Vidya Bala
Founding Partner & Head, Research and Product
About Vidya
Vidya helped build one of the country’s earliest robo-advisory solutions in the country in her earlier role at FundsIndia. She believes in not just providing the right solutions for investors but also taking ownership for the same and following up or changing course when the situation warrants.
Vidya was the head of mutual fund research at FundsIndia where she did some path-breaking work in analysing funds and offering researched portfolios. Her recommendations had a sound track record of beating markets and showcasing consistency. They were followed widely by investors, advisors and media.
A Chartered Accountant by qualification, Vidya began her career as a Senior Internal Auditor for Ashok Leyland. She then went on to work for The Hindu Business Line’s Research Bureau, tracking mutual funds, stock markets, sectors and the macro economy for eight years. She has more than 18 years of experience, of which over 15 were spent analyzing the markets.
Vidya is known in the media for her straight talk and, calling out bad products.
Stay in touch
Vidya in the media
- One size fits all approach does not work for debt funds – LiveMint
- Big Truth about investing in Small Caps – The Hindu
- Why SEBI needs to strengthen rules to protect investors in debt mutual funds – Economic Times
- Why people are exiting their real estate investments – FundsIndia
- The debt funds spook and what it means – FundsIndia
Watch Vidya talk about her financial journey
Vidya's recent articles
Value of independence – a response to our critics
A recent ET Wealth study done jointly with us, had many of our distributor and advisor friends lash out at us on social media. The same happened some months ago when we took a firm call on Franklin funds. We thought we should not react but since this appears to be repeating, we decided to ‘respond’.
Bharti Airtel Rights issue: how to approach rights entitlement
The Bharti Airtel rights issue has attracted attention for its sheer size of Rs 21,000 crore, next to Reliance Industries’ rights issue size of over Rs 50,000 crore last year.
Prime Stock Recommendation: A unique capital goods play
If you screen for this stock under the capital goods sector in any screener, chances are that you will miss it. Because it is not your regular capital goods company. Some databases classify it under ‘consumer durables’, while others called it a ‘computer and electronic manufacturer’. This company is none of these entirely but still some of these. But this outlier stock is a worthy one in the capital goods space. Here’s why.
Prime Recommendation: The best fund in the balanced advantage category
The balanced advantage category (called the balanced advantage/dynamic asset allocation category or BA/DAA) has received a lot of attention, after a whopping collection of Rs 12,000 crore by SBI Balanced Advantage during its recent NFO. This category is mostly seen as one that delivers equity returns with less risk or one that can be used as an income generation option – neither of which are quite right. In this report we get into detail about one of our already recommended funds in this space, while also explaining when and how to use a fund in this category.
Regular and Direct expense ratios – 3 ways to compare
When you compare the regular and direct expense ratios of mutual funds, how do you decide something is expensive or not? At PrimeInvestor, we have a new tool to help you make this comparison. But the tool alone can’t help you decide. This article will tell you how to use it effectively and what other factors should go into deciding your choice of plan.
How to choose international funds
International funds could have significantly improved your portfolio returns in the last 5 years, with their superior performance. Most of your questions revolve around which markets to choose and whether you should diversify across markets. Here’s what your choices are and how you can narrow them.