No Goal Investing Update: Month 12 – January 2026
The first year ends. The second begins.
And we are here. It’s Republic Day 2026. Today marks the one year of the No Goal Investing experiment which I had started on the previous Republic Day.
I had set this up with an initial contribution on INR 1 Lac each for the three fictional personas and then the discipline on INR 20000 investment every month on/around 26th in the defined strategy. To read more about the strategies, you can refer to the setup post here.
Nifty has returned 9.72% during the past year. As you can see in the below chart, we had several dips as the year started, but then it stabilized in the range of 24 K to 26 K for most of the year. As I wrote in the last post, Nifty was poised to break its all time high and then get out of the holding pattern that it had held for over more than a year.
However, that did not happen. Over the last month, Nifty gave up around 4%. This drop means that what was looking like a good year of gains for the three strategies, now looks very ordinary. And in fact, Shekhar has lost money over the year.
Let’s get into the details.
The update –
Exactly a month ago, optimism was easy to find. A Jefferies report spoke confidently of a Nifty target of 28,300, while a comprehensive Times of India year-end piece declared that the days of gloom were behind us. In early January, Kotak Securities went a step further, projecting 29,100 on the Nifty by the end of 2026. The underlying logic was consistent across all three: improving earnings visibility, strong domestic liquidity, and India’s relative macro strength.
A month later, the picture looks very different. Nifty is down close to 4%. Heavyweight stocks have disappointed on earnings. Foreign flows have turned decisively negative. The rupee continues its slide against the dollar. We know, of course, that Mr. Market does not like to move in straight lines. He prefers random walks; and, as I have felt many times over the past year, God only knows why.
In any case, the three stalwarts have decided to stick to their commitments. Another INR 20,000 has gone into their respective strategies. They are hoping that we have seen better days before, and they may come again.
The last trading day was on 23rd January, Friday, so the numbers below reflect the same.
Indu’s portfolio (The index fan) –
| Mutual Fund Scheme | Existing Units | New Investment | NAV | New Units | Total Units | Value |
| ICICI Pru Nifty 100 ETF | 11653.576 | 20000 | 28.43 | 703.482 | 12357.058 | 351311.15 |
| Invested Amount | 340000 |
| Current Value | 351311.2 |
Muthu’s portfolio (the mutual funds sahi hai guy) –
| Sr No | Mutual Fund Scheme | Existing Units | New Investment | NAV | New Units | Total Units | Value |
| 1 | ICICI Large and Mid Cap fund | 66.409 | 4000 | 1004.57 | 3.982 | 70.390 | 70712.08 |
| 2 | HDFC Mid-cap Opprtunities fund | 346.055 | 4000 | 196.67 | 20.339 | 366.394 | 72058.63 |
| 3 | Parag Parikh Flexi Cap fund | 778.299 | 4000 | 85 | 47.059 | 825.358 | 70155.42 |
| 4 | Nippon India Multi Cap fund | 226.226 | 4000 | 281.17 | 14.226 | 240.452 | 67607.97 |
| 5 | HDFC Small Cap fund | 484.184 | 4000 | 130.31 | 30.696 | 514.880 | 67093.97 |
| Invested Amount | 340000 |
| Current Value | 347628.1 |
Shekhar’s Portfolio (the stock picker) –
| Stock | Existing Shares | New Investment | Buy Price | New Shares | Total Shares | Value |
| Aarti Industries | 15.43 | 400.00 | 352.8 | 1.13 | 16.57 | 5844.164 |
| Aarti Pharma | 8.76 | 400.00 | 768.7 | 0.52 | 9.28 | 7132.202 |
| Asian Paints | 2.71 | 400.00 | 2703.7 | 0.15 | 2.86 | 7725.316 |
| Astral | 4.50 | 400.00 | 1383.9 | 0.29 | 4.79 | 6626.229 |
| Axis Bank | 5.93 | 400.00 | 1258 | 0.32 | 6.24 | 7855.105 |
| Bajaj Finance | 7.40 | 400.00 | 927.85 | 0.43 | 7.83 | 7265.3 |
| Bajaj Finserv | 3.35 | 400.00 | 1949 | 0.21 | 3.55 | 6924.754 |
| Bajaj Housing Finance | 57.23 | 400.00 | 88.35 | 4.53 | 61.75 | 5456.001 |
| Britannia | 1.19 | 400.00 | 5835 | 0.07 | 1.26 | 7360.872 |
| Chola Investment | 4.43 | 400.00 | 1643.2 | 0.24 | 4.67 | 7678.325 |
| Dabur | 12.76 | 400.00 | 519 | 0.77 | 13.53 | 7021.161 |
| Deepak Nitrite | 3.24 | 400.00 | 1563.6 | 0.26 | 3.50 | 5467.634 |
| Devyani International | 38.58 | 400.00 | 114.59 | 3.49 | 42.07 | 4821.244 |
| Divis Labs | 1.05 | 400.00 | 6011.5 | 0.07 | 1.12 | 6740.139 |
| DMART Avenue Supermart | 1.63 | 400.00 | 3665.6 | 0.11 | 1.74 | 6366.248 |
| Eicher | 1.13 | 400.00 | 6973 | 0.06 | 1.19 | 8265.239 |
| Garware Technical | 8.20 | 400.00 | 613.1 | 0.65 | 8.86 | 5429.328 |
| Havells | 4.22 | 400.00 | 1287 | 0.31 | 4.53 | 5829.52 |
| HCL Tech | 3.97 | 400.00 | 1707 | 0.23 | 4.20 | 7176.429 |
| HDFC Bank | 7.06 | 400.00 | 916.1 | 0.44 | 7.50 | 6871.355 |
| HUL | 2.72 | 400.00 | 2409.5 | 0.17 | 2.89 | 6952.67 |
| ICICI Bank | 4.87 | 400.00 | 1343.4 | 0.30 | 5.16 | 6938.072 |
| Indian Hotels | 8.42 | 400.00 | 645.8 | 0.62 | 9.04 | 5837.527 |
| Infosys | 3.96 | 400.00 | 1670.8 | 0.24 | 4.20 | 7017.746 |
| Jio Finance | 23.87 | 400.00 | 252.9 | 1.58 | 25.45 | 6436.966 |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank | 15.79 | 400.00 | 422.8 | 0.95 | 16.73 | 7074.222 |
| L&T Technologies | 1.38 | 400.00 | 3837.9 | 0.10 | 1.49 | 5711.868 |
| LTI Mindtree | 1.19 | 400.00 | 5893.5 | 0.07 | 1.26 | 7403.494 |
| Mankind Pharma | 2.63 | 400.00 | 2107.6 | 0.19 | 2.82 | 5935.957 |
| Manyavar Vedant Fashions | 7.92 | 400.00 | 484.5 | 0.83 | 8.75 | 4237.346 |
| Metro Shoes | 5.51 | 400.00 | 1021.3 | 0.39 | 5.90 | 6022.968 |
| Muthoot Finance | 2.60 | 400.00 | 3802.8 | 0.11 | 2.71 | 10301.54 |
| Naukri Info Edge | 4.49 | 400.00 | 1300.9 | 0.31 | 4.79 | 6237.56 |
| Nestle | 5.52 | 400.00 | 1293.8 | 0.31 | 5.82 | 7535.825 |
| Nykaa | 32.72 | 400.00 | 234.7 | 1.70 | 34.42 | 8078.359 |
| Page Industries | 0.15 | 400.00 | 32880 | 0.01 | 0.16 | 5226.215 |
| PayTM | 6.86 | 400.00 | 1138.8 | 0.35 | 7.21 | 8215.651 |
| Pidilite | 4.42 | 400.00 | 1447.9 | 0.28 | 4.69 | 6793.618 |
| Reliance | 4.77 | 400.00 | 1386.1 | 0.29 | 5.06 | 7011.288 |
| SRF | 2.27 | 400.00 | 2713.7 | 0.15 | 2.42 | 6573.02 |
| Tata Consumer | 6.01 | 400.00 | 1153.5 | 0.35 | 6.36 | 7335.179 |
| Tata Elxsi | 1.10 | 400.00 | 5409.5 | 0.07 | 1.17 | 6341.494 |
| Tata Commecial | 7.40 | 200.00 | 449.2 | 0.45 | 7.85 | 3524.08 |
| Tata Motors | 9.50 | 200.00 | 344.45 | 0.58 | 10.09 | 3473.781 |
| TCS | 1.83 | 400.00 | 3162.5 | 0.13 | 1.95 | 6181.066 |
| Titan | 1.84 | 400.00 | 4021.8 | 0.10 | 1.94 | 7816.194 |
| Torrent Pharma | 1.91 | 400.00 | 3932.2 | 0.10 | 2.01 | 7892.562 |
| Trent | 1.25 | 400.00 | 3755.9 | 0.11 | 1.35 | 5086.542 |
| Tube Investments | 2.16 | 400.00 | 2219.4 | 0.18 | 2.34 | 5183.774 |
| Varun Beverages | 12.84 | 400.00 | 474.1 | 0.84 | 13.69 | 6489.546 |
| Zomato | 25.80 | 400.00 | 258.7 | 1.55 | 27.34 | 7073.598 |
| Kwality Walls | 2.54 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 2.54 | 127 |
*This month Kotak Mahindra bank went through a stock split in the ratio of 1:5. The numbers are updated for the same.
| Invested Amount | 340000 |
| Current Value | 335923.3 |
While the Nifty has lost ~4%, the broader market seems to have lost a lot more. The weakness is evident by comparing the numbers in the three portfolios. Indu’s portfolio tracks the top 100 stocks in India, whereas Muthu’s is a mix of large cap, mid cap and small cap. Shekhar’s stocks have been hit the worst. He is now sitting on a portfolio that is valued less than what he has put in.
Next month, all three will be starting the second year. They will increase their investment amounts by 10%, however Shekhar has decided that some adjustments are due now. He will keep the philosophy intact and will not sell any of the holdings. But he plans to make some adjustments in the funds allocation for the next year.
Once he has done some number crunching and has decided on the path forward, I will share that with you. In the meantime, let’s take a look at the comparison between the three.
The comparison and the graph
| Month | Indu | Muthu | Shekhar | Investment |
| Jan-25 | 100000 | 100000 | 100000 | 100000 |
| Feb-25 | 117247.7 | 115538.4 | 116557.2 | 120000 |
| Mar-25 | 142363.5 | 140184.6 | 138494.2 | 140000 |
| Apr-25 | 165366.2 | 162416 | 163500.4 | 160000 |
| May-25 | 192137 | 191789.2 | 189153.7 | 180000 |
| Jun-25 | 217175.4 | 217913.8 | 213291.5 | 200000 |
| Jul-25 | 232075.9 | 236487.7 | 229127.7 | 220000 |
| Aug-25 | 251337.4 | 255466.6 | 249919.1 | 240000 |
| Sep-25 | 270980.7 | 275483.7 | 266187.4 | 260000 |
| Oct-25 | 304457.6 | 304522.5 | 295892 | 280000 |
| Nov-25 | 325694 | 325651.9 | 313676.1 | 300000 |
| Dec-25 | 344596.2 | 341517.5 | 332826.2 | 320000 |
| Jan-26 | 351311.2 | 347628.1 | 335923.3 | 340000 |
Year Two begins now. Each persona will increase their SIPs by 10%. Shekhar, bruised but not beaten, plans to adjust his future allocations.
Until then, I leave you with this thought:
In investing, as in life, not all walks need a goal. Some are worth taking simply because we can.
For now, wishing all of you a very happy Republic Day.
Disclaimer: I hold all the stocks and mutual funds mentioned on this page in my personal portfolio.