The Indian stock market has had a somewhat sombre last 18-24 months.

The reasons are varying but the recent tariff rain down globally was the prime point of uncertainty.

Global markets do not take a liking for uncertainty, they prefer to know the state of things no matter how grim the situation.

The middle east has always been a melting point, the recent escalation of events is keeping in tune with the fragility of the region rather than it being an anomaly.

So, where does India figure amidst the ongoing pandemonium when geographically it is distant.

Whether you want to invest via SIP or a lumpsum amount, mutual funds provide a variety of perks from diversification to long term compounding benefits.

Your final choice of funds has to be preceded by several points like investment horizon, risk appetite, etc.

The longer you stay invested, the higher your chances of substantial returns but you may require the amount earlier or you may have short term goals.

Therefore you will need to prioritize the time horizon before selecting the funds.

No, the title is not incorrect.

It does seem a bit perplexing at first glance but read further and you will have your answers.

Motilal Oswal Mid Cap Mutual Fund has gained popularity in the recent past due to its returns.

This can be attested by the surge in its AUM.

Unfortunately retail Indian investors are still swayed by recent returns, a criterion which should be allotted less weightage. 

Unlike most mid cap mutual fund schemes, Motilal Oswal midcap fund follows a cyclical and focused approach as opposed to a buy and hold approach.

There’s also a hint of momentum investing in the mix.

Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund has recently announced that it would be introducing the option of IDCW (Income Distribution cum Capital Withdrawal).

PPFAS was one of the few and rare fund houses to not offer the hitherto dividend plan option.

However, in light of the recent tax changes to debt funds, the fund house believes that the IDCW plan could be a more tax efficient plan for some investors.

Investors should however be prudent and pay heed to their tax advisors regarding this.

Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund now offers two options namely:

1. Growth & 
2. IDCW (Income Distribution cum Capital Withdrawal)

Within the IDCW (Income Distribution cum Capital Withdrawal) the fund house further offers two more options:

1. Payout of IDCW &
2. Re-Investment of IDCW

Whenever there is a fundamental change in the fund offering the fund house has to offer existing investors to option to exit from the scheme without paying any exit load for a particular time period which in this case is 31^st October 2025.

There is no fundamental change process or asset allocation plan of Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund.

There has been an increase in the variety of equity offerings in the mutual fund industry lately.

This has been advanced by several factors like :

·      Increase in Inflow

·      Growing market sentiment & Retail Exposure

·      SEBI’s re-categorization exercise

Increasing retail exposure has meant that investors are now more aware about mutual funds in general, this has led to higher expectations with regards to product offerings.

SEBI’s re-categorization exercise has also meant that AMC’s now cannot have more than one active fund in a category except for thematic funds.

All of the aforementioned points have resulted in mutual fund companies looking for newer products to penetrate the retail space even further while staying in compliance.

The recent influx of momentum funds in a short space of time is a result of that.

SBI Focused Equity Fund as the name suggests is a focused fund that can invest in not more than 30 stocks at any given time.

It was initially launched as a Small & Mid cap fund by the name of SBI Emerging Businesses Fund but was later renamed as SBI Focused Equity Fund and re-categorized as a focused fund due to SEBI’s re-categorization exercise in 2018.

Ever since its re-categorization the fund has seen a heavy tilt to large cap stocks which is a departure from its earlier investing stance.