Want to invest in mutual funds but don't know how to go about it?

Get all your mutual fund related queries answered by our expert, Pankaj Mathpal, managing director and chief executive officer, Optima Money Managers.

Q: Rajesh LM writes to us from Bengaluru. My goals are son's education after 15 years and retirement. Also, I want to invest fresh Rs 5,000 in SIP. Please suggest which one to go for. I have invested in following SIPs from last year: Rs

3,000 in HDFC Top 100, Rs 3,000 in HDFC Mid Cap Opportunities and Rs 5,000 in Mirrae Asset Emerging Blue Chip. In ELSS, invested a lump sum amount of Rs 50,000 + 50,000 in DSP Blackrock Tax Saver and Rs 50,000 + 50,000 in Aditya Birla Sunlife Tax Relief 96.

A: Considering your long term goals, I suggest you adding one small cap fund in your portfolio. I recommend you investing in L&T Emerging Business Fund or HDFC Small Cap Fund. Set the goal with the desired corpus and it will help

you deciding the investment amount and also tracking the performance.

Q: Santhosh HP writes to us from Qatar. Investing Rs 30,000 per month SIP in L&T Emerging Business Fund Direct Growth Plan from last nine months. I wanted to increase my SIP amount. I tried in other small cap funds and in HDFC Small Cap Fund, but due to their offline procedure for NRI, I lost interest in these funds. And I started another Rs 30,000 per month in same L&T Emerging Business fund from last month. Now, my total SIP is Rs 60,000 per month in L&T Emerging Business Fund Direct Growth. Kindly, let me know expert view on this fund. I am not interested in large cap funds. My time horizon is five years.

A: L&T Emerging Business Fund is a small cap fund and one of the best performing schemes in this category. The scheme was launched in 2014 and has been a consistent performer. You have very high exposure in small cap and probably this is the only scheme in your portfolio. I suggest, an investor should have allocation across market capitalisation and exposure in small cap should not exceed 10 percent of the portfolio. High risk doesn’t guarantee you get high returns. Consider investing in mid cap fund and multicap funds. L&T Midcap fund and ICICI Prudential Value Discovery funds are my recommendations.

Q: Uday Pote writes to us from Bhopal. I have invested Rs 2,000 in HDFC Capital Builder since three years, Rs 2,000 in SBI Blue Chip since one year, Rs 4,000 in HDFC Children Gift Fund since three years, Rs 5,000 in Axis Multicap Fund since its inception and Rs 2,000 in Axis Mid Cap Fund since two years. All are growth option. My horizon is next ten years and corpus required is Rs 1 crore. Please advise.

A: To accumulate Rs 1 crore in 10 years, you may need to increase your investment amount. Considering your horizon of 10 years, I suggest you adding one small cap fund in your portfolio. Recommended scheme L&T Emerging Business Fund.

Q: Krishna Das writes to us from Kerala. I want to start an SIP (Rs 1,000-Rs 5,000) in mutual funds. I am ready to take high risk as I have a long term view of 10-20 years. Can you suggest me schemes.

A: I suggest you should have allocation across market capitalisation and in different category of fund. These are some recommended schemes for you: ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund, ABSL MNC Fund, L&T Midcap fund and

SBI Small Cap Fund.

Q. Prashant Sasidharan writes to us from Bahrain. Over a period of last 2-3 years, I have invested in following mutual funds. I would like to stop a few, but would like to keep the monthly investment same. My target is to reach Rs 15 crore in a timeline of 12 years. I have invested in Rs 2,500 in ABSL Equity Fund (G), Rs 10,000 in ABSL Frontline Equity (G), Rs 2,500 in ABSL Midcap Fund (G), Rs 2,500 in ABSL Pure Value Fund (G), Rs 10,000 in DSP Small Cap Fund - Regular (G), Rs 5,000 in Franklin (I) Smaller Cos (G), Rs 2,500 in HDFC Capital Builder Value Fund (G), Rs 2,500 in HDFC MidCap Opportunities (G), Rs 2,500 in ICICI Pru Balanced Adv (G), Rs 2,500 in ICICI Pru Value Discovery Fund (G), Rs 2,500 in IDFC Focused Equity - Regular (G), Rs 10,000 in Kotak Standard Multicap Fund (G), Rs 5,000 in L&T Midcap Fund (G), Rs 5,000 in L&T India Large Cap Fund (G), Rs 2,000 in Reliance Small Cap Fund (G), Rs 5,000 in SBI Blue Chip Fund (G), Rs 2,000 in UTI Mid Cap (G), Rs 2,000 in UTI Multi Asset Fund - R (G), Rs 2,000 in UTI Retirement Benefit Pension – R, Rs 10,000 in Mirae Asset India Opportunities and Rs 10,000 in Parag Parikh Long Term Equity Fund. Appreciate if you could give your expert opinion on these schemes.

A: You have too many schemes in your portfolio. Cancel your SIP in the following schemes: DSP Small cap fund, IDFC Focused Equity, L&T India Large Cap fund and UTI Multi Asset Fund. Increase the investment amount in ICICI

Prudential Value Discovery Fund, ABSL Equity Fund and L&T Mid cap fund.

Q: Aadil Darvesh writes to us from Mumbai. My goals are as follows: Daughter's education in 13 years and target is Rs 70 lakh; daughter's wedding in 20 years and target is Rs 60 lakh; retirement fund in 25-30 years and target is Rs 4 crore (All amounts are inflation adjusted). My current investment are: For debt, investing Rs 7,344 per year in LIC and Rs 30,000 per year in Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana. My investment horizon for mutual funds is 20-25 years and has invested Rs 2,000 per month in Axis Long Term Equity Fund, Rs 2,000 per month in Invesco India Contra Fund, Rs 2,000 per month in Mirae Asset India Equity Fund, Rs 2,000 per month in Kotak Standard Multicap, Rs 1,000 per month in ICICI pru Value Discovery Fund, Rs 2,000 per month in Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund and Rs 2,000 per month in DSP BR Micro Cap Fund. My total investment in mutual funds is Rs 13,000 per month. I am investing for the past 3 years and my investment horizon of next 25-30 years. I have taken a term plan of Rs 1 crore with critical illness. I will keep on increasing the amount by 8-10 percent every year. Please tell me the SIP amount required to achieve my goals and review my portfolio.

A: DSP Micro cap has been renamed as DSP Small cap fund. Looking into the performance, I suggest you cancel your SIP in this scheme and add SBI small cap fund. Keep increasing your SIP amount year after year to achieve your goals.

Q: DV Raju writes to us from Andhra Pradesh. I started investing in mutual funds through SIPs monthly Rs 40,000 since one year. My goal is child education and corpus is Rs 2 crore. I have invested in Kotak Select Focus Fund, SBI Blue Chip Fund, Mirae Asset Equity Fund, ICICI Blue Chip Fund, HDFC Midcap Opportunity Fund, Canara Mid Cap Fund, Aditya Birla Frontline, ICICI FMCG Fund, ICICI Coporate Bond Fund and HDFC Short Term Debt Fund.

A: I suggest you consolidate your portfolio. There is no scheme with the name Canara Mid Cap fund. All other schemes in your portfolio are good, but try to keep only one scheme in each category. Add one value oriented fund like ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund.

Q: 40-year-old Ajit Kumar writes to us from Allahabad. I have invested Rs 2,000 each in DSP Small Cap Fund, HDFC Midcap Opportunity, SBI Magnum Multicap, Aditya Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund and Aditya Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96 Fund since 2016. There is no issue of time horizon. In addition, I have to invest Rs 5,000 also. Please recommend a suitable equity fund or to distribute among currently invested funds.

A: Add one value oriented fund and cancel your SIP in DSP small Cap Fund. You can consider L&T Emerging Business or SBI Small cap in small cap category and ICICI Prudential Value Discovery or ABSL Pure Value Fund in value-oriented category.

Q: 32-year-old Chirpreet Makhija from Indore asks, I want to start a SIP of Rs 10,000 per month for 20 years for future expenses of my child who is currently one year old. Can you please suggest couple of good mutual funds I could invest in?

A: I would recommend ICICI Pru Bluechip Fund, ABSL Equity Fund and L&T Mid cap fund.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on CNBCT-V18 are their own and not that of the website or its management. CNBC-TV18 advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.