Mutual funds pool money from investors and invest it in a variety of assets like stocks, bonds, and money market instruments. Investors benefit from diversification and professional management. The main types of mutual funds are stock funds, bond funds, money market funds, and balanced funds, which invest in a mix of assets. Mutual funds offer investors affordable access to a range of investments.

4. What are Mutual Funds?
Mutual funds are a type of investment that takes
money from many investors and uses it to make
investments based on a stated investment objective.
Each shareholder in the mutual fund participates
proportionally (based upon the number of shares
owned) in the gain or loss of the fund.

5. Why do People Invest in Mutual
Funds?
Mutual funds offer investors an affordable way to diversify
their investment portfolios.
Mutual funds allow investors the opportunity to have a
financial stake in many different types of investments.
These investments include: stocks, bonds, money markets,
real estate, commodities, etc…
Individually, an investor may be able to own stock in a few
companies, a few bonds, and have money in a money
market account. Participation in a mutual fund, however,
allows the investor to have much greater exposure to each
of these asset classes.

6. Continued….
Most mutual funds are professionally managed by
an investment expert known as a portfolio
manager.
This individual makes all of the buying and
selling decisions for the fund.
There are thousands of different mutual funds.
This provides investors with many options to help
them achieve their investment objectives.

7. Types of Mutual Fund Schemes
By Structure
 Open-Ended – anytime enter/exit
 Close-Ended Schemes – listed on exchange, redemption after period of
scheme is over.
By Investment Objective
 Equity (Growth) – only in Stocks – Long Term (3 years or more)
 Debt (Income) – only in Fixed Income Securities (3-10 months)
 Liquid/Money Market (including gilt) – Short-term Money Market
(Govt.)
Other Schemes
 Tax Saving Schemes
 Special Schemes

8. Basic Mutual Fund Categories
 Mutual Funds can be divided into four basic
categories based upon the funds investment
objective.
 These categories are:
1. Money Market Mutual Funds
2. Stock Mutual Funds
3. Index Funds
4. Bond Mutual Funds
5. Balanced Mutual Funds

9. Money Market Mutual Funds
This is the most conservative type of mutual fund.
The goal is to maintain the $1 value of its shares while
providing income.
Invests in high-quality, short-term securities such as
certificates of deposit, U.S. Treasury Bills, and U.S.
Treasury Notes.
MMMF’s are an appropriate place for savings.
These funds have typically offered higher interest rates
than bank savings accounts.
Money market mutual funds are not insured by the FDIC.

10. Stock Mutual Funds
Type of fund that invests in stocks.
These funds are also known as equity funds.
There are many different types of stock mutual
funds.
Some of the most common include:
Large-cap funds, mid-cap funds, small-cap funds,
income funds, growth funds, value funds, blend
funds, international funds, and sector funds.

11. Index Funds
These are mutual funds whose holdings aim to track the
performance of a specific stock market index.
The most common index fund tracks the S&P 500. These
index funds invest in the exact stocks (and in the same
percentages) as those found in the S&P 500.
Index funds also track bonds, real estate, and other types
of assets.
These funds are lower cost than other types of funds.

12. Bond Mutual Funds
Type of mutual fund that invests in bonds.
There are different types of bond mutual funds.
Typically, bond mutual funds have the objective of
Typically
providing stable income with minimal risk.

13. Balanced Mutual Funds
These are also known as hybrid funds.
These mutual funds invest in stocks, bonds, and
money markets.
These are very diversified mutual funds. The stock
portion of the fund provides the potential for capital
appreciation, while the bond and money market
portion provide income.

14. Load v. No Load Mutual Funds
A mutual fund that charges a commission to cover its
administrative costs is called a load fund.
A front-end load charges the load when the shares are
purchased, while a back-end load charges the load
when the shares are sold.
A no-load mutual fund doesn’t charge a purchase or
sales commission.

15. Top 10 Mutual Funds in India
ICICI Prudential Discovery Inst
IDFC Premier Equity
HDFC Equity
ING Dividend Yield
Quantum Long Term Equity
Tata Dividend Yield
ICICI Prudential Focused Bluechip
HDFC Prudence
Canara Robeco Equity Diversified
ICICI Prudential Focused Bluechip Equity Retail