India's mutual fund industry is one of the brightest spots in an already fast-growing domestic financial sector.
Here is the first part of a series of articles to understand mutual funds.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has just released a proposal to alter the regulations pertaining to the sponsor system for mutual funds. One of the reasons for the proposed changes is that there are two conflicting regulations that need to be clarified. The other reason is that the sponsor system may itself be outdated as it stands, and the proposed changes would allow new entities such as private equity funds and portfolio management services to enter this space.
With duties at 15%, GST at 3%, and making charges running as high as 20% -- the gap between a smart purchase and a careless one can easily be Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 on every Rs 1 lakh invested. And most of that gap is entirely avoidable. Ramalingam Kalirajan explains the math.
Contributions to mutual fund schemes through systematic investment plans or SIPs remain unfazed from the market volatility in 2022 with inflow growing to Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 2022, a surge of 31 per cent from a year earlier, due to higher retail participation. In comparison, an inflow of Rs 1.14 lakh crore through the route was registered in 2021 and Rs 97,000 crore in 2020, data with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed. Going ahead, SIP numbers are expected to continue to remain strong in 2023 as investors are increasingly appreciating the importance of regular investing through the route, Kaustubh Belapurkar, director - manager research at Morningstar Investment Adviser India, said.
'Investing in these funds makes sense if their net yield over better-quality funds -- corporate bond funds or banking and PSU funds -- is meaningful.'
The first phase of this online platform will be in place by March 2010
Mahavir Chopra compares mutual funds and Ulips to help investors decide.
Money flowing into the equity schemes of mutual funds is back at a level last seen before the 2008 financial crisis, when the stock market tanked 60 per cent.
Advisory committee for lower charges, stricter compliance.
'First-time or conservative investors should avoid narrow sectoral funds.'
Investors were stuck in old schemes though they were suspended because of tax implications.
After abolition of entry load on buying of mutual fund units there is more good news in store for investors. Now, they can buy or redeem (sell) mutual fund units over the Internet too.
Mutual funds can emerge as preferred investment avenues for retail investors, but the onus of educating the investor and getting him to invest, lies with the MF industry.
Flexicap fund performance depends heavily on the fund manager's decisions.
Inflow in equity mutual funds halved to Rs 3,240 crore in May, declining for the second consecutive month, primarily due to profit booking by investors amid rising market. However, this was also the 27th consecutive month of inflow in the equity class, which was primarily driven by fund infusion in small-cap and mid-cap categories, data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed on Friday. Overall, the 42-player mutual fund industry continues to see inflow and attracted Rs 57,420 crore, on contributions from debt-oriented schemes.
A significant majority (57%) of India's investment advisors are concentrated in just five metro cities, leading to concerns about financial inclusion and the spread of financial market products beyond urban centres, according to a Business Standard analysis of Sebi data.
Coming down heavily on MF players who in recent past chose to use shareholder fund to buy out debt of bleeding invested companies, Sebi said MFs can't have standstill agreements with companies and will take action against fund houses for such deals.
Domestic brokerage Sharekhan's last month's analysis of buy and sell transactions by mutual funds shows that the fund houses purchased stocks from sectors such as infrastructure, IT, telecom and healthcare, while offloading shares from oil and gas and banking sectors. Domestic mutual funds are lapping up the buying opportunity present in the bear gripped stock market and made net purchases worth Rs 3,179 crore (Rs 31.79 billion) in equities in June.
Market regulator Sebi on Thursday said that timelines for portfolio rebalancing in mutual fund schemes will now be applicable to all types of passive breaches across actively managed schemes, which was earlier limited to only asset allocation. A passive breach refers to unintended deviations from the mandated asset allocation or regulatory limits that do not arise from the direct actions or omissions of asset management companies (AMCs).
These equity mutual funds may have fewer assets under management than their more known peers but are our analysts' favourites.
Over reliance on debt and distribution bottlenecks are some of the main problems that the industry needs to resolve.
Largecap equity funds remain suitable for conservative and moderate risk-taking investors seeking relatively stable returns.
Domestic mutual funds (MFs) and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have been net buyers of stocks in August. Domestic fund houses have continued to invest in stocks, propelled by the success of various new fund offers (NFOs) and strong flows into equity funds. MFs had purchased stocks worth more than Rs 8,300 crore until August 23, according to the data provided on the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) website. Jimmy Patel, MD and CEO at Quantum AMC, says: "The surge in equity investments by MFs is because of two key reasons. One, equity NFOs are getting a strong response from investors, and fund houses need to deploy that money in the markets.
UTI Mutual Fund has launched UTI-FAMILY (that allows investors to buy mutual fund units in their name, but the returns go straight to a parent's bank account.
Investors pumped in more than Rs 37,000 crore (Rs 370 billion) in various mutual fund schemes in May taking the total funds mobilisation during the first two months of the current fiscal to Rs 1.44 lakh crore.
Passive funds have resumed gaining ground in the mutual fund (MF) industry after a slowdown in 2024, with their share of assets under management (AUM) reaching an all-time high in 2025. The surge has been driven largely by robust inflows into gold and silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Fund managers advise conservative investors to cap midcap exposure at 10 to 15 per cent of their equity portfolio.
Omkeshwar Singh, head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
2025 marked a shift in investor preference when it comes to MF schemes.
Reliance Capital Asset Management, controlled by Anil Ambani, has sold a 5 per cent stake to Eton Park Capital Management in a deal that for the first time puts a value on India's largest mutual fund.
Top officials said asking employees other than the fund management team to mandatorily invest a fifth of their salary goes against the principle of natural justice.
Investors who are led to believe that falling net assets is a sure sign that the fund is in trouble and must therefore exit the fund at the earliest, must consider some points first.
The newest entrant to the Rs 46-trillion mutual fund (MF) space - Zerodha - plans to focus strictly on the low-cost passive segment and offer its products solely through the commission-free digital route, as it aims to replicate its broking success in the MF space. "We will offer an array of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index funds that would help investors take varied exposures and build portfolios based on their financial needs and risk tolerance. "Zerodha Fund House (FH) products will be exclusively distributed online and available as direct plans to engage directly with individual investors and consumers, taking advantage of the pronounced shift from physical to digital interactions," said Vishal Jain, chief executive officer, Zerodha FH.
While stock market indices are rising, UTI Asset Management Company chairman and managing director U K Sinha says that risk appetite at the retail level is low.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone has repaid Rs 1,500 crore loan and will repay another Rs 1,000 crore in commercial papers due in March. The Adani Group firm paid Rs 1,000 crore to SBI Mutual Fund and Rs 500 crore to Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund on commercial papers that matured on Monday, as scheduled.
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