Mutual Funds - A Guide For Beginners

Mutual Funds are a well-diversified, low-cost and tax-efficient way of making your savings grow. They are an ideal investment vehicle for those who do not have the expertise to invest directly in stocks. You simply invest in a fund, and the fund manager will do the job of picking the stocks that he thinks will yield good returns.

Despite their simplicity and suitability for small investors, mutual funds are not the preferred investment vehicle for the vast majority of Indian investors who are either not aware of them or find them too complex to understand.

Full Guide To Mutual Funds

If you happen to be one of them, here is a primer that should help you step into the world of mutual funds with ease. It summarizes the key steps in your mutual fund investing journey and explains all you need to know to get started.

1. Getting Ready

There are a few one-time prerequisites to investing in a mutual fund. You need to have a bank account and you must be KYC- (know your customer) compliant. KYC is the process of verifying the identity of an investor. It is free and just requires your passport-sized photograph, PAN and Aadhaar Card. You can check your KYC status here. If you haven't yet registered for KYC, you can apply for it in two ways - offline and online.

Offline KYC can be done by filling a form which is available on websites of Registrar and Transfer agent (CAMS/Karvy) and all the mutual fund houses (AMCs). You can also get your KYC done in five minutes by filling an online form on the website of AMCs or RTAs. You need to provide your registered mobile number and Aadhaar number for verification via OTP. Your in-person verification (IPV) is done via video call, where you have to show your original identity and address proof. Once the verification is done, you are all set to invest in mutual funds.

2. Choosing Funds

Mutual funds are meant to simplify the job of investing for you. But ironically, the task of choosing the right funds can become overwhelming, given that you are faced with more than 2,500 fund schemes to choose from. Here are the decision points you'll be confronted with and here's how you can make the right choices with ease.

• Debt or equity: Referred to as the asset allocation decision, this is basically where you decide whether and how much you should invest in fixed income securities and in equity shares. Both are meant to fulfil different needs. Debt mutual funds offer steadier but lower returns. Given their low-risk, low-return profile, they are a suitable choice to meet short-term goals where capital preservation assumes precedence over return potential. On the other hand, as the name suggests, equity mutual funds invest in shares which can earn far higher returns but can also fluctuate much more in the short term. They are suitable for time horizons of five years or more. The chances of incurring losses from equity investments fall drastically over longer investment horizons. And coupled with their superior return potential, they are an ideal choice for building meaningful wealth over the long term.
• Which funds: Once you have decided on your debt-equity allocation, the next step is to pick the specific fund(s) within the debt or equity categories. Do not randomly pick mutual funds or blindly rely on the advice of a relative or a friend. You should opt for funds that have performed well consistently over the long term instead of the season's chartbusters. The list of four- or five-star-rated funds by Value Research can greatly simplify your job. These ratings are based on funds' long-term risk-adjusted returns and therefore reward funds that have a proven track record of performance. Check out the list of top-rated funds here.
• How many: Even by investing in a single fund, your portfolio gets diversified across 30-40 stocks. So, two or three funds from different fund houses are quite enough to provide adequate diversification. With a larger number of funds than this, you may just end up replicating your existing holdings.
• Direct plan or Regular plan: Every mutual fund now offers a direct plan and a regular plan. They are the same except that a direct plan charges lower annual expenses (lower by around 0.75 - 1 per cent per annum in case of equity funds) because it does not have to pay a distributor fee or commission. This is because in the case of direct plans, you invest the money yourself, without the mediation of a broker or agent. Whilst direct plans will save you money, you'll have to do everything yourself, and being a 'do-it-yourself' investor requires active tracking, rebalancing, switching funds, etc., which can be daunting for a beginner. You may instead want to go through a distributor initially and invest in regular plans. Later on, once you've become more knowledgeable and confident, you can think of switching to direct plans. But the only word of caution here is to stick to your investment plan and not get persuaded by any other investment option they may offer you as they have their own interests attached to it.
• Growth option or IDCW: Within both regular and direct variants of each mutual fund scheme, you may also get to choose between two options - Growth and IDCW (Income Distribution cum Capital Withdrawal) plans. In IDCW plans, fund houses pay out some portion of the gains made to the unitholders. The quantum of payout and timing is as per the choice of the AMC. Also, the amount paid out is subject to income tax as financially, it's exactly as if you have withdrawn that money from the fund. In the Growth option, there are no periodic payouts made at the behest of the AMC. Your money remains fully invested until you decide to redeem it, in part or in full.

3. Buying Funds

Now that we are past the stage of choosing funds, we are ready to go ahead and buy them. You can either buy funds directly from a fund house or through an intermediary.

To invest directly, you'll have to submit filled forms, cheques, etc. at investor service centers of the mutual fund houses or registrars, who have their branch networks across many cities. Or more conveniently, you also have the option of investing online via the websites of mutual fund houses or various online platforms that facilitate buying and selling of mutual funds. Payments can be made online by using net banking or UPI to complete the transaction.

In case you prefer to invest through an intermediary, there is a wide variety of them available, including banks, individual financial advisors, distribution companies, online portals, and brokerages. At this stage, you'll need to ponder over how much to invest and at what frequency. Here, you broadly have two options - lump sum investment or Systematic Investment Plans (SIP). Lump sum investing simply means you invest all the money that you want to invest at one go. SIP on the other hand involves investing a fixed amount at a fixed frequency (generally monthly).  

4. Monitoring Your Investments

You should keep track of how well your investments are performing. But don't overdo it. Given the ubiquity of modern technology, you will constantly get updates about the ups and downs of the market. Do not be swayed by this. Reviewing your investments once in a while is all you need to do. 

5. How And When To Sell

There are broadly two reasons why you should consider selling your fund: 1) It has become a poor performer; or 2) You need the money to meet the financial goal(s) for which you were investing in the first place. Let's look at both of them one by one.

• Poor performance: If the fund's performance has been consistently dipping compared to the peer group and benchmark, you should carefully consider whether or not it should be part of your portfolio. However, don't let a single month of bad performance change your mind. You need to take a longer-term view on this. A quick and convenient way is to keep an eye on the fund's rating. In case its rating drops to one or two and remains there for a few months, you can consider selling it and look for a better option.
• Meeting your financial goal: In case of equity funds, you should withdraw systematically. Therefore, as your planned goal nears, exit your equity funds over a period of two to three years and move your money into debt funds. This gradual withdrawal is important to avoid getting adversely impacted by any sharp declines in equity markets right at the last minute. In case of debt funds, however, it is fine to withdraw your money at one go.

Conclusion

A well-known financial proverb says that to become wealthy, you should be able to make money even while you sleep. Investing in mutual funds can be an effortless way of achieving this goal. When you invest in mutual funds every month, your corpus grows. It could have a slow start, but with time, your investment may grow to a large extent. Identify your goals, select the appropriate funds and start investing.

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Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.