Mutual funds

How to start a SIP in Nepal.

A systematic investment plan puts a fixed amount into a mutual fund on a schedule, so you buy in every month instead of trying to pick the right moment. Here is how to set one up in Nepal, and what it does and does not do for you.

6 min read · Updated · 26 August 2026

The short answer

A SIP is a standing instruction to buy mutual fund units every month. Open a demat account, pick a fund, set the amount and the date, and it runs on its own. Minimums commonly start around NPR 1,000 a month.

Why anyone bothers

The hardest part of investing is not picking. It is starting, and continuing. Most people wait for a better price, the price moves, and they wait again.

A SIP removes the decision. The same amount goes in every month whatever the market is doing. When units are expensive your money buys fewer; when they are cheap it buys more. Over years, that averages your entry price without you having to be clever about it.

It also matches how salaries work. Money arrives monthly, so it is invested monthly.

What you need before you start

A demat account, opened through a bank or broker that offers one. This is the same account used for shares — see how to open a demat account if you do not have one.
A bank account the monthly amount will be debited from.
A fund you have actually read about, rather than the one someone recommended in a Viber group.

How to set one up

Choose a fund house. Nepal has a number of licensed asset management companies, most of them subsidiaries of banks.
Choose the scheme. For a SIP you generally want an open-end fund, because you can buy and redeem units at net asset value on any dealing day rather than being tied to the NEPSE price of a listed scheme.
Complete the fund’s SIP form and KYC, giving your demat details and the bank account to debit.
Set the amount and the date each month.
Check the first debit actually happened and units were allotted. Do not assume it started.

Fund houses differ in how much of this is online. Confirm the current process and the payment instructions with the fund manager directly — not with a third party — before you send money anywhere.

Open-end or closed-end: it matters for a SIP

Nepal has both kinds, and they behave very differently.

An open-end fund creates and cancels units on demand. It does not list on NEPSE. You buy and redeem at NAV, the fund’s published value per unit. That is what makes a monthly instruction workable.

A closed-end fund raises a fixed pot for a fixed term and lists on NEPSE. You buy it like a share, at whatever the market pays — which in Nepal is usually below NAV. That discount is not a bargain; it reflects that your money is tied up until maturity.

The full comparison is in open-end versus closed-end funds.

What a SIP does not do

It does not guarantee a return. It does not protect you from a falling market. If the fund’s holdings drop, your units drop with them, monthly instruction or not.

What it removes is timing risk — the risk of putting everything in on one unlucky day. That is a genuine benefit, and it is a narrower one than most marketing suggests.

Common mistake to avoid

Stopping when the market falls. A falling market is when the monthly amount buys the most units, which is the entire mechanism you signed up for. Cancelling then converts a paper loss into a real one and throws away the averaging. If you might need the money within a year or two, the amount was too high to begin with.

Pro tip

Size the SIP so you can keep paying it through a bad year, not a good one. An amount you can sustain for five years beats a larger one you abandon in eight months. And keep the fund’s own documents — the scheme paper and the NAV history — rather than relying on summaries.

If you also hold shares directly, Punji’s portfolio tracker shows your NEPSE holdings against the index, so you can see what each part of your money is actually doing.

Common questions

Answered plainly.

What is a SIP?

A systematic investment plan is an instruction to invest a fixed amount into a mutual fund at a fixed interval, usually monthly. Instead of deciding when to invest, you decide how much and how often, and the schedule does the rest. It is the same idea as a recurring deposit, except the money buys mutual fund units rather than earning a fixed rate.

How much money do I need to start a SIP in Nepal?

Schemes commonly start around NPR 1,000 per month, though the exact minimum is set by the fund and is stated in its documents. The point of the small minimum is that a SIP is meant to be affordable enough to keep going for years, which is where the benefit comes from.

Do I need a demat account for a SIP?

Yes. A demat account is required to hold mutual fund units in Nepal, the same account you would use for shares. If you already invest in IPOs through MeroShare, you have one.

Is a SIP safe?

It is not a deposit and it is not guaranteed. Your units are worth whatever the fund's net asset value is on the day you sell, which can be less than you paid. What a SIP reduces is timing risk, not market risk: you are spared having to guess the right entry point, but you are still exposed to the market the fund invests in.

What returns should I expect from a SIP in Nepal?

Nobody can tell you, and treat any specific promised figure with suspicion. Returns depend entirely on what the fund holds and what the market does over your holding period. Look at the fund's actual published NAV history and its portfolio rather than at an advertised projection.

Can I stop a SIP?

Yes. A SIP is an instruction, not a lock-in, and you can normally pause or cancel it through the fund manager. Whether you can withdraw the money you have already invested depends on the fund type: open-end units can be redeemed at NAV, closed-end units have to be sold on NEPSE until the scheme matures.