Study of Mutual Funds and Investors in India

There are a lot of investment avenues available today in the financial market for an investor with an investable surplus. He can invest in Bank Deposits, Corporate Debentures, and Bonds where there is low risk but low return. He may invest in Stock of companies where the risk is high and the returns are also proportionately high. The recent trends in the Stock Market have shown that an average retail investor always lost with periodic bearish tends. People began opting for portfolio managers with expertise in stock markets who would invest on their behalf. Thus we had wealth management services provided by many institutions. However they proved too costly
for a small investor. These investors have found a good shelter with the mutual funds.

Mutual fund industry has seen a lot of changes in past few years with multinational companies coming into the country, bringing in their professional expertise in managing funds worldwide. In the past few months there has been a consolidation phase going on in the mutual fund industry in India. Now investors have a wide range of Schemes to choose from depending on their individual profiles.

My study gives an overview of mutual funds – definition, types, benefits, risks, limitations, history of mutual funds in India, latest trends, global scenarios. I have analyzed a few prominent mutual funds schemes and have given my findings.

A mutual fund is a scheme in which several people invest their money for a common financial cause. The collected money invests in the capital market and the money, which they earned, is divided based on the number of units, which they hold.

The mutual fund industry started in India in a small way with the UTI Act creating what was effectively a small savings division within the RBI. Over a period of 25 years this grew fairly successfully and gave investors a good return, and therefore in 1989, as the next logical step, public sector banks and financial institutions were allowed to float mutual funds and their success emboldened the government to allow the private sector to foray into this area