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.

Fund managers are responsible for implementing a consistent investment strategy that reflects the goals and objectives of the fund. Normally, fund managers monitor market and economic trends and analyse securities in order to make informed investment decisions.

All Asset Management Companies (AMCs) are regulated by SEBI and/or the RBI (in case the AMC is promoted by a bank). In addition, every mutual fund has a board of directors that represents the unit holders’ interests in the mutual fund.

The company that manages a mutual fund is called an AMC. For all practical purposes, it is an organized form of a “money portfolio manager”. An AMC may have several mutual fund schemes with similar or varied investment objectives. The AMC hires a professional money manager, who buys and sells securities in line with the fund's stated objective.

This depends on the underlying instrument that a mutual fund invests in, based on its investment objectives. Mutual funds that invest in stock market-related instruments cannot be termed “risk-free or safe” as investment in shares are inherently risky by nature, whereas funds that invest in fixed-income instruments are relatively safe and those that invest only in government securities are the safest.

The value of all the securities in mutual fund’s portfolio is calculated daily. From this, all expenses are deducted and the resultant value divided by the number of units in the fund is the fund’s NAV or its Net Asset Value.