A sub optimal way of investing

I have had banking as a sector to invest for a long time, but due to time constraints, have not been able to research on the sector and identify the right candidates. While the obvious ones stand out, I would still like to research before I invest. So as to not lose out on the opportunity, I invested in Banking Benchmark exchange traded fund ( BANK BEES). My average cost of entry has been Rs 684 (adjusted for brokerage and divindend) , the current rate is 807 - over 3 months thats a return of 17.98%. Which is quite Ok I think. The other way I could have participated in this is through a banking mutual fund. The average category return is ~22.5%. If I were to adjust the entry load that most funds would levy, it comes down to 19.45%. So I have lost about 2.3% for not having invested in an actively managed fund.

I got thinking, I am sure there would have been better returns if I had spent time on researching, but given the fact that I am not too sure of evaluating banks ( you cannot go by the traditional way of researching companies to evaluate a financial institution) and since I did not have the time, I took a lazy way out. Maybe I should use those hours I clock in the flights on reading up on such things and researching. It will be time worth spent. But first I should get my sleep quota, which I try to fill in on the flights.

But I am still bullish on banking, will post on my picks...