How does a fixed income mutual fund work?

Posted by somesh mane on September 5th, 2018

A Fixed income funds is an amazing instrument of diversification for investor portfolios. True to its name, the fixed income mutual fund is frequently utilised for the generation of income. Let us further understand fixed income funds.

Functioning
Income funds are a class of debt mutual funds that invest in a combination of government securities, certificates of deposits, corporate bonds and money market instruments. They are managed by expert fund managers who actively try to manage the portfolio based on interest rate movements, while at the same time keeping the portfolio credit worthy.

In other words, they seek to generate returns both in declining and rising interest rate scenarios by managing their portfolio actively. This income gathers interest income either by gathering the instruments until maturity or by the profit management accrued by selling in the debt market when the instrument price is quite high.

That means that these instruments will not guarantee you fixed returns like deposits. Yet, over the last 10 years, they have beaten three-year deposit rates, irrespective of the year in which you invested. Let take a look at income funds’ features and how they are better than fixed deposits.

Fixed Income Funds Composition

This category of mutual funds is not totally unique or based on the kind of investment, rather it comes from the style of investment and expected profits. This fund collection comprises of debt funds, money market funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), or Certificates of Deposit. Let’s take a look at each of the above kinds of fixed income-generating instrument:

Debt funds: Debt funds do not invest in the volatile stock market, but prefer safe instruments such as government and corporate bonds and other securities. The profile is low-risk and the returns are stable.

Money Market Funds: Money market funds invest in steady-income tools such as treasury bills, commercial paper issued by corporations, short-term bank certificates of deposit (CDs) and banker’s acceptances. These are directly hit by any increase in interest rates and hence are good for short-term investment of up to 90 days.

Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs): ETFs are index funds that are listed and traded on the exchange like stocks. These indices reflect the changes in the index it associates with, such as Nifty, BSE Sensex or S&P. ETFs can be bought and sold in the cash market from day to day. Gold ETF is one of its most popular forms.

Features of Fixed Income Funds

Fixed income funds are not meant for appreciation in capital but rather upon remittance of a fixed income towards the fund-holder.

This kind of mutual fund is good for investors who are looking for a steady source of returns rather than increasing the value of their investment, such as retired persons and those with a low risk appetite.

Fixed income funds are actively managed. In order to manage the growth or depreciation of returns based on interest rate and economic changes, fund managers have to shuffle the portfolio regularly.

Fixed income funds go for the stablility of profits despite market volatility.

These funds are highly liquid in nature, allowing the investor to withdraw or redeem their funds whenever they require money.

Debt funds provide better long-term returns than money-market funds or CDs, but ETFs are more profitable as they function quite like equity funds.

The taxes applicable to fixed income funds are those of debt funds. This means that any short-term capital gains are added to your income and taxed as per the slab rate, while long-term capital gains attract 10% tax without indexation and 20% tax with indexation.

Disadvantages of Fixed Income Funds

Fixed income funds are only good for highly cautious investors. They do not offer growth opportunities like equity funds and are low-risk, therefore low on returns as well. However, it will be sensible for investors to put some of their funds on debt funds so as to even out their portfolio and ensure that their investment is not at risk in the face of an economic meltdown.

  • Axis Income Fund,
  • Reliance Income Fund,
  • DSP BlackRock Strategic Bond Fund
  • HDFC High Interest Fund – Dynamic Plan.
  • High-performing ETFs in the country include UTI Gold Exchange Traded Fund, IDBI Gold Exchange Traded Fund, Birla Sun Life Gold ETF.
  • SBI – ETF Gold. 

Above are some popular fixed income funds.

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somesh mane

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somesh mane
Joined: May 9th, 2018
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