We monitor proprietary data on approx. 3000 funds that covers the whole gamut of Indian mutual funds.There are multiple fund types available for investments. One can invest in open-end mutual fund, exchange traded fund, closed-end fund, unit trust and fund of funds. Through these structure, you can get exposure to different asset classes like equity, bonds or commodities

Equity funds can invest in large capitalization, mid capitalization, small capitalization or multi capitalization stocks. Within those categories, a fund can specialize in a particular sector or industry such as Auto, Banks, Computers, Financials, Infrastrucutre, Media, Mining, Pharmaceuticals Telecommunications etc.

Bond funds invest in the Indian Central Government bonds called Government Securities (G-Secs) or the Indian State Government bonds or bonds issued by Public Sector Units (PSUs) or Public Financial Institutions (PFIs). They can also invest in Corporate bonds or Fixed Deposits issued by corporations. You can choose to invest along the spectrum of maturities ranging from ultra short term bond funds that invest in T-Bills, commerical paper etc. to longer maturities that invest in bonds or debentures..

Use mutual funds to achieve target asset allocation. Please remember that there are multiple mutual funds trying to achieve the same goal. All things being the same, buy a mutual fund that has:

Lower manager stated fee
Lower redemption fee
Lower holding amount
Lower initial investment amount
Lower subsequent investment amount
Older fund inception date i.e. longer performance history.
Older manager start date i.e. longer tenure of the portfolio manager
Lower volatility (lower 1-Yr, 3-Yr, 5-Yr annualized standard deviation)
Higher performance (higher 1-Yr, 3-Yr, 5-Yr annualized total returns)
Higher sharpe ratio (higher 1-Yr, 3-Yr, 5-Yr risk adjusted returns)
Lower maximum drawdown over recent 3 years i.e. lower loses from peak to trough
Higher recovery post maximum drawdown i.e. higher returns after the fund posted loses
Higher excess returns vs. the benchmark (1-Yr, 3-Yr, 5-Yr) i.e. the fund should be able to outperform the benchmark
Higher Dividend yield for stock funds or yield to maturity for bond funds
Lower portfolio turnover rate to avoid being hit by capital gains taxes.

Is the fund too big for it's stated class? It is difficult for a big fund to be nimble if the underlying asset class is not liquid. Compare total      Assets Under Management (AUM) with other available funds in the same asset class.
Is the fund manager making bets that are inconsistent with the stated goals? We look at R-square of the fund's 1-Yr, 3-Yr, 5-Yr total      returns regressed against the returns of the stated benchmark to get an idea of the style drift.
Is the fund suffering redemptions? Compare funds total asset under management today vs. 1 year ago.
Get an idea of the concentration of the fund by looking at the percentage allocation of the fund to top ten holdings.

Link to Mutual Funds listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). These mutual funds can be bought and sold through your demat account.