Mutual Funds are classified by structure in to:

• Open - Ended Schemes
• Close-Ended Schemes
• Interval Schemes

and by objective in to

• Equity (Growth) Schemes
• Income Schemes
• Money Market Schemes
• Tax Saving Schemes
• Balanced Schemes
• Offshore funds
• Special Schemes like index schemes etc

The cost of investing through a mutual fund is not insignificant and deserves due consideration, especially when it comes to fixed income funds. Management fees, annual expenses of the fund and sales loads can take away a significant portion of your returns. As a general rule, 1% towards management fees and 0.6% towards other annual expenses should be acceptable. Carefully examine the fee a fund charges for getting in and out of the fund. Again, you can query on entry and exit loads under our Find-A-Fund query module or get a pre-defined shortlist of funds on the load specification structure through the Mutual Fund Directory section.

Don't just zero in on one mutual fund (to avoid the risk of being overly dependent on any one fund). Pick two, preferably three mutual funds that would match you investment objective in each asset allocation category and spread your investment. We recommend a 60:40 split if you have shortlisted 2 funds and a 40:30:30 split if you have short-listed 3 funds for investment.

What's strategy got to do with selecting a mutual fund? Shouldn't you just go and invest in the best performing fund? The answer is no. Mutual fund investing requires as much strategic input as any other investment option. But the advantage is that the strategy here is a natural extension of your asset allocation plan (use our Asset Allocator to understand what your optimum asset allocation plan should be, based on your personal risk profile). Moneycontrol recommends the following process:

• Identify funds whose investment objectives match your asset allocation needs
  Just as you would buy a computer that fits your needs and budget, you should choose a mutual fund that meets your risk tolerance (need) and your risk capacity (budget) levels (i.e. has similar investment objectives as your own). Typical investment objectives of mutual funds include fixed income or equity, general equity or sector-focused, high risk or low risk, blue-chips or turnarounds, long-term or short-term liquidity focus. You can use Moneycontrol’s Find-A-Fund query module to find funds whose investment objectives match yours.
• Evaluate past performance, look for consistency
  Although past performance is no guarantee of future performance, it is a useful way of assessing how well or badly a fund has performed in comparison to its stated objectives and peer group. A good way to do this would be to identify the five best performing funds (within your selected investment objectives) over various periods, say 3 months, 6 months, one year, two years and three years. Shortlist funds that appear in the top 5 in each of these time horizons as they would have thus demonstrated their ability to be not only good but also, consistent performers. You can engage in such research through Moneycontrol’s Find-A-Fund query module.  Or, to get such a list, use our Best Picks reports which use this methodology as its predominant basis.
  

Yes. Investors of open-ended schemes can redeem their units on any business day and receive the current market value on their investments within a short time period (normally three- to five-days). Investors of close-ended schemes can redeem their units only on maturity but can sell it in the secondary market like stocks.

Firstly, we are not all investment professionals. We go to a doctor when we need medical advice or a lawyer for legal guidance, similarly mutual funds are investment vehicles managed by professional fund managers. And unless you rate highly on the Investment IQ Quiz, we recommend you use this option for investing. Mutual funds are like professional money managers, however a key factor in their favour is that they are more regulated and hence offer investors the ability to analyse and evaluate their track record.

Secondly, investing is becoming more complex. There was a time when things were quite simple - the market went up with the arrival of the first monsoon showers and every year around Diwali. Since India started integrating with the world (with the start of the liberalisation process), complex factors such as an increase in short-term US interest rates, the collapse of the Brazilian currency or default on its debt by the Russian government, have started having an impact on the Indian stock market. Although it is possible for an individual investor to understand Indian companies (and investing) in such an environment, the process can become fairly time consuming. Mutual funds (whose fund managers are paid to understand these issues and whose asset management company invests in research) provide an option of investing without getting lost in the complexities.

Lastly, and most importantly, mutual funds provide risk diversification: Diversification of a portfolio is amongst the primary tenets of portfolio structuring (see The Need to Diversify). And a necessary one to reduce the level of risk assumed by the portfolio holder. Most of us are not necessarily well qualified to apply the theories of portfolio structuring to our holdings and hence would be better off leaving that to a professional. Mutual funds represent one such option.