Equity schemes: also commonly called Growth Schemes, have the potential to deliver superior returns over the long term. They are ideal for investors who have a long-term investment horizon, but are hence not suitable for investors seeking regular income or needing to use their investments in the short-term, since these schemes are exposed to fluctuations in value especially in the short term. Tata Pure Equity Fund and Tata Index Fund are examples of equity schemes. 

»» Index schemes- An Index is to used as a measure of the performance of the market as a whole. Such schemes are launched and managed for investors interested in investing in the market in general rather than investing in any specific fund. Eg, Tata Index Fund.

»» Tax saving fund- Tata Tax Saving Fund is one such fund that offers tax rebate. Subscriptions to the Units not exceeding Rs.10, 000 would be eligible to a deduction, from income tax, of an amount equal to 20% of the amount subscribed. Tata Tax Saving Fund is one such fund.

»» Debt schemes: Such schemes, also known as income schemes, invest in debt securities such as corporate bonds, debentures and government securities with medium and long term maturities, tend to be more stable compared with equity schemes, and are ideal for conservative investors or those who are not in a position to take higher risks. Eg, Tata Income Fund.

»» Hybrid schemes- Tata Balanced Fund and Tata Young Citizen's Fund are examples of hybrid schemes which invest in both equities as well as debt, by which it seeks to attain the objective of income and moderate capital appreciation, ideal for investors with conservative, long term orientation.

HDFC MUTUAL FUND: HDFC Mutual Fund was setup on June 30, 2000. The Trustee Company of HDFC Mutual Fund is HDFC Trustee Company Limited and AMC is HDFC Asset Management Company Limited, incorporated with the SEBI on December 10, 1999. The products of HDFC Mutual Fund are:
1. HDFC equity funds- HDFC Equity Fund (HEF) is among the leading diversified equity funds in the country today. The fund has an impressive track record and its portfolio is always a subject of interest within the investing community. HEF pursues an aggressive investment strategy. The investment objective of the Scheme is to achieve capital appreciation.
2. HDFC balanced fund- The primary objective of the Scheme is to generate capital appreciation along with current income from a combined portfolio of equity and equity related and debt and money market instruments. But, barring one or two, very few balanced funds have done well. This is not to suggest that this particular fund may not do well. As such, an investment in the HDFC Balanced Fund can be avoided for the present.
3. HDFC debt fund- Examples of HDFC mutual fund includes HDFC income and HDFC liquid fund. The primary objective of the HDFC income scheme is to optimize returns while maintaining a balance of safety, yield and liquidity, offers multiple dividend options, including a monthly option. It offers two investment plans, short-term and long-term. The former comes with monthly and quarterly dividend choices, while the latter comes with a half-year dividend and a growth option. The investment objective of HDFC liquid fund is to enhance income consistent with a high level of liquidity, through a judicious portfolio mix comprising of money market and debt instruments. The fund is suitable for those wanting to enhance returns from short-term surplus money available in their savings bank account.

Apart from this it also provides the following value added services: 

· SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) 
· STP (Systematic Transfer Plan) 
· SWAP (Systematic Withdrawal Advantage Plan

ICICI MUTUAL FUND: The mutual fund of ICICI is a joint venture with Prudential Plc. of America, one of the largest life insurance companies in the US of A. Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund was setup on 13th of October, 1993 with two sponsorers, Prudential Plc. and ICICI Ltd. Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund is the first private sector mutual fund in India to cross Rs. 10,000 crore mark in assets. Product of ICICI fund includes-
· Debt fund: IT is an open-ended scheme. Its investment objective is to seek to generate income through investments in domestic or foreign debt securities, along with domestic/foreign money market securities.

· Equity fund: The objective is to generate returns through a combination of dividend income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in a well-diversified portfolio of value stocks.
· Balanced fund: The Prudential ICICI Balanced Fund aims to provide current income and long term capital growth. It’s NAV appears to hold potential for capital appreciation. It appears to be suitable only to investors with a fair appetite for risk. If one seeks to generate long-term capital appreciation and current income, an investment in the balanced fund would be ideal. It gives an exposure to the stock market without the entire risk of the stock market.

HSBC MUTUAL FUND: HSBC Mutual Fund was setup on May 27, 2002 with HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private Limited as the sponsor. The product of HSBC mutual fund includes:

»»HSBC equity fund (HEF): The fund has shown consistent performance, which has led to increasing inflows into the fund. HEF aims to generate long term capital appreciation by predominantly investing in a diversified range of large and mid-sized companies. This fund is suitable for investors who are looking for long term growth.
»» HSBC India opportunities fund ( HIF): It is an open ended equity scheme seeking long term capital growth through investments across all markets capitalizations, i.e. complete basket of large cap, mid-cap or small cap stocks. The scheme has the potential to create wealth for the investor over the long-term. The investment style is to seek aggressive growth by focusing on mid cap companies in addition to investment in large cap stocks.
»» HSBC cash fund (HCF): It aims to provide reasonable returns, commensurate with low risks while providing high level of liquidity by investing in money market and short term debt market instruments. It therefore generates income with minimal exposure to risk and preserve capital.
»» HSBC MIP( HMIP): HMIP is ideally suited for individuals or institutions, who have a need for regular income, and are willing to take marginal exposure to equities to augment their returns over time. It is an open-ended income scheme, which has the primary objective to invest in debt and money market instruments, and has the secondary objective to seek capital appreciation by investing in equity and equity related instruments.
»» HSBC floating rate fund (HFRF): The HFRF is an open-ended income scheme that seeks to generate reasonable returns with commensurate risk, from a portfolio comprised of floating rate debt instruments and fixed rate debt instruments, swapped for floating rate returns. The scheme may also invest in debt and money market instruments. The HFRF is available both in long-term and short-term plans.

STATE BANK OF INDIA (SBI) MUTUAL FUND: SBI Mutual Fund is a fully owned subsidiary of the State Bank of India. SBI Mutual Fund (SBI MF) is one of the largest mutual funds in the country with an investor base of over 2 million. Schemes of the Mutual fund have emerged as the preferred investment for millions of investors. The products include-

·SBI equity scheme: They invest predominantly in the stock markets and endeavors to provide the investors with the benefit of higher returns. Equity funds may be-
a) Diversified Equity Funds invest in various stocks across different sectors
b) Sectoral funds which are specialized Equity Funds restrict their investments only to shares of a particular sector
c) Index Funds invest passively only in the stocks of a particular index.
·SBI debt scheme: Debt Funds invest only in debt instruments such as Corporate Bonds, Government Securities and Money Market instruments. They are safer than equity funds. Such investments are advisable for the risk-averse investor and as a part of the investment portfolio for other investors.
·SBI balanced scheme: It invests in a mixture of equity and debt investments. They provide a good investment opportunity to investors who do not wish to be completely exposed to equity markets, but is looking for higher returns than those provided by debt funds.

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