Mutual fund schemes are classified on the basis of its structure and investment objective.
BY STRUCTURE
Open–ended funds: Investors can buy and sell units of open-ended funds at NAV-related price every day. Open-end funds do not have a fixed maturity and it is available for subscription every day of the year. Open-end funds also offer liquidity to investments, as one can sell units whenever there is a need for money.
Close-ended funds: These funds have a stipulated maturity period, which may vary from three to 15 years. They are open for subscription only during a specified period. Investors have the option of investing in the scheme during initial public offer period or buy or sell units of the scheme on the stock exchanges. Some close-ended funds repurchase the units at NAV-related prices periodically to provide an exit route to the investors.
Interval Funds: These funds combine the features of both open and close-ended funds. They are open for sale and repurchase at a predetermined period.
BY INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
Growth funds: They normally invest most of their corpus in equities, as their objective is to provide capital appreciation over the medium-to-long term. Growth schemes are ideal for investors with risk appetite.
Income funds: As the name suggests, the aim of these funds is to provide regular and steady income to investors. They generally invest their corpus in fixed income securities like bonds, corporate debentures, and government securities. Income funds are ideal for those looking for capital stability and regular income.
Balanced funds: The objective of balanced funds is to provide growth along with regular income. They invest their corpus in both equities and fixed income securities as indicated in the offer documents. Balanced funds are ideal for those looking for income and moderate growth.
Money market funds: These funds strive to provide easy liquidity, preservation of capital and modest income. MMFs generally invest the corpus in safer short-term instruments like treasury bills, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and inter-bank call money. Returns on these schemes hinges on the interest rates prevailing in the market. MMFs are ideal for corporate and individual investors looking to park funds for short periods.
Mutual funds offered variety of schemes to invest
OTHER SCHEMES
Tax saving schemes: Tax saving schemes or equity-linked savings schemes offer tax rebates to investors under section 88 of the Income Tax Act. They generally have a lock-in period of three years. They are ideal for investors looking to exploit tax rebates as well as growth in investments.
Special schemes: These schemes invest only in the industries specified in the offer document. Examples are Infotech funds, FMCG funds, pharma funds, etc. These schemes are meant for aggressive and well-informed investors.
Index funds: Index Funds invest their corpus on the specified index such as BSE Sensex, NSE index, etc. as mentioned in the offer document. They try to mimic the composition of the index in their portfolio. Not only the shares, even their weightage is replicated. Index funds are a passive investment strategy and the fund manager has a limited role to play here. The NAVs of these funds move along with the index they are trying to mimic save for a few points here and there. This difference is called tracking error.
Sector specific schemes: These funds invest only specified sectors like an industry or a group of industries or various segments like ‘A’ Group shares or initial public offerings.
