First things first, what is an equity mutual fund? An equity fund, also known as stock funds, is a mutual fund that invests principally in stocks. The fund manager tries to offer great returns by spreading the investment across companies from different sectors or with varying market capitalizations.
Typically, equity funds are known to generate better returns than term deposits or debt-based funds but there is still a considerable amount of risk associated with these funds since their performance depends on various market conditions. Without further ado, here are the different types of equity mutual funds.
INVESTMENT STRATEGY-BASED CATEGORIZATION
Sectoral Fund
Also known as a theme fund, sector funds follow a specific investment theme like an international theme or local theme. Some themes might also invest in a particular sector of the market like technology or pharmaceutical. It is important to note that these funds carry a higher risk since they focus on a specific sector or theme.
Contra Equity Fund
As the name suggests, contra equity funds follow a contrarian or nonconformist strategy of investing. These equity funds analyze the market to find under-performing stocks and purchase them at low prices. This would be under the assumption that these stocks will recover in the long term.
MARKET CAPITALIZATION-BASED CATEGORIZATION
Large-Cap Fund
Typically, the large-cap fund invests a minimum of 80% of the investment in equity shares of the top 100 countries according to market capitalization. This strategy is considered to be more stable than the mid-cap and small-cap focused funds.
Mid-Cap Fund
Mid-cap funds invest around 65% of the total assets in equity shares of the top 101 to 250 companies according to market capitalization. These schemes tend to offer better returns than the large-cap strategy but tend to also become more volatile.
Small-Cap Fund
Considered the most volatile out of the three, the small-cap fund invests about 65% of the asset in equity shares of companies ranking 251 and below according to market capitalization. If done right, small-cap funds tend to offer the most returns compared to large-cap and mid-cap funds.
Multi-Cap Fund
Multi-cap funds usually invest in a mix of equity shares from large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap companies in varying proportions. With this type of fund, the fund manager keeps rebalancing the portfolio to match the market and economic conditions as well as the investment objective of the scheme.
INVESTMENT STYLE-BASED CATEGORIZATION
Active Fund
These schemes are actively managed by the fund managers who handpick the stocks that they want to invest in.
Passive Fund
Passive funds usually track a market index which determines the list of stock that the scheme will invest in. Unlike active funds, this strategy does not require the fund manager to have an active role in the selection of the stocks.
Now, the choice is yours, Ka-Investa. Do you want to get into Mutual Funds? If yes, which one would you like to explore on?
