Performance of Mutual Funds in India : An Empirical Study

While the global mutual fund industry continues to grow by leaps and bounds, the research on mutual funds has been confined to only a few developed markets, with USA always getting a special attention. Although emerging markets such as India have attracted the attention of investors all over the world, they have remained devoid of much systematic research, especially in the area of mutual funds. In an effort to plug this gap, the present study sought to check the performance of mutual funds operation in India. In this regard, quarterly returns performance of all the equity-diversified mutual funds during the period from January 2002 to December 2006 was tested. Analysis was carried out with the help of Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and Fama-French Model. Amidst contrasting findings from the application of the two models, the study calls for further research and insights into the interplay between the performance determinant factor portfolios and their effect on mutual fund returns.