Mutual Funds - Course Contents

Why Mutual Fund ?

• Investors and their Financial Goals

• Short Term vs Long Term needs

• Understanding Savings vs Investments

• Factors to evaluate while making investments

• Different Asset Classes for investments

• Decoding Investment Risks

• Risk Measures and Management Strategies

• Behavioural Biases in Investment Decision Making

• Risk Profiling

• Understanding Asset Allocation

• Direct vs Regular plans - Method of making MF investments

Concept and Role of Mutual Funds in India

• Concept of a Mutual fund

• Role of a Mutual Fund in the economy

• Investment Objective

• Investment Policy

• Important Concepts in MF

• Advantages & Limitations of MF to Investor

• Classification of Mutual Funds

• Growth of MF industry in India

MF Strucure in India

• MF Structure

• Key Constituents of MF

• Organisation Structure of an AMC

• Role & Support Functions of Service Providers

• Role & Functions of AMFI in Mutual Funds

Legal & Regulatory Framework

• Role of SEBI

• Regulatory reforms by SEBI

• Mutual Fund regulations

• Investment retrictions for MF schemes

• Advertisement Guidelines for MF

• Celebrity Endorsement

• SEBI guidelines - Circulation of Unauthenticated News

• Investor Rights in MF

• Right to investor in terms of change in Fundamental attributes

• Due Deligence process for Distributors

• Grievance Redressal Mechanism

• SEBI complaints redressal system

• AMFI code of Ethics (ACE)

• AMFI code of conduct for Intermediaries

MF Scheme Related Information

• Mandatory Documents

• Scheme Informaton Document

• Risk o meter & Statement of sutiability of scheme

• Factors to consider while making MF investments

• Fundamental Attributes

• Scheme Documents

• Updation of scheme documents - Regulatory Provisions

• Mandatory Disclosures

• Non Mandatory Disclosures

Distribution & Channel Management Practises

• Role & Importance of Distributor

• Kinds of MF Distributors

• Modes of Distribution

• Distributor Appointment norms

• Revenue for a MF distributor

• Trial Commission & Other earnings

• Commission Disclosue Norms

• Due deligence by AMCs for distributors

• Distributors vs Investment Advisors

• Nomination facility to MF Distributors

• Chnage of Distributor

NAV, TER & Pricing

• Fair Valuation Principles and relevance for investors

• Computation of Net Assets of mutual fund scheme

• Dividends & Distributable Reserves

• Concept of Entry and Exit Load and its impact on NAV

• Key accounting and reporting requirements applicable to mutual funds

• Net Asst Value

• Total expense ratio

• Pricing of units for the Segregated Portfolio

Taxation in Mutual Funds

• Applicability of taxes in respect of mutual funds

• Capital Gains

• Income Distribution cum Capital Withdrawal (IDCW)

• Difference between dividend distribution tax and capital gains tax

• Setting off Gains and Losses under Income Tax Act

• Securities Transaction Tax

• Tax benefits under Section 80 C of Income Tax Act, 1961

• Tax Deducted at Source

Mutual Funds - Investor Services

• New Fund Offer Process

• NFO price and on-going price for subscription of mutual fund schemes

• Investment Plans and Options

• Allotment of mutual fund units to investors

• Content and periodicity of Statement of Account

• Mutual Fund Investor

• Application form of Mutual Funds

• Financial Transactions in mutual funds through online and physical mechanism

• Investment by Cash & Third party Payments

• Cut-off timing and Time stamping

• KYC requirements for mutual fund investors

• Different types of systematic transactions

• Operational aspects of Systematic Transactions

• Process of Non-Financial Transactions in Mutual Funds

• Change in Status of Special Investor Categories

• Investor transactions – TAT

Risk, Return & Performance of MF

• General and Specific risk factors

• Factors affecting mutual fund performance of different schemes

• Drivers of returns and risk in a scheme

• Measures of returns

• SEBI norms regarding representation of returns by mutual funds in India

• Risks in fund investing with a focus on investor

• Risk measures

• Provisions with respect to Credit risk

MF Scheme Performance

• Concept of Benchmarks and Performance in case of mutual funds

• Difference between Price Returns Index versus Total Returns Index

• Basis of Choosing an appropriate performance benchmark

• Benchmarks for Equity Schemes

• Benchmark for Debt Schemes

• Benchmark for Other Schemes

• Quantitative measures of fund manager performance

• Sources to track mutual fund performance

• Sources of Scheme Performance Disclosures

How to choose a Mutual Fund Scheme

• Scheme Selection based on Investor’s need, preferences and risk-profile

• Risk level in mutual fund schemes

• Scheme Selection based on Investment Strategy of Mutual Fund

• Fund performance, fund portfolio, fund age, fund size, portfolio turnover and scheme expenses.

• Selection of Mutual Fund scheme offered by different AMCs or within the scheme category

• Selecting options in mutual fund schemes

• Do’s and Don’ts while selecting mutual fund schemes