Buying a Mutual Fund

Buying a Mutual Fund

Mutual funds are a popular investment vehicle that allows individuals to pool their money together to invest in a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, or other securities. When you buy a mutual fund, you are essentially buying a share of a portfolio managed by a professional fund manager. The price of each share is determined by the total value of the securities in the fund’s portfolio, divided by the number of shares outstanding.

One of the benefits of investing in mutual funds is that it provides instant diversification. This means that you can invest in a broad range of securities without having to purchase them individually, which can be time-consuming and expensive. Additionally, mutual funds are generally managed by experienced investment professionals who have access to resources and information that individual investors may not have. This can help to improve your investment returns and reduce your overall risk. When buying a mutual fund, it is important to consider the fees and expenses associated with the fund. These can include management fees, administrative expenses, and other charges, which can impact your overall returns. It is also important to research the performance of the fund, as well as the investment strategy and philosophy of the fund manager. By doing your due diligence, you can select a mutual fund that aligns with your investment goals and risk tolerance, and that can help you achieve long-term financial success.

Once it has been decided which mutual fund scheme an individual wants to invest in, there are broadly two ways to buy the mutual fund units. These are:

• Buying directly from the AMC: An option to avail if no guidance is needed. However, the investor will need to register with each AMC if he or she is building a mutual fund portfolio, whereas typically banks and broking firms have already tied-up with certain asset management companies and offer the convenience of buying online any mutual fund scheme of any AMC, and also other options such as SIP.
• Buying from the distributors: These include largely banks, and broking companies who act as distributors for the Mutual Fund. In this case one would typically be seeking professional advice and hence would have to pay for it.