What is a Mutual Fund ?

A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors and invests it in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities. The mutual fund will have a fund manager that trades the pooled money on a regular basis. The net proceeds or losses are then typically distributed to the investors annually.

A mutual fund brings together a group of people and invests their money in stocks, bonds, and other securities.The advantages of mutuals are professional management, diversification, economies of scale, simplicity and liquidity.The disadvantages of mutuals are high costs, over-diversification, possible tax consequences, and the inability of management to guarantee a superior return.

A mutual fund brings together a group of people and invests their money in stocks, bonds, and other securities.The advantages of mutuals are professional management, diversification, economies of scale, simplicity and liquidity.The disadvantages of mutuals are high costs, over-diversification, possible tax consequences, and the inability of management to guarantee a superior return.There are many, many types of mutual funds. You can classify funds based on asset class, investing strategy, region, etc.

Mutual funds have lots of costs.Costs can be broken down into ongoing fees (represented by the expense ratio) and transaction fees (loads).The biggest problems with mutual funds are their costs and fees.Mutual funds are easy to buy and sell. You can either buy them directly from the fund company or through a third party.Mutual fund ads can be very deceiving.

Each fund has a predetermined investment objective that tailors the fund's assets, regions of investments and investment strategies. At the fundamental level, there are three varieties of mutual funds:
1) Equity funds (stocks)
2) Fixed-income funds (bonds)
3) Money market funds

Average Annual Return
US mutual funds use SEC form N-1A to report the average annual compounded rates of return for 1-year, 5-year and 10-year periods as the "average annual total return" for each fund. The following formula is used:

P(1+T)n = ERV
Where:
P = a hypothetical initial payment of $1,000.
T = average annual total return.
n = number of years.
ERV = ending redeemable value of a hypothetical $1,000 payment made at the beginning of the 1-, 5-, or 10-year periods at the end of the 1-, 5-, or 10-year periods (or fractional portion).

The Value of Your Fund
Net asset value (NAV), which is a fund's assets minus liabilities, is the value of a mutual fund. NAV per share is the value of one share in the mutual fund, and it is the number that is quoted in newspapers. You can basically just think of NAV per share as the price of a mutual fund. It fluctuates everyday as fund holdings and shares outstanding change. When you buy shares, you pay the current NAV per share plus any sales front-end load. When you sell your shares, the fund will pay you NAV less any back-end load.

ref:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_fund

http://www.investopedia.com/university/mutualfunds/

Indian Mutual Funds Magazine - http://www.mutualfundsindia.com/

NRI Investments in India - http://www.nriinvestindia.com/

Indian Mutual Funds(Economic Times) - http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Personal-Finance/Mutual-Funds/articlelist/359241701.cms

Indian Mutual Funds(Outlook Money) -http://www.outlookmoney.com/scripts/mfd001c1.asp

Indian Mutual Funds(Business Week) - http://bx.businessweek.com/indian-mutual-funds/

SBI Mutual Funds - http://www.sbimf.com/

How to invest in SBI Mutual Funds - http://www.ehow.com/how_2003650_sbi-mutual-funds.html

Mutual Funds Advice (cnn.com) - http://money.cnn.com/pf/funds/

Indian Markets - http://valueresearchonline.com/