Mutual fund as an investment option.ppt

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Mutual Funds are good investment options in your financial portfolio. It gives more returns when compared to risk free investment options in banks. Apart from that, the risk in these investments are much less when compared to direct investments in shares.

These are diversified methods to invest our money and they offer several benefits of professional ways to invest our hard earned money. At the other end, we should also analyze the risk that is involved in such investment options. Before investing we should analyze the complete document given by the concern mutual fund company. There is also taxes and entry fees that are a part of mutual fund investments that will reduce our returns on investments.

Mutual funds are not guaranteed by the government and hence there is a risk of losing the principal amount invested. At the same time mutual funds offer several advantages and that is why people have started investing in them. The first is the affordability, as any kind of investor even without a huge amount of money can start investing in mutual funds to garner benefits for themselves.

There are several mutual funds schemes such as monthly payments i.e systematic investment plans and initial one time purchase, that can be customized based on the individual needs of the investor.

The liquidity that mutual funds offers to the investors is more when compared to others. The mutual funds can be redeemed by the investor at any point of time in the form of the current Net Asset Value per unit on at that time. After a deduction of the charges the person can get the money back anytime from the mutual funds. Most investors like this kind of liquidity that it offers.


Savings form an important part of the economy of any nation. With the savings invested in various options available to the people, the money acts as the driver for growth of the country. Indian financial scene too presents a plethora of avenues to the investors. Though certainly not the best or deepest of markets in the world, it has reasonable options for an ordinary man to invest his savings. Let us examine several of them:

Banks

Considered as the safest of all options, banks have been the roots of the financial systems in India. Promoted as the means to social development, banks in India have indeed played an important role in the rural upliftment. For an ordinary person though, they have acted as the safest investment avenue wherein a person deposits money and earns interest on it. The two main modes of investment in banks, savings accounts and Fixed deposits have been effectively used by one and all. However, today the interest rate structure in the country is headed southwards, keeping in line with global trends. With the banks offering little above 9 percent in their fixed deposits for one year, the yields have come down substantially in recent times. Add to this, the inflationary pressures in economy and you have a position where the savings are not earning. The inflation is creeping up, to almost 8 percent at times, and this means that the value of money saved goes down instead of going up. This effectively mars any chance of gaining from the investments in banks.

Post Office schemes

Just like banks, post offices in India have a wide network. Spread across the nation, they offer financial assistance as well as serving the basic requirements of communication. Among all saving options, Post office schemes have been offering the highest rates. Added to it is the fact that the investments are safe with the department being a Government of India entity. So the two basic and most sought for features, those of return safety and quantum of returns were being handsomely taken care of. Though certainly not the most efficient systems in terms of service standards and liquidity, these have still managed to attract the attention of small, retail investors. However, with the government announcing its intention of reducing the interest rates in small savings options, this avenue is expected to lose some of the investors. Public Provident Funds act as options to save for the post retirement period for most people and have been considered good option largely due to the fact that returns were higher than most other options and also helped people gain from tax benefits under various sections. This option too is likely to lose some of its sheen on account of reduction in the rates offered.

Company Fixed Deposits

Another oft-used route to invest has been the fixed deposit schemes floated by companies. Companies have used fixed deposit schemes as a means of mobilizing funds for their operations and have paid interest on them. The safer a company is rated, the lesser the return offered has been the thumb rule. However, there are several potential roadblocks in these. First of all, the danger of financial position of the company not being understood by the investor lurks. The investors rely on intermediaries who more often than not, don’t reveal the entire truth. Secondly, liquidity is a major problem with the amount being received months after the due dates. Premature redemption is generally not entertained without cuts in the returns offered and though they present a reasonable option to counter interest rate risk (especially when the economy is headed for a low interest regime), the safety of principal amount has been found lacking. Many cases like the Kuber Group and DCM Group fiascoes have resulted in low confidence in this option.

The options discussed above are essentially for the risk-averse, people who think of safety and then quantum of return, in that order. For the brave, it is dabbling in the stock market. Stock markets provide an option to invest in a high risk, high return game. While the potential return is much more than 10-11 percent any of the options discussed above can generally generate, the risk is undoubtedly of the highest order. But then, the general principle of encountering greater risks and uncertainty when one seeks higher returns holds true. However, as enticing as it might appear, people generally are clueless as to how the stock market functions and in the process can endanger the hard-earned money.

For those who are not adept at understanding the stock market, the task of generating superior returns at similar levels of risk is arduous to say the least. This is where Mutual Funds come into picture.

Mutual Funds are essentially investment vehicles where people with similar investment objective come together to pool their money and then invest accordingly. Each unit of any scheme represents the proportion of pool owned by the unit holder (investor). Appreciation or reduction in value of investments is reflected in net asset value (NAV) of the concerned scheme, which is declared by the fund from time to time. Mutual fund schemes are managed by respective Asset Management Companies (AMC). Different business groups/ financial institutions/ banks have sponsored these AMCs, either alone or in collaboration with reputed international firms. Several international funds like Alliance and Templeton are also operating independently in India. Many more international Mutual Fund giants are expected to come into Indian markets in the near future.
The benefits on offer are many with good post-tax returns and reasonable safety being the hallmark that we normally associate with them. Some of the other major benefits of investing in them are:

Number of available options

Mutual funds invest according to the underlying investment objective as specified at the time of launching a scheme. So, we have equity funds, debt funds, gilt funds and many others that cater to the different needs of the investor. The availability of these options makes them a good option. While equity funds can be as risky as the stock markets themselves, debt funds offer the kind of security that is aimed for at the time of making investments. Money market funds offer the liquidity that is desired by big investors who wish to park surplus funds for very short-term periods. Balance Funds acter to the investors having an appetite for risk greater than the debt funds but less than the equity funds. The only pertinent factor here is that the fund has to be selected keeping the risk profile of the investor in mind because the products listed above have different risks associated with them. So, while equity funds are a good bet for a long term, they may not find favour with corporates or High Networth Individuals (HNIs) who have short-term needs.

Diversification

Investments are spread across a wide cross-section of industries and sectors and so the risk is reduced. Diversification reduces the risk because all stocks don’t move in the same direction at the same time. One can achieve this diversification through a Mutual Fund with far less money than one can on his own.

Professional Management

Mutual Funds employ the services of skilled professionals who have years of experience to back them up. They use intensive research techniques to analyze each investment option for the potential of returns along with their risk levels to come up with the figures for performance that determine the suitability of any potential investment.

Potential of Returns

Returns in the mutual funds are generally better than any other option in any other avenue over a reasonable period of time. People can pick their investment horizon and stay put in the chosen fund for the duration. Equity funds can outperform most other investments over long periods by placing long-term calls on fundamentally good stocks. The debt funds too will outperform other options such as banks. Though they are affected by the interest rate risk in general, the returns generated are more as they pick securities with different duration that have different yields and so are able to increase the overall returns from the portfolio.

Liquidity

Fixed deposits with companies or in banks are usually not withdrawn premature because there is a penal clause attached to it. The investors can withdraw or redeem money at the Net Asset Value related prices in the open-end schemes. In closed-end schemes, the units can be transacted at the prevailing market price on a stock exchange. Mutual funds also provide the facility of direct repurchase at NAV related prices. The market prices of these schemes are dependent on the NAVs of funds and may trade at more than NAV (known as Premium) or less than NAV (known as Discount) depending on the expected future trend of NAV which in turn is linked to general market conditions. Bullish market may result in schemes trading at Premium while in bearish markets the funds usually trade at Discount. This means that the money can be withdrawn anytime, without much reduction in yield. Some mutual funds however, charge exit loads for withdrawal within a period linked to

Besides these important features, mutual funds also offer several other key traits. Important among them are:

Well Regulated

Unlike the company fixed deposits, where there is little control with the investment being considered as unsecured debt from the legal point of view, the Mutual Fund industry is very well regulated. All investments have to be accounted for, decisions judiciously taken. SEBI acts as a true watchdog in this case and can impose penalties on the AMCs at fault. The regulations, designed to protect the investors’ interests are also implemented effectively.

Transparency

Being under a regulatory framework, mutual funds have to disclose their holdings, investment pattern and all the information that can be considered as material, before all investors. This means that the investment strategy, outlooks of the market and scheme related details are disclosed with reasonable frequency to ensure that transparency exists in the system. This is unlike any other investment option in India where the investor knows nothing as nothing is disclosed.

Flexible, Affordable and a Low Cost affair

Mutual Funds offer a relatively less expensive way to invest when compared to other avenues such as capital market operations. The fee in terms of brokerages, custodial fees and other management fees are substantially lower than other options and are directly linked to the performance of the scheme. Investment in mutual funds also offers a lot of flexibility with features such as regular investment plans, regular withdrawal plans and dividend reinvestment plans enabling systematic investment or withdrawal of funds. Even the investors, who could otherwise not enter stock markets with low investible funds, can benefit from a portfolio comprising of high-priced stocks because they are purchased from pooled funds
 
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