A Comparative Analysis of Performance, Investment Styles,
and Risk and Return Associated with Indian Mutual Funds

Abstract

New financial products, advancements in technology, and restructured financial theories during last two decades have contributed significantly to bringing rapid changes in the global financial markets. The Indian financial sector can be seen extending new horizons of growth with reform processes that were initiated in the 1990s,which show a changing pattern of investors’ investment preferences. The growth of innovative mutual fund schemes has proved to be one of the most catalytic in accelerating the investment growth in Indian capital markets. In addition, Indian markets are waiting to outshine in the area of mutual funds as this particular sector has excellent potential due to the scope of formulating new fund schemes that can be a perfect blend of liquidity, low risk, and higher returns. In an effort to check out the performance of mutual funds in India, this study presents a complete analysis of growth of the various sector mutual funds during the period from 1999 to 2009 and further compares private-sector and public-sector funds in terms of risk and return. The study concludes that although the current perception of investors has changed for private-sector mutual funds, the performance of those funds does not vary much from public-sector funds. Further, the results of the study also prove that private-sector funds do not show any additional risk when compared to private-sector funds.