FUTURE OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA

Abstract

Mutual funds are financial intermediaries, which collect the monetary fund of investors and divest them in a bigger and well-diversified portfolio of securities like money market instruments, corporate and government bonds and equity shares of the companies. Mutual funds can be unquestioned only if they can live up-to the hopes and trusts of their individual members. This project deals with the composition of the Indian Mutual Fund industry and it’s related factors. It also classifies the Mutual fund schemes and describes the major players in the industry, with specific reference to AXIS. This research is exploratory in nature.Data is accumulated from various primary and secondary sources. The choice of sample scheme was guided by the fact that a reasonable amount of information was accessible and stand for true picture of Indian mutual fund industry.40 people , in and around Delhi city , were questioned to know more about the Mutual Funds from the consumer’s point of view. Special care was taken to include people from all income groups. About 38% people had no idea of Mutual Funds, which showed the low awareness level among the people of Delhi . This stresses the need for the better marketing. In India, the trend is that investors invest when there is a boom in the stock market and pull away their holdings at time of slump. This is absolutely contrary to how the system works in foreign countries , as there investments fall out in the slump period when larger units can be purchased with the same amount of money. Withdrawals are done in boom times as maximum profit is gained. This is the accurate strategy and Mutual Fund companies are working hard to create this awareness among consumers. In the end , it is concluded and recommended that there is a need for Improved marketing to increase awareness level, focusing on building a relationship of trust and commitment with the investors, qualify better rate of returns to the individual members than gained by other investment options .