Mutual Fund Investments: A Study of Investors' Behaviour

India has a savings rate of 37 per cent which is much higher than that of developed nations. Equities, Debt instruments, Mutual Funds, Post office Savings, Bank Deposits, Gold, Real Estate etc. are the various alternatives where investors can invest. However, the recent statistics has revealed growing popularity of Mutual Funds as an investment alternative which can yield higher returns. Thus, the present research paper attempts to study the investment behaviour of Mutual fund investors. The study is based on primary data collected from 200 mutual fund investors in Punjab with the help of a pre-tested questionnaire. The various aspects studied include importance attached to various factors by the respondent while making mutual funds investments, Nature-wise, Sector-wise and Scheme-wise investment pattern of mutual fund investors, respondents' timing of investments, average time horizon of investments and respondents' criteria to measure the performance of mutual funds. The findings are expected to be useful to the various Mutual funds operating in this competitive market.