Now Reading: SIP timing barely matters over 30 years, Sensex study finds
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SIP timing barely matters over 30 years, Sensex study finds
A 30-year analysis by WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund comparing the BSE Sensex TRI shows that the difference in returns between investing on the best, worst, or a fixed date each month is…
A 30-year analysis by WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund comparing the BSE Sensex TRI shows that the difference in returns between investing on the best, worst, or a fixed date each month is narrow. A monthly SIP on the best day delivered 13.75% annualised returns, while the worst day gave 13.27%, and investing on the 15th of every month gave 13.53%.
Over 30 years, a Rs 1,000 monthly SIP totalling Rs 3.6 lakh grew to Rs 43.3 lakh on the best day and Rs 39.3 lakh on the worst day, a gap of just Rs 4 lakh. The study warns that waiting for the perfect day is impossible since the best day is only known after the month ends, and not investing at all is likely to cause a greater loss than entering at an unfavourable time.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The study's core finding confirms what mutual fund literature has long argued: time in the market beats timing the market. The 0.48 percentage point spread between best and worst outcomes over 30 years is statistically trivial for retail investors, especially when compared to the cost of staying in cash during a bull run. SEBI's own research and multiple fund house white papers have reached similar conclusions, though many investors still fixate on entry points. The practical takeaway is that SIP discipline, staying invested through cycles, matters far more than which calendar date one picks. Investors should watch for the next monthly SIP cycle starting 1 October, when fund houses typically report fresh inflows.
Source: livemint.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
