Mutual Funds offer various products in the form of schemes, which are structured in a manner to benefit and suit the requirement of investors.

While investing in mutual funds, your money is managed by professional fund managers, risk is diversified, and you get access to invest across various asset classes. Moreover, it helps you benefit from the economies of scale which size enables and may not be available on an individual basis.

You can choose to invest in mutual funds either online or offline by yourself or via a distributor.

If you go by returns and safety of principal factor, then Mutual Funds are not safe. “Mutual Fund Investments Are Subject To Market Risk, Read All Scheme Related Document Carefully”.

Your money in mutual funds is invested in the underlying instruments (i.e. equity, debt, money market instruments, gold, etc.) depending on the investment objective of the scheme.

These instruments can be volatile in the near term, due to various economic and market related factors and thus risky in the short term. But over time the risk moderates and you can potentially earn decent returns on your investment, if you choose your fund well and give it sufficient time to grow.

Hence mutual funds are considered to be long term investment avenue, best suitable for long term investors.

But while investing in mutual funds, make sure that you understand your risk appetite well and invest in a suitable scheme.

If you are not sure about your risk appetite, do not forget to consult your investment advisor or take help of a professional to choose the right funds for you.

When it comes to investing, mutual funds can invest across asset class, based on their nature and investment objectives.

1. Equity funds
   Equity funds invest in shares / stocks, rights, warrants, and other equity related instruments. These funds may invest money in growth stocks, momentum stocks, value stocks or income stocks, across respective market capitalisation segments (large cap, mid cap, small cap), depending on the investment objective of the fund. These funds are optimum for long term wealth creation and are more suitable for investors with an appetite and tolerance for high risk. However, they could be highly volatile in the short term.

2. Debt funds or Income funds
   These funds invest money in debt and money market instruments –such as Certificate of deposits, corporate bonds, debentures, fixed deposits of banks, commercial papers, Treasury Bills, inter-bank term money and money market instruments. These funds can be – classified into short-term and long-term on the basis of the maturity profile of the papers they hold i.e. long-term and/or short-term maturity bonds. However, there is interest rate related risk in this category of funds.

3. Hybrid funds
   These funds invest in a mix of both equity and debt. In order to retain their equity status for tax purposes, they generally invest at least 65% of their assets in equities and roughly 35% in debt instruments, failing which they will be classified as debt oriented schemes and be taxed accordingly. These funds are commonly known as Balanced Funds carry moderate risk when compared to their equity counterparts.

   There are category of hybrid funds, that invest up to 25% into equities and the balance into debt. These category of funds are called Monthly Income Plans or MIPs.

4. Liquid funds
   These funds mainly invest in very short term money market instruments with maturity upto 90 days. They also invest in call money and are less risky in nature.

   Mutual fund investments are subject to market risk. So while investing in mutual funds, it is important for you to understand the underlying risk in each category of funds and select a fund that takes on risk in line with your risk appetite.

Regular Plan and Direct Plans are the two plans offered under each mutual fund scheme.

Both the plans have same underlying portfolio, fund manager and follow one investment strategy. The biggest difference between direct and regular plan is measured in terms of cost i.e. expense ratio.

That is because in direct plans you cut down on the long chain of middle men and directly make your mutual fund investments.

Notably, regular plan and direct plan have different NAVs, due to adjustment of differential in expense ratio.

The expense ratio tells you how much as a percentage of the scheme's corpus the total expenditures are. This expense ratio is adjusted while calculating the NAV of the scheme and accordingly has an impact on your funds value.

Direct mutual fund plans make a positive difference to your investments every year. You might feel the difference in the returns is small but over the long-term the difference is worthy and cannot be ignored.

Growth Option – Under this option, you do not receive any dividends. Instead you continue to enjoy compounded growth in value of your mutual fund scheme.

Dividend Payout Option – This option proposes to timely pay distributable surplus / profits to you in the form of dividends either through cheques or ECS (Electronic Clearing Service), thereby facilitating you to liquidate profits.

Dividend Re-investment Option – Under this option instead of paying dividend cheques or providing ECS credits, the dividend amount declared by a mutual fund scheme, goes in buying additional units of the same scheme (where you are invested), and you continue to book profits and keep re-investing them in the same scheme.

While selecting between the dividend and growth option, see what suits your financial plan / needs primarily. If you are looking at the benefits of compounding, then opt in for the growth option.

Whereas, if you are looking at regular cash flows (in the form of dividends) or want to book profits at regular intervals, then you may consider the dividend (payout) option while investing in mutual funds.

You can either invest directly on the Fund House Portal, Registrar and Transfer Agents online portal or via a Robo Advisory platform like PersonalFN Direct.

PersonalFN Direct is a robo-advisory platform offered by PersonalFN, which provides you ready solution in the form of mutual portfolios you can consider investing in. These portfolios are designed by our experienced research team, such that it suits the risk appetite of the investor.

While investing in mutual funds, it is necessary for you to understand your risk appetite well and invest in a suitable scheme.

If you are not sure about your risk appetite, do not forget to consult your investment advisor or take help of a professional to choose the right funds for you.

PersonalFN Direct is not an ordinary robo advisory platform. It is backed by solid research experience and track record of over 15 years. PersonalFN always stands out when it comes to offering unbiased and honest advise on mutual funds.

PersonalFN Direct is not driven by hefty commissions and thus allows you to invest in direct plans, which are cost efficient as compared to regular plans.

As this is a fee-based service, it allows unlimited transactions at a nominal annual fee of Rs 5,000/- (Click here to know the best price offer). No hidden cost.

PersonalFN Direct brings to you the convenience of transacting in mutual funds without going through the tedious process of manual form filling every time you transact in mutual funds.

Apart from the transaction portal we provide you with portfolio tracking and fee based personalized advisory service too. Click here to schedule a call with our investment consultants.

All th Indian's as well as NRI's except US & Canada can avail the PersonalFN Direct Service.

Yes, you can definitely start your investment journey via PersonalFN Direct and benefit from our years of experience.

With PersonalFN Direct, you can:

• Buy / Sell mutual fund units
• Start a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP)
• Switch units from one scheme to another scheme of the fund house
• Enter into a Systematic Transfer Plan (STP)
• Enter into a Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP)
• Transact through your NRE/NRO account (Only for NRIs)*

*This service will be available shortly

To subscribe to PersonalFN Direct, simply fill in the below documents and submit the self-attested copies to PersonalFN office (Click here for our address):

• CAN Registration Form
• CKYC form. You can fetch you CKYC form here
• Recent passport size photograph
• Proof of Identity
• PAN Card Copy
• Proof of Address
• Pay Eezz Mandate (For SIP Transaction)

We will activate your account for online transactions within 7 days of the sign up / receipt of the documents for physical verification and records. In case of ongoing SIP transaction the Pay Eezz Mandate will take 15 days to get registered.

You will also need an internet banking account to use this facility.

Post activation, you can access PersonalFN Direct in the MyTransaction section on www.personalfndirect.com.

CAN stands for Common Account Number. It is a unique identity for your mutual fund transactions issued by MF Utilities, which is Mutual Fund Industry initiative that offers ‘Mutual Fund Utilities’ – a shared platform of different fund houses.

Your CAN, can help you…

• View a consolidated view of your mutual fund investments across industry.
• Update any or all of your details at single place, just once and it would get reflected in all your investments
• Start multiple SIPs in mutual funds using just one bank mandate using one Common Transaction Form.

Simply put, by getting your CAN, you would not need to fill new forms every time you were to choose a mutual fund to invest in. Moreover tracking all your mutual fund investments becomes easier.

The backend engine of PersonalFN Direct is supported by the industry recognized platform offered by MF Utilities India Pvt Ltd.

To benefit from the transaction engine enabled by MF Utilities and transact in schemes of almost all the reputed AMCs, you need to create an account first. Through a single transaction form, you can invest in multiple funds of different fund houses.

Once your CAN is created, you can invest in mutual fund schemes through PersonalFN Direct portal.

Click here to read how to generate e-can in 3 easy steps.

This service is available to all resident individuals who want to do online transactions in mutual funds. Just fill in your details and create your own PersonalFN Direct account right now.

Yes, you can do that. You will have to send a letter to the AMC/Mutual fund specifying the Broker/RIA codes from and to which you are changing.

Yes, you can. The Folio Transfer Form would be applicable.

Currently, we are not capacitated to provide you electronic information so as to update your other account. Also, that would depend upon your other service provider. However, you can download an excel document of your holdings/transactions through PersonalFN Direct.

This is a fee-based service, that allows unlimited transactions at a nominal annual fee of Rs 5,000/- (Click here to know the best price offer). No hidden cost.

There would be a nominal annual renewal fee to continue using this platform.

This facility is completely secured. The website www.personalfn.com is Entrust protected. No one else has access to your password.

We will activate your account for online transactions within 7 days of the sign up / receipt of the documents for physical verification and records.

In case of ongoing SIP transaction the Pay Eezz Mandate will take 15 days to get registered.

You can download the forms, complete the formalities and send it across to our Regional or Head Office. (Click here for our address) We will activate the account for you.

No, we do not charge you for every transaction on PersonalFN Direct. There will be an annual membership fee to use the platform for full one year.

Yes. You need to submit a switch request for transferring your units from ‘Existing Plan’ to 'Direct Plan'.

Please note that such transfer attracts the applicable exit load. Also understand the tax implications for redemption of such transfers.

Currently, you can transact in:

• Aditya Birla Mutual Fund
• Axis Mutual Fund
• BNP Paribas Mutual Fund
• Canara Robeco Mutual Fund
• DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund
• DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund
• Edelweiss Mutual Fund
• Essel Mutual Fund
• Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund
• HDFC Mutual Fund
• ICICI Prudential Asset Management
• IDFC Mutual Fund
• IIFL Mutual Fund
• Indiabulls Mutual Funds
• Invesco Mutual Fund
• Kotak Mutual Fund
• L&T Mutual Fund
• Mahindra Mutual Fund
• Mirae Asset Mutual Fund
• Motilal Oswal Asset Management
• PPFAS Mutual Fund
• Principal Mutual Fund
• Quantum Mutual Fund
• Reliance Mutual Fund
• SBI Mutual Fund
• Sundaram Mutual Fund
• TATA Mutual Fund
• UTI Mutual Fund

You can transact using any of your bank account if you have an active Net Banking enabled.

No. Due to security reasons we only allow Net Banking as the only means to transact on PersonalFN Direct.

In the purchase transaction, your amount will get transferred to the pool account of MF utilities Pvt. Ltd. - the solutions provider of PersonalFN Direct. MF Utilities transfers the amounts to the respective AMC scheme bank accounts at the end of each day / or beginning of the next day.

The account that you have last designated/registered is the one in which will receive the redeemed money. For example, you may transact with one account for the original investment, but if you have changed your bank account then the latest account is the designated account.

Once you have confirmed and submitted the transaction in the system, you would not be able to change it. However, you can approach the call center of the respective AMC to get your details corrected.

The system would ask you for a confirmation before the final submission of the transaction. You can modify/edit till you confirm.

If the transaction was not completed, it will not be processed. The completion is with respect to the screen that will confirm the same to you.

For Resident Indian Individuals/HUF, a Savings Account is required. For non-individuals a Current Account is required. For NRIs, an NRE/NRO account is required.

It is advisable to use the same bank account for transacting that you have registered with us in the online platform.

You will have to create separate accounts (with documentation) for individuals or joint holders, if you wish to invest on behalf of your spouse, parents or children.

We will introduce the facility to transact online for NRIs soon. The process is the same as for resident individuals. However, instead of a savings bank account, NRI's will require an NRE/NRO bank account.

By validating your Aadhaar, you can do your initial SIP or lump sum transaction upto Rs 50,000/-

Once all the above documents have been submitted, it will take 15 days for the first SIP to start.

You will have to register the SIP using the PayEezz debit mandate online (Link to online form).

If you are doing an offline form ((Link to offline form)), you do not have to visit your bank branch. Just mention the required details on the form and send it across to MFU or us. They will take care of it.

You can choose the dates that are applicable for respective AMC’s

The money gets debited 1-2 days prior to SIP date according to the ECS cycle of investor’s bank location. This is mainly done so that the money reaches the AMC/Mutual Fund on time and you get the NAV as on the SIP date.

No, it is not necessary for you to have a DEMAT account to invest online in Mutual Funds.

No, ETFs trade like stocks and units can be bought only through stock exchange. You will need a DEMAT account to do the same. You can contact your stockbroker for the same.