Investment vehicles that pool money from many investors and invest it in a diversified portfolio of shares, bonds or other securities, managed by professional fund managers under SEBI regulation.
- Each investor holds units; the value of one unit is the Net Asset Value (NAV), calculated as total fund assets minus liabilities, divided by the number of units outstanding.
- A mutual fund is set up as a trust with a Sponsor, a Trustee, an Asset Management Company (AMC) and a Custodian, all regulated under SEBI's mutual-fund rules.
- Schemes are classified as equity, debt, hybrid or money-market; open-ended schemes allow entry and exit anytime, while close-ended schemes have a fixed tenor.
- A Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) lets investors invest a fixed amount at regular intervals, giving the benefit of rupee-cost averaging.
- Mutual funds channel household savings into the capital market and are a key route for retail participation; the industry body is AMFI.
The meaning of NAV, the trust structure (Sponsor, Trustee, AMC, Custodian), SEBI regulation and the SIP concept are common capital-market items.
Mutual funds (pooled, SEBI-regulated, diversified) versus a fixed deposit (a single bank product with assured interest); the NAV is the per-unit value, not a guaranteed return.
Pooled, professionally managed investment funds (units valued at NAV); SEBI-regulated, set up as a trust, often invested via SIPs.