That is the second article in a collection of articles on simplifying debt mutual fund traders. The primary half could be learn at “Half 1 – Debt Mutual Funds Fundamentals“.

I’ve already given you a primary understanding of once we truly should search for debt mutual funds. On this submit, I’ll clarify to you sure benefits ONLY. Now we have to focus on DISADVANTAGES in a giant approach. Therefore, I’ll cowl every drawback in a single separate submit.
Benefits of Debt Mutual Funds
# Liquidity – You’ll be able to make investments and withdraw at any level of time (topic to exit load and taxation). Therefore, they provide larger liquidity for the traders.
# Diversification – As a substitute of holding a single bond, debt mutual funds often maintain a bunch of bonds of various maturities or of the identical maturities based mostly on the fund mandate. Therefore, you might be lowering the danger of exposing your self to a single issuer.
# Taxation – Although submit 1st April 2023, the taxation of debt mutual funds is similar like your Financial institution FDs (taxed as per your tax slab), the benefits debt mutual fund provides are – no TDS and suspending your taxation as much as your withdrawal. Due to these two options, I nonetheless recommend you debt mutual funds over Financial institution FDs (particularly in case your targets are greater than three years or so).
I’ve written an in depth submit on Debt Mutual Fund taxation at “Debt Mutual Funds Taxation from 1st April 2023“.
What do you imply by BOND?
As I’ve talked about above, quite than instantly leaping over to itemizing the disadvantages of debt mutual funds in a single submit, I want to cowl every drawback in a single submit. Therefore, to maneuver additional, on this submit, I’ll clarify to you the idea of BONDS.
Understanding the idea of BONDS may be very a lot essential for all debt mutual fund traders as all of those debt mutual funds spend money on bonds or FDs.
For a second, overlook in regards to the phrase BOND. Allow us to focus on the Financial institution Fastened Deposits. Everyone knows that banks want cash to run their lending enterprise. Therefore, they provide mounted deposits of varied tenures to traders. Accordingly, based mostly on the suitability of the time horizon and rates of interest, all of us make investments.
If the FD fee is round 7% for a tenure of 5 Yrs, then it’s an obligation of a financial institution to provide you curiosity of seven% on a yearly foundation and at maturity return you again the principal you’ve invested.
What banks will do in return is that they lend the cash collected by you to the debtors at say 7.5%. This 0.5% is a revenue margin (together with the bills of managing borrowing and lending exercise).
Have you ever ever observed why completely different banks have completely different charges of curiosity both on FDs or on their lending charges? SBI Financial institution could give you the least fee of FD. Nevertheless, the native cooperative financial institution could also be providing you the very best fee of FD.
It’s all based mostly on how a lot reliable the financial institution is and based mostly on how a lot robust it’s monetary scenario is. If SBI will get the cash from FD traders at 6.5%, then SBI financial institution’s lending fee is obliviously aggressive for the debtors.
For co-operative banks, as they aren’t secure like SBI Financial institution, to draw cash from depositors, they provide increased FD charges. As for the cooperative financial institution, the price of borrowing elevated, they lend at the next fee.
For the borrower of the cooperative financial institution, the price of the mortgage is excessive. Nevertheless, few debtors should method cooperative banks as they could not get the mortgage from SBI on account of their low credit standing.
Therefore, within the case of SBI Financial institution, the depositors search for security and therefore sacrificed the returns. The financial institution by lending to excessive credit standing people (at decrease costs), protects the depositor’s temper.
However within the case of cooperative banks, as depositors take dangers, they’re provided increased charges. Cooperative banks clearly should lend cash at the next fee. Who will borrow at a excessive fee? Clearly, the one who not received a mortgage from SBI on account of his low credit standing.
In easy phrases, SBI created secure deposit and mortgage portfolios of borrowing and lending. Nevertheless, cooperative banks created dangerous deposit and mortgage portfolios of borrowing and lending.
Lastly, now, substitute your mindset from FD to Bond. Bonds additionally work in the same solution to Financial institution FDs. The one distinction is that bonds commerce (which I’ll clarify to you in my subsequent submit). Bonds could also be of varied classes based mostly on the issuer. They could be Central Authorities Bonds, State Authorities Bonds, PSU Bonds, Financial institution Bonds, Company Bonds and and so on.
Let me provide you with an instance. Just like the financial institution FD instance, if an organization wants cash to run its enterprise, it has two choices. A technique is both to borrow from a financial institution or situation a bond.
Borrowing cash from banks comes with loads of restrictions like how the cash is for use and for what function. Therefore, to avail of the liberty of utilization, corporates borrow cash by way of bonds.
Bond means like a Financial institution FD of varied tenures. If an organization is providing you a Bond of Rs.100, then its worth is talked about as face worth. You the traders have to take a position Rs.100 to purchase this bond. On this bond, the corporate could say that we give you 7% curiosity for the subsequent 10 years. Such curiosity within the bond market known as a coupon. Ignore these technical phrases of face worth and coupon. In your simplicity, simply assume {that a} bond is nothing a form of FD issued by corporates, authorities, or PSUs. At maturity, you’ll get again the invested quantity. Few bonds could give you that they pay curiosity and principal at maturity and few could say they’ll pay curiosity on a yearly foundation. It will depend on the character and options of the bond.
Now within the subsequent submit, I’ll clarify to you what IF your financial institution FDs have an choice to purchase and promote within the secondary market like shares. Understanding this characteristic of bonds may be very a lot essential for debt mutual fund traders. Therefore, I’ll cowl this in my subsequent submit.
I hope I’ve cleared the idea of bond fundamentals.