Is there risk in mutual funds?
Mutual funds are not guaranteed, and they may earn or lose money.
Consider the advantage: Because they're funds that contain a variety of assets, you get automatic diversification. If Company A's stock crashes, you'd lose a lot if you were directly invested in it. But if it's only a portion of the mutual fund in your portfolio, your risk exposure is considerably less.
Just investing in 1-2 large cap funds, whether active or passive or both, is more than enough for most investors. If you really want to diversify, you need to invest across different fund categories and not just within a category.
In India, mutual funds investing in small and mid-cap stocks are generally considered high risk. These funds invest in high potential small and mid-cap stocks, which can be volatile but may generate high returns. They are suitable for aggressive investors with investment horizons of 5-10 years or more.
Interest rate risk: This is the risk of changes in the value of the mutual fund due to changes in the interest rates. Debt mutual funds invest in fixed-income securities such as bonds, debentures, government securities, etc. These securities have a fixed coupon rate and maturity date.
Since equity mutual funds are market-linked2, they can be volatile. This means if the market goes up, they will generate higher returns, and if the market goes down, it can create chances of loss in mutual funds. When individuals notice mutual fund loss, they start panicking and making hasty decisions.
A mutual fund provides diversification through exposure to a multitude of stocks. The reason that owning shares in a mutual fund is recommended over owning a single stock is that an individual stock carries more risk than a mutual fund. This type of risk is known as unsystematic risk.
Credit risk mutual funds
These funds invest in low-credit quality debt instruments. As a result, the risk of investing in these funds is high. The fund manager invests in the debt tools expecting their credit score to improve. This can have a significant impact on the performance of the fund.
Downside risk is a general term for the risk of a loss in an investment, as opposed to the symmetrical likelihood of a loss or gain. Some investments have an infinite amount of downside risk, while others have limited downside risk.
Mutual funds have pros and cons like any other investment. One selling point is that they allow you to hold a variety of assets in a single fund. They also have the potential for higher-than-average returns. However, some mutual funds have steep fees and initial buy-ins.
Should I keep my money in mutual funds?
All investments carry some degree of risk and can lose value if the overall market declines or, in the case of individual stocks, the company folds. Still, mutual funds are generally considered safer than stocks because they are inherently diversified, which helps mitigate the risk and volatility in your portfolio.
You must strive to save at least 30% of your gross income or ₹60,000 every month. To calculate how much amount you should invest in SIPs, we will have to use the standard formula, which is 100 minus your age to be invested in equity through mutual funds.
There is no guarantee you will not lose money in mutual funds. The profit and loss in mutual funds depend on the performance of stock and financial market. There is no guarantee you will not lose money in mutual funds. In fact, in certain extreme circ*mstances you could end up losing all your investments.
A mutual fund's level of risk is determined by the investments it makes. Typically, the risk will increase as the potential returns do. For instance, an equity fund is typically riskier than a fixed income fund because stocks are typically riskier than bonds.
| Fund Name | Category | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| HDFC Dynamic PE Ratio FoF Fund | Other | High |
| ICICI Prudential Asset Allocator Fund | Other | High |
| SBI Conservative Hybrid Fund | Hybrid | High |
| ICICI Prudential Bharat Consumption Fund | Equity | High |
Mutual funds pool money from different investors and invest in various securities, such as stocks and bonds. Now, these securities are affected by different market and economic risks, which, in turn, affect funds and exposes them to market risks.
The risk of investing in mutual funds is determined by the underlying risks of the stocks, bonds, and other investments held by the fund. No mutual fund can guarantee its returns, and no mutual fund is risk-free. Always remember: the greater the potential return, the greater the risk.
However, during a market crash, stock prices come down. This, in turn, pulls down the performance of mutual funds holding these stocks. Companies, too, face a tough time with their operations taking a hit, and it takes time for stocks to recover. Performance improves only when stocks recover lost ground.
Around 50% equity mutual fund schemes have underperformed against their benchmarks in 2023, an analysis by ETMutualFunds showed. There were around 243 equity mutual fund schemes in the market and 122 equity schemes have failed to beat their respective benchmarks in 2023.
- Options. An option allows a trader to hold a leveraged position in an asset at a lower cost than buying shares of the asset. ...
- Futures. ...
- Oil and Gas Exploratory Drilling. ...
- Limited Partnerships. ...
- Penny Stocks. ...
- Alternative Investments. ...
- High-Yield Bonds. ...
- Leveraged ETFs.
What is the safest investment with the highest return?
- High-yield savings accounts.
- Money market funds.
- Short-term certificates of deposit.
- Series I savings bonds.
- Treasury bills, notes, bonds and TIPS.
- Corporate bonds.
- Dividend-paying stocks.
- Preferred stocks.
So, it's really about the ideal equilibrium in a portfolio that gives you decently good returns. Most often, investors are likely to fail in getting their desired returns simply because they may hold too many assets in the same class. This is true for mutual funds. Too many isn't good, but nor is too little.
Mutual funds are largely a safe investment, seen as being a good way for investors to diversify with minimal risk. But there are circ*mstances in which a mutual fund is not a good choice for a market participant, especially when it comes to fees.
ETFs can be more tax-efficient than actively managed funds due to their lower turnover and fewer transactions that produce capital gains. ETFs are bought and sold on an exchange throughout the day while mutual funds can be bought or sold only once a day at the latest closing price.
ETFs can reflect the new market reality faster than mutual funds can. Investors in ETFs and mutual funds are taxed based on the gains and losses incurred within the portfolios. 2 ETFs engage in less internal trading, and less trading creates fewer taxable events.
