Wealth managers said investors will now increasingly consider fixed deposits and other debt instruments that have been offering better rates than several debt mutual funds.

I also believe that the way the mutual funds have been playing the development role on the bond market, which I think is one of the most needed for the country as a whole, in addition to the equity market.

A note from a distributor told investors that ‘this is to inform you that FY 24 Budget amendment is proposing any capital gain made on investments made after April 1, 2023 in Non Equity MFs ( Funds which have more than 35 % investment in debt ) will not be eligible for Long Term Capital Gains benefits.”

Indexation helps investors to bring down taxes as it calculates the taxes after accounting for inflation. In a high inflation environment, indexation brings down the taxes significantly.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India, in its circular dated May 8, 2017, allowed the use of e-wallets for investment in mutual funds within the umbrella limit of Rs 50,000 for investments by investors, especially the young generation -- to purchase these instruments through both e-wallet and/or cash per mutual fund per financial year.

Quant Mutual Fund has launched a Dynamic Asset Allocation Fund that provides 100% flexibility in shifting between debt and equity. The company aims to target a new investor audience, such as people who invest in FDs but are reluctant to take risks. They believe the new fund can generate extra alpha over FD returns and offer a similar low-volatility product with better taxation. The fund can be used as a debt tax savings product, while Sebi also allows exiting 100% from equity or participating in 100% debt. The fund aims to generate alpha opportunistically when extreme or special situations arise.

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ELSS mutual fund category offered around 13.35% returns in the 10-year horizon. ETMutualFunds considered daily rolling returns in 10 years to to see whether these schemes managed to beat their benchmarks.

By investing in a fund of funds, which offers asset diversification, investors may also benefit from lower risks as it follows a passive investment strategy.

Deals beyond a certain value require approval from the regulator, as it keeps a tab on unfair business practices in the market place.

The move set the U.S. central bank's benchmark overnight interest rate in the 4.75%-5.00% range, with updated projections showing 10 of 18 Fed policymakers still expect rates to rise another quarter of a percentage point by the end of this year, the same endpoint seen in the December projections.

The small cap category has faced a lot of volatility in the interim. The category delivered around 2.19% return in the last one year horizon.

Midcaps and smallcaps tend to feel the pinch more than largecaps during macroeconomic advents. This is despite valuation in the smaller caps also correcting. Some profit booking in midcap and smallcap stocks could occur in the nervous market but one should start nibbling back into increasing equity allocation to domestic equities, especially largecaps. Kotak AMC's CIO-Equity, Harsha Upadhyaya, believes the valuation risk remains minimal in largecaps, making them attractive to investors for long-term investments.

Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC CEO A Balasubramanian says the firm’s exposure to the Adani Group has been paid on time or earlier than the due date. SIP cancellations might occur, however, the net number should remain positive moving forward. The upcoming election should see a positive outcome for the Indian market. Stocks in the consumption segment would be the least volatile with no earning negative surprises.

According to regulatory guidelines, investors should have a nominee for all their mutual fund folios, or inform the fund house they do not wish to have one by March 31. Otherwise, their folios will be frozen for debits.

"Concerns on growth and financial stability point to easier than expected monetary conditions. If this contagion in the global banking system continues, monetary policy will continue to be easy, making it a good time to allocate some money to long duration bonds with a 5-10 year maturity." says Sandeep Bagla, CEO, Trust Mutual Fund.

As per Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) data as of January 2023, individual mutual fund investors have 80% of their total mutual fund allocation towards equity schemes, and only 14% of the allocation is towards debt-oriented schemes.

Silver ETFs also have an advantage over SIlver futures which are also traded on the exchanges. The former is traded on exchanges in the form of stocks, Solanki said. Trading in silver futures and for that matter any derivative is complicated while ETFs are much simpler to understand, he added.

Around nine fixed maturity plans (FMPs), five gilt funds, two ETFs and two fund of funds (FoF), and one ELSS and index fund scheme are open for subscription in the market.

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For some people investment is an activity where there is a lot of action all the time. They strongly believe that to get returns one needs to actively manage their portfolio and churn appropriately, says Suresh Sadagopan.

The NSE Nifty fell 111.65 points or 0.65% to close at 16,988.40. The BSE Sensex declined 360.95 points or 0.62% to end at 57,628.95. "It's the fear factor that the crisis in the developed market financial system will not end soon which is dragging down the market at the moment," said Siddarth Bhamre, head, research, Religare Broking.

Puneet Pal, head - fixed income, PGIM India Mutual Fund, said he expected the US Fed to hike rates by 25 bps next week, but he pointed out the crucial aspect will be the future guidance.

Is it the right time to invest in equity mutual funds? Why mutual fund managers/experts believe that it is great time or opportunity to invest in equity mutual funds?

The goals cannot be vague, such as ‘I will buy a house when I have enough money’. Goals should be ‘SMART’: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

This type of fund has huge interest rate risk as any change in the interest rate will impact the price of the bonds, which will impact fund returns.

Investing consistently is more than important than timing the markets.

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HDFC NIFTY SDL Plus G-Sec Jun 2027 40:60 Index Fund, an open-ended target maturity scheme, will close for subscription today. The scheme will re-open for continuous sale and repurchase within five business days from the date of allotment of units under NFO.

Equity mutual funds shuffled their holdings in banks and insurance in February as foreign investors trimmed their positions in these stocks as part of their broader sell-off in Indian equities.

"With this fund, an investment by an Indian investor will be made in INR locally into the Bandhan US Treasury Bond 0-1 Year Fund of Fund. Our fund will in turn invest into an overseas ETF that invests in US Treasury Bonds. Being a local investment, individual remittance limits and Tax Collected at Source (TCS) requirements under the LRS facility are not applicable," Kapoor said.

The US Treasury Bond 0-1 year Fund of Fund is an open-ended FoF that will invest in units of JPMorgan BetaBuilders US Treasury Bond 0-1 year ETF.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) granted recognition to AMC Repo Clearing Ltd in January last year.

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Are the recent troubles offer a great opportunity to invest in banking schemes?

As per the Income Tax, such mergers will not result in capital gain or loss for the merging schemes. They will be treated as a continuous investment into the next scheme.

Target maturity funds are passively managed debt mutual funds that come with a specified maturity date and replicate the underlying index.

The Deputy MD of SBI MF, DP Singh, says that the SVB crisis in India will have a minimal impact on the Indian economy, and that the future is bright. Singh also says that the Indian economy is doing well, and that credit is improving. He says that the decoupling of the Indian economy from the US economy is no longer possible and that Indians are investing outside of India.

Nifty100 Low Volatility 30 Index is a Smart Beta ETF that aims to measure the performance of the low volatile securities in the large market capitalization segment. Smart Beta ETFs aim to potentially combine the benefits of both active and passive investing.

The NFO will close for subscription on March 15, 2023.

Women can give a missed call on 8657011333 if they want to learn more about mutual funds, investing or simply about how they can take their first steps toward building a financial plan, a press release said.

Whenever the market becomes volatile, many investors keep asking whether they can invest in some mutual funds that will help them to deal with the volatility better. Are there safe funds?

The NFO of SBI Dividend Yield Fund was opened between February 20 to March 6, and it will reopen for subscriptions on March 17, the company said.

The heavy withdrawal was seen from liquid funds. Debt funds continued to witness outflows at Rs 13,815 crore during the period under review.

The New Fund Offer is open for subscription and will close on March 27.

Loan against mutual funds units has existed in the past, but investors stayed away from it due to the tedious process like multiple visits to the branch, fulfilling KYC norms, and waiting for days to get the loan sanctioned and disbursed.

Gold ETFs, which track the domestic physical gold price, are passive investment instruments that are based on gold prices and invest in gold bullion.

Based on regular monthly fund disclosures, global mutual funds tracking firm Morningstar ranks India on top of 26 countries, said Amfi chief executive NS Venkatesh.

Given its growth tilt, the fund struggled last year, pulling down its otherwise decent return profile. Its new stance means it will deliver when market starts favouring growth businesses.

The loss rate is defined as the number of time intervals of negative returns as a percentage of the total number of defined time intervals. This is calculated using rolling returns.