A STUDY ON MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA Ashutosh

INTRODUCTION

There are a lot of investment avenues available today in the financial market for an investor with an investable surplus. He can invest in Bank Deposits, Corporate Debentures, and Bonds where there is low risk but low return. He may invest in Stock of companies where the risk is high and the returns are also proportionately high. The recent trends in the Stock Market have shown that an average retail investor always lost with periodic bearish tends. People began opting for portfolio managers with expertise in stock markets who would invest on their behalf. Thus we had wealth management services provided by many institutions. However they proved too costly for a small investor. These investors have found a good shelter with the mutual funds.

Mutual fund industry has seen a lot of changes in past few years with multinational companies coming into the country, bringing in their professional expertise in managing funds worldwide. In the past few months there has been a consolidation phase going on in the mutual fund industry in India. Now investors have a wide range of Schemes to choose from depending on their individual profiles.

My study gives an overview of mutual funds definition, types, benefits, risks, limitations, history of mutual funds in India, latest trends, global scenarios. I have analyzed a few prominent mutual funds schemes and have given my findings.

NEED FOR THE STUDY The main purpose of doing this project was to know about mutual fund and its functioning. This helps to know in details about mutual fund industry right from its inception stage, growth and future prospects. It also helps in understanding different schemes of mutual funds. Because my study depends upon prominent funds in India and their schemes like equity, income, balance as well as the returns

associated with those schemes. The project study was done to ascertain the asset allocation, entry load, exit load, associated with the mutual funds. Ultimately this would help in understanding the benefits of mutual funds to investors.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY In my project the scope is limited to some prominent mutual funds in the mutual fund industry. I analyzed the funds depending on their schemes like equity, income, balance. But there is so many other schemes in mutual fund industry like specialized (banking, infrastructure, pharmacy) funds, index funds etc.

My study is mainly concentrated on equity schemes, the returns, in income schemes the rating of CRISIL, ICRA and other credit rating agencies.

OBJECTIVE

To give a brief idea about the benefits available from Mutual Fund investment To give an idea of the types of schemes available. To discuss about the market trends of Mutual Fund investment. To study some of the mutual fund schemes and analyse them Observe the fund management process of mutual funds Explore the recent developments in the mutual funds in India To give an idea about the regulations of mutual funds

METHODOLOGY

To achieve the objective of studying the stock market data has been collected. Research methodology carried for this study can be two types 1. Primary 2. Secondary

PRIMARY: The data, which has being collected for the first time and it is the original data.

In this project the primary data has been taken from HSE staff and guide of the project.

SECONDARY: The secondary information is mostly taken from websites, books, journals, etc.

Limitations

The time constraint was one of the major problems. The study is limited to the different schemes available under the mutual funds selected. The study is limited to selected mutual fund schemes. The lack of information sources for the analysis part.

History of mutual funds 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. The history of mutual funds in India can be broadly divided into four distinct phases.

First Phase 1964-87: Unit Trust of India (UTI) was established on 1963 by an Act of Parliament. 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 Canbank 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 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.

ADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUNDS

There are numerous benefits of investing in mutual funds and one of the key reasons for its phenomenal success in the developed markets like US and UK is the range of benefits they offer, which are unmatched by most other investment avenues. We have explained the key benefits in this section. The benefits have been broadly split into universal benefits, applicable to all schemes, and benefits applicable specifically to open-ended schemes. Universal Benefits

Affordability: A mutual fund invests in a portfolio of assets, i.e. bonds, shares, etc. depending upon the investment objective of the scheme. An investor can buy in to a portfolio of equities, which would otherwise be extremely expensive. Each unit holder thus gets an exposure to such portfolios with an investment as modest as Rs.500/-. This amount today would get you less than quarter of an Infosys share! Thus it would be affordable for an investor to build a portfolio of investments through a mutual fund rather than investing directly in the stock market. Diversification The nuclear weapon in your arsenal for your fight against Risk. It simply means that you must spread your investment across different securities (stocks, bonds, money market instruments, real estate, fixed deposits etc.) and different sectors (auto, textile, information technology etc.). This kind of a diversification may add to the stability of your returns, for example during one period of time equities might under perform but bonds and money market instruments might do well enough to offset the effect of a slump in the equity markets. Similarly the information technology sector might be faring poorly but the auto and textile sectors might do well and may protect your principal investment as well as help you meet your return objectives. Variety Mutual funds offer a tremendous variety of schemes. This variety is beneficial in two ways: first, it offers different types of schemes to investors with different needs and risk appetites; secondly, it offers an opportunity to an investor to invest sums across a variety of schemes, both debt and equity. For example, an investor can invest his money in a Growth Fund (equity scheme) and Income Fund (debt scheme) depending on his risk appetite and thus create a balanced portfolio easily or simply just buy a Balanced Scheme. Professional Management: Qualified investment professionals who seek to maximize returns and minimize risk monitor investor's money. When you buy in to a mutual fund, you are handing your money to an investment professional who has experience in making investment decisions. It is the Fund Manager's job to (a) find the best securities for the fund, given the fund's stated investment objectives; and (b) keep track of investments and changes in market conditions and adjust the mix of the portfolio, as and when required.

Tax Benefits: Any income distributed after March 31, 2002 will be subject to tax in the assessment of all Unit holders. However, as a measure of concession to Unit holders of open-ended equity-oriented funds, income distributions for the year ending March 31, 2003, will be taxed at a concessional rate of 10.5%. In case of Individuals and Hindu Undivided Families a deduction upto Rs. 9,000 from the Total Income will be admissible in respect of income from investments specified in Section 80L, including income from Units of the Mutual Fund. Units of the schemes are not subject to Wealth-Tax and Gift-Tax. Regulations: Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the mutual funds regulator has clearly defined rules, which govern mutual funds. These rules relate to the formation, administration and management of mutual funds and also prescribe disclosure and accounting requirements. Such a high level of regulation seeks to protect the interest of investors

Benefits of Open-ended Schemes: Liquidity: In open-ended mutual funds, you can redeem all or part of your units any time you wish. Some schemes do have a lock-in period where an investor cannot return the units until the completion of such a lock-in period. Convenience: An investor can purchase or sell fund units directly from a fund, through a broker or a financial planner. The investor may opt for a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) or a Systematic Withdrawal Advantage Plan (SWAP). In addition to this an investor receives account statements and portfolios of the schemes.

Flexibility: Mutual Funds offering multiple schemes allow investors to switch easily between various schemes. This flexibility gives the investor a convenient way to change the mix of his portfolio over time. Transparency: Open-ended mutual funds disclose their Net Asset Value (NAV) daily and the entire portfolio monthly. This level of transparency, where the investor himself sees the underlying assets bought with his money, is unmatched by any other financial instrument. Thus the investor is in the know of the quality of the portfolio and can invest further or redeem depending on the kind of the portfolio that has been constructed by the investment manager. RISK FACTORS OF MUTUAL FUNDS

The Risk-Return Trade-off: The most important relationship to understand is the risk-return trade-off. Higher the risk greater the returns/loss and lower the risk lesser the returns/loss. Hence it is upto you, the investor to decide how much risk you are willing to take. In order to do this you must first be aware of the different types of risks involved with your investment decision.

Market Risk: Sometimes prices and yields of all securities rise and fall. Broad outside influences affecting the market in general lead to this. This is true, may it be big corporations or smaller midsized companies. This is known as Market Risk. A Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) that works on the concept of Rupee Cost Averaging (RCA) might help mitigate this risk.

Credit Risk: The debt servicing ability (may it be interest payments or repayment of principal) of a company through its cashflows determines the Credit Risk faced by you. This credit risk is measured by independent rating agencies like CRISIL who rate companies and their paper. A AAA rating is considered the safest whereas a D rating is considered poor credit quality. A well-diversified portfolio might help mitigate this risk.

Inflation Risk: Things you hear people talk about: "Rs. 100 today is worth more than Rs. 100 tomorrow." "Remember the time when a bus ride costed 50 paise?" "Mehangai Ka Jamana Hai." The root cause, Inflation. Inflation is the loss of purchasing power over time. A lot of times people make conservative investment decisions to protect their capital but end up with a sum of money that can buy less than what the principal could at the time of the investment. This happens when inflation grows faster than the return on your investment. A well-diversified portfolio with some investment in equities might help mitigate this risk.

Interest Rate Risk: In a free market economy interest rates are difficult if not impossible to predict. Changes in interest rates affect the prices of bonds as well as equities. If interest rates rise the prices of bonds fall and vice versa. Equity might be negatively affected as well in a rising interest rate environment. A well-diversified portfolio might help mitigate this risk.

Political/Government Policy Risk: Changes in government policy and political decision can change the investment environment. They can create a favorable environment for investment or vice versa.

Liquidity Risk: Liquidity risk arises when it becomes difficult to sell the securities that one has purchased. Liquidity Risk can be partly mitigated by diversification, staggering of maturities as well as internal risk controls that lean towards purchase of liquid securities.

Various investment options in Mutual Funds offer To cater to different investment needs, Mutual Funds offer various investment options. Some of the important investment options include: Growth Option: Dividend is not paid-out under a Growth Option and the investor realises only the capital appreciation on the investment (by an increase in NAV).

Dividend Payout Option: Dividends are paid-out to investors under the Dividend Payout Option. However, the NAV of the mutual fund scheme falls to the extent of the dividend payout.

Dividend Re-investment Option: Here the dividend accrued on mutual funds is automatically re-invested in purchasing additional units in open-ended funds. In most cases mutual funds offer the investor an option of collecting dividends or re-investing the same.

Retirement Pension Option: Some schemes are linked with retirement pension. Individuals participate in these options for themselves, and corporates participate for their employees.

Insurance Option: Certain Mutual Funds offer schemes that provide insurance cover to investors as an added benefit.

Systematic Investment Plan (SIP): Here the investor is given the option of preparing a pre-determined number of post-dated cheques in

favour of the fund. The investor is allotted units on a predetermined date specified in the offer document at the applicable NAV.

Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP): As opposed to the Systematic Investment Plan, the Systematic Withdrawal Plan allows the investor the facility to withdraw a pre-determined amount / units from his fund at a pre-determined interval. The investor's units will be redeemed at the applicable NAV as on that day.

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.

GROWTH OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA

The Indian Mutual Fund has passed through three phases. The first phase was between 1964 and 1987 and the only player was the Unit Trust of India, which had a total asset of Rs. 6,700 crores at the end of 1988. The second phase is between 1987 and 1993 during which period 8 Funds were established (6 by banks and one each by LIC and GIC). The total assets under management had grown to 61,028 crores at the end of 1994 and the number of schemes was 167. The third phase began with the entry of private and foreign sectors in the Mutual Fund industry in 1993. Kothari Pioneer Mutual Fund was the first Fund to be established by the private sector in association with a foreign Fund. As at the end of financial year 2000(31st march) 32 Funds were functioning with Rs. 1, 13,005 crores as total assets under management. As on august end 2000, there were 33 Funds with 391 schemes and assets under management with Rs 1, 02,849 crores. The securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) came out with comprehensive regulation in 1993 which defined the structure of Mutual Fund and Asset Management Companies for the first time. Several private sectors Mutual Funds were launched in 1993 and 1994. The share of the private

players has risen rapidly since then. Currently there are 34 Mutual Fund organizations in India managing 1,02,000 crores.

ANALYSIS OF MUTUAL FUNDS SCHEMES To study the currently available schemes I have taken the fact sheets available with the AMCs. The fact sheet provides the historical data about the various schemes offered by the AMC, investment pattern, dividend history, ratings given, Fund Managers Credentials, etc. I have analyzed the schemes in the following three categories: Equity or Growth Scheme Balanced Scheme Income or Debt Scheme I have studied the schemes of the following AMCs Kotak Mutual Fund SBI Mutual Fund Franklin Templeton India Mutual Fund Principal Mutual fund

Basis for Analysis Net Asset Value (NAV) is the best parameter on which the performance of a mutual fund can be studied. We have studied the performance of the NAV based on the compounded annual return of the Scheme in terms of appreciation of NAV, dividend and bonus issues. WE have compared the Annual returns of various schemes to get an idea about their relative standings.

VALUATION OF MUTUAL FUND

The net asset value of the Fund is the cumulative market value of the assets Fund net of its liabilities. In other words, if the Fund is dissolved or liquidated, by selling off all the assets in the Fund, this is the amount that the shareholders would collectively own. This gives rise to the concept of net asset value per unit, which is the value, represented by the ownership of one unit in the Fund. It is calculated simply by dividing the net asset value of the Fund by the number of units. However, most people refer loosely to the NAV per unit as NAV, ignoring the per unit. We also abide by the same convention.

Calculation of NAV The most important part of the calculation is the valuation of the assets owned by the Fund. Once it is calculated, the NAV is simply the net value of assets divided by the number of units outstanding. The detailed methodology for the calculation of the net asset value is given below. The net asset value is the actual value of a unit on any business day. NAV is the barometer of the performance of the scheme. The net asset value is the market value of the assets of the scheme minus its liabilities and expenses. The per unit NAV is the net asset value of the scheme divided by the number of the units outstanding on the valuation date.

Equity or Growth Scheme These schemes, also commonly called Growth 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.

In this equity or growth scheme segment I selected the following schemes in the selected AMCs

Balanced Scheme The aim of Balanced Funds is to provide both growth and regular income. Such schemes periodically distribute a part of their earning and invest both in equities and fixed income securities in the proportion indicated in their offer documents. This proportion affects the risks and the returns associated with the balanced fund - in case equities are allocated a higher proportion, investors would be exposed to risks similar to that of the equity market. Balanced funds with equal allocation to equities and fixed income securities are ideal for investors looking for a combination of income and moderate growth. In this balanced fund scheme segment I selected the following schemes in the selected AMCs

SBI Magnum Balance Fund has not been given any rating by CRISIL but it has been performing well. The investments of the Funds are well diversified in both Equity and Debt. The total Equity Holdings as on April 30th stands at 67.77% of the total assets. It has out performed CRISIL Balanced Fund Index by 45.38% for the 52 weeks period.

Principal Balanced Fund has ranked CP3 by CRISAL, which means average in the open-ended balanced Fund category and ranks within the top 70% of the 19 schemes in this category. It has invested 67% in Equity and about 16% in Government Securities. In Equity it invested primarily in Pharmaceuticals, Construction Materials, Automobiles and banks.

Franklin Templeton India Balanced Fund invested about 70% of its assets in Equity and 75% in Debts. The recent additions to its portfolio are Reliance Industries, Asian paints and BPCL. It invests primarily in IT consulting, auto parts equipment, Banks, Tele Electrical industrial conglomerates. It invested mainly in the AAA rated Debts.

Kotak Balance Fund has invested close to 70% in Equity and about 30% in Debt instruments and Short Term Deposits. The Fund has a well-diversified portfolio of equity with prime investments in BHEL, Siemens EID parry, Bulrampur Chini and SBI. In the debt Instruments it has invested in Railway Bonds and 2003 maturing Government Stock.

SBI Magnum Income Fund is performing very well right from the inception with generous payment of dividends has been assigned AAA rating by CRISIL. The Fund invests about 90% in AAA rated securities and more than 60% of its investments have a maturity ranging between 3 to 10 years. I has come with bonuses in Jan 2003 1:3 and September 2003 1:10. However, it under perform vis--vis CRISIL Comp. Bond Fund index by 0.14.

Principal Income Fund has ranked CP3 by CRISAL, which means average in the open-ended debt category and ranks within the top 70% of the 21 schemes in this category. The investments have average maturity of 7.3 years with more than 50% investments having a maturity of above 7 years. It has invested close to 50% in Government Securities, above 40% in NCD/Deep Discount Bonds.

Franklin Templeton India Income Fund has most of the investments in low risk AAA and sovereign securities. Above 45% of the investments are in Gilt, 25% in PSU/PFI bonds and 24% in corporate Debts. The average maturity of this scheme is at 4.87 years. The performance of the Fund is inline with CRISIL Composite Bond Fund.

Kotak Liquid Fund has invested about close to 25% in corporate Debt, 10% in public sector undertakings, about 25% in money market instruments. It has also invested 40% in term deposits. The average maturity of portfolio is 2.3 years. Almost all the instruments are well rated implying they are safe instruments also their investments are highly diversified.

SUGGESTIONS

Four sequential steps will enable investor to decide effectively. 1. Divide the spectrum of Mutual Funds depending on major asset classes invested in. Presently there are only two. Equity Funds investing in stocks. Debt Funds investing in interest paying securities issued by government, semi-government bodies, public sector units and corporates. 2. a) Categorizing equities Diversified invest in large capitalized stocks belonging to multiple sectors. Sectorial Invest in specific sectors like technology, FMCG, Pharma, etc. b) Categorized Debt. Gilt Invest only in government securities, long maturity securities with average of 9 to 13 years, very sensitive to interest rate movement. Medium Term Debt (Income Funds) Invest in corporate debt, government securities and PSU bonds. Average maturity is 5 to 7 years. Short Term Debt Average maturity is 1 year. Interest rate sensitivity is very low with steady returns. Liquid Invest in money market, other short term paper, and cash. Highly liquid. Average maturity is three months.

3. Review Categories Diversified equity has done very well while sectorial categories have fared poorly in Indian market. Index Funds have delivered much less compared to actively managed Funds. Gilt and Income Funds have performed very well during the last three years. They perform best in a falling interest environment. Since interest rates are now much lower, short term Funds are preferable.

4. Specific scheme selection Rankings are based on criteria including past performance, risk and resilience in unfavorable conditions, stability and investment style of Fund management, cost and service levels. Some recommended schemes are: Diversified equity Zurich Equity, Franklin India Bluechip, Sundaram Growth. These Funds show good resilience giving positive results. Gilt Funds DSP Merrill Lynch, Tata GSF, HDFC Gilt have done well. Income Fund HDFC, Alliance, Escorts and Zurich are top performers Short Term Funds Pru ICICI, Franklin Templeton are recommended

Within debt class, presently more is allocated towards short term Funds, because of low prevailing interest rates. However if interest rates go up investor can allocate more to income Funds or gilt Funds.