Awareness and Knowledge of Mutual Fund among the Investors with Special Reference to Chennai – A Critical Study

-In this study, it is discussed about the mutual fund knowledge and awareness among the investors with a special reference to Chennai city. It is difficult to selective group the investors in a sample as such the population of Chennai city is large in number. Compared to earlier days the investment options are changing from risk free to riskier investments. The analyses also shows that compared to earlier days the growth of investments in the stock market increased to significant level compared to other conventional investments which are of lesser risks and lower returns. The ignorance of investors about mutual fund coupled with aggressive selling by promising higher returns to the investors have resulted into loss of investors’ confidence due to inability to provide higher return. This necessitates the Asset Management Companies (AMCs) to understand the fund/scheme selection/switching behaviour of the investors to design suitable products to meet the changing financial needs of the investors. With this background a survey was conducted among 250 Mutual Fund Investors in Chennai to study the factors influencing the fund/scheme selection by the Investors. For analyzing the impact of knowledge and awareness of mutual fund done through SPSS, one way ANOVA analysis has been made. Hence, this study is made to evaluate the knowledge, general and variable effects about the investors’ perception and performance of investment avenues.