A Study of Investors perception towards

Mutual Funds in the City of Kathmandu

A
Proposal

Submitted to
Central Department of Management, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur
in the partial fulfillment for the requirement of Master’s Degree of
Business Studies

By

........................
Manisha Chaudhari
Roll No:252
05 October, 2020
Context
1. Background of the Study
2. Problem of the study
3. Objective of the study
4. Rationale of the Study
5. Limitation of the Study
6. Literature Review
6.1Theoretical Framework
7. Methodology
7.1 Research Design
7.2Population and Sample
7.3 Source of Data
7.4Data Collection and Processing Procedure
7.5Data Analysis tools and Techniques
8. Chapter Plan
1. Background of the study
The history of mutual fund dates back to 19th century when it was introduced in Europe, in
particular, Great Britain. Robert Fleming was set up in 1968 the first investment trust called
Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust which promised to manage the finances of the moneyed
classes of Scotland by spreading the investment over a number of different stocks. This investment
trust and other investments trusts which were subsequently set up in Britain and the US, resembled
today’s close – ended mutual funds. The first mutual in the U.S., Massachustsettes investor’s
Trust, was set up in March 1924. This was the open – ended mutual fund. The stock market crash
in 1929, the Great Depression, and the outbreak of the Second World War slackened the pace of
mutual fund industry, innovations in products and services increased the popularity of mutual
funds in the 1990s and 1960s[ CITATION DrK13 \l 1033 ] . The history of mutual fund in Nepal is
not long. It was started with the establishment of NCM mutual fund -2050 established by NIDC
capital market. The fund was initially open-end type with Rs 10 par value. It was converted into
close end fund in the name of NCM mutual fund 2059. The fund has 10 million units outstanding
with Rs 10 par value, and 10 year maturity period. The fund has guaranteed at least 5 percent
return to its investors. It listed in Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) (Pudel, et. al. 2016).

In this era of globalization and competition, the success of an industry is determined by the market
performance of its stock. The investors too like to invest only in the stock of those companies from
which they can get maximum gains. In early years of growth of mutual fund industry, investors
were available only with few investment avenues to invest their money. But with the passage of
time a lot of opportunities are available to the investors for investing their money in different
investment channels. One such channel is to invest in mutual fund along with effective financial
management. Mutual funds have seen a tremendous growth in the last few years. This is the result
of combined efforts of the brokerage houses and the fund managers who come to one’s rescue by
educating the investors and making them aware of the mutual fund schemes by different modes of
promotion [ CITATION Sai11 \l 1033 ] . Especially in a country like Nepal, investment from
financial organizations or even an individual has a great impacted on the overall economy of the
country. For the past few decades, the major investment opportunities have emerged to give us
proper financial results (i.e, collection of the investment and generation of profit from the invested
capital) are Hydro-electricity generation, Tourism and Agriculture. Even though there are other
sectors and opportunities to invest time, capital and labor in these three are the most effective and
productive in the long run. There are very few people in Nepal who solely invested in high
amounts. So for country like Nepal, one of the major sources of investment is mutual fund.

Mutual Funds are a retail product which is designed for those who do not directly invest in the
share market because of its unpredictable and volatile nature. Mutual funds are recognized as a
mechanism of pooling together the investment of unsophisticated investors which are
professionally managed by fund managers for consistent return along-with capital appreciation and
has come as a much needed help for retail investors [ CITATION 15AS \l 1033 ] . All investments
whether in shares, debentures or deposits involve risk. Share value may go down depending upon
the performance of the company, the industry, state of capital markets and the economy. While
risk cannot be eliminated, but skillful management can minimize the risk. Mutual Funds help to
reduce risk through diversification and professional management. The experience and expertise of
Mutual Fund managers in selecting fundamentally sound securities and timing their purchases and
sales help them to build a diversified portfolio that minimizes risk and maximizes returns.

In Nepal, NCM Mutual fund- 2050 was established by NIDC Capital Market as the first mutual
fund in 1993/94. It floated units of Rs 10 par value in the beginning. The fund was of an open- end
type. The fund performance well in the beginning, when there was a boom in the stock market.
However, its performance deteriorated in 1995 and its trading had to be suspended due to
excessive selling pressure. The fund was restructured into a closed-end fund to bring it back into
operation in the name of "NCM Mutual Fund, 2059" on August 9, 2002. The previous unit holders
were offered two options-either to refund or to participate in this new scheme. The fund has 10
million units with Rs 10 face value. Out of the total units, it distributed 1.5 million units to its
management and trustee, 1.33 million to the unit holders of the previous mutual fund scheme and
the remaining 7.17 million units issued to the public.

Similarly, Citizen Unit Scheme (CUS) was operated by Citizen Investment Trust (CIT) as a second
collective investment scheme in 1994/95. It was incorporated under the Citizen Investment Trust
Act, 1990. It was established as an open-ended scheme with the face value of Rs 100 per unit. CIT
puts Rs 5 million as seed capital in the beginning. Mutual funds quickly became popular because
they guaranteed that investors could always redeem their shares for their net asset values. Because
mutual funds promise to redeem shares on demand, they invest only highly marketable assets, such
as stocks, bonds can be sold quickly if the funds need cash to meet redemption. This open end fund
has high liquidity.

2. Problem Statement

In conventional financial theory, investors are assumed to be rational wealth maximizes, following
basic financial rules and basing their investment strategies purely on the risk-return consideration
as the factors expected to influence investment decisions (Baker et al, 1977). Traditional economic
theory assumes that people are rational agents who make decisions objectively to take advantage
of the opportunities available to them. Investors think of themselves as rational and logical. But
when it comes to investing, their demographic factor, emotional inclinations, ingrained thought
patterns and psychological biases, color how they perceive the world and how they make
decisions. The controversy of this area of study was the different findings that researchers came up
with. For instance, Sing (2012) stated that there is no association between age, occupation and
attitude towards mutual funds. But there is an association between sex, income, educational
qualifications and attitude towards mutual funds. As far as the benefits of the mutual funds are
concerned, return potential and liquidity have been perceived to be most attractive by investors,
followed by flexibility, transparency and affordability. Kumaret al. (2014) study concludes that as
far as the demographic factors are concerned, geography, age, occupation and income have
significant influence on choice of investment decisions in mutual fund. Joseph & Joseph (2015)
study reveals that the investors’ perception is dependent on the demographic profile and assesses
that the investor’s age and annual savings have direct impacted on the investors’ choice of
investment but not other demographic factors like gender, occupation, educational level and
educational background. Subramanya (2015) concluded that the socio economic factors like age,
gender, education, income and savings of investors’ perception towards mutual fund is not
encouraging but the age of investors’ and saving habit of respondents is correlated. Hence, the
mutual funds investor's perception are different according to their demographic variables like age,
gender, income, saving and educational background. Therefore, the study deals with following
issues.
 What are the investor’s perceptual factors towards the mutual fund in Kathmandu City?
 What are the most important factors that investor perceive towards mutual fund
investment?
  Is there any significant difference between demographic factors and perception towards
mutual fund investment? (Demographic factors are age, gender, income level, educational
background, education level, annual saving and occupation).

3. Objective of the study

The purpose of this study is to examine investor’s perception towards mutual funds. The specific
objectives of the study as follows:

a) To explore the investors perceptual factors towards mutual fund.

b) To identify the most important factors that investor perceive towards mutual fund
investment.
c) To explore whether there is any significant difference between demographic factors and
perceptual factors towards mutual fund investment.

4. Rationale of the study

Mutual fund is a retail product design to target small investors. It is evident that mutual funds have
at the top of the agenda over the last decade thus, constituted the majority of many organizations’
portfolios. They have become worldwide phenomena and attached great importance to global
financial markets. Nowadays, an increasing number of investors are relying on mutual fund as
investment and retirement vehicles. Hence, designing a mutual fund product and expecting a good
response will be futile.

The better understanding of investors’ perception and outcomes is important for financial planners
because an understanding of how investors generally respond to market movements. It helps
investment advisors devise appropriate asset allocations strategies for their clients. Companies
would identify the most influencing factors on their investors’ perception which affect their future
policies and strategies eventually would affect their future plans. Similarly Government would
identify the most influencing factors on investors’ perception would affect the required legislations
and additional procedures needed in order to satisfy investors’ desires and also to give more
support to market efficiency. In this context, the present study is very useful and relevant to
examine the factors influencing the perception of investors, while making decisions related to
mutual fund investments and the features that investors look for in mutual fund products.

5. Limitation of the study

The study has following limitations:

 The study has not been conducted over an extended period of time considering both
market ups and downs. The market state has a significant influence on the investor's
perception. The study cannot capture such situations.

 All the responses for the study were collected inside Kathmandu Valley. Therefore, the
study is limited to respondents residing in Kathmandu Valley only.
 The present study focused on individual investors but not institutional investors. So the
data were collected from the individual investor alone.
 Seven demographic variables are considered. Investor perception is also affected by
other variables besides the ones which are chosen for this study.

6. Literature Review

This chapter deals with the evidence and findings from past related studies from various
researchers. The studies and evidences were relevant for the future investigation regarding the
perception of investors towards the mutual funds in the Kathmandu valley. In this study there
reviewed some research papers, articles, books and GRP related to study, which contributed some
ideas and help in presenting of this study.
Jambodekar (1996) conducted a study to assess the awareness of MFs among investors, to identify
the information sources influencing the buying decision and the factors influencing the choice of a
particular fund. The study reveals among other things that Income Schemes and Open Ended
Schemes are more preferred than Growth Schemes and Close Ended Schemes during the then
prevalent market conditions. Investors look for safety of principal, liquidity and capital
appreciation in the order of importance; newspapers and magazines are the first source of
information through which investors get to know about MFs/ schemes and investor service is a
major differentiating factor in the selection of MF Schemes.
Shanmugham (2000) conducted a survey of individual investors with the objective to study on
what information source does investor depends. The results explained that factors are an
economical, sociological and psychological factor which controls investment decisions. Mutual
funds have attracted the attention of global practitioners and academicians in India and abroad to
draw sound conclusions on the factors responsible for the selection of mutual funds as an
investment option.

Jalandhar, Gobindgarh, & Mohali (2011) stated that the Indian mutual fund has gained a lot of
popularity from the past few years. It is very important to know the investors’ perception about this
industry. The study analyses the mutual fund investments in relation to investor’s behavior.
Investors’ opinion and perception has been studied relating to various issues like type of mutual
fund scheme, main objective behind investing in mutual fund scheme, role of financial advisors
and brokers, investors’ opinion relating to factors that attract them to invest in mutual funds,
sources of information, deficiencies in the services provided by the mutual fund managers,
challenges before the Indian mutual fund industry etc.

Kandavel (2011) investigated the factors which influenced the retail investors regarding preference
for investment in the mutual funds. He identified that investment behavior of retail investors do not
have a high level of consistency due to the influence of different purchase factors. He further
opined that negative perceptions about mutual funds can be overcome through proper induction of
investor awareness program. It was also recommended that proper segmentation and positioning of
products by mutual fund companies are of utmost importance.

Simran, Bimal and Ramandeep (2011) analyzed that the mutual fund investment in relation to
investor’s behaviour. Investor’s opinion and perception has been studied relating to various issues
like type of mutual funds scheme, objective behind investing in mutual fund, role of financial
advisers and brokers, sources of information, deficiencies in the services etc.

Vyas and Moonat (2012) studied the perception of mutual fund investors and revealed that most of
the respondents invested in equity options and they were aware of the risk associated with mutual
funds.

Rekha (2012) observed that even though there were encouraging factors contributing to the
expansion of the mutual fund industry, there were a few factors inhibiting its growth. The factors
have been endorsed to low levels of customer awareness and lack of knowledge about mutual
funds, limited innovation in product offerings, unwillingness to undertake even minimum risk,
inaccessibility in smaller towns and cities due to lack of efficient distribution network and abysmal
financial literacy.

Das (2012) identified the small investor’s perceptions on mutual funds and to analyze the factors
affecting small investors’ perception towards mutual fund. Small investors are now turning more
to mutual funds because of safety, liquidity, capital gains and transparency. The present
investigation outlined that mostly the small investors have positive approach towards investing in
mutual funds.

Vyas (2012) evaluated the forms of investment, mode of investment preferred by investors. He has
also examined the investor’s knowledge of risk and preference over switching of funds by using
Chi-Square test, Pearson’s correlation, mean and median. He has taken 363 investors for the
analysis of the data. He found that investors preferred investment in gold followed by bank
deposits, Life insurance schemes and post office schemes. Investors preferred lump sum
investment as compare to that of SIP. There has a significant relationship between occupation of
investors and mode of investment. Majority of the investors have the knowledge of risk factors in
mutual funds. Investors switched the investment only for the sake of profitability and investors
preferred existing schemes for investment and they preferred to invest in equity schemes.

Shraddha (2013) examined the impacts of various demographic fact or on investors’ attitude
towards mutual fund. Outcome of the study revealed that the mutual funds are dynamic investment
avenues for all age groups. He further remarked that mutual fund companies should focus on
effective marketing of their products and schemes and must also emphasis on portfolio
management.

Kumar & Goel (2014) stated that mutual fund in Indian context is a challengeable phenomenon. In
a short span of less than one decade it has changed the investment pattern of medium and small
investors in India. Consequently study of mutual fund has become an essential ingredient of any
business and finance program. Besides, the investors should know how a mutual fund operates and
what should they expect from them, if they really want to benefit from this new vehicle of
investment. Mutual fund helps small investors to participate in the securities market indirectly and
thus help in spreading and reducing risk. The mutual fund is a vehicle that enables millions of
small and large savers spread across the country to participate in and derive the benefits of the
capital market growth. It is an alternative vehicle of intermediation between the suppliers and the
users of investible resources. This vehicle is becoming increasingly popular in India due to higher
investors’ return, relatively lesser risk and cost. In fact it is a more efficient vehicle for creation of
wealth.

Sundar and Prakash (2014)examined the awareness among the investor community in choosing the
best mutual fund scheme as it conducted a comparative analysis of the mutual funds of three
AMCs. This study also showed that much information about mutual funds is not available
publicly. There is no information on fund styles or comprehensive league tables to allow the
comparison of mutual funds in the market.

Sehdev & Ranjan (2014) deals with preference and perception of investors towards mutual fund.
Its main objective is to study the factors responsible for the preference for mutual funds as an
investment option. The study also examines the investment objectives undertaken by investors
while investing in Financial Instruments and finds out the highly used/preferred source of
information for various investments options to invest in their most preferred Financial Instrument.
It is found that “Benefits & Transparency” is the major factor that is responsible for the investor's
preference for mutual funds. It is also observed from the study that most of the investors studied
under present study are moderate risk taker and are interested in Balanced Fund, through which
they can earn higher returns at low risk. People in India still think with the perspective of savings
rather than taking risk and investing in high ended equity markets. Even investors who invest in
mutual funds are unclear about how they function and how to manage them. So, proper
information must be provided to the investors in order to increase the loyalty among the investors
towards mutual funds.

Subramanya (2015) conducted that investor’s perception towards mutual fund, with consideration
of socio economic variables. To achieve objectives the primary data has been collected through
structured questionnaires. Secondary data has been collected from reports, books, journals,
magazines and other published data’s. For collecting the primary information judgment sampling
technique is used. The socio economic factors like age, gender, education, income and savings of
investors’ perception towards mutual fund is not encouraging but the age of investors’ and saving
habit of respondents is correlated.

Doditya (2015) reveals that the financial literacy among the new investors is vital to promote
mutual fund industry. Hence, the fund manager should create awareness among the investors
regarding mutual fund so that they can diversify saving of the household to their industry.

Joseph & Joseph (2015) reveals that the investors’ perception is dependent on the demographic
profile and assesses that the investor’s age and annual savings has direct impact on the investors’
choice of investment. The mutual fund industry today needs to develop products to fulfill customer
needs and help customers understand how its products cater to their needs. Retail investors are
now turning more to mutual funds because of convenience and transparency. The study summarize
that mostly the small investors have positive approach towards investing in mutual funds.

Ganapathi (2015) shows that there is a significant association between educational qualification of
the investors and the risk tolerance level and occupation of the investors and the risk tolerance
level. The results further indicate that there is no significant association between occupation of the
investors and the level of knowledge of mutual fund and monthly savings of the investors and the
level of knowledge of mutual fund. Therefore, the investors have to consider the prevailing rate of
risk free returns and to compare the fund returns with it. Based on this the selection of schemes and
the choice of investment avenues can be decided. Due to the fund manager’s poor risk bearing
capacity, timing skill, stock selection ability, and imperfect diversification the schemes had
suffered with low return. Hence to increase the fund return the concerned fund managers have to
improve all these skills.

Arathy et. al. (2015) stated that mutual funds provide a platform for a common investor to
participate in the Indian capital market with professional fund management irrespective of the
amount invested. The Indian mutual fund industry is growing rapidly and this is reflected in the
increase in assets under management of various fund houses. Mutual fund investment is less risky
than directly investing in stocks and is therefore a safer option for risk adverse investors. This
project aims at finding out the factors affecting investment decision on mutual funds and its
preference over retail investors. This project also aims at finding about the factors that prevent the
people to invest in mutual funds. The findings will help mutual fund companies to identify the
areas required for improvement and can also improve their marketing strategies. It will help the
MF companies to create new and innovative product according to the orientation of investors.

Mane (2016) concluded that mutual fund has emerged as a tool for ensuring one’s financial
wellbeing. As information and awareness is rising more and more people are enjoying the benefits
of investing in mutual funds. This research will introduce the customer perception with regard to
mutual funds that is the schemes they prefer, the plans they are opting, the reasons behind such
selections and also this research dealt with different investment options, which people prefer along
with and apart from mutual funds. Like postal saving schemes, recurring deposits, bonds, and
shares. The findings from this project is that most of the people are hesitant in going for new age
investments like mutual funds and prefer to avert risks by investing in less riskier investment
options like recurring deposits and so.

Hassan and Fazili (2019) every investor likes return and dislike risk, but risk is deeply rooted in all
financial markets. A positive relationship persists between risk and return. Mostly investors are
risk adverse, which means that if everything else is the same, they will select the investment that
offer greater certainty. The main objective of this study is to reveal the risk perception of mutual
fund investors of jammu and Kashmir, as risk perception of individual investors usually affects
their investment decision. The study considers some of the important factors for understanding the
risk perception of individual/ retail mutual fund investors of jammu and Kashmir. For measuring
the respondent'sperception, the study employs the Likert scale technique. The study employs the
factor analysis technique to identify the underlying dimensions or factors that explain the
correlations among a set of variables regarding the risk perception of mutual fund investors.
Keywords: mutual fund investors, risk perception, factor analysis, risk averse, marketrisk.

6.1 Theoretical framework

Mutual funds investors have different perception towards the mutual funds according to their
demographic factors as well as purpose of investment and responsible factors of investment
decision on mutual funds. Moreover in recent years, mutual funds have taken initiative to improve
investor's services. While seeing the mobilization of resources by the mutual fund industry in the
recent years, it appears that the investors have gained confidence in the industry. Hence an attempt
was made to evaluate the growth and performance of mutual fund industry in Nepal along with the
behavior of their returns and the risk associated with the funds. In fact, mutual funds have designed
an extensive range of mutual fund schemes to meet the diverse needs of a multitude of investors.
During the past two decades, the Nepalese mutual fund industry has witnessed major
transformation. It has grown several folds in terms of resource mobilization, number of mutual
fund schemes, assets under management, number of investors and the range of products and
services offered to the investors. With the entry of different private sector mutual funds the
industry has become far more competitive. The range of financial assets available to the house hold
sector competes with each other for the attraction of small investors. They entice them to invest
their funds by providing incentives and facilities in terms of flexible investment options and
withdrawal plan. Each instrument has its own return, risk, liquidity and safety profile. Mutual
Funds come into this category. Small investors cannot afford to own scripts of top companies to
maximize their returns. It is a vague situation that develops a question in the minds of investors
upon whom an average investor should rely or else, what should be the criteria to distinguish better
mutual funds from the others from the investment point of view. Hence, this study is needed to
identify the impact of demographic factors on the investment objectives of small active investors.
Joseph and Joseph (2015) identified 22 variables were classified under four heads as knowledge
awareness, regulation & transparency, convenience & flexibility and return & affordability based
on the facto loading. Kaur (2014) extracted overall 11 factors into the 3 significantly loaded on
factors which are first Mutual funds are transparent, second Mutual funds are transparent,
beneficial and provide entry into blue chip companies and last one is Utilization of Idle resources
to beat the uncertain future monetary benefits. Likewise Jambodekar (1996), Jalandhar,
Gobindgarh, & Mohali (2011), Kandavel (2011), Simran, Bimal and Ramandeep (2011), Vyas and
Moonat (2012), Rekha (2012), Das (2012), Vyas (2012), Shraddha (2013), Kumar & Goel (2014),
Sundar and Prakash (2014), Joseph and joseph (2015), Hassan & Fazili (2019), Arathy et. al.
(2015) and Mane (2016) conducted the study on investor's perception of mutual funds with the
respect to the demographic factors. The studies reveal that the buying intent of a mutual fund
product by a small investor can be due to multiple reasons depending upon customer’s knowledge
and awareness, regulation and transparency, convenience and flexibility and return and
affordability and investors’ perception is dependent on the demographic profile. So, the present
study derive theoretical framework as follows.

Demographic Factors

Age
Gender
Education background
Education level
Income level
Annual saving
Occupation

Investor's Perception toward

Mutual Funds

Perceptual Factors

Transparency & Efficiency

Knowledge & Awareness
Suitability & Regulation
Service & Return
Flexibility & Convenience
Diversification & Safety

7. Methodology
7.1 Research Design
The research design will be descriptive and analytical. Descriptive research design is describing
the state of affair, phenomena and situation as it exists at present. As per Sekaran and Bougie
 (2012) a descriptive study is undertaken in other to ascertain and be able to describe the
characteristics of variable of interest. And the analytical research design is used to test one or
more specific hypotheses, typically whether a significant between investors' perceptual factor and
demographic variables. Of course, data obtained in an analytic study can also be explored in a
descriptive mode, and data obtained in a descriptive study can be analyzed to test hypotheses. The
basic methodology used in the study was questionnairesurvey.

7.2 Population and Sample

The population of the study will be comprised of all MF investors residing in Kathmandu valley.
Investors were identified as an individual who had currently invested in mutual funds. This study
aimed to collect data from MF investors and the data is collected from the respondents who were
present at stock brokerages houses.
According to Watanabe & Prokhorov (1986) the minimum sample size necessary for unknown
population at 95% confidence level is 385. And I also prefer Watanabe & Prokhorov model for
research.

7.3 Source of data

The primary data will be collected using survey method. The primary data will be obtained
through questionnaire survey of the individual investors of the Primo Securities P.

7.4 Data Collection and processing procedure

The collection data will be classified, sorted, tabulated and analyzed using statistical tools like
descriptive survey, factor analysis, mean, standard deviation and correlation analysis, etc. The
collected data has been proceeding as per the need of the study. These data shall be grouped in
different tables and chats according to their nature.

7.5 Data Analysis tools and Techniques

The collected data will be classified, sorted, tabulated, and analyzed using statistical tools like
mean, standard deviation and correlation analysis, etc. to make the study meaningful. The
following techniques were used.
  Pie charts: in other to present the demographic profile of respondent.
 Factor analysis: in order to identify the key product attributes perceive by the mutual fund
investors, factor analysis has been used.
 Cronbach Alpha: to measure internal consistency (reliability) of the data Cronbach Alpha test has
been employed.
 T test and one way ANOVA test at 95% confidence interval: to test whether there is
significance different or not between the variables.
 Correlations: to know the correlation between two variables whether there is positive or
negative correlation.

8. Chapter Plan
The whole study has been divided into five major chapters. These are as follows:

Chapter 1: The first chapter ‘ Introduction ‘ deals with background, a brief overview of investors
perception of mutual fund, problem statement, objective of the study, rationale of the study and
limitation of the study.

Chapter 2: This chapter introduces the conceptual frameworks, review of literature and research
gap.

Chapter 3: This chapter introduces research methodology; it deals with research design, population
and sample, sources of data, data collection and processing procedures and data analysis tools.

Chapter 4: This chapter concern with data presentation and analysis. This is the core part of the
study. Collected data are presented in the tabular and other forms. Different statistical
presentations are used for analysis the collected data from different sources. Final results are
obtained after analysis of data by using different financial and statistical tools and techniques.

Chapter 5: This chapter is the last chapter of the study. It includes the summary of the study,
conclusion, finding and some recommendation.

References
Rekha, B U (2012), Growth and prospects of Indian mutual fund industry. International of
Research in commerce and management, 3(8), 171-175.

Kumar, J, Adhikary, A, & Jha, A. (2014) Mutual fund as an investment option: an analysis of
investors perception. The International Journal of Business &Management, 12(6) 275-282.

Mane, P. (2016). A study of investor’s perception toward mutual funds in the city of Aurangabad.
The SIJ Transaction on Industrial, Financial & Business Management, 4 (2) 49- 52.

Jambodekar, M. V. (1996). Marketing strategies of mutual funds- current practice and future
directions working paper. UTI- IIMB centre for capital markets education and research, Bangalore,
1 (4), 43-68.

Jalandhar, P., Gobindgarh,M, & Mohali, L. (2011). Investor’s awareness and perception about

mutual funds. International Jouranal of Multidisciplinary Research, 1(1) 14-29.

Joseph, S. M, & Joseph, MA. (2015). an analysis of retail investors perception toward mutual
funds. Asian Journal of Management Research, 1(1) 304-3017.

Arathy, B., Aswathy, A. N., &Pravitha, N. R. (2015). A study no factors affecting investment on
mutual funds and its preferences of retail investors. International Journal of scientific and Research
Publications, 5(8) 5- 27.

Das, S. (2011). Small investors perception on mutual funds in assam: an empirical analysis.
National monthly Refereed Journal of Research in Commerce & Management, 1(8), 16-36.

Vyas, R. (2012, July). Mutual fund investor’s behavior and perception in Indore City. Journal of
Arts, science & Commerce, 3(1), 67-75.

Vyas, R, & Moonat (2012). Perception and behavior of mutual fund investors in Indore, Madhya
Pradesh. Indian Journal of Finance, 6(8), 36-42.
Sundar, C., & Prakash, S. (2014). Quantitative analysis of Indian mutual funds: equity schemes.
Indian Journal of Finance, 8(10), 20-32.

Hassan, sharika and Asif Iqbal Fazili (2019). “Risk perception of mutual fund investors.
Foundations for Organizational Research & Education, 37(1), 60-70.
 Secction1

Questions to collectDemographic information (Name, Age, Gender, Income Level, Education

Level, Education background, Annual Saving, and Occupation)
Name: Date:
Education Background: Age:
Education Level: Occupation:
Gender: Income Level:
Annual Saving:

Section 2

Perceptual Factors of Mutual Fund investors for the study.

Scale of 1 to 5, where 1 Strongly Disagree, 2 Disagree, 3 Neutral, 4 Agree and 5 Strongly Agree
Perceptual factors of mutual fund investors

Statement 1 2 3 4 5
MF involves less transaction cost.
MFs provide a shield against risk loss than to direct investment in
shares.

Past performance of the scheme does not guarantee future performance

of scheme.

Public sector mutual fund players are more secure than private sector
players

MF units involve investment risk including the possible loss of

principal amount.
MFs are suitable for small investors.
MFs have failed to provide adequate return in investments to me.
The private sector mutual funds have benefitted the investors by
providing them more options and better services.

Mutual fund investment helps diversification and reduction of risk.

Mutual funds provide the service of experienced and skilled
professionals in fund management.

Good structural requirements of mutual fund ensure the investors

protection.

Fund managers keep track of investments and changes in market

conditions.
Day to day disclosure of NAV by the funds is really beneficial for me.
Flexibility in investment pattern attracts me.
Disclosure norms prescribed by SEBON is significant factors in
investor services.
Loads and taxes reduce the investor’s return that is earned by the
scheme.
Investment in mutual funds by MC’s are based on adequate research
and after ensuring prudent process.
SEBON and other controlling bodies are effective in regulating the
mutual fund market.
The mutual funds are quite wrongly promoted as an alternative to
equity investing and create very high expectations in the minds of the
investors.
One can invest or withdraw funds according to its necessity and
convenience.
Reputation of MC, is the important quality I look forward before
investing in a fund.
Mutual fund is an ideal option for individual investors who do not have
the time, knowledge & expertise in the stock market.