by Naveen Julian Rego – CFP®

10 Sep, 2026

Blog Post

Is your financial planner a mutual fund?

“How have my returns been for the past three years?”

One of our clients asked me this recently, visibly upset about our fees.

But is investment return really the right way to judge the capabilities of a financial planning and wealth management firm?

Let me explain.

Mutual funds, PMS, AIFs, SIFs, REITs, stocks, bonds, FDs, ETFs and other financial products are just that — financial products.

They don't have emotions. They are expected to generate a certain risk-adjusted return over a specific time horizon. Their performance can be measured through income such as interest and dividends, as well as capital appreciation or depreciation, and compared with an appropriate benchmark.

Financial planning is different.

A financial planning firm first needs to understand the individual — their risk-taking ability, time horizon, cash-flow requirements, financial goals and responsibilities — and only then construct a portfolio using different financial products.

The individual is a real human being, with emotions, aspirations and changing circumstances.

Therefore, the portfolio should be different for every individual.

A young investor may have a long investment horizon and a higher risk appetite. But that same person may also need:

• Emergency funds

• A medium-term portfolio to buy a property

• A short-term portfolio for a vacation

• Money for other near-term goals

Similarly, a retiree may be conservative because regular cash flow is important. But they may also need a portfolio capable of beating inflation if the objective is to leave a legacy for the next generation.

So, how do you benchmark a financial plan?

A mutual fund, PMS or other investment product can usually be compared against a defined benchmark.

But benchmarking an individual's entire portfolio is far more complicated because different parts of the portfolio are doing different jobs.

Ideally:

• Long-term equity should be compared with a passive equity index such as the Nifty 50 or Nifty 500.

Long-term debt could be compared with an appropriate government securities index or FD returns.
Liquid money could be compared with liquid benchmarks or savings account returns.

And financial planning goes beyond investments. It also involves ensuring that appropriate protection — such as health and term insurance — is in place.

At Naveen Rego Capital, a fee-only wealth management firm and non-individual SEBI Registered Investment Adviser, we follow a similar philosophy.

For long-term equity portfolios, we would ideally like to outperform a passive equity index over the long term.

Interestingly, in a recent review of our long-term clients who have been with us for 5 years or more, we found that their portfolios had outperformed the Nifty 50 and Nifty 500 even after our fees, despite not being 100% invested in equities.

How?

Primarily through diversification across domestic equity, gold, debt and international equity, along with disciplined asset allocation.

But ultimately, that is not the real yardstick.

The real questions are:

Did the client achieve their financial goals?

Were they able to focus better on their professional and personal lives?

Did they avoid unnecessary financial mistakes?

Did they reduce the tax?

Did they have greater clarity and confidence about their money?

Did they sleep better at night?

A financial planner is not a mutual fund.

So perhaps the better question to ask your financial planner isn't only:

“How much return did you make for me?”

But also:

“Did you help me make better financial decisions and achieve what I wanted from my money?”

Evaluate your financial planner on that basis.

If you have missed any of our previous articles, please visit https://naveenrego.com/blog-grid.php?aW5pdGlhdGl2ZXNfdHlwZV9pZA=MQ

Happy Financial Planning!

Naveen Julian Rego – CFP®

MD & Principal Officer

Naveen Rego Capital

SEBI Registered Investment Adviser