, such as:

–How the AMC has been managed over many years
–How transparent they are with investors
–How they have handled difficult market periods
–How frequently fund managers change and whether those changes affected your confidence
–How responsive their investor service has been when you had an issue
–Whether you have seen any major changes in the way the AMC manages its funds as it has grown
–Whether the AMC’s investment philosophy and processes have remained consistent over time

What I want is not a suggestion of a specific mutual fund; rather, I would like to find out how experienced investors assess the quality, reliability, and long-term consistency of an AMC or fund house.

–When you have invested with a number of AMCs for a period of 10 years or longer, which of them gave you the best experience and which ones caused you to become more cautious?

What I should particularly like is to receive replies that are based on your personal experience and observations, not just on comparisons of recent returns.

–If one were to begin their journey into investing today, what criteria would one use when deciding whether an AMC is reliable enough to invest with over the long term?

Thank you to all those who take the time to share their experiences.

2

All of the mutual fund houses are regulated - so all of them meet the bar w.r.t transparency/responsiveness.

Do take a look at a few of the interviews to understand the philosophy of the fund houses/managers - Sankaran Naren, Rajeev Thakkar and pick the ones that resonate with you to lock down on the fund houses.
After that choose your funds.

Beyond that, i think any more analysis is analysis paralysis and you will lose more money by inaction or acting by impulse. So, it is important to get your allocation and discipline right. There have been a few black swan events like Franklin debt fiasco, Mutual funds being exposed to DHFL and a few front running instances but those are far and few and i see there is more diligence now across all the AMCs.

All the best

1 Like
3

Thank you for the reply. Your advice about avoiding analysis paralysis is very useful especially because I am new and can easily spend time researching things without ever making a decision.

I would like to know one point from your experience. When you listen to interviews with fund managers such as Sankaran Naren or Rajeev Thakkar what aspects do you personally look for before deciding that an AMC or fund house philosophy is something you are comfortable with for the long term?

For a beginner, like me would you mainly focus on the fund managers and their philosophy or are there a few other aspects of the AMC that you would check before selecting funds?

I am trying to develop a process instead of analysing every AMC in too much detail.