Many mutual fund managers and advisors ask conservative debt investors to stick to 'safer' short-term debt funds like overnight funds, liquid funds, short duration funds, among others. That may explain why most mutual fund investors are unaware about the existence of medium to long duration debt mutual funds.
According to Sebi norms, medium to long term funds have a mandate to invest in debt and money market instruments in such a way that the Macaulay's duration of the portfolio is four to seven years. Since these schemes invest in long-term debt instruments, they are considered risky. Even a minor upward movement in interest rates could make these schemes extremely risky and volatile. In simple terms, investors might lose money in such a scenario. That explains why advisors do not speak about these schemes often. Needless to say investors should be extremely cautious about these schemes in the current scenario.
Also Read | These 5 equity MFs deliver absolute returns of up to 150% in three years
Long term debt schemes are extremely sensitive to interest rate changes. They lose money when interest rates go up. When rates are falling, they benefit the most. According to investment experts, when one invests for a long period in debt instruments, the investor is forced to go through an interest cycle that would have an upward and downward phase. This means the investor might see a lot of volatility and sometimes losses when the interest rates start hardening or going up. Needless to say, the opposite scenario might benefit investors.
Investment advisors believe that many conservative investors would not be able to go through turbulent phases. Investors can avoid this only if they time their entry and exit into long-term debt funds. Many investors would find it difficult to predict the interest rate movements and getting in and out of the schemes. That explains the advice to stick to short term funds.
However, this doesn't mean that you should not be familiar with the medium and long duration category. Those with a risk appetite and long investment horizon, can invest in these schemes with the help of competent mutual fund advisors. The only basic requirement is that you should be aware of the extra risk in these schemes. Here are our recommended mid to long duration debt funds.
Also Read | Patanjali Food, JK Cement among top 10 midcap stocks sold by mutual funds in April
There are no changes in the list this month. All the schemes fared well. Please follow our monthly updates to keep track of your investments.
Best medium to long duration debt funds to invest in May 2024
- SBI Magnum Income Fund
- ICICI Prudential Bond Fund
- Aditya Birla Sun Life Income Fund
Methodology:
If you want to know about our methodology, you can take a look at it.
ETMutualFunds.com has employed the following parameters for shortlisting the debt mutual fund schemes.
1. Mean rolling returns: Rolled daily for the last three years.
2. Consistency in the last three years: Hurst Exponent, H is used for computing the consistency of a fund. The H exponent is a measure of randomness of NAV series of a fund. Funds with high H tend to exhibit low volatility compared to funds with low H.
i)When H = 0.5, the series of returns is said to be a geometric Brownian time series. This type of time series is difficult to forecast.
ii)When H <0.5, the series is said to be mean reverting.
iii)When H>0.5, the series is said to be persistent. The larger the value of H, the stronger is the trend of the series
3. Downside risk: We have considered only the negative returns given by the mutual fund scheme for this measure.
X =Returns below zero
Y = Sum of all squares of X
Z = Y/number of days taken for computing the ratio
Downside risk = Square root of Z
4. Outperformance: Fund Return – Benchmark return. Rolling returns rolled daily is used for computing the return of the fund and the benchmark and subsequently the Active return of the fund.
Asset size: For debt funds, the threshold asset size is Rs 50 crore
(Disclaimer: past performance is no guarantee for future performance.)
