SKIN IN THE GAME

 Very often I am questioned about the method of selecting funds to recommend.
Sometimes the questions are very specific at why am I suggesting different type of funds when all of us in the same profession and with a similar goal of retirement.
Sometimes I am also questioned about using a distributor for purchasing mutual funds.
These are very relevant and important questions and I must answer all of them with utmost sincerity.
Recently I was gifted two books of Taleb, one being with the same name as the title of this article.
So the methodology that I follow is very simple.
I mostly suggest the funds which either I am holding or I have held in the past but sold for consumption .
At the time of adding to the group ,I enquire about your rank,age and city of residence.
These parameters help me identify your financial status almost accurately and then when you contact me I'm able to judge your commitment to your goals. This I'm able to suggest a group of funds for your purpose.
Those of you who ask me simply the name of funds for a particular category ,I give you a list of 3-4 funds that you can choose from.
Since I have  access to a  pool of HNI investors outside of the mariners group I am able to question regarding the service offered by various fund houses which also matters apart from simply The returns.
I mentioned about the book because I have used the title.
A very important thing that I read in the book which actually got smile to my face is that one must only talk about what is there in one's portfolio and not give the opinion about that security.
So the strategies that I talk about are the ones that I follow myself and more importantly which have worked for me.
Now the most important question about using distributors.
It's a common knowledge that direct mode saves about 1% in commissions ( expense ratio). But that's only for Equity funds. For debt funds it's less than 0.2% sometimes even less.
What I have observed is that a fresh investor gets puzzled between the choices and modes of simple investing , and if he's from a small town then those facilities are also rare. Because of this lot of time gets wasted in Kickstarting the investment journey.
So my suggestion is to get hold of a distributor near your house if you don't have a AMC office and invest any amount in a debt fund in the AMC where you want to start your equity investment.
This will help you complete your KYC. After that you can start your equity investment on your own via online method DIRECTLY with the AMC.
In time you will graduate to Cams/ Kfintech and will start investing thru them via their app MFCentral.
Idea is that you don't waste time.
Time is of utmost importance in life and especially in investing and for Mariners it is even more valuable. If you have to buy that time somehow -  you should.