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Selecting a mutual fund is like selecting any other investment and you should follow an objective decision framework. You should start by answering the following questions. 
 
Step 1: Deciding on <keyword id="35475" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="equity-funds">Equity funds</keyword> vs. <keyword id="35474" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="debt-funds">Debt funds</keyword> 
This decision is essentially a decision to invest in Equities vs. Debt rather than being a mutual fund selection. The key elements in this decision are: 
· What’ your investment objective? 
Is it income or growth? If you’re looking for income, then go for debt. For growth, you could choose either equity or debt depending on your investment duration &amp; return expectation. 
· What kind of return do you want/ need? Your return could be in the form of a fixed returns or capital growth (with uncertainty). If you are looking for fixed returns, <keyword id="6357979" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="mutual-funds">mutual funds</keyword> are completely ruled out. 
· What’s your investment duration? How fixed is this investment duration? 
Are you investing for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or longer? Debt funds are better for shorter durations (5 years or less), Equity Funds for longer. IMPORTANT: Do not confuse investment duration with review period. Choose the asset class based on when you will need the money (investment duration) for example: 20 years. However, you should review your specific <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> within that asset class more often (Review period), say every year. 
· How much return do you expect? Does historical data justify it? 
A number of investors choose an asset class with unrealistic expectations of 20% or 30% returns. The long-term average return for debt is in the region of 9% and equity is in the region of 16%. Each of these comes with varying degrees of uncertainty or risk. 
· What are the risks? Are they in line with your objective &amp; return expectation. 
The variation of return in debt is usually small. A long-term average of 9% implies a band of 8-10%. This means that there is a high degree of certainty that you’d get returns of near the long-term average. The risk of capital loss is also very low. 
On the other hand equity returns vary in a broad range. The range narrows with holding period, but there is always a wide band. There is also a high risk of capital loss due to this. 
In a simplistic way the decision between equity &amp; debt is the decision between almost certain 9% return and an uncertain 16% return. 
· What is the tax applicable on the return you get? 
Interest is added to your income and gets taxed at whatever your tax slab is (10%, 20% or 30%). 
Debt funds held for less than a year get taxed at your tax slab; for more than a year get taxed at 20% with inflation indexation. 
Equity funds held for less than a year get taxed at 15%; for more than a year have zero income tax. 
Then there are tax saving equity funds (ELSS), which have a lock in for 3 years, but save you tax in the year in which you invest. 
(Note: This is a broad generalization of tax applicability and not tax advice.) 
Step 2: Selecting a specific mutual fund 
· Understand the capability of the <keyword id="109711" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Fund-manager">fund manager</keyword>, their investment process and track record 
The performance of a mutual fund is ultimately the outcome of the Fund Manager’s expertise and their investment process. The two are designed to complement each other. 
All funds are required to publish the resume of the fund manager. The fund managers also write articles and give interviews that reflect their thinking and the investment process they follow. You can also understand this by evaluating the risk reward characteristics of the mutual fund and things like portfolio churn. 
A good investment process is an indicator of repeatable performance. 
· Analyse performance over a reasonable period 
Very often investors are misled by recent (usually last 6 months or one year) performance of a fund. You need to analyse performance over at least 4-5 years. Also look for consistency of performance by comparing different period returns. Always remember that past performance may not be repeated. 
· Decision on picking a thematic or sectoral fund vs. diversified funds 
Themes and sectors limit the universe of stocks available to a fund manager. Choose these if you fully understand the economic conditions and their applicability to a specific sector. You must also carefully watch for changes in these conditions. 
· Focus on facts and data rather than brand names 
An investor must be diligent in researching and analyzing data. This also involves ignoring personal preferences, uninformed recommendations, advertising and brand names. Let the track record speak for itself. 
Step 3: Re-confirm that you understand how your specific chosen mutual fund works. 
· Read the offer documents 
· Understand investment/ redemption limitations if any 
· How can you invest? How can you withdraw? 
· Cost and load structure- A load is a percentage charged by the fund to recover distribution costs. This may be charged at entry (Entry Load), exit (Exit Load) or over the life of the investment. 
 
(The next lesson on this series will be: How do I invest in mutual funds? How much does it cost me? 
If you would like to learn more, stay tuned.) 
 
(About the author: This article has been contributed by Sanjiv Singhal, CEO, <a href="http://scripbox.com/" target="_blank">scripbox.com</a>.)

Investor series: 3 easy steps that will help you choose the right mutual fund to invest in

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A <keyword id="174755" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Vanguard">Vanguard</keyword> <keyword id="143974" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Equity-Fund">equity fund</keyword> has become the first of its kind to top $1 trillion in assets, suggesting that the world's largest issuer of mutual funds has had a doubly historic year.</li><li>The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund held just over a trillion dollars in assets as of November 30, according to company data.</li><li>The index fund counts <keyword id="6354427" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="apple">Apple</keyword>, <keyword id="107096" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tesla">Tesla</keyword>, and <keyword id="6362665" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="berkshire-hathaway">Berkshire Hathaway</keyword> among its 10 largest holdings - these make up 23% of its portfolio.</li><li>Vanguard says the top features of the fund are its low costs, broad diversification, and the potential for tax efficiency.</li></ul>A major <keyword id="192172" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Vanguard-Group">Vanguard Group</keyword> equity fund has become the first of its kind to exceed 1 trillion in assets, reflecting the magnitude to which investors have piled into diversified investments.The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, which is available as a mutual fund and an exchange-traded fund, had a little over $1 trillion in assets as of November 30, <a href="https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/portfolio/vtsmx">according to company data</a>. Vanguard is the largest issuer of mutual funds, and also became the top issuer of ETFs this year. The investment advisor controls 28% of the $5.3 trillion US ETF industry, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-15/vanguard-makes-history-with-the-first-1-trillion-equity-fund?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_content=business&amp;cmpid=socialflow-twitter-businesstwitter-business">Bloomberg</a>. Read More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picks-covid-19-vaccine-manufacturers-distributors-deliverers-benefit-bofa-2020-12">Bank of America says these 10 stocks of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, deliverers, and distributors are set to benefit as the immunization effort gets underway</a>The index fund's 10 largest holdings make up 23% of its entire portfolio. They include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, Berkshire Hathaway, Tesla, Johnson &amp; Johnson, JPMorgan, and Visa.Aside from the dominant stock names, Vanguard's equity fund is also supported by low fees. Aside from an account service fee, it has no fund-specific purchase fee or redemption fee.The index fund, which has no foreign holdings, was established in 1992. Vanguard says its key features are its "low costs, broad diversification, and the potential for tax efficiency." The ETF followed in 2001. Read More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-to-buy-high-dividend-picks-cyclical-recovery-jp-morgan-2020-12">A JPMorgan income fund manager shares 12 high-dividend stocks set to gain from a broad cyclical recovery - and unpacks the strategy he uses to beat 93% of his peers</a>

A top equity fund that counts Apple, Tesla, and Berkshire Hathaway among its largest holdings has become the first of its kind to exceed $1 trillion in assets

The State Bank of India is going to launch an Islamic equity fund in December, which aims to target about 17 crore Muslims. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (<keyword id="35210" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="sebi">SEBI</keyword>) had recently given its go-ahead to <keyword id="13222" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SBI">SBI</keyword> and three mutual funds to launch Sharia funds. 
 
According to a report, SBI expects to raise about Rs 100 crore in the initial stage. 
 Charging or paying interest is not allowed under the Islamic <keyword id="43224" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sharia-Law">Sharia law</keyword>. India is the second non-Islamic country, where a state-owned bank will be offering a <keyword id="417352" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sharia-fund">Sharia fund</keyword>. 
 
“Sharia prohibits acceptance of specific interest or fees for loans of money (known as riba, or usury), whether the payment is fixed or floating. Investment in businesses that provide goods or services considered contrary to Islamic principles (e.g. pork or alcohol) is also haraam ("sinful and prohibited").” [Source: Wikipedia]

SBI To
Start Islamic Equity Fund

The top equity growth mutual funds with the best returns in the last 3 years

‘SIP’ expanded as <keyword id="6359303" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="systematic-investment-plan">Systematic Investment Plan</keyword> is not synonymous with the term ‘equity’. SIP can be viewed as a tool that lets an individual invest in <keyword id="6354820" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="mutual-fund">mutual fund</keyword> schemes on a regular basis. An SIP lets you stagger your investments in equity schemes over a period of time. This can be done on the quantum of money also. It is a convenient tool for salaried people to invest in equities regularly. It is also considered as a better way to invest in equity funds since it helps avoid caching the market at a particular level. Equity is also called as the shareholder’s equity that stands for the amount the investor (shareholder) will get if all the company’s funds are liquidated and the company’s debts are paid off. It is the value of the share (ownership) the investor holds in the enterprise. Equity is also one of the most common metrics employed by analysts to assess the financial health of a company. To understand the term equity in simple terms, we can say it is the value of a person’s ownership in a given asset after subtracting all the debts connected with it. Why is equity important? The concept of equity is important because it refers to the value of the stakes an investor holds in a company. Any investor holding a stock in a company will be naturally interested in their personal equity in the enterprise which is represented by the total value of their shares. Personal equity is in fact a function of the company’s total equity. When an individual owns a stock in a company, it might yield a capital gain over a period of time. Stock price appreciation and dividends given out to the shareholders are the products of equity. Owning equity in a company gives the shareholders the right to elect the board of directors or vote in any elections connected with the enterprise. To make things simple and clear, equity is the shareholder’s stake in the company. Shareholder’s equity can either be negative or positive depending on the company’s financial health and performance. Why SIP is important? SIP imparts financial discipline to an individual’s life. It also helps the individual invest regularly without having to worry about the moods of the market, index levels and other considerations. When you wish to make a fixed amount of investment in a mutual fund scheme for example, you cannot help worrying about the market conditions. Depending on the scenario, you might need to postpone your investment decision if the investing environment is not conducive to appreciation or if it is not that healthy. A Sip on the other hand places an end to all such predicaments. The amount of money you specify in a SIP is automatically invested on a regular basis in the given scheme without any effort spared from your side. SIP helps average the buying cost. It also maximizes the returns. Many enterprises and schemes allow the investors to customize the way they wish to invest depending on their convenience.

Explained: Difference between SIP and Equity

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan4th/3107012507/sizes/z/in/photostream/">san4th via Flcikr</a></div></div>This morning <a href="https://sumzero.com/">SumZero,</a> a networking site for financial professionals, launched a new service - a <keyword id="6356362" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="compensation">compensation</keyword> database where members can submit their pay and compare it to others submitted to the site.
As you can imagine, in a matter of minutes the service, SZ Compensation, was going completely nuts.
It's not hard to see why - who doesn't like a little "I'll show you mine if you show me yours?" especially in an industry as secretive about pay as finance. In 30 minutes, <a href="https://sumzero.com/">SumZero</a> members (who are all vetted buy-side professionals at <keyword id="34499" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="private-equity">private equity</keyword> firms, <keyword id="116445" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Hedge-funds">hedge funds</keyword> and <keyword id="6357979" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="mutual-funds">mutual funds</keyword>) had already sent in over 100 submissions.
"We knew going in that there aren't many subject matters in the hedge fund industry that generate more natural curiosity than personal income and yet are more relevant to our members from a professional development stand-point," said SumZero Senior Vice President, Nicholas Kapur. "If we're truly committed to helping our members grow as professionals over the long term, we absolutely had to address compensation.... Of course, it's a bit taboo as a subject matter goes, so it needs to be handled appropriately. But the bottom line is that the information is important, there's high natural interest, and it has high application value."
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">SumZero</div></div></div>You have to be a member of SumZero to submit, and you have to submit to see other submissions. Once that's out of the way though, you can imagine how valuable this information is. It includes a member's title, length of employment, salary (obviously), fund type, bonus, and location.
There are services that do this already, but they charge thousands of dollars for this kind of information. On SumZero it's all free, and that means it's disruptive.
Now - a quick rundown of what we've learned from the submissions so far.
In three hours there were 145 submissions from Hedge Funds, 45 from Mutual Funds, and 30 from Private Equity Funds.
All Group Total Comp Stats:
Minimum compensation: $75,000
Maximum compensation: $2.15mm
Median compensation: $264,000
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image">SumZero</div></div></div>"The most valuable aspect about this new tool is both the broad, directional statistics you can absorb as well as the very granular detail you can search and filter for," said Kapur. "You can get broad statistics on how much people are making at private equity funds in London or you can search for all the energy analysts working at $500mm to $1 billion hedge funds in NYC with 5-10 years of experience who get a certain percentage of the carried interest and who get to market their track records. Then, you can drill down and learn a whole lot more about each analyst's comp structure. It's extremely flexible."
You hear that everyone? Now go forth and find out what you're all worth.

Finance Pros Are Going Nuts Over A New Database That Lets Them Compare Their Compensation Anonymously

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan4th/3107012507/sizes/z/in/photostream/">san4th via Flcikr</a></div></div>This morning <a href="sumzero.com">SumZero</a>, a networking site for financial professionals, launched a new service — a <keyword id="6356362" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="compensation">compensation</keyword> database where members can submit their pay and compare it to others submitted to the site.
As you can imagine, in a matter of minutes the service, SZ Compensation, was going completely nuts.
It's not hard to see why — who doesn't like a little "I'll show you mine if you show me yours?" especially in an industry as secretive about pay as finance. In 30 minutes, <a href="https://sumzero.com/">SumZero</a> members (who are all vetted buy-side professionals at <keyword id="34499" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="private-equity">private equity</keyword> firms, <keyword id="116445" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Hedge-funds">hedge funds</keyword> and <keyword id="6357979" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="mutual-funds">mutual funds</keyword>) had already sent in over 100 submissions.
"We knew going in that there aren't many subject matters in the hedge fund industry that generate more natural curiosity than personal income and yet are more relevant to our members from a professional development stand-point," said SumZero Senior Vice President, Nicholas Kapur. "If we're truly committed to helping our members grow as professionals over the long term, we absolutely had to address compensation.... Of course, it's a bit taboo as a subject matter goes, so it needs to be handled appropriately. But the bottom line is that the information is important, there's high natural interest, and it has high application value."
<div class="image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">SumZero</div></div></div>You have to be a member of SumZero to submit, and you have to submit to see other submissions. Once that's out of the way though, you can imagine how valuable this information is. It includes a member's title, length of employment, salary (obviously), fund type, bonus, and location.
There are services that do this already, but they charge thousands of dollars for this kind of information. On SumZero it's all free, and that means it's disruptive.
Now — a quick rundown of what we've learned from the submissions so far.
In three hours there were 145 submissions from Hedge Funds, 45 from Mutual Funds, and 30 from Private Equity Funds.
All Group Total Comp Stats:
Minimum compensation: $75,000
Maximum compensation: $2.15mm
Median compensation: $264,000
<div class="image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image">SumZero</div></div></div>"The most valuable aspect about this new tool is both the broad, directional statistics you can absorb as well as the very granular detail you can search and filter for," said Kapur. "You can get broad statistics on how much people are making at private equity funds in London or you can search for all the energy analysts working at $500mm to $1 billion hedge funds in NYC with 5-10 years of experience who get a certain percentage of the carried interest and who get to market their track records. Then, you can drill down and learn a whole lot more about each analyst's comp structure. It's extremely flexible."
You hear that everyone? Now go forth and find out what you're all worth.

Investments by <keyword id="34499" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="private-equity" source="Orion">private equity</keyword> (PE) and <keyword id="6357097" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="venture-capital" source="Orion">venture capital</keyword> (VC) funds to homegrown companies declined to $27.9 billion across 697 transactions this year (as of December 20), compared to $47.62 billion across 1,364 deals in 2022, according to a new report. 2023 saw more money being pulled out from the country by private equity players, with overall exits reaching $19.34 billion from 248 companies, in comparison to 233 exits worth $18.45 billion in 2022, according to data from Venture Intelligence and industry body IVCA. Meanwhile, venture <keyword id="989750" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="capital-funding" source="Orion">capital funding</keyword> for <keyword id="6362513" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups" source="Orion">startups</keyword> declined by 72 per cent this year compared to last year. The new-age companies in the country received $7.5 billion across all stages (as of December 15), compared with $25 billion last year, according to the data. The fall in <keyword id="6357455" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="funding" source="Orion">funding</keyword> this year is chiefly attributed to slow late-stage deals (Series D and above), which more than halved to $3.5 billion from $11.70 billion in 2022. The early-stage funding deals slowed down. The number of deals declined to almost half to 414 rounds from 871 rounds in the year-ago period, according to the report. Growth-stage funding rounds dropped to $1.9 billion via 99 deals, compared with $6.84 billion from 230 deals in 2022. Making a dent in India's startup growth story, the country slipped to fourth position in the global ranking among the highest-funded geographies in 2023, as it recorded lowest funding in five years. After grabbing the third spot globally in 2021 as well as in 2022, India ranked fourth behind the US, the UK and China this year, receiving only $7 billion in total funding (till December 5), according to recent data by global market intelligence platform Tracxn. In the third quarter (Q3) this year, India even slipped to fifth position among the highest-funded countries -- behind the US, the UK, China and France.

You Searched For "equity funds" and got 8 results

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Explained: Difference between SIP and Equity

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Finance Pros Are Going Nuts Over A New Database That Lets Them Compare Their Compensation Anonymously

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Finance Pros Are Going Nuts Over A New Database That Lets Them Compare Their Compensation Anonymously

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PE, VC investments in domestic companies drop to $27.9 bn in 2023

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