Equity Funds in India

Equity mutual funds are a class of mutual funds that invest at least 65% of your capital in stocks and shares while the remaining 35% may be invested in debt or money-market instruments. They offer aggressive returns ranging from 10 to 12% ( pre-tax) to compensate for the risk involved, which in some instances can even beat market growth and inflation. However, it is advisable to keep your money invested in the long term to enjoy the full benefits offered by equity mutual funds.

What are Equity Funds?

Equity mutual funds invest the pooled corpus of money majorly in shares and stocks of different companies. In simple terms, equity mutual fund invests in shares on your behalf. Over 65% of the portfolio of equity mutual fund comprises of investment in equity and equity-related instruments, like preference shares.

The percentage of equities in the portfolio depends on the scheme objectives. The rest of the portfolio money is invested in debt and money market instruments in order to meet redemption requirements. The net asset value of equity mutual funds fluctuates with every market movement. Thus, equity mutual funds are volatile investments.

On the other hand, a prudent stock selection can increase the portfolio value multi-fold over a period of time. Which makes equity mutual funds a high-return investment that has the potential to generate long-term wealth.

Equity Funds are mainly divided in 3 classes

• Based on Market Capitalization
• Based on Investment Style
• Based on Tax Benefits

Different Types of Equity Funds

1. Multi-Cap Equity Funds

• A Multi Cap Funds is a type of equity mutual fund that invests in shares of large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap companies. The fund allocates a minimum of 65% of the total corpus in equity & equity-related instruments.
• A multi-cap fund is an open-ended equity scheme, which means that the fund has no fixed maturity period. The scheme is always available for subscription and redemption.
• When you invest in a multi-cap fund you benefit from the stability offered by the large-cap stocks. You also benefit from the growth opportunities of mid-cap and small-cap stocks. Overall, you have a stable portfolio with considerable inflation beating returns.
• Multi-cap funds can have a lower risk as compared to individual mid or small-cap focused funds because they are the most diversified equity funds.
• Thus, multi-cap funds can be used to create a multipurpose corpus of long-term wealth in a safer way.

Explore: Best Multi-Cap Funds

2. Large Cap Equity Funds

• Large-cap mutual funds are open-ended equity schemes. A minimum of 80% of the value of the portfolio of large-cap mutual funds consists of equity & equity related instruments of large-cap companies.
• When you invest in a large-cap mutual fund, a steady wealth creation opportunity.
• Large-cap mutual funds have the lowest risk among equity mutual funds because the large-cap companies have stable businesses. They have seen different business cycles, have a long track record of robust financial performance and established operations.

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3. Large & Mid Cap Fund

• Large & mid-cap mutual funds have a minimum 35% investment in stocks of large-cap and mid-cap companies each. The fund relies on the stability offered by the large-cap stocks and earns returns from the mid-cap stocks.
• You reap the benefit of investing in both large-cap and mid-cap companies simultaneously by investing in Large & Midcap mutual fund.

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4. Mid Cap Equity Funds

• A minimum of 65% of the total corpus of the mid-cap mutual fund schemes is invested in shares of mid-cap companies.
• The mid-cap companies have expansion plans and are in a growing phase. Thus, mid-cap mutual funds are riskier than large-cap mutual funds.

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5. Small Cap Equity Funds

• Small-cap companies have the highest risk of failure, as they are relatively new entities with business models still being tested by the markets they operate in.
• However, they also have new products that have the potential to generate huge returns in the long-term. Small-cap companies are future companies with significant growth potential.
• A small-cap fund invests a major portion (more than 65% of the total assets) in small-cap stocks. Thus, small-cap mutual funds have the highest risk but also have the potential to generate the highest returns.

Explore: Best Small Cap Mutual Funds

6. Value Equity Funds

• Value funds follow a value investment strategy that relies on long-term wealth creation by investing in stocks of companies that meet the value investing criterion.
• The value fund is an open-ended equity mutual fund that invests 65% of the total assets in equity and equity-related instruments.

Explore: Best Value Funds in India

7. Contra Equity Funds

• The contra fund capitalizes on the changing market conditions. The Contra fund follows a contrarian investment strategy that involves buying and selling in contra (opposite) to the present market sentiments.
• The contra fund invests a minimum of 65% of total assets in equity & equity related instruments.

Explore: Best Contra Funds in India

8. Thematic/ Sectoral Equity Funds

• Thematic funds follow a particular theme across different sectors, like export & services fund, India opportunity, and India consumption fund. Whereas, the sectoral fund invests in a particular sector like technology, pharma, or banking.
• The sector and thematic funds being exposed to high risks of cycles changing or themes dying down. Hence, they are a high risk and high return investment.
• Both thematic and sectoral funds invest a minimum of 80% of total assets in equities & equity related instruments of a particular theme or sector respectively.

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9. Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS) Funds

• ELSS or equity-linked saving scheme is also known as “Tax saving” equity mutual funds. The fund invests a minimum of 80% of total assets in equity & equity related instruments in accordance with Equity Linked Saving Scheme, 2005 notified by the Ministry of Finance.
• Investors can save up to Rs. 1.5 Lakhs on taxes under the Income Tax Act, 1961 by investing in ELSS. Tax saving mutual funds have a three year statutory lock-in period that helps in the reinvestment of returns and ultimately end up generating higher returns.

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10. Focused Mutual Funds

• Focused Funds invest in a limited number of stocks, and there are no restrictions on where they can invest. In other words, they can invest across large, medium, and small-cap stocks without restriction.
• Focused funds invest in a maximum of 30 stocks, with at least 65% in equity & equity related instruments.

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11. Dividend Yield Mutual Funds

• The primary focus of dividend yield mutual funds is not capital appreciation. They aim to identify and invest in stocks that offer regular dividends to the investors.
• Dividend-yield mutual funds predominantly invest 65% of their assets in dividend-yielding stocks.

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Advantages of Investing in Equity Mutual Funds

1. Inflation Beating Returns: Historical data suggests that equity mutual funds have stayed ahead of inflation at the very least. This means that despite the increase in inflation and market growth, your returns will offset these factors. On the other hand, conservative investment options like recurring and fixed deposits offer a rate of return that has almost negligible value when inflation is factored in.
2. Portfolio Diversification: When you park your money in equity mutual funds, your investment is spread across various companies. Holding stocks and shares of various companies based on the sector, theme, or mandate, brings diversity to your portfolio. Further, losses in one portion get offset by gains in the other.
3. Sharp Capital Appreciation: When compared to other investment options, equity mutual funds offer sharp capital appreciation. This ability not only makes it an attractive investment avenue for long durations but also compensates for market growth and inflation.
4. Professionally Managed Funds: Majority of equity-based mutual funds are managed by professional fund managers in collaboration with market experts. Fund managers monitor the market at all times and make changes to the portfolio depending on trends. This mitigates risk and simplifies investment for you. Thus, even newbies and novices can invest in equity schemes without having to gain extensive knowledge on the subject.
5. Convenience and Ease of Investment: The key benefit of investing in equity-based mutual funds is that the investor does not have to choose the stock or sector in which they wish to invest. Thus, it saves all the research and knowledge that needs to be expended. Further, you no longer have to worry about studying the market trends or projecting the future performance of the industry. Hence, investing in equity mutual funds offers a great degree of convenience and ease of investment.
6. High Degree of Liquidity: Although equity-based mutual funds are not as liquid as liquid funds or saving bank accounts, about 35% of the investment lies in debt funds, which offer a liquid component. Hence, equity funds offer a moderate amount of liquidity.

Factors to Consider While Investing in Equity Funds

Before you get ready to put your money in equity schemes, here are a few factors that you need to consider:

• Fund Objectives: The best equity mutual funds help investors in realizing their wealth accumulation goals with the help of a robust investment strategy. You can focus on investment styles such as value investing or growth investing to pick your stocks. Value investing involves putting your money in undervalued stocks whose prices are expected to increase, thereby, translating to a profit. Growth investing focuses on investing in companies displaying above-average growth even if the price of the stocks or shares appear to be somewhat expensive.
• Fund Types: Equity mutual funds are purely divided into large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap funds. Small-cap and mid-cap investments have a higher risk profile but they also offer potentially higher returns. Large-cap investments may not offer stellar returns, but they significantly cut down the investment risks. Equity funds are also available in multi-cap funds, which put your investments across diverse market capitalisations for an optimally diversified portfolio.
• High Volatility: Even the best equity funds are exposed to market risks and can be affected by the shifts in the benchmark like NIFTY or SENSEX. Any rise or fall of these indexes will reflect in the value of the equity fund. Thus, it possesses a higher degree of volatility when compared to debt or money market funds.
• Cost Analysis: Since an investor’s equity portfolio is managed by fund managers, there is a fee involved for the fund management. This fee is known as expense ratio, which is a percentage of the investment. Thus, a smaller expense ratio indicates a greater profit.
  As per SEBI’s directive, the upper limit on expense ratio is 2.5%. It must also be mentioned here that actively-managed equity funds possess a higher expense ratio when compared to index funds.
• Investment Horizon: As mentioned earlier, equity investments are not ideal for those looking for short-term investments. In the short-run, equity schemes are susceptible to a great degree of fluctuation, which average out only after a minimum period of about five years. Hence, keeping a long-term investment horizon is advised for equity-based mutual funds.
• Financial End-Goal: A number of market experts advise investing in the best equity mutual funds for SIP or lump-sum investment if you are looking to meet your long-term financial goals, be it wealth-creation or retirement planning. Given its return profile, you can generate a significant wealth by investing in the best equity mutual funds. With the returns offered by equity funds, you will reach financial stability, which allows you to retire confidently and pursue your passion.

Conclusion

Equity funds are the only mutual funds that have the potential to generate multi-fold returns helpful in building a big enough wealth corpus in the long-term. You have various equity funds for all your long-term financial life goals like retirement and creating a multi-crore, multi-purpose corpus.

If you are looking for a way to maximize your wealth while saving on your taxes, you should park your money in equity mutual funds. However, do bear in mind that these investments require a longer horizon and you should have at least 5 and preferably 10 years or more to get the most out of your equity investments.

It does bear its own share of risk but the corresponding returns are higher and make it risk worthy. Besides, if you invest in the best equity mutual funds, the risks are relatively better managed, when compared to direct investment in stocks and shares. If you have long-term gains and goals in mind, put your money in equity mutual funds.

Frequently Asked Questions

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