Irrespective of your correctness in estimating when the market would be at a supposed bottom, it is difficult to time your entry correctly. Investing in a Mutual Fund through a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) is thereby regarded as an ideal technique to make your money grow: it doesn’t require you to time the market and helps you in the task of rupee cost averaging.
However, there may be instances where you might consider going the lumpsum route. Some such instances are listed below:
Debt Funds
Since bond prices rarely experience the huge swings that are privy to the stock prices, an SIP into a debt fund is unlikely to offer you benefits similar to a lump sum investment over your choice of investment horizon. This is especially true in case of ultra short-term and money-market funds.
It is also prudent to keep in mind that each SIP installment can fetch tax benefits only after completing three years, apart from having a cumbersome withdrawal process.
Shifting Between Equity Funds
Another time to select the lumpsum option is when you are moving investment from one equity fund to another. You might be invested in an equity fund through SIP and would like to transfer your allegiance to another equity fund for some reason.
Since you have already averaged your investment while channelling money into the initial fund, the money into the second fund can be shifted as a whole. Averaging your money once again may be a redundant exercise.
Sectoral Calls
If you are a savvy investor with knowledge on the intricacies of undervalued sectors, you can go the lumpsum route on a sectoral fund, if you can foresee outperformance in the near term. However, this is a risky ploy and could backfire if the variables for the sector’s success do not come into play as you may have forecasted.
In any case, a diversified equity fund offers you adequate exposure to various sectors of the market with a knowledgeable fund manager at the helm. If you are a conservative investor or don’t wish to invest in a lumpsum manner, SIPs will continue to be a tried and tested technique for you to make the most of your Mutual Fund investments.
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