TO STUDY THE PREFERENCE AND PERCEPTION OF CONSUMERS WHILE BUYING MUTUAL FUNDS VIS-A-VIS OTHER INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

Abstract

A mutual fund is an investment vehicle managed by professionals. You don't really invest mutual funds, but invests through mutual funds. However, we hear about “investing in mutual funds” or "mutual fund investment." While this is fine for discussion purposes, it is technically wrong. As a mutual fund trader, it is important to understand the difference between the two concepts. When someone claims to have invested in a mutual fund, that plan is often seen as competing with traditional investment vehicles; H. Stocks, bonds, etc. You actually invest in these instruments through a mutual fund. In other words, by investing in a mutual fund, the investor has access to stocks, bonds, money market instruments and/or other transferable securities that they may not otherwise have access to, and benefits from Fund's professional management services offered by the assets of the management company. The investor does not receive a different product, but a different form of investment. She The difference lies in the professional nature of investing, portfolio diversification and a regulated vehicle. In this study majority of the respondents among the sample frame has an income ranging from Rs 0 per annum to Rs 19 lakhs per annum and invest monthly an average amount of Rs 3,60,000 per annum depending on their income. They are aware about mutual fund as an investment option but don’t prefer to invest because of associated risk & in-depth technical knowledge and those who prefer to invest in comparison to other investment Products are majorly because of the option to invest systematically i.e., SIP to ensure saving and have better returns. The most important factor that influences investment decision is the level of risk followed by expected returns, liquidity, personal knowledge, investment period and tax benefits and the investment decisions are taken on the influence of herd mentality of their family and friends and self-research. Investors investment post covid in mutual fund has increased for majority of the respondents. Some of the major reason for this change is because of the ease of investment i.e., the fintech apps which makes buying and selling of mutual funds simpler, investors had more disposable time for learning about mutual funds and the benefits of investing in that and as the same time increased disposable income to support the time invested in learning and also the ones who were not investing, understood the importance of savings during their difficult times.

Hence measures should be taken to hire more investment advisors, who can understand their goal better and accordingly suggest what kind of investment are suitable for them. Investors also tend to have recency bias that if some kinds of investment were profitable to them in the recent past, they think they will be profited again in the future which is not the case. Those who haven't started earning or are earning very little are not aware about investments and their benefits in long run. Education system should include financial investment as a part of their study at the undergraduate level so that they can start disciplined investment when they start earning.