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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Role of financial system is to enthusiast economic development. As investors are getting more
educated, aware and prudent they look for innovative investment instruments so that they are
able to reduce investment risk, minimize transaction costs, and maximize returns along with
certain level of convenience as a result there has been as advent of numerous innovative financial
instrument such as bonds, company deposits, insurance, and mutual finds. All of which could be
matched with individuals investment needs. Mutual funds score over all other investment
options in terms of safety, liquidity, returns, and are as transparent, convenient as it can get. Goal
of a mutual fund is to provide an efficient way to make money .In India there are 36 mutual
funds with different Investment strategies and goals to choose from .different mutual funds have
different risks, which differ because of funds goals, funds manager, and investment styles.

A mutual fund is an investment company that collects money from many people
and invests it in a variety of securities .the company then manages the money on an ongoing
basis for individuals and businesses. Mutual funds are an efficient way to invest in stocks, bonds,
and other securities for three reasons:

a) The securities purchased are managed by professional managers.

b) Risk is spread out or diversified, because you have a collection of different stocks and
bonds.
c) Costs usually are lower than what you would pay on your own, since the funds buy in
large quantities.
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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. The objective of the research is to study and analyze the awareness level of investors of
mutual funds.

2. To measure the satisfaction level of investors regarding mutual funds.

3. An attempt has been made to measure various variables playing in the minds of investors in
terms of safety, liquidity, service, returns, and tax saving.

4. To get insight knowledge about mutual funds

5. Understanding the different ratios & portfolios so as to tell the distributors about these
terms, by this, managing the relationship with the distributors

6. To know the mutual funds performance levels in the present market

7. To analyze the comparative study between other leading mutual funds in the present market.

8. To know the awareness of mutual funds among different groups of investors.

9. Finding out ways and means to improve on the services by INDIA INFOLINE LTD
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INTRODUCTION
What is a Mutual fund?

Mutual fund is an investment company that pools money from shareholders and invests in a
variety of securities, such as stocks, bonds and money market instruments. Most open-end
Mutual funds stand ready to buy back (redeem) its shares at their current net asset value, which
depends on the total market value of the fund's investment portfolio at the time of redemption.
Most open-end Mutual funds continuously offer new shares to investors. Also known as an open-
end investment company, to differentiate it from a closed-end investment company. Mutual
funds invest pooled cash of many investors to meet the fund's stated investment objective.
Mutual funds stand ready to sell and redeem their shares at any time at the fund's current net
asset value: total fund assets divided by shares outstanding.

In Simple Words, Mutual fund is a mechanism for pooling the resources by issuing units to the
investors and investing funds in securities in accordance with objectives as disclosed in offer
document. Investments in securities are spread across a wide cross-section of industries and
sectors and thus the risk is reduced. Diversification reduces the risk because all stocks may not
move in the same direction in the same proportion at the same time. Mutual fund issues units to
the investors in accordance with quantum of money invested by them. Investors of Mutual funds
are known as unit holders. The profits or losses are shared by the investors in proportion to their
investments. The Mutual funds normally come out with a number of schemes with different
investment objectives which are launched from time to time. In India, A Mutual fund is required
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to be registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) which regulates securities
markets before it can collect funds from the public. In Short, 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.
Mutual fund is a 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.

ADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUNDS

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Professional Management.
The major advantage of investing in a mutual fund is that you get a professional money
manager to manage your investments for a small fee. You can leave the investment
decisions to him and only have to monitor the performance of the fund at regular
intervals.

Diversification.
Considered the essential tool in risk management, mutual funds make it possible for even
small investors to diversify their portfolio. A mutual fund can effectively diversify its
portfolio because of the large corpus. However, a small investor cannot have a well-
diversified portfolio because it calls for large investment. For example, a modest portfolio
of 10 bluechip stocks calls for a few a few thousands.

Convenient Administration.
Mutual funds offer tailor-made solutions like systematic investment plans and systematic
withdrawal plans to investors, which is very convenient to investors. Investors also do not
have to worry about investment decisions, they do not have to deal with brokerage or
depository, etc. for buying or selling of securities. Mutual funds also offer specialized
schemes like retirement plans, childrens plans, industry specific schemes, etc. to suit
personal preference of investors. These schemes also help small investors with asset
allocation of their corpus. It also saves a lot of paper work.

Costs Effectiveness
A small investor will find that the mutual fund route is a cost-effective method (the AMC
fee is normally 2.5%) and it also saves a lot of transaction cost as mutual funds get
concession from brokerages. Also, the investor gets the service of a financial professional
for a very small fee. If he were to seek a financial advisor's help directly, he will end up
paying significantly more for investment advice. Also, he will need to have a sizeable
corpus to offer for investment management to be eligible for an investment advisers
services.
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Liquidity.
You can liquidate your investments within 3 to 5 working days (mutual funds dispatch
redemption cheques speedily and also offer direct credit facility into your bank account
i.e. Electronic Clearing Services).

Transparency.
Mutual funds offer daily NAVs of schemes, which help you to monitor your investments
on a regular basis. They also send quarterly newsletters, which give details of the
portfolio, performance of schemes against various benchmarks, etc. They are also well
regulated and Sebi monitors their actions closely.

Tax benefits.
You do not have to pay any taxes on dividends issued by mutual funds. You also have the
advantage of capital gains taxation. Tax-saving schemes and pension schemes give you
the added advantage of benefits under section 88.

Affordability
Mutual funds allow you to invest small sums. For instance, if you want to buy a portfolio
of blue chips of modest size, you should at least have a few lakhs of rupees. A mutual
fund gives you the same portfolio for meager investment of Rs.1,000-5,000. A mutual
fund can do that because it collects money from many people and it has a large corpus.
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DISADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUNDS:

Professional Management- Did you notice how we qualified the advantage of

professional management with the word "theoretically"? Many investors debate over
whether or not the so-called professionals are any better than you or I at picking stocks.
Management is by no means infallible, and, even if the fund loses money, the manager
still takes his/her cut. We'll talk about this in detail in a later section.

Costs - Mutual funds don't exist solely to make your life easier--all funds are in it for a
profit. The Mutual fund industry is masterful at burying costs under layers of jargon.
These costs are so complicated that in this tutorial we have devoted an entire section to
the subject.

Dilution - It's possible to have too much diversification (this is explained in our article
entitled "Are You Over-Diversified?"). Because funds have small holdings in so many
different companies, high returns from a few investments often don't make much
difference on the overall return. Dilution is also the result of a successful fund getting too
big. When money pours into funds that have had strong success, the manager often has
trouble finding a good investment for all the new money.

Taxes - When making decisions about your money, fund managers don't consider your
personal tax situation. For example, when a fund manager sells a security, a capital-gain
tax is triggered, which affects how profitable the individual is from the sale. It might have
been more advantageous for the individual to defer the capital gains liability.

Equity funds, if selected in the right manner and in the right proportion, have the ability to play
an important role in achieving most long-term objectives of investors in different segments.
While the selection process becomes much easier if you get advice from professionals, it is
equally important to know certain aspects of equity investing yourself to do justice to your hard
earned money.
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TYPES OF MUTUAL FUND SCHEMES

1. BY STRUCTURE
Open Ended Schemes.
Close Ended Schemes.
Interval Schemes.

2. BY INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
Growth Schemes.
Income Schemes.
Balanced Schemes.

3. OTHER SCHEMES
Tax Saving Schemes.
Special Schemes.
Index Schemes.
Sector Specific Schemes.

1. OPEN ENDED SCHEMES

The units offered by these schemes are available for sale and repurchase on any business day at
NAV based prices. Hence, the unit capital of the schemes keeps changing each day. Such
schemes thus offer very high liquidity to investors and are becoming increasingly popular in
India. Please note that an open-ended fund is NOT obliged to keep selling/issuing new units at
all times, and may stop issuing further subscription to new investors. On the other hand, an open-
ended fund rarely denies to its investor the facility to redeem existing units.
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2. CLOSED ENDED SCHEMES

The unit capital of a close-ended product is fixed as it makes a one-time sale of fixed number of
units. These schemes are launched with an initial public offer (IPO) with a stated maturity period
after which the units are fully redeemed at NAV linked prices. In the interim, investors can buy
or sell units on the stock exchanges where they are listed. Unlike open-ended schemes, the unit
capital in closed-ended schemes usually remains unchanged. After an initial closed period, the
scheme may offer direct repurchase facility to the investors. Closed-ended schemes are usually
more illiquid as compared to open-ended schemes and hence trade at a discount to the NAV.
This discount tends towards the NAV closer to the maturity date of the scheme.

3. INTERVAL SCHEMES

These schemes combine the features of open-ended and closed-ended schemes. They may be
traded on the stock exchange or may be open for sale or redemption during pre-determined
intervals at NAV based prices.

4. GROWTH SCHEMES

These schemes, also commonly called Equity Schemes, seek to invest a majority of their funds in
equities and a small portion in money market instruments. Such schemes have the potential to
deliver superior returns over the long term. However, because they invest in equities, these
schemes are exposed to fluctuations in value especially in the short term.

5. INCOME SCHEMES

These schemes, also commonly called Debt Schemes, invest in debt securities such as corporate
bonds, debentures and government securities. The prices of these schemes tend to be more stable
compared with equity schemes and most of the returns to the investors are generated through
dividends or steady capital appreciation. These schemes are ideal for conservative investors or
those not in a position to take higher equity risks, such as retired individuals. However, as
compared to the money market schemes they do have a higher price fluctuation risk and
compared to a Gilt fund they have a higher credit risk.
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6. BALANCED SCHEMES

These schemes are commonly known as Hybrid schemes. These schemes invest in both equities
as well as debt. By investing in a mix of this nature, balanced schemes seek to attain the
objective of income and moderate capital appreciation and are ideal for investors with a
conservative, long-term orientation.

7. TAX SAVING SCHEMES

Investors are being encouraged to invest in equity markets through Equity Linked Savings
Scheme (ELSS) by offering them a tax rebate. Units purchased cannot be assigned /
transferred/ pledged / redeemed / switched out until completion of 3 years from the date of
allotment of the respective Units.

The Scheme is subject to Securities & Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) Regulations,
1996 and the notifications issued by the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs),
Government of India regarding ELSS.

Subject to such conditions and limitations, as prescribed under Section 88 of the Income-tax Act,
1961.

8. INDEX SCHEMES

The primary purpose of an Index is to serve as a measure of the performance of the market as a
whole, or a specific sector of the market. An Index also serves as a relevant benchmark to
evaluate the performance of mutual funds. Some investors are interested in investing in the
market in general rather than investing in any specific fund. Such investors are happy to receive
the returns posted by the markets. As it is not practical to invest in each and every stock in the
market in proportion to its size, these investors are comfortable investing in a fund that they
believe is a good representative of the entire market. Index Funds are launched and managed for
such investors.
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9. SECTOR SPECIFIC SCHEMES.

Sector Specific Schemes generally invests money in some specified sectors for example: Real
Estate Specialized real estate funds would invest in real estates directly, or may fund real estate
developers or lend to them directly or buy shares of housing finance companies or may even buy
their securitized assets.
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Tax Rules For Mutual Fund Investors*

Equity Other schemes Divide Dividend distribution tax

schemes nd
incom
e

Short Long Short Long TDS All Equit Liquid Other

Term Term Term Term Schem y Schemes
Schemes
Capit Capit Capital Capital es Sche
al al Gains Gain mes
Gains Gain

Reside 10% NIL AS PER 10% NIL TAX NIL 28.32% 14.16%
nt SLAB FREE
(20% (25%+10% (12.5%+10
Individ
with surcharge %surcharge
ual
indexati +educatio +3%educati
/ HUF on) n cess) on cess)

Partner 10% NIL 30% 10% NIL TAX NIL 28.32% 22.66%
ship FREE
(20% (25%+10% (20%+10%
Firms
with surcharge surcharge+
indexati +educatio 3%
on) n cess) education
cess)
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AOP/B 10% NIL AS PER 10% NIL TAX NIL 28.32% 22.66%
OI SLAB FREE
(20% (25%+10% (20%+10%
with surcharge surcharge+
indexati +educatio 3%
on) n cess) education
cess)

Domest 10% NIL 30% 10% NIL TAX NIL 28.32% 22.66%
ic FREE
(20% (25%+10% (20%+10%
Compa
with surcharge surcharge+
nies
indexati +educatio 3%
on) n cess) education
cess)

NRIs 10% NIL AS PER 10% STCG- TAX NIL 28.32% 14.16%
SLAB 30%LTCG- FREE
(20% (25%+10% (12.5%+10
20%
with surcharge %surcharge
indexati +educatio +3%educati
on) n cess) on cess)
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HISTORY OF MUTUAL FUND

The mutual fund industry in India started in 1963 with the formation of Unit Trust of India, at the
initiative of the Government of India and Reserve Bank. The history of mutual funds in India can
be broadly divided into four distinct phases: -

First Phase 1964-87

An Act of Parliament established Unit Trust of India (UTI) on 1963. It was set up by the Reserve
Bank of India and functioned under the Regulatory and administrative control of the Reserve
Bank of India. In 1978 UTI was de-linked from the RBI and the Industrial Development Bank of
India (IDBI) took over the regulatory and administrative control in place of RBI. The first
scheme launched by UTI was Unit Scheme 1964. At the end of 1988 UTI had Rs.6,700 crores of
assets under management.

Second Phase 1987-1993 (Entry of Public Sector Funds)

1987 marked the entry of non- UTI, public sector mutual funds set up by public sector banks and
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC).
SBI Mutual Fund was the first non- UTI Mutual Fund established in June 1987 followed by Can
bank Mutual Fund (Dec 87), Punjab National Bank Mutual Fund (Aug 89), Indian Bank Mutual
Fund (Nov 89), Bank of India (Jun 90), Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund (Oct 92). LIC established
its mutual fund in June 1989 while GIC had set up its mutual fund in December 1990.

At the end of 1993, the mutual fund industry had assets under management of Rs.47,004 crores.

Third Phase 1993-2003 (Entry of Private Sector Funds)

With the entry of private sector funds in 1993, a new era started in the Indian mutual fund
industry, giving the Indian investors a wider choice of fund families. Also, 1993 was the year in
which the first Mutual Fund Regulations came into being, under which all mutual funds, except
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UTI were to be registered and governed. The erstwhile Kothari Pioneer (now merged with
Franklin Templeton) was the first private sector mutual fund registered in July 1993.

The 1993 SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations were substituted by a more comprehensive and
revised Mutual Fund Regulations in 1996. The industry now functions under the SEBI (Mutual
Fund) Regulations 1996.

The number of mutual fund houses went on increasing, with many foreign mutual funds setting
up funds in India and also the industry has witnessed several mergers and acquisitions. As at the
end of January 2003, there were 33 mutual funds with total assets of Rs. 1,21,805 crores. The
Unit Trust of India with Rs.44,541 crores of assets under management was way ahead of other
mutual funds.

Fourth Phase since February 2003

In February 2003, following the repeal of the Unit Trust of India Act 1963 UTI was bifurcated
into two separate entities. One is the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India with assets
under management of Rs.29,835 crores as at the end of January 2003, representing broadly, the
assets of US 64 scheme, assured return and certain other schemes. The Specified Undertaking of
Unit Trust of India, functioning under an administrator and under the rules framed by
Government of India and does not come under the purview of the Mutual Fund Regulations.

The second is the UTI Mutual Fund Ltd, sponsored by SBI, PNB, BOB and LIC. It is registered
with SEBI and functions under the Mutual Fund Regulations. With the bifurcation of the
erstwhile UTI which had in March 2000 more than Rs.76,000 crores of assets under management
and with the setting up of a UTI Mutual Fund, conforming to the SEBI Mutual Fund
Regulations, and with recent mergers taking place among different private sector funds, the
mutual fund industry has entered its current phase of consolidation and growth. As at the end of
September, 2004, there were 29 funds, which manage assets of Rs.153108 crores under 421
schemes.
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EVALUATING PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE

It is important to evaluate the performance of the portfolio on an ongoing basis. The following
factors are important in this process: Consider long-term track record rather than short-term
performance. It is important because long-term track record moderates the effects which
unusually good or bad short-term performance can have on a fund's track record. Besides,
longer-term track record compensates for the effects of a fund manager's particular investment
style. Evaluate the track record against similar funds. Success in managing a small or in a fund
focusing on a particular segment of the market cannot be relied upon as an evidence of
anticipated performance in managing a large or a broad based fund. Discipline in investment
approach is an important factor as the pressure to perform can make a fund manager susceptible
to have an urge to change tracks in terms of stock selection as well as investment strategy.
The objective should be to differentiate investment skill of the fund manager from luck and to
identify those funds with the greatest potential of future success.
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INVESTOR'S FINANCIAL PLANNING AND ITS RESULTS.

Planning for long term objectives

Many people get overwhelmed by the thought of retirement and they think how they will ever
save the huge money that is required to lead a peaceful and happy retired life. However, the fact
is that if we save and invest regularly over a period of time, even a small sum of money can be
adequate.

It is a proven fact that the real power of compounding comes with time. Albert Einstein called
compounding "the eighth wonder of the world" because of its amazing abilities. Essentially,
compounding is the idea that one can make money on the money one has already earned. That's
why, the earlier one starts saving, the more time money gets to grow.

Through Mutual funds, one can set up an investment programme to build capital for retirement
years. Besides, it is an ideal vehicle to practice asset allocation and rebalancing thereby
maintaining the right level of risk at all times.

It is important to know that determination and maintaining the right level of risk tolerance can go
a long way in ensuring the success of an investment plan. Besides, it helps in customizing fund
category allocations and suitable fund selections. There are certain broad guidelines to determine
the risk tolerance.

These are:

Be realistic with regard to volatility. One needs to seriously consider the effect of potential
downside loss as well as potential upside gain. Determine a "comfort level" i.e. If one is not
confident with a particular level of risk tolerance, and then select a different level.

Regardless of the level of risk tolerance, one should adhere to the principles of effective
diversification i.e. The allocation of investment assets among different fund categories to achieve
a variety of distinct risk/reward objectives and a reduction in overall portfolio risk.
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It helps to reassess risk tolerance every year. The risk tolerance may change due to either major
adjustment in return objectives or to a realization that an existing risk tolerance is inappropriate
for one's current situation.

Market cap of a company signifies its market value, which is equal to the total number of shares
outstanding multiplied by the current stock price.

The market cap has a role to play in the kind of returns the stock might deliver and the risk or
volatility that one may have to encounter while achieving those returns.For example, large
companies are usually more stable during the turbulent periods and the mid cap and small cap
companies are more vulnerable.

As regards the allocation to each segment, there cannot be a standard combination applicable to
all kinds of investors. Each one of us has different risk profile, time horizon and investment
objectives.

Besides, while deciding on the allocation, one has to keep in mind the fact whether the allocation
is being done for an existing investor or for a new investor. While for an existing investor, the
allocation that already exists has to be considered, for a new investor the right way to begin is by
considering funds that invest predominantly in large cap stocks. The exposure to mid and small
caps can be enhanced over a period of time.

It is always advisable to take help of professionals to decide the allocation as well as select the
appropriate funds. However, investors themselves have an important role to play in this process.

All award-winning funds may not be suitable for everyone

Many investors feel that a simple way to invest in Mutual funds is to just keep investing in award
winning funds. First of all, it is important to understand that more than the awards; it is the
methodology to choose winners that is more relevant.

A rating firm generally elaborates on the criteria for deciding the winners i.e. consistent
performance, risk adjusted returns, total returns and protection of capital. Each of these factors is
very important and has its significance for different categories of funds.
 P a g e | 22

Besides, each of these factors has varying degree of significance for different kinds of investors.
For example, consistent return really focuses on risk. If someone is afraid of negative returns,
consistency will be a more important measure than total return i.e. Growth in NAV as well as
dividend received.

A fund can have very impressive total returns overtime, but can be very volatile and tough for a
risk adverse investor. Therefore, all the award winning funds in different categories may not be
suitable for everyone. Typically, when one has to select funds, the first step should be to consider
personal goals and objectives. Investors need to decide which element they value the most and
then prioritize the other criteria.

Once one knows what one is looking for, one should go about selecting the funds according to
the asset allocation. Most investors need just a few funds, carefully picked, watched and
managed over period of time.

7 INVESTMENT TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR RETURNS

1. Know your risk profile

Before you take a decision to invest in equity funds, it is important to assess your risk tolerance.
Risk tolerance depends on certain factors like emotional temperament, attitude and investment
experience. Remember, Vwhile ascertaining the risk tolerance, it is crucial to consider one's
desire to assume risk as the capacity to assume the risk. It helps to understand different
categories of overall risk tolerance, i.e. Conservative, moderate or aggressive. While a
conservative investor will accept lower returns to minimise price volatility, a moderate investor
would be all right with greater price volatility than conservative risk tolerances to pursue higher
returns. An aggressive investor wouldn't mind large swings in the NAVs to seek the highest
returns. Though identifying the desire for risk is a tough job, it can be made easy by defining
one's comfort zone.

2. Don't have too many schemes in your portfolio

While it is true that diversification helps in earning better returns with a lower level of
fluctuations, it becomes counterproductive when one has too many funds in the portfolio. For
example, if you have 15 funds in your portfolio, it does not necessarily mean that your portfolio
is adequately diversified. To determine the right level of diversification, one has to consider
factors like size of the portfolio, type of funds and allocation to different asset classes. Therefore,
 P a g e | 23

it is possible that a portfolio having 5 schemes may be adequately diversified whereas another
one with 10 schemes may have very little diversification. Remember, to have a well-balanced
equity portfolio, it is important to have the right level of exposure to different segments of the
equity market like large cap, mid-cap and small cap. In addition, for a decent portfolio size, it is
all right to have some exposure in the sector and specialty funds.

3. Longer time horizon provides protection from volatility

As an equity fund investor, you need to understand that volatility is an integral part of the stock
market. However, if you remain focused on the long-term objectives and follow a disciplined
approach to investing, you can not only handle volatility properly but also turn it to your
advantage.

4. Understand and analyze 'Good Performance'

'Good performance' is a subjective thing. Ideally, to analyze performance, one should consider
returns as well as the risk taken to achieve those returns. Besides, consistency in terms of
performance as well as portfolio selection is another factor that should play an important part
while analyzing the performance. Therefore, if an investment in a Mutual fund scheme takes you
past your risk tolerance while providing you decent returns; it cannot always be termed as good
performance. In fact, at times to ensure that your investment remains within the parameters
defined in the investment plan, you may to be forced to exit from that scheme. In other words,
you need to assess as to how much risk did the fund manger subject you to, and did he give you
an adequate reward for taking that risk. Besides, you also need to consider whether own risk
profile allows you to accept the revised level of risk

5. Sell your fund, if you need to

There is no standard formula to determine the right time to sell an investment in Mutual fund or
for that matter any investment. However, you can definitely benefit by following certain
guidelines while deciding to sell an investment in a Mutual fund scheme. Here are some of them:
You may consider selling a fund when your investment plan calls for a sale rather than doing so
for emotional reasons. You need to hold a fund long enough to evaluate its performance over
a complete market cycle, i.e. around three years or so. Many of us make the mistake of either
holding on to funds for too long or exit in a hurry. It is important to do a thorough analysis
before taking a decision to sell. In other words, if you take a wrong decision, there is always a
risk of missing out on good rallies in the market or getting out too early thus missing out on
potential gains. You should consider coming out of a fund if its performance has consistently
lagged its peers for a period of one year or so. It doesn't make sense to hold a fund when it no
longer meets your needs. If you have made a proper selection, you would generally be required
to make changes only if the fund changes its objective or investment style, or if your needs
change.

6. Diversified vs. Concentrated Portfolio

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The choice between funds that have a diversified and a concentrated portfolio largely depends
upon your risk profile. As discussed earlier, a well - diversified portfolio helps in spreading the
investments across different sectors and segments of the market. The idea is that if one or more
stocks do badly, the portfolio won't be affected as much. At the same time, if one stock does very
well, the portfolio won't reap all the benefits. A diversified fund, therefore, is an ideal choice for
someone who is looking for steady returns over the longer term. A concentrated portfolio works
exactly in the opposite manner. While a fund with a concentrated portfolio has a better chance of
providing higher returns, it also increases your chances of underperforming or losing a large
portion of your portfolio in a market downturn. Thus, a concentrated portfolio is ideally suited
for those investors who have the capacity to shoulder higher risk in order to improve the chances
of getting better returns.

7. Review your portfolio periodically

It is always a good idea to review your portfolio periodically. For example, you may begin
reviewing your portfolio on a half-yearly basis. Besides, you may be required to review your
portfolio in greater detail when your investments goals or financial circumstances change.

HOW TO REDUCE RISK WHILE INVESTING:

Any kind of investment we make is subject to risk. In fact we get return on our
investment purely and solely because at the very beginning we take the risk of parting
with our funds, for getting higher value back at a later date. Partition itself is a risk.

Well known economist and Nobel Prize recipient William Sharpe tried to segregate the
total risk faced in any kind of investment into two parts - systematic (Systemic) risk and
unsystematic (Unsystemic) risk.

Systematic risk is that risk which exists in the system. Some of the biggest examples of
systematic risk are inflation, recession, war, political situation etc.

Inflation erodes returns generated from all investments e.g. If return from fixed deposit is
8 per cent and if inflation is 6 per cent then real rate of return from fixed deposit is
reduced by 6 per cent.

Similarly if returns generated from equity market is 18 per cent and inflation is still 6 per
cent then equity returns will be lesser by the rate of inflation. Since inflation exists in the
system there is no way one can stay away from the risk of inflation.
 P a g e | 25

Economic cycles, war and political situations have effects on all forms of investments.
Also these exist in the system and there is no way to stay away from them. It is like
learning to walk.

Anyone who wants to learn to walk has to first fall; you cannot learn to walk without
falling. Similarly anyone who wants to invest has to first face systematic risk; there can
never make any kind of investment without systematic risk.

Another form of risk is unsystematic risk. This risk does not exist in the system and
hence is not applicable to all forms of investment. Unsystematic risk is associated with
particular form of investment.

Suppose we invest in stock market and the market falls, then only our investment in
equity gets affected OR if we have placed a fixed deposit in particular bank and bank
goes bankrupt, than we only lose money placed in that bank.

While there is no way to keep away from risk, we can always reduce the impact of risk.
Diversification helps in reducing the impact of unsystematic risk. If our investment is
distributed across various asset classes the impact of unsystematic risk is reduced.

If we have placed fixed deposit in several banks, then even if one of the banks goes
bankrupt our entire fixed deposit investment is not lost.

Similarly if our equity investment is in Tata Motors, HLL, Infosys, adverse news about
Infosys will only impact investment in Infosys, all other stocks will not have any impact.

To reduce the impact of systematic risk, we should invest regularly. By investing

regularly we average out the impact of risk.

Mutual fund, as an investment vehicle gives us benefit of both diversification and

averaging.

Portfolio of mutual funds consists of multiple securities and hence adverse news about
single security will have nominal impact on overall portfolio.

By systematically investing in mutual fund we get benefit of rupee cost averaging.

Mutual fund as an investment vehicle helps reduce, both, systematic as well as

unsystematic risk.
P a g e | 26
 P a g e | 27

SNAPSHOT OF INDIA INFOLINE LTD.

Date of Establishment October 1995

Revenue Rs. 4,257.2 million (year ended March, 2007)
Market Cap Rs. 5110.71 (April 21 2008)
Corporate Address 84, Nariman Bhavan, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021,
Maharashtra, India
Branches India
Management Team Nirmal Jain - Founder
R Venkataraman - Co-promoter and Executive Director
Sat Pal Khattar - Non Executive Director
Nilesh Vikamsey - Independent Director
Kranti Sinha - Independent Director
Overview India Infoline Limited provides the entire gamut of
financial services entailing equity research, equities and
derivatives trading, commodities trading, portfolio
management services, mutual funds, life insurance, fixed
deposits, GoI bonds and investment banking. It is
proficient in equities broking, wealth advisory services
and portfolio management services. The company is a
member of BSE and NSE. It is a depository member of
National Securities Depository Limited and Central
Depository Securities Ltd. The parent company India
Infoline Group also contains India Infoline Media and
Research Services Limited, India Infoline Commodities
Limited, India Infoline Marketing & Services, India
Infoline Investment Services Limited and IIFL (Asia)
Private Limited
 P a g e | 28

INTRODUCTION.

India Infoline originally incorporated on October 18, 1995 as PROBITY RESEARCH AND
SERVICES PVT LTD. at Mumbai under the Companies Act, 1956 with Registration No.
1193797.and became a public limited company on April 28, 2000. The name of the Company
was changed to India Infoline.com Limited on May 23, 2000 and later to India Infoline Limited
on March 23, 2001. It is the first Company in India to foray into the online distribution of
Mutual Funds It is a one-stop financial services shop, most respected for quality of its advice,
personalized service and cutting-edge technology. The No.1Corporate agent for ICICI Prudential
Life Insurance Company. Research acknowledged by Forbes as Must Read for investor in South
Asia Listed on Bombay and National Stock Exchange with a net worth of INR 200 crore and a
market cap of over INR 1970 crore. The company has a network of 976 business locations
(branches and sub-brokers) spread across 365 cities and towns. It has more than 800,000
customers. It is registered with NSDL as well as CDSL as a depository participant. Providing a
one-step solution for clients trading in the equities market.
 P a g e | 29

OUR UNIQUE APPROACHES:

Innovative
Business
Model,
Products,
Thought Financials
Culture and
Large,
Credo
Leadership strong,
Research stable.
backed Proven
transactions Risk
, managemen
ideas t
greedy ability
INDIA
INFOLINE
Partnershi
Growth
p
Record
Over 60%
148%
of the firm
growth in
is owned by
Diversified revenue in
managemen
Offers the 2007.
t
complete
& employees
breadth of
financial
services
and
products

MILESTONES KEY:-

Incorporated on 18 October 1995 as probity research and services.

Launched internet portal wwwindiainfoline.com in may 1999.

 P a g e | 30

Commenced distribution of personal financial products like MFs and RBIs

Bond in April 2000.

Launched online trading in shares branded as www.5paisa.com in July 2000.

Started life-insurance agency business in Dec. 2000 as corporate agent.

Became a depository participant of NSDL in September 2001.

Launched stock messaging services in May 2003.

Acquired commodities broking license in March 2004.

Maiden IPO and listed on NSE, BSE in 2005

Commenced institutional equities business under IIFL

Formed Singapore subsidiary, IIFL (Asia) Pte Ltd in 2007

Launched IIFL Wealth

Transitioned to insurance broking model in 2008

Acquired registration for Housing Finance

SEBI in-principle approval for Mutual Fund
Obtained Venture Capital license in 2009

Launched IIFL Mutual Fund in 2011

History of India Infoline ltd.

We were originally incorporated on October 18, 1995 as Probity Research and Services Private Limited
at Mumbai under the Companies Act, 1956 with Registration No. 11 93797. We commenced our
operations as an independent provider of information, analysis and research covering Indian businesses,
financial markets and economy, to institutional customers. We became a public limited company on
April 28, 2000 and the name of the Company was changed to Probity Research and Services Limited. The
 P a g e | 31

name of the Company was changed to India Infoline.com Limited on May 23, 2000 and later to India
Infoline Limited on March 23, 2001.

In 1999, we identified the potential of the Internet to cater to a mass retail segment and transformed
our business model from providing information services to institutional customers to retail customers.
Hence we launched our Internet portal, www.indiainfoline.com in May 1999 and started providing news
and market information, independent research, interviews with business leaders and other specialized
features.

In May 2000, the name of our Company was changed to India Infoline.com Limited to reflect the
transformation of our business. Over a period of time, we have emerged as one of the leading business
and financial information services provider in India.

In the year 2000, we leveraged our position as a provider of financial information and analysis by
diversifying into transactional services, primarily for online trading in shares and securities and online as
well as offline distribution of personal financial products, like mutual funds and RBI Bonds. These
activities were carried on by our wholly owned subsidiaries.

Our broking services was launched under the brand name of 5paisa.com through our subsidiary, India
Infoline Securities Private Limited and www.5paisa.com, the e-broking portal, was launched for online
trading in July 2000. It combined competitive brokerage rates and research, supported by Internet
technology Besides investment advice from an experienced team of research analysts, we also offer real
time stock quotes, market news and price charts with multiple tools for technical analysis.

Acquisition of Agri Marketing Services Limited ("Agri")

In March 2000, we acquired 100% of the equity shares of Agri Marketing Services Limited, from their
owners in exchange for the issuance of 508,482 of our equity shares. Agri was a direct selling agent of
personal financial products including mutual funds, fixed deposits, corporate bonds and post-office
instruments. At the time of our acquisition, Agri operated 32 branches in South and West India serving
more than 30,000 customers with a staff of, approximately 180 employees. After the acquisition, we
changed the company name to India Infoline.com Distribution Company Limited.
P a g e | 32
 P a g e | 33

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objective of the research is to study and analyze the awareness level of investors of
mutual funds.
To measure the satisfaction level of investors regarding mutual funds.
An attempt has been made to measure various variables playing in the minds of investors
in terms of safety, liquidity, service, returns, and tax saving.
To get insight knowledge about mutual funds

Understanding the different ratios & portfolios so as to tell the distributors about these
terms, by this, managing the relationship with the distributors

To know the mutual funds performance levels in the present market

To analyze the comparative study between other leading mutual funds in the present
market.

To know the awareness of mutual funds among different groups of investors.

Finding out ways and means to improve on the services by INDIA INFOLINE LTD.
 P a g e | 34

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

My research project has a specified framework for collecting the data in an effective manner.
Such framework is called RESEARCH DESIGN. The research process which was followed by
me consisted following steps.
A. PROBLEM:

The problem at hand was to study and measure the awareness level of people regarding mutual
funds in the city.

B. DEVELOPING THE RESEARCH PLAN :

The development of Research Plan has the following Steps:
1. DATA SOURCES: Two types of data were taken into consideration i.e. Secondary data &
primary data. My major emphasis was on gathering the primary data. The secondary data has
been used to make things more clear.
(i) Primary Data: Direct collection of data from the source of information, technology
including personal interviewing, survey etc.
(ii) Secondary Data: Indirect collection of data from sources containing past or recent past
information like Banks Brochures, Annual publications, Books, Fact sheets of mutual
funds, Newspaper & Magazines etc.

2. RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
A close friend questionnaire was constructed for my survey. Questionnaire consisting of a set
of questions made to be filled by various respondents.

3. SAMPLING PLAN
The sampling plan calls for three decisions.
a) Sampling Unit: I have completed my survey in gwalior(m.p.).
 P a g e | 35

b) Sample Size: The sample consisted of 100 respondents. The sample was drawn from
walk in customers of India Info line Ltd. The selection of the respondents was done on
the basis of simple random sampling.
c) Contact Methods
I have contacted the respondents through personal interviews.

C. COLLECTING THE INFORMATION

After this, I have collected the information from the respondents with the help of
questionnaire
D. ANALYZE THE INFORMATION
The next step is to extract the pertinent findings from the collected data. I have tabulated the
collected data & developed frequency distributions. Thus the whole data was grouped aspect
wise and was presented in tabular form. Thus, frequencies & percentages were prepared to
render impact of the study.

E. PRESENTATIONS OF FINDINGS
This was the last step of the survey.
 P a g e | 36

DATA
PRESSENTATION,
ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
 P a g e | 37

1. (a) Age distribution of the Investors of Jaipur

Age Group <= 30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 >50

No. of 12 18 30 24 20 16
Investors

35
Investors invested in Mutual Fund

30

25

20

15 30
24
10 20
18 16
5 12

0
<=30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 >50

Age group of the Investors

Interpretation:

According to this chart out of 120 Mutual Fund investors of Jaipur the most are in

the age group of 36-40 yrs. i.e. 25%, the second most investors are in the age

group of 41-45yrs i.e. 20% and the least investors are in the age group of below

30 yrs.

(b). Educational Qualification of investors of Jaipur

 P a g e | 38

Educational Qualification Number of Investors

Graduate/ Post Graduate 88

Under Graduate 25

Others 7

Total 120

6%

23%

71%

Graduate/Post Graduate Under Graduate Others

Interpretation:

Out of 120 Mutual Fund investors 71% of the investors in Jaipur are

Graduate/Post Graduate, 23% are Under Graduate and 6% are others (under

HSC).

c). Occupation of the investors of Jaipur

 P a g e | 39

Occupation No. of Investors

Govt. Service 30
.
Pvt. Service 45
Business 35
Agriculture 4
Others 6

50
45
No. of Investors

40
35
30
25
20 45
15 35 30
10
5 6
0 4
Govt. Pvt. Service Business Agriculture Others
Service

Occupation of the customers

Interpretation:

In Occupation group out of 120 investors, 38% are Pvt. Employees, 25%

are Businessman, 29% are Govt. Employees, 3% are in Agriculture and

5% are in others.
 P a g e | 40

(d). Monthly Family Income of the Investors of Jaipur.

Income Group No. of Investors

<=10,000 5
10,001-15,000 12
15,001-20,000 28
20,001-30,000 43
>30,000 32

50
45
40
No. of Investors

35
30
25
20 43
15 32
28
10
5 12
5
0
<=10 10-15 15-20 20-30 >30

Income Group of the Investorsn (Rs. in Th.)

Interpretation:

In the Income Group of the investors of Jaipur, out of 120 investors, 36%

investors that is the maximum investors are in the monthly income group

Rs. 20,001 to Rs. 30,000, Second one i.e. 27% investors are in the

monthly income group of more than Rs. 30,000 and the minimum

investors i.e. 4% are in the monthly income group of below Rs. 10,000
 P a g e | 41

Investment needs?

Sales

To build a corpus for retirement

To save for children education

/marriage
To provide for family financial
security
To create wealth

All of the above

From the above graph it is clear that there are many people who have participated in the
survey and the major portion of the survey indicates that the people are interested in
investing in mutual funds for the sake o their family financial security. From the above
graph it also reveals that the minor portion of the graph that is to build a corpus for
retirement does not play a major role in the investment decisions.
 P a g e | 42

Which of the following do you think as a tax saving scheme?

TAX SAVING SCHEMES

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
MUTUAL FUNDS FIXED DEPOSITS INSURANCE PPF

(2) Investors invested in different kind of investments.

Kind of Investments No. of

Respondents
Saving A/C 195
Fixed deposits 148
Insurance 152
Mutual Fund 120
Post office (NSC) 75
Shares/Debentures 50
Gold/Silver 30
Real Estate 65
 P a g e | 43

250
195
No.of200 148 152
Respondent
150 120
s 100 75
50 65
50 30
0

Investmen
Kinds of

Interpretation: From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 200

people, 97.5% people have invested in Saving A/c, 76% in Insurance, 74% in

Fixed Deposits, 60% in Mutual Fund, 37.5% in Post Office, 25% in Shares or

Debentures, 15% in Gold/Silver and 32.5% in Real Estate.

3. Preference of factors while investing

Factors (a) Liquidity (b) Low Risk (c) High Return (d) Trust

No. of 40 60 64 36

Respondents
 P a g e | 44

18% 20%

32% 30%

Liquidity Low Risk High Return Trust

Interpretation:

Out of 200 People, 32% People prefer to invest where there is High Return, 30%

prefer to invest where there is Low Risk, 20% prefer easy Liquidity and 18%

prefer Trust

4. Awareness about Mutual Fund and its Operations

Response Yes No

No. of Respondents 135 65

 P a g e | 45

33%

67%

Yes No

Interpretation:

From the above chart it is inferred that 67% People are aware of Mutual Fund

and its operations and 33% are not aware of Mutual Fund and its operations.

5. Source of information for customers about Mutual

Fund

Source of information No. of Respondents

Advertisement 18

Peer Group 25
 P a g e | 46

Bank 30

Financial Advisors 62

80

60
No. of Respondents

40
62
20
25 30
18
0
Advertisement Peer Group Bank Financial Advisors

Source of Information

Interpretation:

From the above chart it can be inferred that the Financial Advisor is the most

important source of information about Mutual Fund. Out of 135 Respondents,

46% know about Mutual fund Through Financial Advisor, 22% through Bank,

19% through Peer Group and 13% through Advertisement.

6. Investors invested in Mutual Fund

Response No. of Respondents

YES 120
NO 80

Total 200
 P a g e | 47

No
40%

Yes
60%

Interpretation:

Out of 200 People, 60% have invested in Mutual Fund and 40% do not have

invested in Mutual Fund.

8. Channel Preferred by the Investors for Mutual Fund

Investment

Channel Financial Advisor Bank AMC

No. of Respondents 72 18 30
 P a g e | 48

25%
15% 60%

Financial Advisor Bank AMC

Interpretation:

Out of 120 Investors 60% preferred to invest through Financial Advisors, 25%

through AMC and 15% through Bank.

9. Mode of Investment Preferred by the Investors

Mode of Investment One time Investment Systematic Investment Plan (SIP)

No. of Respondents 78 42
 P a g e | 49

35%

65%

One time Investment SIP

Interpretation:

Out of 120 Investors 65% preferred One time Investment and 35 % Preferred

through Systematic Investment Plan.

10. Preferred Portfolios by the Investors

Portfolio No. of Investors

Equity 56
Debt 20
Balanced 44
 P a g e | 50

37% 46%

17%

Equity Debt Balance

Interpretation:

From the above graph 46% preferred Equity Portfolio, 37% preferred Balance

and 17% preferred Debt portfolio

To how much extent are you satisfied with the services offered by India Infoline Ltd?

Extremely Satisfied 80%

Satisfied To Lesser Extent 10%

Dissatisfied To Lesser Extent 5%

Extremely Dissatisfied 5%
 P a g e | 51

80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
PERCENTAGE
30%
20%
10%
0%
A B C D

INTERPRETATION

Out of the respondents 80% are extremely satisfied with the services offered by India Infoline
Ltd 10% are satisfied to lesser extent, 5%are extremely dissatisfied.
 P a g e | 52

INTERPRETATION

As FIIs have entered Indian markets Sensex have crossed 10000 mark and investors have
earned a lot in last financial year. Indians are becoming aware of various investment options.
People have started taking risk as they want to book profits. Investors prefer more equity
schemes than debt schemes, around 60% of the investors invest in equity schemes and
balanced schemes. Investors want to take risk as they want to yield better returns. Investors
want high returns, liquidity, safety and tax benefit. Among all investors gives want to have
safety for their money. Around 91% of the investors prefer open ended schemes rather than
close ended schemes as there is flexibility in open ended schemes.

Investors prefer both systematic investment plan and lump sum. It depends upon the
availability of funds that the investor wants to invest in SIP or as lump sum. Some of the
investors invest in both ways i.e. through SIP as well as lump sum. Basically it depends upon
the availability of fund. When questions were asked about the performance of mutual funds
in future 50% of investors said strong future, 35% of the investors said very strong future and
15% of the investors said moderate future.
 P a g e | 53

RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS:

Customer education of the salaried class individuals is far below standard. Thus
Asset Management Companys need to create awareness so that the salaried class
people become the prospective customer of the future.
Early and mid earners bring most of the business for the Asset Management
Companys. Asset Management Companys thus needed to educate and develop
schemes for the persons who are at the late earning or retirement stage to gain
the market share.
Returns record must be focused by the sales executives while explaining the
schemes to the customer. Pointing out the brand name of the company repeatedly
may not too fruitful.
The target market of salaried class individual has a lot of scope to gain business,
as they are more fascinated to Mutual Funds than the self employed.
Schemes with high equity level need to be targeted towards self employed and
professionals as they require high returns and are ready to bear risk.
Salary class individuals are risk averse and thus they must be assured of the
advantage of risk diversification in Mutual Funds.
There should be given more time & concentration on the Tier-3 distributors.

The resolution of the queries should be fast enough to satisfy the distributors.

Time to time presentation/training classes about the products should be there.

There should be more number of Relationship Managers in different Regions

because one RM can handle a maximum of 125 distributors efficiently and also to
cover untapped market.

Regular activities like canopy should be done so as to get more interaction with
the distributors.

Regular session should be organized on the handling of the india infoline software
so as to resolve the account statement problem.

All the persons who have cleared the AMFI exam should be empanelled with
Mutual Fund so as to be largest distributor base.
 P a g e | 54

Should have to provide more advertisements, canopies in the shopping mall, main
markets because no. of people visiting these places are mostly of service classes
and they have to save tax, hence there is more opportunity of getting more no. of
applications.

CONCLUSION

These were my objectives of my project

To get an insight knowledge about mutual funds

Understanding the different ratios & portfolios so as to tell the distributors about these
terms, by this, managing the relationship with the distributors

To know the mutual funds performance levels in the present market

To analyze the comparative study between other leading mutual funds in the present
market.

To know the awareness of mutual funds among different groups of investors.

To evaluate consumer feedback on mutual funds

Finding out ways and means to improve on the services by india infoline ltd.

I satisfied my objectives of the project in the following manner

1. Complete insight knowledge about the mutual funds were mentioned in the project

2. Different ratios with complete graphical representation were explained in the project

3. To know the performance levels of the project I have done the comparative analysis of the
project using the four major leading mutual fund companies using different parameters.

4. To know the consumer awareness I have done the survey using different customers so as to
analyse the views about the mutual funds and perception of the customer in the present scenario.

5. To evaluate the ways and means to improve india infoline ltd. I have mentioned various
suggestions that are listed above
P a g e | 55