What is a Mutual Fund?

A Mutual Fund is a trust that pools the savings of a number of investors who share a common financial goal. It is essentially a diversified portfolio of financial instruments - these could be equities, debentures/bonds or money market instruments. The corpus of the fund is then deployed in investment alternatives that help to meet predefined investment objectives. The income earned through these investments and the capital appreciation realised are shared by its unit holders in proportion to the number of units owned by them. Thus a Mutual Fund is a suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost.

You could make money from a Mutual Fund in three ways:

  • Income is earned from dividends declared by Mutual Fund schemes from time to time

  • If the fund sells securities that have increased in price, the fund has a capital gain. This is reflected in the price of each unit. When investors sell these units at prices higher than their purchase price, they stand to make a gain

  • If fund holdings increase in price but are not sold by the fund manager, the fund's unit price increases. You can then sell your Mutual Fund units for a profit. This is tantamount to a valuation gain

What are the different types of Mutual Funds?

Mutual Fund schemes may be classified on the basis of their structure and their investment objective.

  • By structure

    Open-ended Funds

    An Open-ended Fund is one that is available for subscription all through the year. These do not have a fixed maturity. Investors can conveniently buy and sell units at Net Asset Value (NAV) related prices.

    Close-ended Funds

    A Close-ended Fund has a stipulated maturity period, which generally ranges from 3 to 15 years. The fund is open for subscription only during a specified period. Investors can invest in the scheme at the time of the new fund offer and thereafter they can buy or sell the units of the scheme on the Stock Exchanges, if they are listed. The market price at the stock exchange could vary from the scheme's NAV on account of demand and supply situation, unit holders' expectations and other market factors.

  • By investment objective

    Growth Funds


    Income Funds



    Balanced Funds



    Money market Funds



  • Other equity related schemes

    Tax saving schemes



    Index schemes


    Sectoral schemes

    Sectoral Funds are those which invest exclusively in specified sector(s) such as FMCG, Information Technology, Pharmaceuticals, etc. These schemes carry higher risk as compared to general equity schemes as the portfolio is less diversified, ie restricted to specific sector(s) / industry (ies).