Mutual Funds - Frequently Asked
Questions
What is
Mutual Fund?
A Mutual Fund is a pool of money that is invested
according to a common investment objective by an Asset
Management Company (AMC). The AMC offers to invest the
money of hundreds of investors according to a certain
objective. Investors buy a scheme if it fits in with
their investment goals, like getting a regular income
now or letting the money accumulate over the long
term.
Why should I invest in Mutual
Fund?
Investors with small portfolios may not have the
necessary expertise nor get the required
diversification across debt and equity products. For
example, for as little as Rs. 1,000, an investor can
approach most schemes and get well-diversified
portfolios, across product classes and instruments.
The money is invested by market experts called Fund
Managers.
Is investing in Mutual Funds
safe?
The Mutual Fund industry is well regulated in India.
The market regulator, the Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI) has ensured that a repeat of the
vanishing companies does not happen here. Therefore,
Mutual Funds in India are in the form of a Trust. This
means that the money belongs to the investors and is
only held in the name of the trust. The investment
arm, the AMC, acts as a fee-for investment manager and
does not own the money. This does not mean that the
investments are risk-free. Investors need to take the
risk of volatility or bad management and money can
grow or lose value depending on the market and
investment decisions. However, sensible Mutual Fund
investing is a good way to include equity and debt in
individual portfolios to see realistic growth.
Types of Mutual Funds
Systematic Investment Plan
Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) is a disciplined way
of investing, where you invest fixed amounts at a
regular frequency. You often decide to start saving
and investing regularly, but get caught up in your
day-to-day activities and forget investments. SIP, the
time-tested investment approach helps bring in the
much-needed discipline, and has shown good results in
all the market conditions.
How does SIP work?
It is a very simple, yet powerful concept. Once you
have identified the fund that you want to invest in
and the savings required to achieve your goals, all
you have to do is to give an ECS instruction to your
bank to debit your account directly without the hassle
of writing individual cheques. However, you have an
option of giving post-dated cheques as well.
What’s special about SIP?
To get you into the habit of saving regularly, SIP
puts two powerful forces to work for you:
Rupee Cost Averaging
Month
Amount you invest
NAV
No. of Units
1
Rs. 1000
Rs. 10
100.000
2
Rs. 1000
Rs. 12
83.333
3
Rs. 1000
Rs. 10
100.000
4
Rs. 1000
Rs. 8
125.000
5
Rs. 1000
Rs. 10
100.000
TOTAL
Rs. 5000
Rs. 50
508.333
The average NAV = 50/5 = Rs. 10.00
Your average price = Your total Investment / Total No. of
Units
= 5000/508.333 = Rs. 9.84
What you see from the table is fascinating aspect of Rupee
Cost Averaging. It makes you buy fewer units when the
price is high and more units when the price is low,
thereby bringing down your average cost. Moreover, this
gives you the same discipline as investment professionals.
The Power of Compounding
The longer the period of your investment, the more you
accumulate, because of the power of compounding…which is
why it makes sense to start investing early.
Illustration: If you invest Rs.1000 per month into a
Mutual Fund with an asset allocation of 20% in equity fund
and 80% in income fund (a conservative approach), which
may possibly generate a return of 13%.
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