DSIJ Mindshare

Mutual fund houses launch bond funds for conservative investors who expect steady returns on their investments. That apart, bond funds are also more tax-efficient than fixed deposits for investors in the higher tax bracket. However, there are certain risks associated with bond funds. Let us examine the kind of risks that bond funds are exposed to.

If you are among those who rush to invest in initial public offers (IPOs) of companies, you need to know how to decide which IPOs to invest in and which ones to avoid. If you go by the hype and the hoopla in the market, you may be in for a shock if the company goes down under.

The investment horizon is a crucial factor that determines the returns on the investment. This factor is often overlooked by investors who expect to make a quick buck on the stock market within a matter of a few days or weeks. 

Banks and financial institutions nowadays consider the credit score of a person applying for a loan to determine the creditworthiness of the person and, depending on the credit score, they decide whether to approve the loan application or reject it.

Mutual fund houses offer two options for investing in a mutual fund scheme, namely, Regular and Direct. But most of the mutual fund investors are unaware about these options, and even if they are aware, they do not know the difference between the two.