The dividend is not paid to the investor, often it is considered as equivalent to growth option but there is a difference. Let us understand each of the options and see what’s the difference between dividend re-invested option with growth option and which is a better choice for an investor.
There are 3 choices from a dividend point of view in each of a regular plan or a direct plan. (Direct plans is recommended)
- Growth Option or No Dividend Option.
- The dividend is paid out to the investor.
- The dividend is re-invested in the same fund.
In the third option, as the dividend is not paid to the investor, often it is considered as equivalent to growth option but there is a difference.
So let us understand each of the above options and see what’s the difference between dividend re-invested option with growth option and which is a better choice for an investor.
Growth Option
The invested amount allocates the number of units to the investor based on the NAV value of each unit on the given date of investment.
If the NAV of a fund is ₹10 and if investors invest ₹10,000. He will be allocated 1,000 units.
In the growth option, the number of units remains the same for the investor till the investor redeems them partially or fully.
Dividend Payout
Funds declare dividends from time to time. Some funds pay dividend quarterly whereas others opt to pay yearly.
The amount of dividend declared by a fund is paid to the investor and the NAV for the fund is reduced by the same price per unit as the dividend.
What it means is if the NAV of the fund is ₹12 and if the fund declares the dividend of ₹1. The Nav of the fund for the following day will become ₹11 assuming there is no change in the net asset for a day. If there is a change in the net asset, the NAV is adjusted accordingly.
Dividend Re-Investment
The amount of dividend declared by a fund is not paid to the investor but instead, it is used to purchase more units of the same fund.
Let us understand this with an example.
If the NAV of a fund was ₹10 and if investors invested ₹10,000, he was allocated 1,000 units.
The NAV of the fund increased over time to ₹12. The mutual fund declares a dividend of ₹1. Let us assume the NAV of the fund the following day is ₹11.
The dividend of ₹1,000 was to be paid to the investor but as the option selected by the investor was dividend re-investment. The fund automatically purchases extra units of the fund for the investors.
So the number of units purchased by the fund for the investors is 90.90.
Now the total number of units of the investor has increased from 1,000 to 1,090.90 and they are being valued at ₹11.
Comparison Table
| Amount Invested | NAV | Units | Final Amount | |
| Growth | ₹10,000 | ₹12 | 1,000 | ₹12,000 |
| Dividend Payout | ₹10,000 | ₹11 | 1,000 | ₹11,000 +₹1,000 (Paid as Dividend) |
| Dividend Re-Invested | ₹10,000 | ₹11 | 1,090.90 | ₹12,000 |
The number of units multiplied by the NAV is the final amount.
- In dividend payout option the number of units remains the same as the growth option.
- In dividend re-investment option the final amount remains the same as the growth option.
If we only consider the final amount, Dividend Re-Investment and Growth option have no difference.
Dividend Re-Investment Or Growth?
I always preferred Dividend option for saving tax but after LTCG, I will opt for growth option.
So if I have to select one, I will opt for growth option as my first preference and then opt for dividend payout option. If at any point in time if I want to be investing again, let the dividend be paid out and then invest it again manually.
The Benefit of Dividend Re-investment
If there would have been no dividend distribution tax for mutual funds, dividend re-investment would have made a smarter choice than growth option.
Let me explain how.
Let us assume that there is a 25% increase in nav for both growth and dividend option after the dividend was paid at ₹12.
So the NAV for the growth option becomes increased from ₹12 to ₹15 and for the dividend (payout or re-investment) the NAV increases from ₹11 to ₹13.75.
At this point investor wishes to redeem.
So in growth option, his profit is ₹5,000. Invested ₹10,000 and redeems ₹15,000.
In Dividend re-investment, his purchase is 10,000 as initial investment + 1,000 as dividend re-invested amount.
So his sale price is 13.75 x 1090.90 is again 15,000 but his gain is not 5,000 because his purchase price is 10,000+1,000.
Because there is a dividend distributed tax, the save in tax by the individual is paid by the mutual fund.
Final Thoughts
There isn’t one option to work for everyone and this is the reason so many options exist. Opt the one that best suits your requirement.
Good post, I am right now in the process of switching all my mutual fund investments , which are in Div reinvest to Growth option, before 31 March.
I don’t think you need to switch because it can have impact on the tax. Just new investment in Growth is enough as well.
You are right. I have checked the tax implications for each of the investments and broadly my MF investments fall into one of these categories –
1. There are MF investments which i made earlier in Regular plans and stopped investing more than 2-3 years old . In these cases, only Div Reinvest amount gets added every year . Only this year Div reinvestments fall into STCG category and switching them now for most of them actually result in STCLoss due to NAV fall post Div declartion as well as general market fall.
2. There are Direct plans where I have invested within last 1 year where similar situation occurs but with minor exit loads .
In nutshell , most of the switches is likely into result in short term capital loss and very few in STCG; Exit loads in few cases. What I think I may be missing out could be any tax gains due to Grandfathered price as on 31 Jan 2018, if I hold and sell/ switch it later. Anyhow, I am going ahead with switch now to growth as it would streamline things for me from April 1.
Hope I am on right track. Thanks. – Jeyaram G
If you have done your calculations, everything should be fine.
Wow shabbir, with examples its is very clear that growth options is better compared to dividend. Thanks for such a nice post
The pleasure is all mine @zpaya:disqus