Ease of investment and monitoring procedure
The internet technology has made investing in mutual funds a piece of cake. You can purchase, manage and sell mutual funds online. All you have to do is just log in to the mutual fund house website and follow the simple steps to purchase mutual funds. The online platform also helps you to manage your investment by constantly getting updates on the performance of the mutual funds on a day-to-day basis.
Professional management
One of the greatest advantages of the mutual fund investment is that your mutual fund is managed by professional fund managers whose day to day job is to do a market analysis. Fund managers also have a team of professional who minutely research on the companies and sectors before deciding on buying and selling a particular stock or securities of a company. The professional management of the mutual fund makes it attractive and increases chances of getting high returns.
Low Cost
Mutual funds have fees associated with them relating to the asset management cost. Although the asset management cost would have been expensive if it was the money of one person but mutual funds have money of many investors clubbed together. This way the asset management cost also gets divided amongst the investors making it affordable to each of the individual investors.
3 years lock-in period
Most of the traditional investments come with a long duration of lock-in periods like PPF, fixed deposits, etc. On the other hand, mutual funds generally do not come with this compulsion of long lock-in periods. In mutual funds, you have ease of redeeming your investment as per your needs. The only type of mutual funds that have a compulsory lock-in period is ELSS or tax saving mutual funds. They have a short lock-in period of only 3 years. Although industry experts are of the opinion that you should keep your money in the mutual funds as per your short-term or long-term objectives, historical data has proved that the longer you keep your money invested, the better returns you can achieve from your investment.
Portfolio diversification
Mutual funds give you an added advantage of diversifying your investment into many different types of investment. Say, if one stock does not do well then it can be averaged out by the performances of other stocks in the mutual fund. This way you can spread your risk and achieve better returns on your investment.
Liquidity and Tax Benefits
Mutual funds other than ELSS or tax saving mutual funds normally don't have a lock-in period. Mutual funds give you the freedom of taking your investment out anytime as per your needs and requirements. Depending on your investment you can choose to put your money in appropriate mutual funds. For very high liquidity you can invest your money in money market mutual funds where you can even keep your investment just for a single day and take out. ELSS or tax saving mutual funds come under section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 which offer tax benefits of up to INR 1,50,000 in a financial year on their investment but come with a lock-in period of 3 years.
Financial Goal-Oriented Funds
Mutual funds are systematically categorised into different types as per the financial goal. It becomes easy for the investors to invest in a mutual fund as per their choice. Growth funds are meant for investors who don’t mind keeping their money invested for a long term to achieve high returns on their investment. Income funds are for investors who are looking for stable income and less risk on their investment. Balanced funds offer a mixture of both growth funds and income funds. ELSS or tax saving mutual funds help in saving tax of the investors. All these are the examples of mutual funds which are financially goal oriented. The investment done in the mutual funds is as per the goal of the mutual fund.
High Return Potential
Are we all not looking for high returns on our investments? Mutual funds offer the platform to strategically invest your money in the variety of market-linked financial instruments which have outperformed for many years. Equity Mutual funds have given better returns than bank deposits with returns as much as 11% to 18% over the last decade. Investing in equity stock through mutual funds is relatively safe as you can diversify your risks and enjoy healthy returns on your investment.
Regulation and Transparency
Mutual fund houses come under the regulation of SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India). It is mandatory by law for the mutual fund houses to make necessary disclosures. The NAV (Net Asset Value) of the mutual fund is updated daily and is available to view for all. This makes the performance of the mutual fund very transparent, making it easy for the investor to track its progress and get daily updates on its performance.