HISTORY OF MUTUAL FUND The mutual fund industry in India started in 1963 with the formation of Unit Trust of India, at the initiative of the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India. The history of mutual funds in India can be broadly divided into four distinct phases
First Phase - 1964-1987 Unit Trust of India (UTI) was established in 1963 by an Act of Parliament. It was set up by the Reserve Bank of India and functioned under the Regulatory and administrative control of the Reserve Bank of India. In 1978 UTI was de-linked from the RBI and the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) took over the regulatory and administrative control in place of RBI. The first scheme launched by UTI was Unit Scheme 1964. At the end of 1988 UTI had Rs. 6,700 crores of assets under management.
Second Phase - 1987-1993 (Entry of Public Sector Funds) 1987 marked the entry of non-UTI, public sector mutual funds set up by public sector banks and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC). SBI Mutual Fund was the first non-UTI Mutual Fund established in June 1987 followed by Canbank Mutual Fund (Dec 87), Punjab National Bank Mutual Fund (Aug 89), Indian Bank Mutual Fund (Nov 89), Bank of India (Jun 90), Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund (Oct 92). LIC established its mutual fund in June 1989 while GIC had set up its mutual fund in December 1990. At the end of 1993, the mutual fund industry had assets under management of Rs. 47,004 crores.
Third Phase - 1993-2003 (Entry of Private Sector Funds) With the entry of private sector funds in 1993, a new era started in the Indian mutual fund industry, giving the Indian investors a wider choice of fund families. Also, 1993 was the year in which the first Mutual Fund Regulations came into being, under which all mutual funds, except
UTI were to be registered and governed. The erstwhile Kothari Pioneer (now merged with Franklin Templeton) was the first private sector mutual fund registered in July 1993. The 1993 SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations were substituted by a more comprehensive and revised Mutual Fund Regulations in 1996. The industry now functions under the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations 1996. The number of mutual fund houses went on increasing, with many foreign mutual funds setting up funds in India and also the industry has witnessed several mergers and acquisitions. As at the end of January 2003, there were 33 mutual funds with total assets of Rs. 1,21,805 crores. The Unit Trust of India with Rs. 44,541 crores of assets under management was way ahead of other mutual funds.
Fourth Phase - since February 2003 In February 2003, following the repeal of the Unit Trust of India Act 1963 UTI was bifurcated into two separate entities. One is the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India with assets under management of Rs. 29,835 crores as at the end of January 2003, representing broadly, the assets of US 64 scheme, assured return and certain other schemes. The Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India, functioning under an administrator and under the rules framed by Government of India and does not come under the purview of the Mutual Fund Regulations. The second is the UTI Mutual Fund, sponsored by SBI, PNB, BOB and LIC. It is registered with SEBI and functions under the Mutual Fund Regulations. With the bifurcation of the erstwhile UTI which had in March 2000 more than Rs. 76,000 crores of assets under management and with the setting up of a UTI Mutual Fund, conforming to the SEBI Mutual Fund Regulations, and with recent mergers taking place among different private sector funds, the mutual fund industry has entered its current phase of consolidation and growth.
FINANCIAL SYSTEM A 'financial system' is a system that allows the exchange of funds between lenders, investors, and borrowers. Financial systems operate at national and global levels. They consist of complex, closely related services, markets, and institutions intended to provide an efficient and regular linkage between investors and depositors. Money, credit, and finance are used as medium of exchange in financial systems. They serve as a medium of known value for which goods and services can be exchanged as an alternative to bartering. A modern financial system may include banks (public sector or private sector), financial markets, financial instruments, and financial services. Financial systems allow funds to be allocated, invested, or moved between economic sectors. They enable individuals and companies to share the associated risks. A financial market is a broad term describing any marketplace where buyers and sellers participate in the trade of assets such as equities, bonds, currencies and derivatives. Financial markets are typically defined by having transparent pricing, basic regulations on trading, costs and fees, and market forces determining the prices of securities
that
trade.
Financial markets can be found in nearly every nation in the world. Some are very small, with only a few participants, while others - like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the forex markets
-
trade
trillions
of
dollars
daily.
Investors have access to a large number of financial markets and exchanges representing a vast array of financial products. Some of these markets have always been open to private investors; others remained the exclusive domain of major international banks and financial professionals until the very end of the twentieth century.
The financial system of a country is an important tool for economic development of the country as it helps in the creation of wealth by linking savings with investments. It facilitates the flow of funds from the households (savers) to business firms (investors) to aid in wealth creation and development of both the parties. The institutional arrangements include all condition and
mechanism governing the production, distribution, exchange and holding of financial assets or instruments of all kinds.
TYPES OF FINANCIAL SYSTEM
FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT
FINANCIAL INTER MEDIARIES
FINANCIAL SYSTEM
FINANCIAL MARKET
FINANCIAL SERVICES
1. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT:
Financial Instruments can be defined as a market for short-term money and financial assets that is a substitute for money. The term short-term means generally a period of one year substitutes for money is used to denote any financial asset which can be quickly converted into money. Some of the important instruments are as follows:
Call /Notice-Money: Money Market can be understood as the market for short term funds, wherein lending and borrowing of funds varies from overnight to a year. It is an important part of the financial system that helps in fulfilling the short term and very short term requirements of the companies, banks, financial institution, government agencies and so forth.
Term Money: Deposit’s with maturity period beyond 14 days is referred to as the term money. The entry restrictions are the same as that of Call/Notice Money, the specified entities not allowed to lend beyond 14 days.
Treasury Bill: Treasury Bills are short-term (up to one year) borrowing instruments of the union government. It’s a promise by the Government to pay the stated sum after the expiry of the stated period from the date of issue (less than one year). They are issued at a discount off the face value and on maturity , the face value is paid to the holder.
Certificate of deposits: Certificates of deposits is a money market instrument issued in dematerialised form or as a promissory note for funds deposited at a bank, other eligible financial institution for a specified period.
Commercial paper: CP is a note in evidence of the debt obligation of the issuer. On issuing commercial paper the debt is transformed into an instrument. CP is an unsecured promissory note privately placed with investors at a discount rate of face value determined by market forces.
2. FINANCIAL MARKET:
A financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities and derivatives such as futures and options at low transaction costs. Securities include stocks and bonds, and precious metals. There are main two types of financial market are as follow:
CAPITAL MARKET
MONEY MARKET
Capital Market: A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt (over a year) or equitybacked securities are bought and sold. Capital markets channel the wealth of savers to those who can put it to long-term productive use, such as companies or governments making long-term investments.
Money Market: Money Market can be understood as the market for short term funds, wherein lending and borrowing of funds varies from overnight to a year. It is an important part of the financial system that helps in fulfilling the short term and very short term requirements of the companies, banks, financial institution, government agencies and so forth.
3. FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES: A financial intermediary is an institution which connects the deficit and surplus money. The best example of an intermediary is a bank which transforms the bank deposits to bank loans. The role of the financial intermediary is to distribute funds from people who have an extra inflow of money to those who don’t have enough money to fulfill the needs. Functions of Financial Intermediary are as follows:
Depository institutions: These are banks and credit unions that collect money from the public and use that money
to
advance
loans
to
financial
customers.
Non-Depository institutions: These are brokerage firms, insurance and mutual funds companies that cannot collect money deposits but can sell financial products to financial customers.
4. FINANCIAL SERVICES:
Financial Services is concerned with the design and delivery of financial instruments, advisory services to individuals and businesses within the area of banking and related institutions, personal financial planning, leasing, investment, assets, insurance etc.
o
Banking Services: Includes all the operations provided by the banks including to the simple deposit and withdrawal of money to the issue of loans, credit cards etc.
o
Foreign Exchange services: Includes the currency exchange , foreign exchange banking or the wire transfer.
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Investment Services: It generally includes the asset management, mutual fund, hedge fund management and the custody services.
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Insurance Services: It deals with the selling of insurance policies, brokerages, insurance underwriting or the reinsurance.
o
Some of the other services include advisory services, venture capital, angel investment etc. INTRODUCTION OF MUTUAL FUND:
Mutual fund is an investment company that pools money from small investors and invests in a variety of securities, such as stocks, bonds and money market instruments.
Most open-end Mutual funds stand ready to buy back
(redeem) its shares at their current net asset value, which depends on the total market value of the fund's investment portfolio at the time of redemption. Most open-end Mutual funds continuously offer new shares to investors. It is also known as an open-end investment company, to differentiate it from a closed-end investment company. Mutual funds invest pooled cash of many investors to meet the fund's stated investment objective. Mutual funds stand ready to sell and redeem their shares at any time at the fund’s current net asset value: total fund assets divided by shares outstanding. In Simple Words, Mutual fund is a mechanism for pooling the resources by issuing units to the investors and investing funds in securities in accordance with objectives as disclosed in offer document. Investments in securities are spread across a wide cross-section of industries and sectors and thus the risk is reduced. Diversification reduces the risk because not all stocks may move in the same direction in the same proportion at the same time. Mutual fund issues units t o the investors in accordance with quantum of money invested by them. Investors of Mutual fund are known as unit holders. The profits or losses are shared by the investors in proportion to their investments. The Mutual funds normally come out with a number of schemes with different investment objectives which are launched from time to time.
In India, A Mutual fund is required to be registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) which regulates securities markets before it can collect funds from the public. In Short , a Mutual fund is a
common pool of money in to which
investors with common investment objective place their contributions that are to be invested in accordance with the state d investment objective of the scheme. The investment manager would invest the money collected from the investor in to assets that are defined/ permitted by the stated objective of the scheme. For example, a n equity fund would invest equity and equity related instruments and a debt fund would invest in bonds, debentures, gilts etc. Mutual fund is a suitable investment for the common ma n a s it offers an Oporto unity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost.
FEATURE OF MUTUAL FUND:
Modilizing small saving Investment avenue Professional management Diversification Investment Better Liquidity Reduied risks Low transaction cost Invesment protection Switching facility Tax benefit