Ways to Invest in Mutual Funds

If you have been working for a few years in India, chances are quite high that you have heard of investing in mutual funds many times. In that past, most of these kinds of investments were driven through agents. It’s a lot different now as you would get to know every bit of information about these investments online and that surely makes your decision easier.  If you have been thinking about making an investment, here are a few simple methods:

1.       Invest via an AMC: You can invest into a mutual fund by approaching the mutual fund companies directly. Each of the companies provide online facilities to invest from the second investment onwards and thus are able to complete your transaction easily. Sounds good? Well almost. In this process, you have to fill the first form at the office of the AMC, so apart from the first investment; the rest can be done on the internet. The tough end of this deal is if you want to participate in 3-4 different funds, that means you have go to each of the offices and have the first form filled and submitted. So, this investment makes sense only when you are going to invest a big amount of money and over a long period of time too. Plus, you do not really need a demat account for this.

2.       Use your Demat account: The most common and recommended methods would be to use your demat account. You can look through all the different mutual funds and easily make your investments. All it would take is a few clicks on your mouse, to choose to invest in the fund of your choice. The only catch would be the charges you have to pay the demat medium you use. The biggest advantage though is that you can have access to all your transactions and details from one place alone. How easy is that?

3.       Use the fund directly: Certain funds allow you to purchase mutual funds online, that means not having to go through a broker or source at all. You would have all the possible information you need about the mutual fund along with the performance of the fund over the years. It is a very easy solution no doubt and is a sure option on the long term. You would have lesser commissions to pay and thus is a great idea if you are planning to invest on the long term. 

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How do you redeem a mutual fund scheme & what is a transaction slip?

Most of us invest in mutual funds today and the odd question pertaining redemption of these mutual funds does crop up frequently. The procedure to claim these mutual funds is always not clear and does need a bit of research. If you have purchased the fund from an offline source or an AMC, you would have to go the company office and get the redemption form filled out. This would be available at branches of the insurance company and has to be done offline only.

It is possible to get multiple mutual fund redemptions at once too, so a good idea would be to save multiple trips and make it at one go. It is convenient and easy to fill. Here are the list of information points you need

• -          Name
• -          Folio number (this is to extremely important to get right)
• -          Volume of units
• -          Unites to be redeemed

Once this is submitted to the executive at the office, it would be sent for processing. You would have to submit the bank details for transfer of funds too. You can use the same account that was used at the time of buying for a quicker transaction. The transfer of mutual fund dividend is quite quick to say the least; you can get the amount transferred into your bank within 2-3 working days.

The redemption transaction slip is used to make a redemption claim and is available online too; so make a quick print and fill out your details before you go to claim your dividends.

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