TO STUDY THE VARIOUS FACTORS CONSIDERED BY THE CUSTOMER WHILE GOING FOR INVESTMENT IN MUTUAL FUND

Final Research Project Report

INDEX

1. Executive summary1 2. Introduction2 3. Literature Review...3 4. Objectives ...17 5. Research methodology...18 6. The Survey..19 7. Findings...46 8. Recommendations..47 9. Conclusions.....48 10. Bibliography..49 11. Annexure....50

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project talks about the various factors considered by the customers while going for investment in mutual fund. The first few pages talk about the introduction and objectives of the study. This is followed by literature review with details about mutual funds. Next comes the survey, the purpose of which is to study the working of mutual funds, the characteristics of mutual funds that attract the investor and what an investor should consider for safe investment and better returns. The last part consists of findings, recommendations, limitations, conclusion and bibliography. The questionnaire has been annexed to the report.

INTRODUCTION Mutual funds have been a significant source of investment in both government and corporate securities. It has been for decades the monopoly of the state with UTI being the key player, with invested funds exceeding Rs.300 bn. The state-owned insurance companies also hold a portfolio of stocks. Presently, numerous mutual funds exist, including private and foreign companies. Banks--- mainly state-owned too have established Mutual Funds (MFs). Foreign participation in mutual funds and asset management companies is permitted on a case by case basis. UTI, the largest mutual fund in the country was set up by the government in 1964, to encourage small investors in the equity market. UTI has an extensive marketing network of over 35, 000 agents spread over the country. The UTI scrips have performed relatively well in the market, as compared to the Sensex trend. However, the same cannot be said of all mutual funds. All MFs are allowed to apply for firm allotment in public issues. SEBI regulates the functioning of mutual funds, and it requires that all MFs should be established as trusts under the Indian Trusts Act. The actual fund management activity shall be conducted from a separate asset management company (AMC). The minimum net worth of an AMC or its affiliate must be Rs. 50 million to act as a manager in any other fund. MFs can be penalized for defaults including non-registration and failure to observe rules set by their AMCs. MFs dealing exclusively with money market instruments have to be registered with RBI. All other schemes floated by MFs are required to be registered with SEBI. In 1995, the RBI permitted private sector institutions to set up Money Market Mutual Funds (MMMFs). They can invest in treasury bills, call and notice money, commercial paper, commercial bills accepted/co-accepted by banks, certificates of deposit and dated government securities having unexpired maturity upto one year.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Mutual Fund

A mutual fund is a common pool of money in to which investors with common investment objective place their contributions that are to be invested in accordance with the stated investment objective of the scheme. The investment manager would invest the money collected from the investor in to assets that are defined/ permitted by the stated objective of the scheme. For example, an equity fund would invest equity and equity related instruments and a debt fund would invest in bonds, debentures, gilts etc. 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 then invested in capital market instruments such as shares, debentures and other securities. The income earned through these investments and the capital appreciation realised are shared by its unit holders in proportion to the number of units owned by them. Thus a Mutual Fund is the most suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost. The flow chart below describes broadly the working of a mutual fund.

Mutual Fund Operation Flow Chart 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 then invested in capital market instruments such as shares, debentures and other securities. The income earned through these investments and the capital appreciation realised are shared by its unit holders in proportion to the number of units owned by them. Thus a Mutual Fund is the most suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost. The flow chart below describes broadly the working of a mutual fund: Mutual Fund Operation Flow Chart ADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUNDS The advantages of investing in a Mutual Fund are: Professional Management Diversification Convenient Administration Return Potential Low Costs Liquidity Transparency Flexibility Choice of schemes Tax benefits Well regulated DRAWBACKS OF MUTUAL FUNDS Mutual funds have their drawbacks and may not be for everyone: No Guarantees: No investment is risk free. If the entire stock market declines in value, the value of mutual fund shares will go down as well, no matter how balanced the portfolio. Investors encounter fewer risks when they invest in mutual funds than when they buy and sell stocks on their own. However, anyone who invests through a mutual fund runs the risk of losing money. Fees and commissions: All funds charge administrative fees to cover their day-to-day expenses. Some funds also charge sales commissions or "loads" to compensate brokers, financial consultants, or financial planners. Even if you don't use a broker or other financial adviser, you will pay a sales commission if you buy shares in a Load Fund. Taxes: During a typical year, most actively managed mutual funds sell anywhere from 20 to 70 percent of the securities in their portfolios. If your fund makes a profit on its sales, you will pay taxes on the income you receive, even if you reinvest the money you made. Management risk: When you invest in a mutual fund, you depend on the fund's manager to make the right decisions regarding the fund's portfolio. If the manager does not perform as well as you had hoped, you might not make as much money on your investment as you expected. Of course, if you invest in Index Funds, you forego management risk, because these funds do not employ managers

Types of mutual fund scheme Wide variety of Mutual Fund Schemes exist to cater to the needs such as financial position, risk tolerance and return expectations etc. The table below gives an overview into the existing types of schemes in the Industry.

Performance of Mutual Funds in India Let us start the discussion of the performance of mutual funds in India from the day the concept of mutual fund took birth in India. The year was 1963. Unit Trust of India invited investors or rather to those who believed in savings, to park their money in UTI Mutual Fund. For 30 years it goaled without a single second player. Though the 1988 year saw some new mutual fund companies, but UTI remained in a monopoly position. The performance of mutual funds in India in the initial phase was not even closer to satisfactory level. People rarely understood, and of course investing was out of question. But yes, some 24 million shareholders was accustomed with guaranteed high returns by the begining of liberalization of the industry in 1992. This good record of UTI became marketing tool for new entrants. The expectations of investors touched the sky in profitability factor. However, people were miles away from the praparedness of risks factor after the liberalization. The Assets Under Management of UTI was Rs. 67bn. by the end of 1987. Let me concentrate about the performance of mutual funds in India through figures. From Rs. 67bn. the Assets Under Management rose to Rs. 470 bn. in March 1993 and the figure had a three times higher performance by April 2004. It rose as high as Rs. 1,540bn. The net asset value (NAV) of mutual funds in India declined when stock prices started falling in the year 1992. Those days, the market regulations did not allow portfolio shifts into alternative investments. There were rather no choice apart from holding the cash or to further continue investing in shares. One more thing to be noted, since only closed-end funds were floated in the market, the investors disinvested by selling at a loss in the secondary market. The performance of mutual funds in India suffered qualitatively. The 1992 stock market scandal, the losses by disinvestments and of course the lack of transparent rules in the whereabout rocked confidence among the investors. Partly owing to a relatively weak stock market performance, mutual funds have not yet recovered, with funds trading at an average discount of 1020 percent of their net asset value. The supervisory authority adopted a set of measures to create a transparent and competitve environment in mutual funds. Some of them were like relaxing investment restrictions into the market, introduction of openended funds, and paving the gateway for mutual funds to launch pension schemes. The measure was taken to make mutual funds the key instrument for long-term saving. The more the variety offered, the quantitative will be investors. At last to mention, as long as mutual fund companies are performing with lower risks and higher profitability within a short span of time, more and more people will be inclined to invest until and unless they are fully educated with the dos and donts of mutual funds. Mutual Fund Companies in India 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 sponsor 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 Co.Pvt.Ltd. 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.

Future of Mutual Funds in India By December 2004, Indian mutual fund industry reached Rs 1,50,537 crore. It is estimated that by 2010 March-end, the total assets of all scheduled commercial banks should be Rs 40,90,000 crore. The annual composite rate of growth is expected 13.4% during the rest of the decade. In the last 5 years we have seen annual growth rate of 9%. According to the current growth rate, by year 2010, mutual fund assets will be double. Some facts for the growth of mutual funds in India 100% growth in the last 6 years. Number of foreign AMC's are in the que to enter the Indian markets like Fidelity Investments, US based, with over US$1trillion assets under management worldwide. Our saving rate is over 23%, highest in the world. Only channelizing these savings in mutual funds sector is required. We have approximately 29 mutual funds which is much less than US having more than 800. There is a big scope for expansion. 'B' and 'C' class cities are growing rapidly. Today most of the mutual funds are concentrating on the 'A' class cities. Soon they will find scope in the growing cities. Mutual fund can penetrate rurals like the Indian insurance industry with simple and limited products. SEBI allowing the MF's to launch commodity mutual funds. Emphasis on better corporate governance. Trying to curb the late trading practices. Introduction of Financial Planners who can provide need based advice.

OBJECTIVE

To know the various factors considered by customer while going for investment in mutual fund.

Sub-Objective To study the working of mutual fund.

 To study the characteristics of mutual fund which attracts the investor What an investor should consider for safe investment and better returns.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY RESEARCH DESIGN: DESCRIPTIVE (Cross sectional) it is the deliberate manner to collect the information and it describes the phenomena without establishing the association between the factors. This is most commonly used when we want to know about the preferences of the customer. The design is cross-sectional because it is suited and the respondent is interviewed once. METHOD OF ACCESSING THE DATA: PRIMARY: - Through the structured questionnaire and the personal interview which are interviewer administrated SECONDARY: -it will be from the websites, books. DATA COLLECTION FORM: STRUCTURED form will be used in which open ended and close ended both type of question would be asked. OPEN ENDED OUESTION CLOSE ENDED QUESTION: - Multiple choice, scales will be used, dichotomous question. SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING SAMPLE SIZE: - 100 SAMPLE AREA: Delhi

SURVEY AND DATA ANALYSIS

While investing in mutual funds the Source of information used Internet Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 16 16.0 16.0 16.0 No 84 84.0 84.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of the total respondents, 16% relied on Internet as the source of information while investing in mutual funds and rest of the majority i.e. 84% said no to the same. Thus, it can be concluded that the source of Internet is relatively not the factor affecting the sale of Mutual Funds.

Magazine Frequency Percent Valid Percent Yes 23 23.0 23.0 No 77 77.0 77.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of the total respondents, 23% said yes that they use magazines as the source of information while investing in mutual funds and rest 77% said no to the same.

Newspaper

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 46 46.0 46.0 46.0 No 54 54.0 54.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of the total respondents, 46% said yes that they use newspaper as the source of information while investing in mutual funds and rest 54% said no to the same. It is an effective source as almost half of the respondents are relying on the newspaper as the source of true information.

Financial advisor Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 67 67.0 67.0 67.0 No 33 33.0 33.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of the total respondents, 67% said yes that they use financial advisor as the source of information while investing in mutual funds and rest 33% said no to the same. The respondents relied to a significant level on the Financial Advisors for getting Mutual fund information.

Spouse

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 35 35.0 35.0 35.0 No 65 65.0 65.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of the total respondents, 35% said yes that they took the information from their spouse while investing in mutual funds and rest 65% said no to the same.

Friends Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 49 49.0 49.0 49.0 No 51 51.0 51.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of the total respondents, 49% said yes that they took the information from their friends while investing

in mutual funds and rest 51% said no to the same.

Advertisement

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 62 62.0 62.0 62.0 No 38 38.0 38.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of the total respondents, 62% said yes that advertisements are the source of Information used while investing in mutual funds and rest 38% said no to the same

Regular or a new investor in mutual fund

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Regular 58 58.0 58.0 58.0 New 42 42.0 42.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

58% of the respondents are regular investors in mutual funds while rest 42% are new to that. Though the number of regular investors is high but at the same time new investors are showing significant participation in this field.

Investment portfolio consists: Real estate Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 40 40.0 40.0 40.0 No 60 60.0 60.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of total respondents 40% said yes that investment portfolio consist of real estate.

Post office Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 67 67.0 67.0 67.0 No 33 33.0 33.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of total respondents 67% said yes that investment portfolio consist of Post office schemes. Mutual fund

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 74 74.0 74.0 74.0 No 26 26.0 26.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of total respondents 74% said yes that investment portfolio consist of mutual funds.

Debt fund Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 17 17.0 17.0 17.0 No 83 83.0 83.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of total respondents 17% said yes that investment portfolio consist of debt funds.

Shares Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 36 36.0 36.0 36.0 No 64 64.0 64.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of total respondents 36% said yes that investment portfolio consist of shares.

Fixed deposit Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 72 72.0 72.0 72.0 No 28 28.0 28.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of total respondents 72% said yes that investment portfolio consist of fixed deposit

Type of fund you prefer the most

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Regular income 30 30.0 30.0 30.0 Debt 3 3.0 3.0 33.0 Diversified equity 29 29.0 29.0 62.0 Sector funds 12 12.0 12.0 74.0 ELSS (tax shield) 26 26.0 26.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of total respondents, 30% preferred regular income type of fund, 29% preferred diversified equity and 26% preferred ELSS (tax shield) while 12% preferred sector funds followed by 3% debt.

Features that attract most while choosing a specific Mutual fund

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Flexibility 3 3.0 3.0 3.0 Return 47 47.0 47.0 50.0 Managed by professional people 21 21.0 21.0 71.0 Risk diversion 29 29.0 29.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of total respondents, 47% are attracted to mutual funds due to the returns, 29% because of risk diversion and 21% like to be managed by professional people while rest 3% are attracted due to the flexible mutual fund schemes.

Mutual fund scheme you prefer

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Open ended scheme 64 64.0 64.0 64.0 Close ended scheme 36 36.0 36.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

64% 0f the total respondents prefer open ended schemes for mutual fund and rest 36% prefer close ended.

Type of return expected from mutual funds Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Monthly 25 25.0 25.0 25.0 Quarterly 33 33.0 33.0 58.0

Semi annual 7 7.0 7.0 65.0 Annual 35 35.0 35.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

35% of the respondents expect annual return from the mutual funds, 33% expect quarterly, 25% expect monthly and rest 7% expect semi annual returns.

Investment horizon

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Up to 6 months 6 6.0 6.0 6.0 Up to 1 year 15 15.0 15.0 21.0 Up to 2 year 34 34.0 34.0 55.0 Up to 3 year 37 37.0 37.0 92.0 Up to 5 year 8 8.0 8.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of total respondents, 37% prefer to invest up to 3 yrs, 34% up to 2 yrs, 15 Up to 1 yr and 8% prefer to invest up to 5 yrs. Near future liabilities Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Child marriage 26 26.0 26.0 26.0 Education 60 60.0 60.0 86.0 Loans 14 14.0 14.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0

Out of total respondents, 60% of the respondents have children education as future liability, 26% have it as child marriage and rest 14% have the liability to pay off the loans.

Cross Tabs

Are you a regular or new investor * features attract you most Cross tabulation Count Features attract you most Flexibility Return Managed by professional people Risk diversion Type of investor Total Regular 3 34 4 17 58 New 0 13 17 12 42 Total 3 47 21 29 100

This table tells us that maximum number of investors i.e. 47 invest because of return they get from the mutual fund schemes. It also tells us that the regular investors i.e. 34 invest on the basis of returns they get and the new ones i.e. 13 are investing because of the people those who are managing the fund schemes.

Are you a regular or new investor * type of return you expect Cross tabulation Count Type of return you expect Total Monthly Quarterly Semi annual Annual Are you a regular or new investor Regular 15 15 3 25 58 New 10 18 4 10 42 Total 25 33 7 35 100 A large number of the investors 43% of the regular investors expect annual returns.42% of the new investors expect early quarterly returns.

Are you a regular or new investor * your investment horizon Cross tabulation Count Your investment horizon Total Up to 6 months Up to 1 year Up to 2 year Up to 3 year Up to 5 year Are you a regular or new investor Regular 3 3 13 31 8 58 New 3 12 21 6 0 42 Total 6 15 34 37 8 100

53% of the regular investors invest upto a period of 3 years.50% of the new investors prefer it upto 2 years.22% of Regular invest it upto 2 years. It can be seen that the regular investors have propensity to invest for greater periods than new customers. Are you a regular or new investor * mutual fund scheme prefer Cross tabulation Count Mutual fund scheme prefer Total Open ended scheme Close ended scheme Are you a regular or new investor Regular 46 12 58 New 18 24 42 Total 64 36 100

Around 77% of the regular respondents prefer open-ended schemes while 57% of new investors prefer

close-ended schemes. Regular investor is more concerned with the liquidity as compared to new investor and prefers open ended schemes.

Are you a regular or new investor * type of fund prefer Cross tabulation

Count Type of fund prefer Total Regular income Debt Diversified equity Sector funds ELSS (tax shield) Are you a regular or new investor Regular 17 3 13 3 22 58 New 13 16 9 4 42 Total 30 3 29 12 26 100

New Investors prefer to invest in ELSS followed by regular income schemes and Diversified equity. only a small 5% percent of them invest in Debt or sector funds.

The regular investors prefer to invest in diversified equity followed by regular income schemes and no one prefers to invest in debt.

FINDINGS 1. The investors give more preference to regular income funds besides the considerations of 1) Diversified Equity 2) Tax Saving Schemes. Thus if the government encourages the investment in mutual funds in the current budget, then more people will be investing in the MFs for tax saving. However people are also not compliant to risk aversion. They are willing to invest in risky equity funds. 2. Another significant finding of the project is that investors are lured by the returns MFs are showing. However at the same time they also want to minimize their risk. 3. Investors desire or opt open-ended schemes than close-ended schemes. This means that they want flexibility in the inflow and outflow of their funds. 4. The investment horizon, which is most liked by the investors, is 2-3 yrs. 5. The source of information the investors most rely is on advertisement. However they also require the detailed information, which they take from Financial Advisors. On other sources the investors are quite apprehensive. 6. Investors portfolio consists mainly of Fixed Deposits and Post Office schemes. However portfolio of regular investors do contain significant proportion of Mutual Funds.

RECOMMENDATIONS There is lack of awareness among people about mutual funds so there should be more advertising and other promotional campaigns to make them aware. People are more interested in investing in equity funds rather than debt funds because companies are promoting more for equity funds. Companies should equally promote debt funds also as the provide security to customers. Companies should give knowledge to its customer about its computerized operations to save their time and to make the operations more easy.

CONCLUSION The Mutual fund industry is growing at a tremendous pace. A large number of plans have come up from different financial resources. With the Stock markets soaring the investors are attracted towards these schemes. Only a small segment of the investors still invest in Mutual funds and the main sources of information still are the financial advisors followed by advertisements in different media. The Indian investor generally investors over a period of 2 to three years. Also there is a greater tendency to invest in fixed deposits due to the security attached with it. In order to excel and make mutual funds a success, companies still need to create awareness and understand the Psyche of the Indian customer.

BIBLIOBRAPHY

www.amfiindia.com www.mutualfundsindia.com www.hdfcfund.com

ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE ON MUTUAL FUNDS NAME: AGE:. MONTHLY INCOME:. OCCUPATION:

1. What is your source of information while investing in mutual funds? a) Internet [ ]

b) Magazine [ ] c) Newspaper [ ] d) Financial Advisor [ ] e) Spouse [ ] f) Friends [ ] g) Advertisements [ ] 2. Are you a regular or a new investor in mutual fund? REGULAR [ ] NEW [ ] 3. Your investment portfolio consists a) Real Estate [ ] b) Post office schemes [ ] c) Mutual Funds [ ] d) Debt [ ] e) Shares [ ] f) Fixed Deposits [ ] 4. Which type of fund you prefer the most? a) Regular income [ ] b) Debt [ ] c) Diversified Equity [ ] d) Sector funds [ ] e) ELSS (tax shield) [ ] in %)

5 . Which Features attract you the most while choosing a specific Mutual Fund? a) Flexibility [ ] b) Return [ ] c) Managed by professional people [ ] d) Risk Diversion [ ] e) Less Expenses [ ] 6. What type of Mutual Fund Scheme you prefer? a) Open Ended Scheme [ ] b) Close Ended Scheme [ ] 7. What type of return you expect? Monthly [ ] Quarterly [ ] Semi annual [ ] Annual [ ] 8. What is your investment horizon? Up Up Up Up Up Up to to to to to to 6 months [ ] 1 year [ ] 2 years [ ] 3 years [ ] 5 years [ ] 10 years [ ]

9. What are your near future liabilities? Child marriage [ ] Education [ ] Any other please specify.