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Side by side, no rankingHow this compares with what you already have
Picking stocks yourself, funds, PMS, smallcases and tips groups each suit someone. Here is how they differ from a model portfolio you hold yourself.
In short
- Who holds the money, how you pay, how gains are taxed and how much of your time it takes differ more between these than their returns do.
- MindForge is a model portfolio: your demat, your orders, a flat fee, and short-term tax because it rebalances monthly.
- Each option suits someone; the last row says who.
Side by side
| Question | MindForge model portfolio | Stocks you pick yourself | Mutual fund (direct plan) | Index or factor fund | PMS | smallcase | Stock-tips group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who holds your money | You do, in your own demat. You place every order. | You do, in your own demat. | The fund, in units in your name. | The fund, in units in your name. | Your demat, but the portfolio manager decides and trades. | Your demat, through a partner broker. | You do, acting on messages. |
| How you pay | A flat monthly fee; one book is free. | Brokerage and tax; no fee. | An expense ratio, a percentage of your money every day. | A lower expense ratio, still a percentage. | A percentage of your money, often plus a share of profits. | Varies by manager: free, a flat fee or a percentage. | Usually a subscription. |
| Tax on gains | Short-term (20%) on each gain booked, because the books rebalance monthly. | As you sell: 20% within a year; after a year, 12.5% on gains above ₹1.25 lakh a year. | Only when you sell; long-term (12.5% above ₹1.25 lakh a year) after a year. | As a mutual fund. | In your hands as the manager trades. | Depends on how often the portfolio rebalances. | Mostly short-term. |
| Your time | About ten minutes a month, on the 1st. | Whatever you give it; there is no schedule. | None after the first SIP. | None. | None. | A confirmation at each rebalance. | Watching messages in market hours. |
| What you can check | Every pick and weight, the method, the live record and two broker-verified accounts. | Your own reasons, if you wrote them down. | A monthly portfolio and factsheet. | The index rules and the portfolio. | Monthly reports to you. | The manager’s rationale and the platform’s returns. | Usually no published rules or record. |
| Minimum to start | Each book’s “works from” floor, on Pricing. | One share. | Often ₹100–₹500 a month. | Often ₹100–₹500. | ₹50 lakh. | Each portfolio’s own minimum. | Varies. |
| Suits you if | You want direct stocks on rules, can spare ten minutes a month and want to see everything. | You have written rules for buying and selling, and keep to them. | You want no orders at all and to defer tax. | You want one rules-based style at the lowest cost. | You have ₹50 lakh and want someone else to trade. | You want to choose between many managers’ ideas. | — |
General features, not a ranking of any provider. Tax as of the 2024 Budget rules for listed equity; your own position may differ. Not a recommendation of any fund, manager or platform.
Already hold a lot of stocks and funds? Map what you own privately, in your browser, and see how many holdings is enough.
Against the fund you hold, over the same months
The strategies page puts each MindForge book beside real funds in its category over the same months, each after its own tax: our figure is a backtest, the funds’ are their real Direct Plan returns from AMFI’s published NAVs. The calculator does the same on your own capital and monthly addition.