Mutual Fund Fact Sheet Analysis

Mutual fund fact sheet analysis is essential before investing in any mutual fund scheme. It gives you information about the fund house, the composition of the plan, and where your money is going to be invested. This article covers the following:

What is a Mutual Fund Fact Sheet?

A mutual fund fact sheet is an essential document that is designed to give an overview of the mutual fund and its performance. It is beneficial for potential investors to go through this report to analyse and evaluate a mutual fund scheme and learn the pros and cons of the same.

A fact sheet provides a simple and understandable picture of the fund through simple description and illustrations through charts. It presents a good idea of a particular mutual fund to the investor who can take the first step towards considering whether to invest in a mutual fund or not. Mutual fund sheets are disclosed monthly.

What are the Components of a mutual fund fact sheet?

The fact sheets generally give out information related to the following aspects of a mutual fund scheme:

Fees

Mutual funds charge an expense ratio to manage your money on your behalf and to run the overall administration of the fund house. An investor can learn the details of fees involved in buying a mutual fund and how much to be paid to the fund manager.

Risk Assessment

Not every mutual fund is made for you. There may be mutual funds that are not appropriate for the specific type of investors, depending on their risk appetite or financial standing. To assess the risk attached to the fund, the investor must assess his/her financial position in relation to the risk associated with the mutual fund.

Annualised Returns

Before selecting a mutual fund, it is essential to examine it from a returns standpoint. A record of the returns earned by a mutual fund over the past 1, 3, 5, and 10 years is presented to give a picture of how the mutual fund has fared in the market over a period of time.

Why is Mutual Fund Fact Sheet Analysis important?

Mutual fund investments may often seem tricky and confusing to potential new investors, which is why it is advisable to equip oneself with detailed information of the know-how of investing in these schemes. Financial advisors can come in handy in providing essential and invaluable tips and advice.

However, as an investor, one must take time and effort to ensure they possess explicit knowledge of their investments’ performance in these mutual funds. Mutual fund fact sheets, to this very effect, come in handy for investors to keep track and remain well informed of their mutual fund investments.

The factual data and information these fact sheets contain help investors to gain an overview of the portfolio and close insight into the performance of these funds.  

Key ratios involved in a mutual fund fact sheet analysis

Portfolio Turnover Ratio	Measures the funds trading activity
Expense Ratio	Cost of managing the funds
Beta	Measures funds volatility compared to the benchmark
Sharpe Ratio	Measures funds’ performance compared to the risk taken
R-squared	Measures relationship between portfolio and the benchmark
Information Ratio	Measure of risk-adjusted returns of the funds

How to Interpret a Mutual Fund Fact Sheet?

A mutual fund fact sheet contains a plethora of information one should look into and consider before investing. This information pertains to the following aspects of the mutual funds:

Basic Information

This provides general information about the fund such as its objective, options, plan, net asset value, the minimum amount to be invested and data related to assets managed. Suitability of a particular product is highlighted by fund’s ‘product labeling’ and risk associated with a particular fund is given by ‘riskometer’.

Performance details

By providing the funds’ historical performance data, a clear picture is obtained of how the fund has fared in the market across time frames. This can be further compared to the individual fund’s benchmark and the market benchmark. These may include the graphical representation of the annual performances along with prescribed performance tables.

Information about Fund Managers

A fund manager’s expertise in the handling of portfolios is a very decisive factor in the effective managing of the investment. A fund manager’s experience and qualifications are available in the factsheet for investors to know then better. Their performance in handling portfolios across time is listed alongside.

Portfolio Attributes

Equity/Hybrid Funds	Debt Funds
Asset Allocation: Talks about different asset classes in a portfolio – equity, debt, and cash	Credit Quality: Debt funds are classified according to its credit ratings
Company and Sector Allocation: Informs about the concentration level of funds in sectors and company stocks, whether the funds are concentrated on fewer stocks or diversified across stocks.	Instrument break-up: Gives information on allocation to various debt instruments
	Quantitative Data such as: – Average maturity period for debt securities in the portfolio – The modified duration which is the measure of the price sensitivity of the debt portfolio to interest rate changes. – Yield to maturity indicating returns earned from interest and annual gain/loss from bonds till the time of maturity.

Fact sheets can be a reliable guide for investors as the financial markets are subject to unpredictable fluctuations and volatility. Always use it to spread or mitigate risks and for diligent investment decision making.

Conclusion

Many a time investing in mutual funds might be a jittery activity. It involves an analysis of numerous qualitative and quantitative factors across different time intervals. Additionally, you need to keep your financial goals, risk appetite and investment horizon in mind. In case tracking financial markets isn’t your thing and you are finding it too difficult to understand, then log on to ClearTax Save. You can invest in hand-picked funds in a hassle-free and paperless manner.