Investors' Awareness and Perception About Mutual Funds PDF

JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….....

JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. INVESTORS’ AWARENESS AND PERCEPTION ABOUT MUTUAL FUNDS SIMRAN SAINI, Research Scholar , PTU, Jalandhar-Punjab DR BIMAL ANJUM Prof & HOD-Mgt., RIMT-IET, Mandi Gobindgarh-Punjab RAMANDEEP SAINI Senior lecturer, HOD-PGDM, Chandigarh Business School, Landran. Mohali Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale www.IndianJournals.com ABSTRACT Indian mutual fund has gained a lot of popularity from the past few years. Earlier only UTI enjoyed the monopoly in this industry but with the passage of time many new players entered the market, due to which the UTI monopoly breaks down and the industry faces a severe competition. As the time passes this industry has become a buzz word in the Indian financial system. So it is very important to know the investors’ perception about this industry. The present study analyses the mutual fund investments in relation to investor’s behavior. Investors’ opinion and perception has been studied relating to various issues like type of mutual fund scheme, main objective behind investing in mutual fund scheme, role of financial advisors and brokers, investors’ opinion relating to factors that attract them to invest in mutual funds, sources of information, deficiencies in the services provided by the mutual fund managers, challenges before the Indian mutual fund industry etc. INTRODUCTION From its inception the growth of mutual funds is very slow and it took really long years to evolve the modern day mutual funds. Mutual Funds emerged for the first time in Netherlands in the18th century and then got introduced to Switzerland, Scotland and then to United States in Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 92  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. the 19th century. The main motive behind mutual fund investments is to deliver a form of diversified investment solution. Over the years the idea developed and people received more and more choices of diversified investment portfolio through the mutual funds. In India, the mutual fund concept emerged in 1960. The credit goes to UTI for introducing the first mutual fund in India. Monetary Funds benefited a lot from the mutual funds. Earlier investors used to invest directly in the stock market and many times suffered from loss due to wrong speculation. But with the coming up of mutual funds, which were handled by efficient fund managers, the investment risks were lowered by a great extent. The diversified investment structure of mutual funds and diversified risk contributed tremendously in the growth of mutual funds. With the passage of time many new mutual funds emerged. Not only this, the methods and ways of selling these funds also changed with time. But, the growth of mutual funds has not stopped. It is continuing to evolve to a better future, where the investors will get newer opportunities. Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 In this era of globalization and competition, the success of an industry is determined by Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale the market performance of its stock. The investors too like to invest only in the stock of those www.IndianJournals.com companies from which they can get maximum gains. In early years of growth of mutual fund industry, investors were available only with few investment avenues to invest their money. But with the passage of time a lot of opportunities are available to the investors for investing their money in different investment channels. One such channel is to invest in mutual funds along with effective financial management. Mutual funds have seen a tremendous growth in the last few years. This is the result of combined efforts of the brokerage houses and the fund managers who come to one’s rescue by educating the investors and making them aware of the mutual fund schemes by different modes of promotion. The currently common mode of community investments, mutual funds have taken time in coming to India, while these have been a dominant feature for the last several years in the investment markets in the west and in the country of their origin, in USA they have become as ancient as money itself. Their slow coming into the country is due essentially to the Unit Trust of India having dominated the scene as the only institution of its kind all this time. After two decades of UTI monopoly some public sector organizations like LIC (1989), GIC (1991), SBI (1987), Can Bank (1987), and India Bank (1990) have been permitted to set up mutual funds. The important characteristics of mutual funds are: Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 93  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. 1. Investors purchase mutual fund shares from the fund itself (or through a broker for the fund) instead of from other investors on a secondary market, such as the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Stock Market. 2. The price that investors pay for mutual fund shares is the fund's per share net asset value (NAV) plus any shareholder fees that the fund imposes at the time of purchase (such as sales loads) 3. Mutual funds generally create and sell new shares to accommodate new investors. In other words, they sell their shares on a continuous basis, although some funds stop selling when, for example, they become too large. 4. The investment portfolios of mutual funds typically are managed by separate entities known as "investment advisers" that are registered with the SEC. The present study analyses the mutual fund investments in relation to investors’ Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 behavior. Investors’ opinion and perception has been studied relating to various issues like type Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale of mutual fund scheme, main objective behind investing in mutual fund scheme, role of www.IndianJournals.com financial advisors and brokers, investors’ opinion relating to factors that attract them to invest in mutual funds, sources of information, deficiencies in the services provided by the mutual fund managers, challenges before the Indian mutual fund industry etc. This study is very important in order to judge the investors’ behavior in a market like India, where the competition increases day by day due to the entry of large number of players with different financial strengths and strategies. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The Indian mutual fund industry is a very large industry consisting of number of investors. In this era of competition different investor’s have different investment objectives. As the human behavior is unpredictable, this study helps in finding out the necessary facts regarding investors’ opinion and perceptions regarding mutual fund investment.The main objectives of the study are: 1. To study the growth of mutual fund industry in India. 2. To analyze the investors awareness and perception regarding investing in mutual funds. Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 94  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. 3. To find out the investors opinion regarding major deficiencies in the working of the mutual fund industry 4. To find out the suggestions from the investors that can help in plugging out these deficiencies. SCOPE OF THE STUDY The scope of the study is to track out the investors’ preferences, priorities and their awareness towards different mutual fund schemes. Keeping in view the various constraints the scope of the study is limited only to the investors residing in Chandigarh. Data for the study is collected from a sample of 200 investors by using stratified sampling. Out of all the questionnaires 196 questionnaires are considered valid for the purpose of the study. Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 DATA COLLECTION METHODS Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale For the purpose of the study two sets of data has been used. The first set of data is the www.IndianJournals.com primary data. This type of data has been collected from the investors with the help of a Questionnaire. The second set of data used for the study is the secondary data. The secondary data relating to net resources mobilized by banks and financial institution sponsored mutual funds, assets under management, investors mix etc is collected for a period of 1999-2008. This type of data is collected from different investment periodicals, magazines, various newspapers, RBI reports, AMFI reports, SEBI annual reports; securities market reviews, study of existing literature of different authors in the related field etc. STATISTICAL TOOLS USED To carry out the research work different statistical tools are used in order to derive certain meaningful information and results. In case of primary data Chi Square tests has been applied and in case of categories where respondents are required to provide ranks to different factors, the relative importance of the respective factor is calculated by assigning scores to them. In case of secondary data exponential growth rates has been calculated. Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 95  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. PROMINENT FINDINGS OF THE STUDY The main findings of the study relating to the perception of the investors regarding different aspects of mutual funds such as their main objective behind investing in mutual funds, their knowledge about SIP, sources of information, perception about financial advisors and brokers, method of performance evaluation are summarized as under: MAIN OBJECTIVE BEHIND INVESTING IN MUTUAL FUNDS Every investor has one or more objectives behind their investments in mutual funds. Without any investment objective, the investment is considered as useless. According to table 1 the main objective of the respondents behind investing in mutual funds is the tax benefits offered by it followed by high return and safety of the schemes. Therefore getting tax benefits from the scheme is the main motive of the investors behind their investment in mutual funds. Table 1 Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 Ranking and scoring of factors considered by investors while investing in mutual funds Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale Factors Ranks and Scores Total Ranks www.IndianJournals.com 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 F(S) Expertise 5 5 10 15 13 27 53 68 196 8 (40) (35) (54) (75) (52) (81) (106) (68) (511) Safety 43 34 15 14 32 20 25 13 196 3 (344) (238) (90) (70) (128) (60) (50) (13) (993) Liquidity 32 31 21 20 27 29 22 14 196 4 (256) (212) (126) (100) (108) (87) (44) (14) (947) Diversification 13 20 17 11 21 32 38 44 196 7 (104) (140) (102) (55) (84) (96) (76) (44) (701) Tax benefit 48 41 43 25 18 13 4 4 196 1 (384) (287) (258) (125) (72) (39) (8) (4) (1177) Regular 10 25 38 41 29 28 15 10 196 5 income (80) (175) (228) (205) (116) (84) (30) (10) (928) Regular 9 18 25 42 23 30 24 25 196 6 savings (72) (126) (150) (210) (84) (90) (48) (25) (805) High returns 38 22 28 29 34 15 14 16 196 2 (304) (154) (168) (145) (136) (45) (28) (16) (996) Note: S- Scores Figures in parentheses () are scores Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 96  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. FACTORS THAT CAN WIN BACK THE INVESTORS CONFIDENCE TO INVEST IN MUTUAL FUNDS Gaining the confidence of the investors is very essential for successful working of the mutual fund industry. In order to strengthen the investor’s confidence to invest in mutual funds they must be offered transparency in services, tax benefits, minimum assured returns, consistency in performance etc. The study reveals that on the basis of qualification, occupation and annual family income the main factors that can win back the investor’s confidence to invest in mutual funds are the minimum assured returns (32.14%) followed by transparency (28.58%) and consistency (22.44%). Table 2 shows that the demographic factors like qualification, age and annual family income have no significant relation with the factors that win back the investors’ confidence at 5% level of significance whereas the age of the respondents have significant relation with the factors that win back the investors’ confidence. Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 Table 2 Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale Factors that can win back the investors confidence www.IndianJournals.com (Chi Square results) Demographic d.f Chi Square value Sig or Not Sig Factors Qualification 12.554 Not sig Age 12.375 Not sig Occupation 16.038 Sig Annual family 12.864 Not sig income FEATURES THAT ATTRACT THE INVESTOR’S MOST WHILE CHOOSING A MUTUAL FUND SCHEME A lot many features are available in different mutual fund schemes that attract the investors to invest in mutual funds. These features may be their past performance, past dividend record, stability of returns etc. From the ranks assigned by the investors, it is found that, the most important feature that attract the investors while choosing a mutual fund scheme is the past performance of the scheme and the stability of the scheme which is followed by the past dividend records, the portfolio of the scheme, entry/exit load and the fund managers name as exhibited by table 3. Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 97  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. Table 3 Ranking and scoring of features that attracts the investors most while choosing a mutual fund Features Ranks and Scores Total Ranks 1 2 3 4 5 6 F(S) Past performance 67 47 37 25 14 6 196 1 (402) (235) (148) (75) (38) (6) (904) Fund managers 14 6 21 25 40 90 196 6 Name (84) (30) (84) (75) (88) (90) (451) Portfolio 25 25 20 50 50 26 196 4 Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 (150) (125) (80) (180) (100) (26) (661) Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale Past dividend 15 45 48 39 29 20 196 3 www.IndianJournals.com (90) (225) (192) (117) (58) (20) (702) Entry/Exit load 15 35 27 30 43 46 196 5 (90) (175) (108) (90) (86) (46) (595) Stability of 58 41 44 26 18 9 196 2 returns (348) (205) (178) (78) (36) (9) (854) Note: S-Scores Figures in parentheses () are scores SOURCES OF INFORMATION For good and efficient decision making investors rely on different sources of information. The sources may be newspaper, brokers, tax consultants etc. Keeping the investors up to date with the latest information is very essential, so that they should be aware of different happenings in the mutual fund industry. The study reveals that for majority of the respondents newspapers (23.97%) are the main source of information followed by brokers (22.96%), internet (22.96%), and tax consultants (17.86%) and friends/relatives (10.74%). Table 4 exhibits that based on the chi square tests all the demographic variables have no Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 98  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. significant relationship at 5% level of significance with the respondent’s sources of information on which they rely for adequate information. Table 4 Sources of information (Chi Square Results) Demographic d.f Chi Square value Sig or Not Sig Factors Qualification 15.761 Not sig Age 14.674 Not sig Occupation 20.463 Not sig Annual sfamily 15.681 Not sig income Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale EFFECT OF REMOVAL OF ENTRY LOAD ON MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENT/SIP www.IndianJournals.com Recently the mutual fund companies have removed entry load on investing in mutual fund schemes. The study revealed that for majority of the respondents the removal of entry load has somewhat effect (68.37%) on their investment in mutual funds and systematic investment plan (SIP). The respondents who are largely affected by the removal of entry load constitute only (22.45%). Table 5 reveals that at 5% level of significance, all the demographic factors of the respondents have no bearing on the removal of entry load on the mutual funds. Table 5 Effect of removal of entry load (Chi Square Results) Demographic d.f Chi Square value Sig or Not Sig Factors Qualification 6.104 Not sig Age 6.220 Not sig Occupation 8.107 Not sig Annual family 6.852 Not sig income Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 99  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. IMPORTANT FACTORS CONSIDERED AT THE TIME OF CHOOSING RIGHT TYPE OF MUTUAL FUND A lot many factors are available that are considered by the investors before investing in mutual funds. These factors are like consistency, ability, stability etc. Returns from the funds have a great impact on the mind setup of the investors. It is found from the study that majority of respondents believes that the past performance (47.44%) of the scheme is considered as an important element while choosing right type of mutual fund scheme. After past performance the investors give importance to stability (29.59%), consistency (17.34%) and ability (5.63%). From table 6 it is clear that all the demographic factors like qualification, age, occupation and annual family income have no impact on the factors considered by the investors before choosing the right kind of fund at 5% level of significance. Table 6 Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 Factors considered at the time of choosing right type of mutual fund Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale (Chi Square Results) www.IndianJournals.com Demographic d.f Chi Square value Sig or Not Sig Factors Qualification 9.079 Not sig Age 9.242 Not sig Occupation 12.619 Not sig Annual family 9.36 Not sig income Criteria for evaluating the performance of mutual funds Most of the investors evaluate the performance of mutual funds before making investment in them. For evaluating the performance of different mutual fund schemes, a number of methods are available. As per the study, majority of the respondents prefer absolute returns of the funds (42.10%) and funds return to returns on other similar schemes (22.10%) as a criteria for evaluating the performance of mutual funds schemes. The study also reveals that the least preferred criteria for evaluating the performance of any fund is the fund returns to market index returns (10%). The chi square values at 5% level of significance as shown in table 7 reveals that all the demographic variables have no significant relationship with the respondent’s criteria for evaluating the performance of the mutual funds. Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 100  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. Table 7 Criteria for evaluating the performance of mutual funds (Chi Square Results) Demographic d.f Chi Square value Sig or Not Sig Factors Qualification 15.740 Not sig Age 15.244 Not sig Occupation 20.450 Not sig Annual family 15.936 Not sig income MAJOR DEFICIENCY IN THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE MUTUAL FUND MANAGER Besides providing numerous benefits, mutual fund industry also faces a lot of criticism Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 from the investors. This section discloses the various deficiencies associated with the services Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale provided by the mutual fund managers. According to majority of respondents the major www.IndianJournals.com deficiency in the services provided by their mutual fund managers is the lack of transparency (35.41%) which is followed by lack of periodical statements (18.23%), lack of awareness (15.63%), risk exposure (15.11%) and high expenses and costs (5.20%). Table 8 brings out that on the basis of chi square value all the demographic variables of the respondent’s have no significant relation with the major deficiency in the in the services provided by the fund manager. Table 8 Major deficiency in the services provided by the mutual fund manager (Chi Square Results) Demographic d.f Chi Square value Sig or Not Sig Factors Qualification 15.422 Not sig Age 15.479 Not sig Occupation 20 463 Not sig Annual family 15.289 Not sig income Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 101  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. THE MAIN CHALLENGE BEFORE INDIAN MUTUAL FUND INDUSTRY With the change in Indian financial set up and increase in competition, Indian mutual fund industry faces a number of challenges. In the near future industry will face many challenges in order to attract more and more investors. From the analysis of the study it is revealed that on the basis of the qualification, age, occupation and annual income, majority of respondents believes that the main challenge before Indian mutual fund industry is providing minimum assured returns to the investors (34.87%). However, according to some of the respondents educating the investors (21.53%) and managing their interests (15.38%) also acts as a challenge before Indian mutual fund industry. Based on the chi square tests, it is clear that all the demographic factors of the respondents have no significant relationship with the min challenge before Indian mutual fund industry as shown in table 9. Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 Table 9 Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale Main challenge before Indian mutual fund industry www.IndianJournals.com (Chi Square Results) Demographic d.f Chi Square value Sig or Not Sig Factors Qualification 15.549 Not sig Age 15.833 Not sig Occupation 20.453 Not sig Annual family 15.871 Not sig income FINANCIAL ADVISORS/BROKERS ARE TRUE DECISION MAKERS BEHIND MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENTS Most of the investors consult financial advisors/brokers before making mutual fund investment. The study brings out that majority of the respondents considered that only to some extent (59.18%) the financial advisors/brokers are the true decision makers behind their investment in mutual funds. According to table 10 the chi square values for the above data is insignificant at 5% significance level which means that no significant differences were found among the different demographic factors of investors with regard to their opinion about financial advisors/brokers as true decision makers behind their mutual fund investments. Table 10 Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 102  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. Financial advisors/brokers as true decision makers behind mutual fund investment (Chi Square Results) Demographic d.f Chi Square value Sig or Not Sig Factors Qualification 12.406 Not sig Age 12.652 Not sig Occupation 16.117 Not sig Annual family 12.647 Not sig income PERCEPTION ABOUT FINANCIAL ADVISORS/BROKERS OF MUTUAL FUNDS As per the study, the investor’s perception about financial advisors/brokers reveals that, majority of respondent’s perceived financial advisors and brokers are more interested in their own incentives (36.93%) provided to them by the mutual fund companies for selling more Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 and schemes whereas some investors believes that they don’t explain full information about the Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale funds (20%) to them. Besides this there are also few investors who believes that financial www.IndianJournals.com advisors/brokers and have limited knowledge (17.84%) about different mutual fund schemes. Thus it is very much clear from this study that the financial advisors and brokers are least bothered about the interest of the investors rather than they are more interested in their incentives. The chi square values as shown in table 11 reveals that the investors’ perception about financial advisors/brokers of the mutual funds is insignificant at 5% level of significance which explains that no significant differences were found among the demographic factors of investors with regard to their preference about financial advisors/brokers. Table 11 Perception about financial advisors/brokers of mutual funds (Chi Square Results) Demographic d.f Chi Square value Sig or Not Sig Factors Qualification 12.362 Not sig Age 12.193 Not sig Occupation 16.639 Not sig Annual family 12.264 Not sig income Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 103  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN ………….. MAIN OBJECTIVE BEHIND INVESTING IN SYSTEMATIC INVESTMENT PLAN (SIP) Nowadays investing through SIP is treated as a very fruitful route of making investment in mutual funds. SIP is a method of investing a fix sum regularly in the mutual funds. It is very similar to the regular saving schemes like recurring deposits. The study shows that a large proportion of the respondents is aware of the Systematic Investment Plan (SIP). Besides this for majority of investors the main objective behind investing in SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) is the regular investment (40.36%) of the funds followed by regular savings (38.01%). However the least preferred objective of the investors behind their investment in SIP is convenience (21.63%). This trend is seen in case of all the categories i.e. on the basis of age, qualification, occupation and annual family income of the respondents. According to table 12 the chi square values shows insignificant relationship which means that all the demographic Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 variables i.e. qualification, age, occupation and annual family income have no significant Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale relationship with the respondent’s main objective behind investing in SIP. www.IndianJournals.com Table 12 Main objective behind investing in SIP (Chi Square Results) Demographic d.f Chi Square value Sig or Not Sig Factors Qualification 6.229 Not sig Age 6.126 Not sig Occupation 8.535 Not sig Annual family 6.128 Not sig income SUGGESTIONS A special column has been provided in the questionnaire for suggestions from the investors. Many investors took keen interest in providing valuable suggestions. On the basis of the findings of the study the important suggestions are listed below:  Mostly the investors are more interested in those schemes that can easily provide them liquidity. The suggestion makers have emphasized that the fund managers should invest the investor’s money in secure income related schemes so that liquidity must be ensured. Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 104  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN …………..  Generally the offer documents and reports of various mutual fund companies are not free from technicalities. So the investors opinioned that the information contained in the offer documents should be simple and free of technicalities so that a lay investor can easily understand them.  The periodical statements of mutual fund companies are considered as a very important source of information to the investors. So it is very essential that these periodical statements should contain all the relevant information in a compiled form and managers must ensure that these statements should reach the investors in time.  Mostly a lay person doesn’t have enough knowledge to invest in mutual funds. So they depend on the fund managers who are experts in managing efficient portfolios. The fund managers should be the person of integrity and financial experts. They should have clear cut knowledge of when to invest and in which securities to invest.They should mobilize Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 the investor’s savings in such a way that they can get maximum benefits out of them. Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale  Due to changing scenario, the need for online trading of securities is felt. Efforts should www.IndianJournals.com be made to promote or enhance online trading of mutual funds. This will save time and cost. On a click of button investors get all the required information quickly. They can easily sell or purchase any number of funds whenever they want.  Some investors suggested that the fund values of fund should be informed to the investors through SMS on fortnightly basis. This will help the investors in keeping themselves up to date with the latest information and latest NAV’s of different funds.  Winning the investor’s confidence and protecting their rights is the common objective of all the mutual fund companies. In this context the AMFI and SEBI should make strict rules and regulations for safeguarding the interests of the common investors. If these rules are not being followed properly, a provision of punishment should be made who violates the same.  Some investors complained that the brokers/sub brokers are more interested in their incentives provided to them by the companies for selling more schemes. So it is very necessary that they should perform their duties with full care and diligence and should not misguide the investors. The brokers, sub brokers and agents should provide right and timely information to the investors. They must keep themselves aware of the latest happenings in the market for the sake of investors. Sri Krishna International Research & Educational Consortium http://www.skirec.com 105  JBFSIR Vol. 1, Issue 1 (April 2011) ISSN …………..  Steps should be taken to boost the confidence and morale of the investors. This can be done through appropriate communication and by educating investors to invest in mutual funds. Timely and right information should be provided to them by different communication modes so that they come to know about the latest trends in the market. CONCLUSION Today a lot of investment opportunities are available to the investors in the financial markets. Investors can invest in corporate bonds, debentures, bank deposits, post office schemes etc. But nowadays investors opt for portfolio managers to invest money on their behalf. These portfolio managers are experts in stock market operations and invest the money in such a way that the investors would get minimum assured returns. Today many institutions are busy in providing wealth management services to the investors. But these services are very costly. Thus Downloaded From IP - 116.72.159.240 on dated 21-Sep-2024 in order to help the investor’s mutual funds provide a protective shed to the small and big Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale investors. www.IndianJournals.com The present study analyses the mutual fund investments in relation to investor’s behavior. Investors’ opinion and perception has been studied relating to various issues like type of m