Consumer Behavior In Mutual Funds Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 23 Words: 6755 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? The objective of the research study is to know the factors of consumer behavior in mutual funds. Mutual is considered as a risky investment by common men in India. With change in time, people are investing in mutual funds. The evaluation of financial planning has been increased through decades, which is best seen in customer rise. Now a days investment of saving has assumed great importance. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Consumer Behavior In Mutual Funds Finance Essay" essay for you Create order In this project the great emphasis is given to the investors mind in respect to investment in Mutual Fund. This research will reveal different factors affecting the investors behavior in three different stages. The first stage is the pre purchase stage. In this an investors comes to know about a mutual fund plan. He takes many references before choosing a fund to invest. The second stage is the decision making. A customer several options to choose from. He evaluates the options keeping in mind different factors. The third stage is the after investment behavior. Mutual funds are directly link to the economy. When there are some fluctuations in economy how an investor reacts to it. In this project an in-depth study will be carried out to reveal various factors in all above mention stages. Scope of the Research: The research titled Consumer Behavior in mutual Funds covers investors in mutual funds in North Goa. The research covers the three types of mutual funds by investment objective that are Equity, Debt and Balance Funds. The findings will represent the mutual fund investors in North Goa. Limitation of the study: The research was conducted in a limited duration of four weeks. The survey is limited only to the Mutual funds and cannot be applied to other instruments of investment. Methodology: Research Design The objective of the project study is accomplished by conducting a systematic research. Exploration: Quantitative design: The raw data is acquired from the Jennifer Mendis Investment consultancy. Subsequently converted into questionnaire and then circulated to investors. After that the data was converted into graphical with findings. Pilot test: The qualitative research test was done with small sample of employees. The questions were then revised. Research Plan: Once the problem was identified, the next step I did was to prepare a plan for getting the information needed for the research. The present study was to adopt exploratory approach wherein there is need to gather data perform an analysis before making a conclusion. Collection and Sources of data: Primary data Questionnaire Personal interaction (informal/formal) with investors. Observation. Secondary data Internet Sample plan: Random Sampling Population: Mutual fund Investors Sample size: 100 employees INDEX Sr.no contents Page no. 1 Introduction to Mutual funds 10 2 Need for the study 17 3 Data Analysis 18 4 Fndings 50 5 Conclusion and learning 51 6 Annexures 52 MUTUAL FUND INTRODUCTION A Mutual Fund is a trust that pools the savings of a number of investors who share a common financial goal. The money thus collected is invested by the fund manager in different types of securities depending upon the objective of the scheme. These could range from shares to debentures to money market instruments. The income earned through these investments and the capital appreciations realized by the scheme are shared by its unit holders in proportion to the number of units owned by them (pro rata). Thus a Mutual Fund is the most suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed portfolio at a relatively low cost. Anybody with an inventible surplus of as little as a few thousand rupees can invest in Mutual Funds. Each Mutual Fund scheme has a defined investment objective and strategy A Mutual fund is the ideal investment vehicle for todays complex and modern financial scenario. Markets for equity shares, bonds and other fixed income instruments, real estate, derivatives and other assets have become mature and information driven. Price changes in these assets are driven by global events occurring in faraway places. A typical individual is unlikely to have the knowledge, skills, inclination and time to keep track of events, understand their implications and act speedily. An individual also finds it difficult to keep track of ownership of his assets, investments, brokerage dues and bank transactions etc. A draft offer document is to be prepared at the time of launching the fund. Typically, it pre specifies the investment objectives of the fund, the risk associated, the costs involved in the process and the broad rules for entry into and exit from the fund and other areas of operation. In India, as in most countries, these sponsors need approval from a regulator, SEBI (Securities exchange Board of India) in our case. SEBI looks at track records of the sponsor and its financial strength in granting approval to the fund for commencing operations. A sponsor then hires an asset management company to invest the funds according to the investment objective. It also hires another entity to be the custodian of the assets of the fund and perhaps a third one to handle registry work for the unit holders (subscribers) of the fund. In the Indian context, the sponsors promote the Asset Management Company also, in which it holds a majority stake. In many cases a sponsor can hold a 100% stake in the Asset Management Company (AMC). E.g. Birla Global Finance is the sponsor of the Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd., which has floated different mutual funds schemes and also acts as an asset manager for the funds collected under the schemes. Characteristics: A mutual fund actually belongs to the investors who have pooled their funds. A mutual fund is managed by investment professionals and other service providers, who earn a fee for their services, from the fund. The pool of funds is invested in a portfolio of marketable investments. The value of the portfolio is updated every day. The investors share in the fund is denominated by units. The value of the units changes with change in the portfolios value, every day. The value of one unit of investment is called the Net Asset Value or NAV. MUTUAL FUND STRUCTURE The Structure Consists: The structure of mutual funds in India is governed by the SEBI Regulations, 1996. These regulations make it mandatory for mutual funds to have a 3-tier structure of Sponsors-Trustee-AMC (Asset Management Company). The Sponsor is the promoter of mutual fund, and appoints the Trustee. The Trustees are responsible to the investors in the mutual funds, and appoint the AMC for managing the investment portfolio. The AMC is the business face of the mutual funds, as it manages all the affairs of mutual funds. The mutual funds and AMC have to be registered by the SEBI. Sponsor Sponsor is the person who acting alone or in combination with another body corporate establishes a mutual fund. Sponsor must contribute at least 40% of the net worth of the Investment Managed and meet the eligibility criteria prescribed under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996.The Sponsor is not responsible or liable for any loss or shortfall resulting from the operation of the Schemes beyond the initial contribution made by it towards setting up of the Mutual Fund. Trust The Mutual Fund is constituted as a trust in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 by the Sponsor. The trust deed is registered under the Indian Registration Act, 1908. Trustee Trustee is usually a company (corporate body) or a Board of Trustees (body of individuals). The main responsibility of the Trustee is to safeguard the interest of the unit holders and inter-alia ensure that the AMC functions in the interest of investors and in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, the provisions of the Trust Deed and the Offer Documents of the respective Schemes. At least 2/3rd directors of the Trustee are independent directors who are not associated with the Sponsor in any manner. Asset Management Company (AMC) The AMC is appointed by the Trustee as the Investment Manager of the Mutual Fund. The AMC is required to be approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to act as an asset management company of the Mutual Fund. At least 50% of the directors of the AMC are independent directors who are not associated with the Sponsor in any manner. The AMC must have a net worth of at least 10 crores at all times. Registrar and Transfer Agent The AMC if so authorized by the Trust Deed appoints the Registrar and Transfer Agent to the Mutual Fund. The Registrar processes the application form, redemption requests and dispatches account statements to the unit holders. Custodian A custodian handles the investment back office of a mutual fund. Its responsibilities include receipt and delivery of securities, collection of income, distribution of dividends, and segregation of assets between schemes. The sponsor of a mutual fund cannot act as a custodian to the fund. For example, Deutsche Bank is a custodian, but it cannot service Deutsche Mutual Fund, its mutual fund arm. Depository Indian capital markets are moving away from having physical certificates for securities, to ownership of these securities in dematerialized form with a Depository. MUTUAL FUND OPERATION (Mutual Fund Operation Flow Chart) TYPES OF MUTUAL FUND A Mutual Fund may float several schemes, which may be classified on the basis of its structure, its investment objectives and other objectives. Open Ended Schemes As the name implies the size of the scheme (fund) is open i.e. not specified or pre-determined. Entry to the fund is always open, the investor who can subscribe at anytime. Such fund stands ready to buy or sell its securities at anytime. The key feature of Open-ended schemes is Liquidity. It implies that the capitalization of the fund is constantly changing as investors sell or buy their shares. Further, the shares or units are normally not traded on the stock exchange but are repurchased by the funds at announced rates. Open-ended schemes have comparatively better liquidity despite the fact that these are not listed. The reason is that investors can any time approach mutual fund for sale of such units. No intermediaries are required. Moreover, the realizable amount is certain since repurchase is at a price based on declared net asset value (NAV). The portfolio mix of such schemes has to be investments, which are actively traded in the market. Otherwise it will not be possible to ca lculate NAV. This is the reason that generally open-ended schemes are equity based. In Open-ended schemes, the option of dividend reinvestment is available. Close-Ended Schemes A Close ended schemes have a definite period after which their shares/units are redeemed. The scheme is open for subscription only during a specified period at the time of launch of a scheme. Investors can invest in the scheme at the time of the initial public issue and thereafter they can buy or sell the units of the scheme on the stock exchanges where the units are listed. In order to provide an exit route to the investors, some close-ended funds give an option of selling back the units to the mutual fund through periodic repurchase at NAV related prices. In these types of schemes, the size of the fund kept to be constant. SEBI regulations stipulate that at least one of the two exit routes is provided to the investor i.e. either repurchase facility or through listing on stock exchanges. These mutual funds schemes disclose NAV generally on weekly basis. Interval schemes Interval Schemes combine the features of both open-ended and close-ended schemes. They are open for sale or redemption during pre-determined intervals at NAV based prices. Mutual Fund schemes by Investment Objectives: EQUITY FUNDS These funds invest a major part of their corpus in equities. The composition of the fund may vary from scheme to scheme and the fund managers outlook on various scrips. The Equity Funds are sub-classified depending upon their investment objective, as follows: 1.Growth Fund: Aim to provide capital appreciations over the medium to long term. These schemes normally invest a majority of their funds in equities and are willing to bear short term decline in value for possible future appreciation. These schemes are not for investors seeking regular income or needing their money back in the short-term. 2. Diversified Equity Fund: Diversified equity funds are the most popular among investors. They invest in many stocks across many sectors, and because they have the freedom to chop and churn their portfolios as they like, diversified equity funds are a good proxy to the stock market. If a general exposure to equities is what you want, they are a good option. They can invest in all listed stocks, and even in unlisted stocks. They can invest in which ever sector they like, in what ever ratio they like. 1.Equity Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS): Equity linked savings schemes (ELSS) are diversified equity funds that additionally offer income tax benefits to individuals. ELSS is one of the many section 80c instruments, along with the more popular debt options like the PPF, NSC and infrastructure bonds. In this Section 80c grouping. ELSS is unique. Being the only instrument to offer a total equity exposure. 1. 1.Index Fund: An index fund is a diversified equity fund; with a difference- a fund manager has absolutely no say in stock selection. At all times, the portfolio of an index fund mirrors an index, both in its choice of stocks and their percentage holding. So, an index fund that mirrors the Sensex will invest only in the 30 Sensex stocks, which too in the same proportion as their weight age in the index. 2.Sector Fund: Sector funds invest in stocks from only one sector, or a handful of sectors. The objective is to capitalize on the story in the sectors, and offer investors a window to profit from such opportunities. Its a very narrow focus, because of which sector funds are considered the riskiest among all equity funds. 2. Mid Cap Fund: These are diversified funds that target companies on the fast growth trajectory. In the long run, share prices are driven by growth in a companys turnover and profits. Market players refer to them as mid-sized companies and mid-cap stocks with size in this context being benchmarked to a companys market value. So, while a typical large cap stock would have a market capitalization of over Rs 1,000 crores, a mid-cap stock would have a market value of Rs 250-2,000 crores. DEBT FUNDS These Funds invest a major portion of their corpus in debt papers. Government authorities, private companies, banks and financial institutions are some of the major issuers of debt papers. By investing in debt instruments, these funds ensure low risk and provide stable income to the investors. Debt funds are further classified as: 1.Gilt Funds: Invest their corpus in securities issued by Government, popularly known as GOI debt papers. These Funds carry zero Default risk but are associated with Interest Rate risk. These schemes are safer as they invest in papers backed by Government. 2.Income Funds: Income funds aim to maximize debt returns for the medium to longer term. Invest a major portion into various debt instruments such as bonds, corporate debentures and Government securities. 2.MIPs: Invests around 80% of their total corpus in debt instruments while the rest of the portion is invested in equities. It gets benefit of both equity and debt market. These scheme ranks slightly high on the risk-return matrix when compared with other debt schemes. Short Term Plans (STPs): Meant for investors with an investment horizon of 3-6 months. These funds primarily invest in short term papers like Certificate of Deposits (CDs) and Commercial Papers (CPs). Some portion of the corpus is also invested in corporate debentures. Liquid Funds: Also known as Money Market Schemes, These funds are meant to provide easy liquidity and preservation of capital. These schemes invest in short-term instruments like Treasury Bills, inter-bank call money market etc. These funds are meant for short-term cash management of corporate houses and are meant for an investment horizon of 1day to 3 months. These schemes rank low on risk-return matrix and are considered to be the safest amongst all categories of mutual funds. Floating Rate Funds: These income funds are more insulated from interest rate than their conventional peers. In other words, interest rate changes, which cause the NAV of a conventional debt fund to go up or down, have little, or no, impact on NAVs of floating rate funds. BALANCED FUNDS These funds, as the name suggests, are a mix of both equity and debt funds. They invest in both equities and fixed income securities, which are in line with pre-defined investment objective of the scheme. These schemes aim to provide investors with the best of both the worlds. Equity part provides growth and the debt part provides stability in returns. Each category of fund is backed by an investment philosophy, which is predefined in the in the objective of the fund. The investor can align his own investment need with the fund objectives and invest accordingly. HYBRID FUNDS:- Growth and Income Fund: Strike a balance capital appreciation and income for the investors. In these funds portfolio is a mix between companies with good dividend paying record and those with potential capital appreciation. These funds are less risky than growth funds bit more than income funds. Asset Allocation Fund: These funds follow variable asset allocation policy. These move in an out of an asset class (equity, debt, money market or even non-financial assets). Asset allocation funds are those, which follow more stable allocation policies like balanced funds. Those, which flexible allocation policies, are like aggressive speculative funds. ADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUND Mutual Funds offer several benefits to an investor that are unmatched by the other investment options. Last six years have been the most turbulent as well as exiting ones for the industry. New players have come in, while others have decided to close shop by either selling off or merging with others. Product innovation is now pass with the game shifting to performance delivery in fund management as well as service. Those directly associated with the fund management industry like distributors, registrars and transfer agents, and even the regulators have become more mature and responsible. Affordability : Small investors with low investment fund are unable to invest in high-grade or blue chip stocks. An investor through Mutual Funds can be benefited from a portfolio including of high priced stock. Diversification : Investors investment is spread across different securities (stocks, bonds, money market, real estate, fixed deposits etc.) and different sectors (auto, textile, IT etc.). This kind of a diversification add to the stability of returns, reduces the risk for example during one period of time equities might under perform but bonds and money market instruments might do well do well and may protect principal investment as well as help to meet return objectives. Variety : Mutual funds offer a tremendous variety of schemes. This variety is beneficial in two ways: first, it offers different types of schemes to investors Professional Management: Mutual Funds employ the services of experienced and skilled professionals and dedicated investment research team. The whole team analyses the performance and balance sheet of companies and selects them to achieve the objectives of the scheme. Tax Benefits: Depending on the scheme of mutual funds, tax shelter is also available. As per the Union Budget-99, income earned through dividends from mutual funds is 100% tax free. Under ELSS of open-ended equity-oriented funds an exemption is provided up to Rs. 100,000/- under section 80C. Regulation: All Mutual Funds are registered with SEBI and they function within the provisions of strict regulations designed to protect the interests of investors. The operations of Mutual Funds are regularly monitored by SEBI. DISADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUND: The following are the disadvantages of investing through mutual fund: No control over cost: Since investors do not directly monitor the funds operations, they cannot control the costs effectively. Regulators therefore usually limit the expenses of mutual funds. No tailor-made portfolio: Mutual fund portfolios are created and marketed by AMCs, into which investors invest. They cannot made tailor made portfolio. Managing a portfolio of funds: As the number of funds increase, in order to tailor a portfolio for himself, an investor may be holding portfolio funds, with the costs of monitoring them and using hem, being incurred by him. Delay in Redemption: The redemption of the funds though has liquidity in 24-hours to 3 days takes formal application as well as needs time for redemption. This becomes cumbersome for the investors. Non-availability of loans: Mutual funds are not accepted as security against loan. The investor cannot deposit the mutual funds against taking any kind of bank loans though they may be his assets. RISK INVOLVED IN MUTUAL FUND: THE RISK-RETURN TRADE-OFF The most important relationship to understand is the risk-return trade-off. Higher the risk greater the returns/loss and lower the risk lesser the returns/loss. Hence it is up to you, the investor to decide how much risk you are willing to take. In order to do this you must first be aware of the different types of risks involved with your investment decision. MARKET RISK: Sometimes prices and yields of all securities rise and fall. Broad outside influences affecting the market in general lead to this. This is true, may it be big corporations or smaller mid-sized companies. This is known as Market Risk. A Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) that works on the concept of Rupee Cost Averaging (RCA) might help mitigate this risk. CREDIT RISK: The debt servicing ability (may it be interest payments or repayment of principal) of a company through its cash flows determines the Credit Risk faced by you. This credit risk is measured by independent rating agencies like CRISIL who rate companies and their paper. An AAA rating is considered the safest whereas a D rating is considered poor credit quality. A well-diversified portfolio might help mitigate this risk. INFLATION RISK: Things you hear people talk about: Rs. 100 today is worth more than Rs. 100 tomorrow. Remember the time when a bus ride cost 50 paisa? Mehangai Ka Jamana Hai. The root cause, Inflation. Inflation is the loss of purchasing power over time. A lot of times people make conservative investment decisions to protect their capital but end up with a sum of money that can buy less than what the principal could at the time of the investment. This happens when inflation grows faster than the return on your investment. A well-diversified portfolio with some investment in equities might help mitigate this risk. INTEREST RATE RISK: In a free market economy interest rates are difficult if not impossible to predict. Changes in interest rates affect the prices of bonds as well as equities. If interest rates raise the prices of bonds fall and vice versa. Equity might be negatively affected as well in a rising interest rate environment. A well-diversified portfolio might help mitigate this risk. POLITICAL/GOVERNMENT POLICY RISK: Changes in government policy and political decision can change the investment environment. They can create a favorable environment for investment or vice versa. LIQUIDITY RISK: Liquidity risk arises when it becomes difficult to sell the securities that one has purchased. Liquidity Risk can be partly mitigated by diversification, staggering of maturities as well as internal risk controls that lean towards purchase of liquid securities. NET ASSET VALUE Net Asset Value (NAV) The net asset value of the fund is the cumulative market value of the assets fund net of its liabilities. In other words, if the fund is dissolved or liquidated, by selling off all the assets in the fund, this is the amount that the shareholders would collectively own. This gives rise to the concept of net asset value per unit, which is the value, represented by the ownership of one unit in the fund. It is calculated simply by dividing the net asset value of the fund by the number of units. However, most people refer loosely to the NAV per unit as NAV, ignoring the per unit. We also abide by the same convention. Definition of NAV Net Asset Value, or NAV, is the sum total of the market value of all the shares held in the portfolio including cash, less the liabilities, divided by the total number of units outstanding. Thus, NAV of a mutual fund unit is nothing but the book value. BASIC CONCEPTS OF LOADS : Entry Load: The load charged at the time of investment is known as entry load. Its meant to cover the cost that the AMC spends in the process of acquiring subscribers commission payable to brokers, advertisements, register expenses etc. The load is recovered by way of charging a sale price higher than the prevailing NAV. Exist Load: Some AMC do not charge an entry load but they charged an exist load i.e., they deduct a load before paying out the redemption proceeds. Psychologically, investors are much more willing to pay exist loads as compared to entry loads. Unit: Units mean the investment of the unit holders in a scheme. Each unit represents one undivided share in the assets of a scheme. The value of each unit changes, depending on the performance of the fund. Need for the Study Indian Mutual fund market is growing with a good growth rate. This instrument of investment has turned lucrative from the perceived risky image. It was decided to do a research to reveal factors in the mutual funds market Data Analysis 1.Other than mutual funds I have invested in following instruments. This was a multiple choice question. This was asked to know the preferred Investment instruments by the investors. Graph1 Interpretation and analysis This question was asked to know the pattern of investments by investors. As can be seen in above graph 100% investors have their surplus invested their savings account, followed by gold and silver with 91%. This shows that investors prefer to invest in safer instruments. Even though the investment needed for the instruments like the Real estate requires high amount to be invested, people still prefer to invest in them. This can be because they give higher returns compared to the other instruments. This instruments are also most preferred since they are safer. 2.As an investor I want higher returns This question was asked to know the know the expectation from the investors from the mutual funds Graph2 Interpretation and analysis As shown in the above graph 116 investors expect their investment to give higher returns. Further 31 investors agreed to the statement that they want higher returns while the rest three respondents had neutral stand on this point. I can be concluded that from the mutual funds investors want higher returns from the mutual funds. 3.As an investor in mutual funds I am more of a Risk taker conservative This question was asked to know the aggressiveness and risk taking attitude of the investors. Graph3 Interpretation and analysis As can be seen above the majority of the investors that 101 investors are risktakers. wereas the rest 49 respondents said that they invest conservatively. I have invested in mutual funds for This question talks about the Fianacial objective of the investors for which they have planed. This was a multiple option question Graph4 Interpretation and analysis As can be seen above the majority of the investors have invested in the mutual funds for their long term objective that is the retirement. 68 respondents have invested for investing the same in future. 54 respondents have goal of buying a car. 41 have invested for childrens marriage and 24 have invested for childrens education. Rest 13 respondents have a short term goal that is their own marriage. We can conclude that the investors invest in mutual fund for short term as well as long term goals. How did you come to know about Mutual fund investment scheme This question was about the source from were the investors first came to know about the mutual fund plan/scheme. Graph 5 33 respondents said that the came to know about the mutual fund sceme from News paper.30 respondents said they came to know about mutual fund from Magazine. 24 respondents came to know from financial consultant. The agents in the mutual fund had reach over 19 respondents. Only 17 respondents came to know about mutual fund from the Television. The data reveals that the major source of knowledge for investors about mutual fund is the News paper, magazine and the financial consultants. The explanation from Agent/distributor/salesperson was enough to convince me to invest in mutual funds. This question was aimed towards the ability of the sales team to convince the customers. Graph6 Interpretation and analysis 34 respondents strongly agreed to the point that they were convinced with the sales persons explanation. While 45 respondents agreed to this. 14 had neutral stand. 33 respondents disagreed to this point and the rest 24 strongly disagreed with this. I was convinced/attracted with the scheme of mutual fund. This question was asked to know the reaction of the investors when they first came to know about the Mutual fund. Graph 7 Interpretation and analysis Majority of the respondents that is 89 respondents strongly agreed that they were attracted with the mutual fund plan. 50 respondents agreed to this point. 9 respondents had neutral stand on this. Rest two disagreed to the statement that they were attracted with the mutual fund. I was attracted with the proposed earning of the mutual fund. This question was further specific question to the previous question. This question was based on the main attraction of a mutual fund that is the earning on the fund. Graph 8 Interpretation and analysis 94 respondents strongly agreed that they were attracted with proposed earnings. Further 49 respondents agreed to this point. 7 respondents had neutral stand on this point. We can say that the main component of attraction of the mutual fund is the proposed earning. 9.1) Importance of Financial Advisors reference This question was cross tabulated with response from the 10th question which was about the type of mutual fund in which they have currently invested. Graph9 Interpretation and analysis When asked about the referring to a financial Advisor before investing in mutual fund 71 respondents from Equity fund, 5 from debt and 7 from balanced mutual fund responded that its extremely important. Whereas most of the rest responded that the reference is very important. From the above data its clear that while investing in Equity mutual fund and Balanced mutual fund its important to refer to a financial advisor. In the Dept fund the response was some what neutral. 9.2 Importance of Brokers reference This question was asked to find importance of reference before investing Graph10 Interpretation and analysis As in the above graph investors in the equity and balanced responded either its extremely important or very important to refer a broker before investing in them. Whereas the investors in the dept funds responded as its some what less important to refer to a broker. 9.3Importance of Relatives Friends reference Graph 11 Interpretation and analysis As in the above diagram majority of respondents from all types of schemes responded that it is extremely important or very important to refer a friend before investing. In case of the balanced fund some respondent even responded that it is unimportant to refer a friend. 9.4 importances of Newspapers Magazines Many news papers and magazines have reviews on the mutual fund. This question was asked to know how important it is to refer while investing. Graph12 Interpretation and analysis As can be seen in above 76 investors in equity funds feel that it is extremely or very important to refer a news paper or a magazine. Whereas 30 respondents feel that it is unimportant or not important to refer to a news paper. In the debt funds 11 respondents have an opinion that it is extremely important or very important to refer a news paper. Whereas 7 respondents had negative opinion towards the statement. 14 respondents have positive opinion towards taking reference of news paper. Whereas 8 respondents had a negative stand on the statement. 9.5 IMPORTANCE OF COMPANYS WEBSITE Graph13 Interpretation and analysis As can be seen in above graph majority of the investors in the equity segment responded that it is unimportant to refer to companies website. Also in the debt funds majority of the respondents feel that it is unimportant to refer companys website. In the balance funds majority felt that it is important to refer the companys website. 9.6 importance of AMFI Website Graph 15 Interpretation and analysis As seen in the above diagram majority of the investors in the equity fund feel that it is unimportant to refer AMFIs website. In the bebt funds majority feels that it is important to refer AMFIs website. Whereas in the balanced funs majority said that it is unimportant to refer to AMFIs site. 10 Currently invested in types of funds Graph 16 Interpretation and analysis 101 respondents have invested in Equity funds. 19 respondents have invested in dept fund, and the rest 23 respondents have invested in balanced funds. 11 Importance of the qualities of the mutual fund Factors in these questions were the main factors which are considered while making a decision to invest. A. Funds reputation or brand Graph 17 Interpretation and analysis As in the above graph majority of the risk takers feel that reputation of fund is unimportant quality which should be considered while making investing decision. While majority of the conservative investors feel that the funds reputation is important. B Fund performance record This question was asked to reveal the importance of funds performance in the making investment decision. Graph 18 As can be seen in the above graph both risktaker as well as conservatives feels that it is important to consider the funds reputation while investing in it. C Importance of Brokers advice Graph 19 Interpretation and analysis as can be seen above both risk takers and conservatives feel that brokers advice is important while making decision of investment. While there are few respondents who feel that brokers advice is umimportant. D. Importance of Schemes expense ratio This question is to know how important is the expenses in the mutual fund are while making the investment decision. Graph 20 As can be seen in the above graphs both risk takefeels rs as well as the conservatives feels that the expense ratios are unimportant while making investment decision. 11 E Schemes theme of investment Since many mutual funds have different themes of investments, this themes can affect the investment decision. This themes also match the investors financial goals like, children education etc. Graph 21 Interpretation and analysis As can be seen above both risk takers and conservatives feel that the investment theme plays a important role in investing decisions. These can be because theme attracts the investors and help them to meet their financial goals. F Minimum initial investment Sometimes minimum investment acts as a barrier since the minimum amount is high. Graph 22 Interpretation and analysis As said earlier minimum investment plays a very important role in the investment decision. This can be seen in the above statistics. The majority of both risk takers as well as the conservatives feels that the Minimum Initial Investment is a important quality of the mutual fund. G Tax benefits When an investor invests in some mutual funds he gets some income tax benefit as per the income tax ACT Graph 23 Interpretation and analysis As per the graph, Risk takers as well conservatives feel that the tax benefit is important. Majority of the respondents from both type of the respondents feel that tax benefit is important. H Portfolio of the Fund Portfolio means the allocation of the resources across sectors or the shares of the companies. Graph 24 Interpretation and analysis As seen in the above graph majority of both that is risktakers and conservative investors deel that the allocation of the fund is important. I Visibility of the Fund Graph 25 Interpretation and analysis Majority of the respondents from both risk takers and the conservatives feel that the Visibility of the fund is important while taking a decision to invest. 11J Credit Rating by Agencies Credit rating agencies rate a mutual fund depending upon the interest paying ability of the Fund house. Graph 26 Interpretation and analysis As can be seen in above graph majority of the respondents from both feel that credit rating by agencies is an important quality in selecting a mutual fund. K Lock in period Graph 27 Interpretation and analysis Lock in period is the time for which your money remains locked. Towards this factor both type of investors feel that lock in period is important in choosing a fund. Wereas some respondents feel that it is unimportant. L Prompt Redemptions Redemption is when the investor wants his money back and he withdraws from the fund. Graph 28 Interpretation and analysis Since customer gets his money whenever he wants he will go for it. The majority of the respondents responded that the prompt redemption is a important factor while choosing a mutual fund. M After Sales Support Graph 29 Interpretation and analysis As can be seen above majority of both types of investors feel that the after sales service is important while choosing the mutual fund. I monitor performance of the mutual fund. This question was asked to bring out how often a investors keep a watch on the investment Interpretation and analysis 66 respondents check the growth weekly, 81 respondents monitor the growth monthly. This shows that the investors are interested in monitoring the performance. 13. Performance of the mutual fund is as promised by fund house. This question was asked to reveal the performance to the promised performance. I am satisfied with the performance of the mutual fund My queries were attended timely. How you react to the fall in share market. Finding Most of the people invest on advice of the financial adviser. Financial adviser monitors the performance of mutual fund for their clients. Only few investors decide to invest on their own. Conclusion and learnings The investors investing in the mutual funds are attracted more by the earnings. The young investors who are educated tend to analyze the performance and monitor the performance of the mutual fund. Annexure QUESTIONNAIRE Other than mutual funds I have invested in following instruments. Saving account e) Shares Debentures i) PF Real Estate f) Fixed Deposits PPF g) Gold/Silver Post Office NSC etc h) Other_________ As an investor I want higher returns Strongly agree Agree Neutral disagree Strongly disagree As an investor in mutual funds I am more of a ________ Risk taker Conservative I have invested in mutual funds for ________ Marriage d) Buying a car Childrens education e) Further investment Childrens marriage f) Retirement corpus How did you come to know about Mutual fund investment scheme? 1. Newspapers 2.Magazines 3.Internet 4.Television 5. Agents 6.Friends or relatives 7.Consultant 8. Other___________ The explanation from Agent/distributor/salesperson was enough to convince me to invest in mutual funds. Strongly agree Agree Neutral disagree Strongly disagree I was convinced/attracted with the scheme of mutual fund. Strongly agree Agree Neutral disagree Strongly disagree I was attracted with the proposed earning of the mutual fund. Strongly agree Agree Neutral disagree Strongly disagree State the importance of following reference while investing in mutual fund schemes? Extremely important Very Important Somewhat Important Somewhat Unimportant Not Important At All 1. Financial Advisor 2.Broker 3.RelativesFriends 4.Newspapers Magazines 5.Companys Website 6.AMFI Website In which type of funds you have invested? 1. Equity Funds 2.Debt Funds 3. Balance Funds There are many qualities that could affect your selection of Mutual funds and Specific Schemes. Please indicate importance of the following in your decision. Sr.no. Extremely important Very Important Somewhat Important Somewhat Unimportant Not Important At All A Funds reputation or brand 1 2 3 4 5 B Fund performance record 1 2 3 4 5 C Brokers advice 1 2 3 4 5 D Schemes expense ratio 1 2 3 4 5 E Schemes theme of investment 1 2 3 4 5 F Minimum initial investment 1 2 3 4 5 G Tax benefits 1 2 3 4 5 H Portfolio of the Fund 1 2 3 4 5 I Visibility of the Fund 1 2 3 4 5 J Credit Rating by Agencies 1 2 3 4 5 K Lock in period 1 2 3 4 5 L Prompt Redemptions 1 2 3 4 5 M After Sales Support 1 2 3 4 5 I monitor performance of the mutual fund. Weekly Monthly Quarterly Yearly never Performance of the mutual fund is as promised by fund house. Strongly agree agree Neutral disagree Strongly disagree I am satisfied with the performance of the mutual fund Strongly agree agree Neutral disagree Strongly disagree My queries were attended timely. Strongly agree agree Neutral disagree Strongly disagree How you react to the fall in share market. Sell units held Wait for market to rise Consult financial advisor. City: _________________________ Age: 20-40 years ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ 40-60 years ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ above 60 years ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Sex: Male ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Female ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Marital Status: Married ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Unmarried ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Academic Qualifications: High School ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Graduate ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Post Graduate ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Professional Degree ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Occupation: Professional ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Business ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Salaried ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Retired ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ Others ___________ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¯ h