What is a Mutual Fund:
It is nothing but an investment vehicle for deploying funds in Equity & Debt assets. It is a professionally managed fund that pools money from many investors for purchasing stocks, bonds, money market instruments and other type of securities. It provides high level of diversification besides economies of scale. Investor in a Mutual Fund has to pay fees, load (entry/exit) and expenses whereas it earns income and gain.
Equity Funds:
An Equity fund is one that invests principally into stocks. A fund that is actively managed by a Fund Manager is called as Active Fund whereas fund replicating the benchmark equity indices is called Index Fund or Passive Fund.
Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the regulating body for Mutual Funds. According to recent definition, top 100 listed companies in terms of market capitalization would form part of Large Cap Stocks whereas next 150 listed companies would be called as Mid Cap Stocks and rest would fall under definition of Small Cap Stocks. A combination of Equity & Debt funds where equity component is 65% or higher would be termed as Balanced Fund. A combination of large cap, mid cap and small cap would be called as Multi Cap Fund.
Debt Funds:
A debt fund is an investment vehicle where core assets would be Fixed Income Instruments. A debt fund may invest in short duration or long duration bonds, Certificate of Deposits, Commercial Papers, Repurchase of Securities, Floating rate securities and Securitized Products. A combination of debt and equity funds where debt component is higher is called as Hybrid Fund.
A fund with fluctuating average maturity period due to interest rate movements and invest in shorter as well as longer duration maturities is called Dynamic Bond Fund. A fund taking call based on interest rate movements and invest in debt securities with longer duration, providing stability to the fund, is called as Income Fund. These funds normally invest in debt securities with time horizon of 5-6 years. A fund that invest in only Government Securities with high ratings and very low risks, as Government seldom defaults on the payment, is called as Gilt Fund. Debt funds those invest in securities with maturity period of 1-3 years are called as Short Term or Ultra Short Term debt funds. The funds are not much affected by interest rate movements and are ideal for conservative investors. A fund investing in lower-rated bonds to earn higher returns by taking credit risks is called as Credit Risk Opportunities fund. A close ended debt fund that invests in Fixed income securities like Corporate bonds or Government bonds with a lock-in period, ranging from months to years, may provide tax efficient superior returns but not guaranteed one. Such funds where funds could be invested during initial offer period for a fixed maturity are called Fixed Maturity Plans.
Liquid Funds:
A fund that invests in debt securities with maturity period not exceeding 91 days is called as Liquid Fund. These are relatively risk free investments and provide an alternative to savings bank deposit. Some AMCs provide instant redemption of liquid funds through special debt cards issued for the purpose. Liquid funds have rarely seen negative returns.
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