Abstract

Globalization, liberalization, technological advancement, high competition and economic uncertainties have made it imperative for the financial sector to satisfy their existing customers and retain them and be proactive in their management strategies to maintain their upper place in the highly competitive market. Indian Financial System was rejuvenated with the introduction of multiple financial institutions, financial services and financial instruments in the post LPG era. This process has opened doors to the private business entities also to start new financial institutions and offer various financial services and instruments. One such institution was mutual funds. Mutual fund companies come into this category. India’s mutual fund market has witnessed phenomenal growth over the last decade. The consistency in the performance of mutual funds has been a major factor that has attracted many investors. Mutual Fund is one of the most effective instruments for the small & medium investors for investment and offers opportunity to them to participate in capital market with low level of risk. The performance of mutual fund schemes is dependent on the right strategy adopted by the fund managers in designing the portfolio. Among various investment modes, Mutual Fund is the most suitable investment mode for the common man, as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified and professionally managed portfolio at a relatively low cost. A proper evaluation measure will remove confusion and help the investors to decide about the level of investment in various mutual funds schemes, about their financial performance over a period of time and risk associated with their investment, so as to avoid loss and maximize the reruns. Hence this research mainly focuses on financial performance of HDFC, ICICI Prudential and Nippon India Mutual Funds with growth option and direct plan for five years periods. These mutual fund companies are top performer companies. For this study balanced, debt, liquid, ELSS, Equity Diversified and Indexed fund schemes have been taken.

Key words: Mutual funds, Performance, Equity Diversified, ELSS, Investment, Globalization