different+types+of+mutual+funds+in+india


 * **Types of Mutual Funds Schemes in India** ||
 * Wide variety of Mutual Fund Schemes exists to cater to the needs such as financial position, risk tolerance and return expectations etc. thus mutual funds has Variety of flavors, Being a collection of many stocks, an investors can go for picking a mutual fund might be easy. There are over hundreds of mutual funds scheme to choose from. It is easier to think of mutual funds in categories, mentioned below. ||
 *  Overview of existing schemes existed in mutual fund category:

|| Thus investors choose mutual funds as their primary means of investing, as Mutual funds provide professional management, diversification, convenience and liquidity. That doesn’t mean mutual fund investments risk free. This is because the money that is pooled in are not invested only in debts funds which are less riskier but are also invested in the stock markets which involves a higher risk but can expect higher returns. Hedge fund involves a very high risk since it is mostly traded in the derivatives market which is considered very volatile. ||
 * **1. Open - Ended Schemes:** ||
 * An open-end 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. The key feature of open-end schemes is liquidity. ||
 * **2. Close - Ended Schemes:** ||
 * These schemes have a pre-specified maturity period. One can invest directly in the scheme at the time of the initial issue. Depending on the structure of the scheme there are two exit options available to an investor after the initial offer period closes. Investors can transact (buy or sell) the units of the scheme on the stock exchanges where they are listed. The market price at the stock exchanges could vary from the net asset value (NAV) of the scheme on account of demand and supply situation, expectations of unitholder and other market factors. Alternatively some close-ended schemes provide an additional option of selling the units directly to the Mutual Fund through periodic repurchase at the schemes NAV; however one cannot buy units and can only sell units during the liquidity window. SEBI Regulations ensure that at least one of the two exit routes is provided to the investor. ||
 * **3. Interval Schemes:** ||
 * Interval Schemes are that scheme, which combines the features of open-ended and close-ended schemes. The units may be traded on the stock exchange or may be open for sale or redemption during pre-determined intervals at NAV related prices. ||
 * [[image:http://www.mutualfundsindia.com/images/mfbasic_clip_img2.jpg width="577" height="387"]] ||
 * The risk return trade-off indicates that if investor is willing to take higher risk then correspondingly he can expect higher returns and vise versa if he pertains to lower risk instruments, which would be satisfied by lower returns. For example, if an investors opt for bank FD, which provide moderate return with minimal risk. But as he moves ahead to invest in capital protected funds and the profit-bonds that give out more return which is slightly higher as compared to the bank deposits but the risk involved also increases in the same proportion.
 *  Overview of existing schemes existed in mutual fund category:

|| Equity investments are meant for a longer time horizon, thus Equity funds rank high on the risk-return matrix. || Each category of funds is backed by an investment philosophy, which is pre-defined in the objectives of the fund. The investor can align his own investment needs with the funds objective and invest accordingly. ||
 * **1. Equity fund: ** ||
 * These funds invest a maximum part of their corpus into equities holdings. The structure of the fund may vary different for different schemes and the fund manager’s outlook on different stocks. The Equity Funds are sub-classified depending upon their investment objective, as follows:
 * Diversified Equity Funds
 * Mid-Cap Funds
 * Sector Specific Funds
 * Tax Savings Funds (ELSS)
 * **2. Debt funds:** ||
 * The objective of these Funds is to invest 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: ||
 * * **Gilt Funds**: Invest their corpus in securities issued by Government, popularly known as Government of India 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.  ||
 * * **Income Funds**: Invest a major portion into various debt instruments such as bonds, corporate debentures and Government securities.  ||
 * * **MIPs**: Invests maximum of their total corpus in debt instruments while they take minimum exposure 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 investment horizon for three to six 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 provides easy liquidity and preservation of capital. These schemes invest in short-term instruments like Treasury Bills, inter-bank call money market, CPs and CDs. 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.  ||
 * **3. Balanced funds:** ||
 * As the name suggest they, 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.
 * //Further the mutual funds can be broadly classified on the basis of investment parameter viz,//**
 * == By investment objective: ==

||
 * * **Growth Schemes:** Growth Schemes are also known as equity schemes. The aim of these schemes is to provide capital appreciation over medium to long term. These schemes normally invest a major part of their fund in equities and are willing to bear short-term decline in value for possible future appreciation.  ||
 * * **Income Schemes **:Income Schemes are also known as debt schemes. The aim of these schemes is to provide regular and steady income to investors. These schemes generally invest in fixed income securities such as bonds and corporate debentures. Capital appreciation in such schemes may be limited.  ||
 * * **Balanced Schemes:** Balanced Schemes aim to provide both growth and income by periodically distributing a part of the income and capital gains they earn. These schemes invest in both shares and fixed income securities, in the proportion indicated in their offer documents (normally 50:50).  ||
 * * **Money Market Schemes**: Money Market Schemes aim to provide easy liquidity, preservation of capital and moderate income. These schemes generally invest in safer, short-term instruments, such as treasury bills, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and inter-bank call money.  ||
 * == Other schemes ==

|| __ //http://www.mutualfundsindia.com/mfbasic.asp#top// __ > > > > ||
 * * **Tax Saving Schemes:** ||
 * Tax-saving schemes offer tax rebates to the investors under tax laws prescribed from time to time. Under Sec.88 of the Income Tax Act, contributions made to any Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS) are eligible for rebate. ||
 * * **Index Schemes:** ||
 * Index schemes attempt to replicate the performance of a particular index such as the BSE Sensex or the NSE 50. The portfolio of these schemes will consist of only those stocks that constitute the index. The percentage of each stock to the total holding will be identical to the stocks index weightage. And hence, the returns from such schemes would be more or less equivalent to those of the Index. ||
 * * **Sector Specific Schemes:** ||
 * These are the funds/schemes which invest in the securities of only those sectors or industries as specified in the offer documents. e.g. Pharmaceuticals, Software, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Petroleum stocks, etc. The returns in these funds are dependent on the performance of the respective sectors/industries. While these funds may give higher returns, they are more risky compared to diversified funds. Investors need to keep a watch on the performance of those sectors/industries and must exit at an appropriate time. ||
 * TOP ||  ||
 *  Types of returns ||
 * There are three ways, where the total returns provided by mutual funds can be enjoyed by investors: ||
 * * Income is earned from dividends on stocks and interest on bonds. A fund pays out nearly all income it receives over the year to fund owners in the form of a distribution. ||
 * * If the fund sells securities that have increased in price, the fund has a capital gain. Most funds also pass on these gains to investors in a distribution. ||
 * * If fund holdings increase in price but are not sold by the fund manager, the fund's shares increase in price. You can then sell your mutual fund shares for a profit. Funds will also usually give you a choice either to receive a check for distributions or to reinvest the earnings and get more shares.  = Source--  =
 * There are a wide variety of Mutual Fund schemes that cater to your needs, whatever your age, financial position, risk tolerance and return expectations. Whether as the foundation of your investment programme or as a supplement, Mutual Fund schemes can help you meet your financial goals?

** (A) By Structure **

** Open-Ended Schemes ** These do not have a fixed maturity.You deal with the Mutual Fund for your investments and redemptions.The key feature is liquidity.You can conveniently buy and sell your units at Net Asset Value(NAV) related prices, at any point of time. ** close ended schemes. ** Schemes that have a stipulated maturity period (ranging from 2 to 15 years) are called close ended schemes. You can invest in the scheme at the time of the initial issue and thereafter you can buy or sell the units of the scheme on the stock exchanges where they are listed. The market price at the stock exchange could vary from the scheme’sNAV on account of demand and supply situation, unitholders’ expectations and other market factors. One of the characteristics of the close-ended schemes is that they are generally traded at a discount to NAV; but closer to maturity, the discount narrows.Some close-ended schemes give you an additional option of selling your units to the Mutual Fund through periodic repurchase at NAV related prices. SEBI Regulations ensure that at least one of the two exit routes are provided to the investor under the close ended schemes.


 * Interval Schemes **

These combine the features of open-ended and close-ended schemes. They may be traded on the stock exchange or may be open for sale or redemption during predetermined intervals at NAV related prices.


 * (B) By Investment Objective **

Aim to provide capital appreciation 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.
 * Growth Schemes **

Income Schemes Aim to provide regular and steady income to investors. These schemes generally invest in fixed income securities such as bonds and corporate debentures. Capital appreciation in such schemes may be limited. Ideal for:
 * Income Schemes **


 * Retired people and others with a need for capital stability and regular income.
 * Investors who need some income to supplement their earnings.

** Balanced Schemes **

Aim to provide both growth and income by periodically distributing a part of the income and capital gains they earn. They invest in both shares and fixed income securities in the proportion indicated in their offer documents. In a rising stock market, the NAV of these schemes may not normally keep pace or fall equally when the market falls. Ideal for:
 * Investors looking for a combination of income and moderate growth.


 * Money Market / Liquid Schemes **

Aim to provide easy liquidity, preservation of capital and moderate income. These schemes generally invest in safer, short term instruments such as treasury bills, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and interbank call money. Returns on these schemes may fluctuate, depending upon the interest rates prevailing in the market. Ideal for:
 * Corporates and individual investors as a means to park their surplus funds for short periods or awaiting a more favourable investment alternative.

These schemes offer tax incentives to the investors under tax laws as prescribed from time to time and promote long term investments in equities through Mutual Funds.Eligible for deduction under section 80C .Lock in period three years
 * Tax Saving Schemes (Equity Linked Saving Scheme - ELSS) **

Ideal for:


 * Investors seeking tax incentives.

This category includes index schemes that attempt to replicate the performance of a particular index such as the BSE Sensex, the NSE 50 (NIFTY) or sector specific schemes which invest in specific sectors such as Technology, Infrastructure, Banking, Pharma etc.Besides, there are also schemes which invest exclusively in certain segments of the capital market, such as Large Caps, Mid Caps, Small Caps, Micro Caps, 'A' group shares, shares issued through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), etc.
 * Special Schemes **

Index fund schemes are ideal for investors who are satisfied with a return approximately equal to that of an index. Sectoral fund schemes are ideal for investors who have already decided to invest in a particular sector or segment.
 * Index fund **
 * Sectoral fund schemes **

Fixed Maturity Plans (FMPs) are investment schemes floated by mutual funds and are close ended with a fixed tenure, the maturity period ranging from one month to three/five years. These plans are predominantly debt-oriented, while some of them may have a small equity component. The objective of such a scheme is to generate steady returns over a fixed-maturity period and protect the investor against market fluctuations. FMPs are typically passively managed fixed income schemes with the fund manager locking into investments with maturities corresponding with the maturity of the plan. FMPs are not guaranteed products.
 * Fixed Maturity Plan **

** ExchangeTraded Funds ** Exchange Traded Funds are essentially index funds that are listed and traded on exchanges like Index fund schemes are ideal for investors who are satisfied with a return approximately equal to that of an index. Globally, ETFs have opened a whole new panorama of investment opportunities to retail as well as institutional investors. ETFs enable investors to gain broad exposure to entire stock markets as well as in specific sectors with relative ease, on a real-time basis and at a lower cost than many other forms of investing. An ETF is a basket of stocks that reflects the composition of an index, like S&P CNX Nifty, BSE Sensex, CNX Bank Index, CNX PSU Bank Index, etc. The ETF's trading value is based on the net asset value of the underlying stocks that it represents. It can be compared to a stock that can be bought or sold on real time basis during the market hours. The first ETF in India, Benchmark Nifty Bees, opened for subscription on December 12, 2001 and listed on the NSE on January 8, 2002.

Capital Protection Oriented Schemes are schemes that endeavour to protect the capital as the primary objective by investing in high quality fixed income securities and generate capital appreciation by investing in equity / equity related instruments as a secondary objective. The first Capital Protection Oriented Fund in India, Franklin Templeton Capital Protection Oriented Fund opened for subscription on October 31, 2006. Gold Exchange Traded Funds offer investors an innovative, cost-efficient and secure way to access the gold market. Gold ETFs are intended to offer investors a means of participating in the gold bullion market by buying and selling units on the Stock Exchanges, without taking physical delivery of gold. The first Gold ETF in India, Benchmark GETF, opened for subscription on February 15, 2007 and listed on the NSE on April 17, 2007.
 * Capital Protection Oriented Schemes **

A quantitative fund is an investment fund that selects securities based on quantitative analysis. The managers of such funds build computer based models to determine whether or not an investment is attractive. In a pure "quant shop" the final decision to buy or sell is made by the model. However, there is a middle ground where the fund manager will use human judgment in addition to a quantitative model. The first Quant based Mutual Fund Scheme in India, Lotus Agile Fund opened for subscription on October 25, 2007.
 * Quantitative Funds **

** Funds Investing Abroad **

With the opening up of the Indian economy, Mutual Funds have been permitted to invest in foreign securities/ American Depository Receipts (ADRs) / Global Depository Receipts (GDRs). Some of such schemes are dedicated funds for investment abroad while others invest partly in foreign securities and partly in domestic securities. While most such schemes invest in securities across the world there are also schemes which are country specific in their investment approach.

Fund of Funds are schemes that invest in other mutual fund schemes. The portfolio of these schemes comprise only of units of other mutual fund schemes and cash / money market securities/ short term deposits pending deployment. The first FOF was launched by Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund on October 17, 2003. Fund of Funds can be Sector specific e.g. Real Estate FOFs, Theme specific e.g. Equity FOFs, Objective specific e.g. Life Stages FOFs or Style specific e.g.Aggressive/ Cautious FOFs etc.
 * Fund of Funds (FOFs) **

Read more: __ [|TYPES OF MUTUAL FUND SCHEMES | SIMPLE TAX INDIA-TDS RATE INCOME TAX RATE] __

=<span style="color: #ca4318; display: block; font-family: verdana; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bolder; text-align: center;">Types of Mutual Funds in India = These days, different types of Indian Mutual Fund Schemes have come up which cater to your various financial needs like financial position, return expectations, risk tolerance and others. Here is a list of the different types of Mutual Fund in India.

Indian Mutual Fund Schemes

 * **Open-ended Mutual Fund Schemes in India** - There is no fixed maturity for the open-ended mutual fund schemes. One has to deal directly with the Mutual Fund for his/her redemptions and investments. Liquidity is the key feature here. Buying and selling of the units becomes convenient at the related prices of the NAV (net asset value). Some of the open-ended fund schemes in India are ING OptiMix Active Debt Multi - Manager FoF Scheme, ICICI Prudential Very Cautious Plan and Birla Sun Life AAF - Aggressive Plan.
 * **Close-ended Mutual Fund Schemes in India** - Close -ended schemes are those which have a specified maturity period (which generally ranges from 2 - 15 years). At the time of initial public issue one can make direct investment in the scheme and can also get the benefit of buying and selling of the units. Due to demand and supply in the market plus the policy holders' expectations and various other market factors, the market price may vary from NAV (Net Asset Value). Some of the close-ended fund schemes in India are ING Vysya Dynamic Asset Allocation Fund and Kotak Dynamic Asset Allocation Scheme.
 * **Tax-saving Mutual fund Schemes in India** - Individuals, companies, partnership firms, and body corporate are some of the investing parties in the various Mutual Funds available in the market primarily to enjoy the benefits of tax saving. The Indian Mutual Funds are guided by principles of general contract framed by SEBI. It provides certain tax benefits to the fund holders. It is mandatory that tax benefits should be declared in a column which reads "objects of the offering". SBI Mutual Funds, Prudential ICICI and Bajaj Capital are some of the tax saving Mutual fund companies in India.

= <span style="color: #f63d00; display: block; font-family: arial; font-size: 25px; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">Mutual Funds in India = ||  || <span style="color: #2c2c2c; display: block; font-family: arial,tahoma,verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; text-align: justify;">Mutual Fund is an instrument of investing money. Nowadays, bank rates have fallen down and are generally below the inflation rate. Therefore, keeping large amounts of money in bank is not a wise option, as in real terms the value of money decreases over a period of time.

One of the options is to invest the money in stock market. But a common investor is not informed and competent enough to understand the intricacies of stock market. This is where mutual funds come to the rescue.

A mutual fund is a group of investors operating through a fund manager to purchase a diverse portfolio of stocks or bonds. Mutual funds are highly cost efficient and very easy to invest in. By pooling money together in a mutual fund, investors can purchase stocks or bonds with much lower trading costs than if they tried to do it on their own. Also, one doesn't have to figure out which stocks or bonds to buy. But the biggest advantage of mutual funds is diversification.

Diversification means spreading out money across many different types of investments. When one investment is down another might be up. Diversification of investment holdings reduces the risk tremendously.

On the basis of their structure and objective, mutual funds can be classified into following major types:

__ [|Closed-end funds] __ A closed-end mutual fund has a set number of shares issued to the public through an initial public offering.

__ [|Open-end funds] __ Open end funds are operated by a mutual fund house which raises money from shareholders and invests in a group of assets

__ [|Large cap funds] __ Large cap funds are those mutual funds, which seek capital appreciation by investing primarily in stocks of large blue chip companies

__ [|Mid-cap funds] __ Mid cap funds are those mutual funds, which invest in small / medium sized companies. As there is no standard definition classifying companies

__ [|Equity funds] __ Equity mutual funds are also known as stock mutual funds. Equity mutual funds invest pooled amounts of money in the stocks of public companies.

__ [|Balanced funds] __ Balanced fund is also known as hybrid fund. It is a type of mutual fund that buys a combination of common stock, preferred stock, bonds, and short-term bonds

__ [|Growth funds] __ Growth funds are those mutual funds that aim to achieve capital appreciation by investing in growth stocks.

__ [|No load funds] __ Mutual funds can be classified into two types - Load mutual funds and No-Load mutual funds.

__ [|Exchange traded funds] __ Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) represent a basket of securities that is traded on an exchange, similar to a stock. Hence, unlike conventional mutual funds

__ [|Value funds] __ Value funds are those mutual funds that tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation.

__ [|Money market funds] __ A money market fund is a mutual fund that invests solely in money market instruments. Money market instruments are forms of debt that mature in less than one year and are very liquid.

__ [|International mutual funds] __ International mutual funds are those funds that invest in non-domestic securities markets throughout the world.

__ [|Regional mutual funds] __ Regional mutual fund is a mutual fund that confines itself to investments in securities from a specified geographical area, usually, the fund's local region.

__ [|Sector funds] __ Sector mutual funds are those mutual funds that restrict their investments to a particular segment or sector of the economy.

__ [|Index funds] __ An index fund is a a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund) that aims to replicate the movements of an index of a specific financial market.

__ [|Fund of funds] __ A fund of funds (FoF) is an investment fund that holds a portfolio of other investment funds rather than investing directly in shares, bonds or other securities.



> All investments whether in shares, debentures or deposits involve risk. Share value may go down depending upon the performance of the company, the industry, state of capital markets and the economy. Generally however, longer the term, lesser the risk. Companies may default in payment of interest and principal on their debentures/bonds/deposits. While risk cannot be eliminated, skillful management can minimize risk. Mutual Funds help to reduce risk through diversification and professional management. The experience and expertise of Mutual Fund managers in selecting fundamentally sound securities and timing their purchases and sales help them to build a diversified portfolio that minimizes risk and maximizes returns. Worldwide, the Mutual Fund, or Unit Trust as it is called in some parts of the world, have almost overtaken bank deposits and total assets of insurance funds. As of date, in the US alone there are over 5,000 Mutual Funds with total assets of over US $ 3 trillion (Rs.l00 lakh crores). In India there are 34 Mutual Funds and over 300 schemes with total assets of approximately Rs. 100,000 crores. All mutual funds in India are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India > (SEBI) ||
 * ~ **Mutual Funds - A Globally Proven Investment** ||

<span style="color: #0066cc; display: block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">**Mutual Fund Industry in India**

The formation of Unit Trust of India marked the evolution of the Indian mutual fund industry in the year 1963. The primary objective at that time was to attract the small investors and it was made possible through the collective efforts of the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India. The history of mutual fund industry in India can be better understood divided into following phases:
 * The Evolution **

Unit Trust of India enjoyed complete monopoly when it was established in the year 1963 by an act of Parliament. UTI was set up by the Reserve Bank of India and it continued to operate under the regulatory control of the RBI until the two were de-linked in 1978 and the entire control was tranferred in the hands of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI). UTI launched its first scheme in 1964, named as Unit Scheme 1964 (US-64), which attracted the largest number of investors in any single investment scheme over the years.
 * Phase 1. Establishment and Growth of Unit Trust of India - 1964-87 **

UTI launched more innovative schemes in 1970s and 80s to suit the needs of different investors. It launched ULIP in 1971, six more schemes between 1981-84, Children's Gift Growth Fund and India Fund (India's first offshore fund) in 1986, Mastershare (Inida's first equity diversified scheme) in 1987 and Monthly Income Schemes (offering assured returns) during 1990s. By the end of 1987, UTI's assets under management grew ten times to Rs 6700 crores.

The Indian mutual fund industry witnessed a number of public sector players entering the market in the year 1987. In November 1987, SBI Mutual Fund from the State Bank of India became the first non-UTI mutual fund in India. SBI Mutual Fund was later followed by Canbank Mutual Fund, LIC Mutual Fund, Indian Bank Muatual Fund, Bank of India Mutual Fund, GIC Mutual Fund and PNB Mutual Fund. By 1993, the assets under management of the industry increased seven times to Rs. 47,004 crores. However, UTI remained to be the leader with about 80% market share.
 * Phase II. Entry of Public Sector Funds - 1987-1993 **


 * 1992-93 || Amount Mobilised || Assets Under Management || Mobilisation as % of gross Domestic Savings** ||
 * **UTI** || 11,057 || 38,247 || 5.2% ||
 * **Public Sector** || 1,964 || 8,757 || 0.9% ||
 * **Total** || 13,021 || 47,004 || 6.1% ||

The permission given to private sector funds including foreign fund management companies (most of them entering through joint ventures with Indian promoters) to enter the mutal fund industry in 1993, provided a wide range of choice to investors and more competition in the industry. Private funds introduced innovative products, investment techniques and investor-servicing technology. By 1994-95, about 11 private sector funds had launched their schemes.
 * Phase III. Emergence of Private Secor Funds - 1993-96 **

The mutual fund industry witnessed robust growth and stricter regulation from the SEBI after the year 1996. The mobilisation of funds and the number of players operating in the industry reached new heights as investors started showing more interest in mutual funds.
 * Phase IV. Growth and SEBI Regulation - 1996-2004 **

Invetors' interests were safeguarded by SEBI and the Government offered tax benefits to the investors in order to encourage them. SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 was introduced by SEBI that set uniform standards for all mutual funds in India. The Union Budget in 1999 exempted all dividend incomes in the hands of investors from income tax. Various Investor Awareness Programmes were launched during this phase, both by SEBI and AMFI, with an objective to educate investors and make them informed about the mutual fund industry.

In February 2003, the UTI Act was repealed and UTI was stripped of its Special legal status as a trust formed by an Act of Parliament. The primary objective behind this was to bring all mutal fund players on the same level. UTI was re-organised into two parts: 1. The Specified Undertaking, 2. The UTI Mutual Fund

Presently Unit Trust of India operates under the name of UTI Mutual Fund and its past schemes (like US-64, Assured Return Schemes) are being gradually wound up. However, UTI Mutual Fund is still the largest player in the industry. In 1999, there was a significant growth in mobilisation of funds from investors and assets under management which is supported by the following data:


 * GROSS FUND MOBILISATION (RS. CRORES)** ||
 * FROM || TO || UTI || PUBLIC SECTOR || PRIVATE SECTOR || TOTAL** ||
 * 01-April-98 || 31-March-99 || 11,679 || 1,732 || 7,966 || 21,377 ||
 * 01-April-99 || 31-March-00 || 13,536 || 4,039 || 42,173 || 59,748 ||
 * 01-April-00 || 31-March-01 || 12,413 || 6,192 || 74,352 || 92,957 ||
 * 01-April-01 || 31-March-02 || 4,643 || 13,613 || 1,46,267 || 1,64,523 ||
 * 01-April-02 || 31-Jan-03 || 5,505 || 22,923 || 2,20,551 || 2,48,979 ||
 * 01-Feb.-03 || 31-March-03 || * || 7,259* || 58,435 || 65,694 ||
 * 01-April-03 || 31-March-04 || - || 68,558 || 5,21,632 || 5,90,190 ||
 * 01-April-04 || 31-March-05 || - || 1,03,246 || 7,36,416 || 8,39,662 ||
 * 01-April-05 || 31-March-06 || - || 1,83,446 || 9,14,712 || 10,98,158 ||


 * ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT (RS. CRORES) ||
 * AS ON || UTI || PUBLIC SECTOR || PRIVATE SECTOR || TOTAL** ||
 * 31-March-99 || 53,320 || 8,292 || 6,860 || 68,472 ||

The industry has also witnessed several mergers and acquisitions recently, examples of which are acquisition of schemes of Alliance Mutual Fund by Birla Sun Life, Sun F&C Mutual Fund and PNB Mutual Fund by Principal Mutual Fund. Simultaneously, more international mutal fund players have entered India like Fidelity, Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund etc. There were 29 funds as at the end of March 2006. This is a continuing phase of growth of the industry through consolidation and entry of new international and private sector plan.
 * Phase V. Growth and Consolidation - 2004 Onwards **

The Indian mutual funds industry is witnessing a rapid growth as a result of infrastructural development, increase in personal financial assets, and rise in foreign participation. With the growing risk appetite, rising income, and increasing awareness, mutual funds in India are becoming a preferred investment option compared to other investment vehicles like Fixed Deposits (FDs) and postal savings that are considered safe but give comparatively low returns, according to “**Indian Mutual Fund Industry**”.

This report provides a detailed analysis along with current and future outlook of the Indian mutual fund industry and explores the market development and potential. The forecasts and estimations given in this report are not based on a complex economic model, but are intended as a rough guide to the direction in which the industry is likely to move.

**Key Findings**

- The Indian mutual funds retail market, growing at a CAGR of about 30%, is forecasted to reach US$ 300 Billion by 2015. - Income and growth schemes made up for majority of Assets Under Management (AUM) in the country. - At about 84% (as on March 31, 2008), private sector Asset Management Companies account for majority of mutual fund sales in India. - Individual investors make up for 96.86% of the total number of investor accounts and contribute 36.9% of the net assets under management.

**Key Issues & Facts Analyzed in the Report**

- What are the key factors fueling growth into the Indian mutual fund market? - Which are the fastest growing products? - What are the key growth prospects? - What are the key challenges for the market? - How the market is likely to move in future?


 * Key Players**

This section provides business analysis of key players in the Indian mutual fund market, including Reliance Capital, BOB and HDFC.

**Research Methodology Used**

**Information Sources** Information for this report has been sourced from books, newspapers, trade journals, white papers, industry portals, government agencies, trade associations, monitoring industry news and developments, and through access to more than 3000 paid databases.

**Analysis Methods** The analysis methods used in this report include ratio analysis, historical trend analysis, linear regression analysis using software tools, judgmental forecasting, and cause and effect analysis.

=<span style="color: #ca4318; display: block; font-family: verdana; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bolder; text-align: center;">Performance of Mutual Funds = Mutual Funds are professionally run companies which collect money from various investors and invest or deploy those funds in diversified portfolios like stocks, shares, bonds and various other securities for returns. The portfolio administrator has the duty to invest underlying security of the fund, pulling in capital gains or losses and transposing proceeds to the investors. Unit Trust of India happens to be the first organization to introduce the idea of Mutual Fund in India. The performance of mutual funds began rising with the liberalization of India.

Performance of Mutual Funds: Unit Trust of India
Unit Trust of India Mutual Funds governed the Indian mutual fund market for about 50 years. It had no competitors till the year 1988. It is only in 1988 that few mutual fund companies were set up to compete the Unit Trust of India. Despite the emergence of various Mutual Fund companies in 1988, UTI Mutual Fund remained in he topmost position. UTI Mutual Funds consistently exhibited excellence in this field, and this contributed to the performance of Mutual Funds in India. Back in 1992, 24 million UTI Mutual Fund shareholders were promised high returns. UTI Mutual Funds schemes sold the thought of gaining profits by investing in mutual funds to Indian people. This happened to be an extremely helpful measure in drawing more and more investors. Moreover, there was no risk in investing in mutual funds.

Performance of Mutual Funds: Current Scenario
Different Indian mutual fund companies have plans of introducing pension schemes. They are also planning to introduce open-ended mutual funds. According to experts, if certain restrictions are removed, the system will become more beneficial and flexible.

=<span style="color: #ca4318; display: block; font-family: verdana; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bolder; text-align: center;">Association of Mutual Funds in India = With the rise in mutual fund companies, a requirement for mutual fund association in India was experienced to operate as a non-profit organization. This led to the establishment of Association of Mutual Funds in India in 1995. Association of Mutual Funds in India is an important organ of all Asset Management Companies that are registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India. Till today, all the Asset Management Companies with Mutual Fund schemes are the members of Association of Mutual Funds in India. AMFI operates under the superintendence of its Board of Directors. Association of Mutual Funds India, also referred to as AMFI, has helped the Indian Mutual Fund Industry to enter into a healthy and professional market, maintaining the market ethics and standards. It attempts to promote the interests of both Mutual Funds and unit holders.

Aims of Association of Mutual Funds in India
The aims of Association of Mutual Funds in India are as follows:
 * Association of Mutual Funds endeavors to maintain high standards in all fields of operation within the industry.
 * Association of Mutual Funds maintains an interaction with Securities and Exchange Board of India, and functions in accordance with the guidelines established by SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India).
 * Association of Mutual Funds in India takes up all India awareness program on behalf of the investors. This is done to facilitate proper comprehension of the concept and functioning of Mutual Funds.
 * At last but not the least association of mutual fund of India also circulate information related to Mutual Fund Industry.

Association of Mutual Funds in India: Sponsors
Some of the major sponsors of Association of Mutual Funds in India include:
 * SBI Fund Management Ltd.
 * BenchMark Asset Management Company Pvt.
 * UTI Asset Management Co Pvt. Ltd.
 * JM Financial Mutual Fund
 * Canbank Investment Management Services Ltd.
 * Jeevan Bima Sahayog Asset Management Company Ltd.

Unit Trust of India was the first mutual fund set up in India in the year 1963. In early 1990s, Government allowed public sector banks and institutions to set up mutual funds. In the year 1992, Securities and exchange Board of India (SEBI) Act was passed. The objectives of SEBI are – to protect the interest of investors in securities and to promote the development of and to regulate the securities market. As far as mutual funds are concerned, SEBI formulates policies and regulates the mutual funds to protect the interest of the investors. SEBI notified regulations for the mutual funds in 1993. Thereafter, mutual funds sponsored by private sector entities were allowed to enter the capital market. The regulations were fully revised in 1996 and have been amended thereafter from time to time. SEBI has also issued guidelines to the mutual funds from time to time to protect the interests of investors. All mutual funds whether promoted by public sector or private sector entities including those promoted by foreign entities are governed by the same set of Regulations. There is no distinction in regulatory requirements for these mutual funds and all are subject to monitoring and inspections by SEBI. The risks associated with the schemes launched by the mutual funds sponsored by these entities are of similar type. It may be mentioned here that Unit Trust of India (UTI) is not registered with SEBI as a mutual fund (as on January 15, 2002).
 * What is the history of Mutual Funds in India and role of SEBI in mutual funds industry?**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">**Different Schemes for Different Purposes:** <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">In India, there are different types of schemes so that it can serve different kinds of purposes. In fact, these different schemes have been launched by different companies in an effort to cater to the different financial requirements. For instance, in case of the closed end funds, there is a specific period of maturity and after the period of maturity gets over, the money can be withdrawn. On the other hand, in case of the open end schemes, there is no maturity period and if you invest in such a scheme, you would have to deal directly to get the redemption from the mutual fund companies. Thus the objective and the prices of each of the schemes vary accordingly and on the basis of this the prices also vary.

=<span style="color: #f63d00; display: block; font-family: arial; font-size: 25px; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">Top Indian Mutual Funds = <span style="color: #2c2c2c; display: block; font-family: arial,tahoma,verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; text-align: justify;">The origin of the Indian mutual funds industry dates back to 1963 when the Unit Trust of India (UTI) came into existence at the initiative of the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India. Since then the mutual funds sector remained the sole fiefdom of UTI till 1987 when a slew of non-UTI, public sector mutual funds were set up by nationalized banks and life insurance companies.

The year 1993 saw sweeping changes being introduced in the mutual fund industry with private sector fund houses making their debut and the laying down of comprehensive mutual fund regulations. Over the years, the Indian mutual funds industry has witnessed an exponential growth riding piggyback on a booming economy and the arrival of a horde of international fund houses.

=<span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 26px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 18px;">Mutual Fund Companies in India = <span style="display: block; font-size: 12px; padding-left: 26px; padding-right: 35px; text-align: justify;"> The concept of mutual funds in India dates back to the year 1963. The era between 1963 and 1987 marked the existance of only one mutual fund company in India with Rs. 67bn assets under management (AUM), by the end of its monopoly era, the Unit Trust of India (UTI). By the end of the 80s decade, few other mutual fund companies in India took their position in mutual fund market. > The new entries of mutual fund companies in India were SBI Mutual Fund, Canbank Mutual Fund, Punjab National Bank Mutual Fund, Indian Bank Mutual Fund, Bank of India Mutual Fund. > The succeeding decade showed a new horizon in indian mutual fund industry. By the end of 1993, the total AUM of the industry was Rs. 470.04 bn. The private sector funds started penetrating the fund families. In the same year the first Mutual Fund Regulations came into existance with re-registering all mutual funds except UTI. The regulations were further given a revised shape in 1996. > Kothari Pioneer was the first private sector mutual fund company in India which has now merged with Franklin Templeton. Just after ten years with private sector players penetration, the total assets rose up to Rs. 1218.05 bn. Today there are 33 mutual fund companies in India. > **Major Mutual Fund Companies in India** > [|ABN AMRO Mutual Fund] > ABN AMRO Mutual Fund was setup on April 15, 2004 with ABN AMRO Trustee (India) Pvt. Ltd. as the Trustee Company. The AMC, ABN AMRO Asset Management (India) Ltd. was incorporated on November 4, 2003. Deutsche Bank A G is the custodian of ABN AMRO Mutual Fund. > [|Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund] > Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund is the joint venture of Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial. Sun Life Financial is a golbal organisation evolved in 1871 and is being represented in Canada, the US, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia and Bermuda apart from India. Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund follows a conservative long-term approach to investment. Recently it crossed AUM of Rs. 10,000 crores. > [|Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund (BOB Mutual Fund)] > Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund or BOB Mutual Fund was setup on October 30, 1992 under the sponsorship of Bank of Baroda. BOB Asset Management Company Limited is the AMC of BOB Mutual Fund and was incorporated on November 5, 1992. Deutsche Bank AG is the custodian. > [|HDFC Mutual Fund] > HDFC Mutual Fund was setup on June 30, 2000 with two sponsorers nemely Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited and Standard Life Investments Limited. > [|HSBC Mutual Fund] > HSBC Mutual Fund was setup on May 27, 2002 with HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private Limited as the sponsor. Board of Trustees, HSBC Mutual Fund acts as the Trustee Company of HSBC Mutual Fund. > [|ING Vysya Mutual Fund] > ING Vysya Mutual Fund was setup on February 11, 1999 with the same named Trustee Company. It is a joint venture of Vysya and ING. The AMC, ING Investment Management (India) Pvt. Ltd. was incorporated on April 6, 1998. > [|Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund] > The mutual fund of ICICI is a joint venture with Prudential Plc. of America, one of the largest life insurance companies in the US of A. Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund was setup on 13th of October, 1993 with two sponsorers, Prudential Plc. and ICICI Ltd. The Trustee Company formed is Prudential ICICI Trust Ltd. and the AMC is Prudential ICICI Asset Management Company Limited incorporated on 22nd of June, 1993. > [|Sahara Mutual Fund] > Sahara Mutual Fund was set up on July 18, 1996 with Sahara India Financial Corporation Ltd. as the sponsor. Sahara Asset Management Company Private Limited incorporated on August 31, 1995 works as the AMC of Sahara Mutual Fund. The paid-up capital of the AMC stands at Rs 25.8 crore. > [|State Bank of India Mutual Fund] > State Bank of India Mutual Fund is the first Bank sponsored Mutual Fund to launch offshor fund, the India Magnum Fund with a corpus of Rs. 225 cr. approximately. Today it is the largest Bank sponsored Mutual Fund in India. They have already launched 35 Schemes out of which 15 have already yielded handsome returns to investors. State Bank of India Mutual Fund has more than Rs. 5,500 Crores as AUM. Now it has an investor base of over 8 Lakhs spread over 18 schemes. > [|Tata Mutual Fund] > Tata Mutual Fund (TMF) is a Trust under the Indian Trust Act, 1882. The sponsorers for Tata Mutual Fund are Tata Sons Ltd., and Tata Investment Corporation Ltd. The investment manager is Tata Asset Management Limited and its Tata Trustee Company Pvt. Limited. Tata Asset Management Limited's is one of the fastest in the country with more than Rs. 7,703 crores (as on April 30, 2005) of AUM. > __Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund__ > Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company (KMAMC) is a subsidiary of KMBL. It is presently having more than 1,99,818 investors in its various schemes. KMAMC started its operations in December 1998. Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund offers schemes catering to investors with varying risk - return profiles. It was the first company to launch dedicated gilt scheme investing only in government securities. > __Unit Trust of India Mutual Fund__ > UTI Asset Management Company Private Limited, established in Jan 14, 2003, manages the UTI Mutual Fund with the support of UTI Trustee Company Privete Limited. UTI Asset Management Company presently manages a corpus of over Rs.20000 Crore. The sponsorers of UTI Mutual Fund are Bank of Baroda (BOB), Punjab National Bank (PNB), State Bank of India (SBI), and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The schemes of UTI Mutual Fund are Liquid Funds, Income Funds, Asset Management Funds, Index Funds, Equity Funds and Balance Funds. > __Reliance Mutual Fund__ > Reliance Mutual Fund (RMF) was established as trust under Indian Trusts Act, 1882. The sponsor of RMF is Reliance Capital Limited and Reliance Capital Trustee Co. Limited is the Trustee. It was registered on June 30, 1995 as Reliance Capital Mutual Fund which was changed on March 11, 2004. Reliance Mutual Fund was formed for launching of various schemes under which units are issued to the Public with a view to contribute to the capital market and to provide investors the opportunities to make investments in diversified securities. > __Standard Chartered Mutual Fund__ > Standard Chartered Mutual Fund was set up on March 13, 2000 sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank. The Trustee is Standard Chartered Trustee Company Pvt. Ltd. Standard Chartered Asset Management Company Pvt. Ltd. is the AMC which was incorporated with SEBI on December 20,1999. > __Franklin Templeton India Mutual Fund__ > The group, Frnaklin Templeton Investments is a California (USA) based company with a global AUM of US$ 409.2 bn. (as of April 30, 2005). It is one of the largest financial services groups in the world. Investors can buy or sell the Mutual Fund through their financial advisor or through mail or through their website. They have Open end Diversified Equity schemes, Open end Sector Equity schemes, Open end Hybrid schemes, Open end Tax Saving schemes, Open end Income and Liquid schemes, Closed end Income schemes and Open end Fund of Funds schemes to offer. > __Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund India__ > Morgan Stanley is a worldwide financial services company and its leading in the market in securities, investmenty management and credit services. Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MISM) was established in the year 1975. It provides customized asset management services and products to governments, corporations, pension funds and non-profit organisations. Its services are also extended to high net worth individuals and retail investors. In India it is known as Morgan Stanley Investment Management Private Limited (MSIM India) and its AMC is Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund (MSMF). This is the first close end diversified equity scheme serving the needs of Indian retail investors focussing on a long-term capital appreciation. > __Escorts Mutual Fund__ > Escorts Mutual Fund was setup on April 15, 1996 with Excorts Finance Limited as its sponsor. The Trustee Company is Escorts Investment Trust Limited. Its AMC was incorporated on December 1, 1995 with the name Escorts Asset Management Limited. > __Alliance Capital Mutual Fund__ > Alliance Capital Mutual Fund was setup on December 30, 1994 with Alliance Capital Management Corp. of Delaware (USA) as sponsorer. The Trustee is ACAM Trust Company Pvt. Ltd. and AMC, the Alliance Capital Asset Management India (Pvt) Ltd. with the corporate office in Mumbai. > __Benchmark Mutual Fund__ > Benchmark Mutual Fund was setup on June 12, 2001 with Niche Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. as the sponsorer and Benchmark Trustee Company Pvt. Ltd. as the Trustee Company. Incorporated on October 16, 2000 and headquartered in Mumbai, Benchmark Asset Management Company Pvt. Ltd. is the AMC. > __Canbank Mutual Fund__ > Canbank Mutual Fund was setup on December 19, 1987 with Canara Bank acting as the sponsor. Canbank Investment Management Services Ltd. incorporated on March 2, 1993 is the AMC. The Corporate Office of the AMC is in Mumbai. > __Chola Mutual Fund__ > Chola Mutual Fund under the sponsorship of Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Ltd. was setup on January 3, 1997. Cholamandalam Trustee Co. Ltd. is the Trustee Company and AMC is Cholamandalam AMC Limited. > __LIC Mutual Fund__ > Life Insurance Corporation of India set up LIC Mutual Fund on 19th June 1989. It contributed Rs. 2 Crores towards the corpus of the Fund. LIC Mutual Fund was constituted as a Trust in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Trust Act, 1882. . The Company started its business on 29th April 1994. The Trustees of LIC Mutual Fund have appointed Jeevan Bima Sahayog Asset Management Company Ltd as the Investment Managers for LIC Mutual Fund. > __GIC Mutual Fund__ > GIC Mutual Fund, sponsored by General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC), a Government of India undertaking and the four Public Sector General Insurance Companies, viz. National Insurance Co. Ltd (NIC), The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. (NIA), The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd (OIC) and United India Insurance Co. Ltd. (UII) and is constituted as a Trust in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. > <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Deciding or searching for the top mutual funds generally requires lot of things to be taken into consideration. It is here that the role of the fund manager creeps in. The fund manager determines the performance of the fund for that particular period, so it is a compulsion that he is consulted prior to making the investment. Another important segment that should be taken care of is the proper selection of Assets. Asset Allocation is the art of bifurcating your finances into a mixture of Assets (stocks, bonds, etc). It is imperative that some amount of research is done prior to choosing a fund for investment. The performance of a mutual fund over the last few years does give an insight to it’s value. The Mutual fund performance can be known by Mutual Fund NAV i.e. Net Asset Value. It is disclosed on daily basis in case of open-ended schemes and on weekly basis in case of close-ended schemes. It is necessary for all top mutual funds in India to put their NAV’s on the web site of **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Association of Mutual Funds in India ** (AMFI) thus the investors can access NAVs of all mutual funds at one place. > <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">.According to latest researches and data available with Association of Mutual Funds in India (body that governs the Mutual Fund houses in India), it can be described that, since the last 6 months, the entire asset under management or AUM, along with thirty one mutual funds covered at Rs 5,18,123 Crore or Rs 5,181.23 billion. All of the top five mutual funds of India made record in the development of total AUM. They have increased the AUM rate of the Indian mutual fund industry. Being the top mutual fund organization of India, the Reliance Mutual Fund rose the AUM to Rs.80,780 crore from Rs.77,765 crore. On the other hand, the ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund and UTI Mutual Fund rose to Rs.56,854 crore from Rs.52,180 crore. So going through the snapshot you do have an idea as to which Mutual Fund should be invested upon and the factors you would need to take into consideration. > > = **Top Mutual Funds in India** =
 * Here is a list of top Indian mutual funds:**
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|ABN-AMRO] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Baroda Pioneer Mutual Fund] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Benchmark] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Birla Sunlife] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Canbank] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|DBS Chola] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Deutsche] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|DSP Merrill Lynch] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Escorts] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Fidelity] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Franklin Templeton] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|HDFC] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|HSBC] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|ING Vysya] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|JM] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Kotak Mahindra] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|LIC] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Morgan Stanley] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Principal] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Prudential ICICI] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Reliance] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Sahara] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|SBI] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Standard Chartered] **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">** [|Sundaram BNP Parib] **as
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">TATA
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 10px;">UTI

<span style="font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px;">Mutual funds industry in India is growing rapidly. Know about best and top mutual funds in India. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;"> =<span style="color: #003366; font: normal normal bold 20px/normal Arial; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Best Mutual Funds to Invest in 2010 in India = There are many ways to earn money. Share trading and mutual funds investment is the best among all. With little caution, there is chance of earning huge money in this trading. Due to this, many people started investing in it. Big companies saw share trading as an opportunity. This led to the rise of mutual fund companies. <span style="display: block; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 2px;">Due to heavy competition, many innovative and creative ideas were introduced. Ideas like systematic investment plan and value investment plan was introduced for two reasons. One is to increase the fund investment amount. Another reason is to increase the number of fund holders. Small monthly installments are accepted in systematic investment plan. Value investment plan was introduced for volatile market conditions. >> >> At present, there are numerous fund schemes and plan. To get proper results and high profit, correct mutual fund has to be selected. There are many categories in funds. Equity, Balanced, Debt, Liquid and ELSS are the common ones. Risk factor is more in Equity funds. Comparatively, risk factor is less in debt funds. >> >> List of Top Equity Schemes: >> >> * DSP - BR Micro Cap Fund >> * ICICI Pru Discovery Fund >> * Birla SL Dividend Yield >> * UTI Master Value Fund >> * IDFC Small and Midcap Equity >> >> List of Top Debt Schemes: >> >> * Birla SL FRF - LTP - RP >> * HDFC - Float Rate Inc - LTP >> * Reliance Floating Rate >> * LIC MF Floating Rate >> * Kotak Floater LTP >> >> List of Top Liquid Schemes: >> >> * IDFC Savings Adv Plan >> * Tata Treasury Manager - RIP >> * HDFC CMG Treasury Plan >> * HDFC Cash Mgmt - SP >> * LIC MF Liquid Fund >> >> List of Top Equity Linked Saving Schemes: >> >> * HDFC Tax Saver >> * ICICI Pru Tax Plan >> * Religare Tax Plan<span style="color: #003399; display: block; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Arial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 2px; text-decoration: none;">[|Invest in Mutual Funds] >> Visit the site for more details on Mutual Funds investments. <span class="product" style="color: #0a7bca; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;">**Regulatory Authorities :** To protect the interest of the investors, SEBI formulates policies and regulates the mutual funds. It notified regulations in 1993 (fully revised in 1996) and issues guidelines from time to time. MF either promoted by public or by private sector entities including one promoted by foreign entities is governed by these Regulations.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">ABN AMRO Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Benchmark Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Birla Sunlife Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Canbank Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">DBS Chola Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Deutsche Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">DSP Merrill Lynch Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Escorts Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Fidelity Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Franklin Templeton
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">HDFC Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">HSBC Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">ING Vysya Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">JM Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">LIC Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Principal Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Reliance Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Sahara Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">SBI Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Standard Chartered
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Sundaram BNP Paribas
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">Tata Mutual Fund
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,verdana,'ms sans serif'; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 12px; text-align: justify;">UTI Mutual Fund

SEBI approved Asset Management Company (AMC) manages the funds by making investments in various types of securities. Custodian, registered with SEBI, holds the securities of various schemes of the fund in its custody.

According to SEBI Regulations, two thirds of the directors of Trustee Company or board of trustees must be independent. The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) reassures the investors in units of mutual funds that the mutual funds function within the strict regulatory framework. Its objective is to increase public awareness of the mutual fund industry. AMFI also is engaged in upgrading professional standards and in promoting best industry practices in diverse areas such as valuation, disclosure, transparency etc.