Short, plain-language reference notes - not investment or tax advice, and not a recommendation of any scheme.
The fund categories SEBI defines, the six-tier risk-o-meter every scheme discloses, and the everyday terms that come up most. Reference material, not investment advice or a recommendation of any scheme.
A handful of entries below name a specific scheme (e.g. HDFC Flexi Cap Fund, SBI ELSS Tax Saver Fund) purely to illustrate the category - not as a recommendation, endorsement, or a suggestion that it’s the best or only example of its kind. Mannheim Capital may or may not distribute the schemes named here. Confirm current details against the scheme’s own factsheet and SID before acting.
Invests mainly in India's 100 largest listed companies by market value. The most stable, lowest-volatility end of the equity spectrum.
Invests in companies ranked 101st–250th by market value - smaller, faster-growing, and more volatile than large caps.
Invests in companies ranked 251st and below. The highest-growth-potential, highest-volatility equity category.
Free to invest across large, mid, and small caps in any proportion, shifting as the manager sees opportunity. - for example, HDFC Flexi Cap Fund.
Similar to Flexi Cap, but with mandated minimum allocations to each of large, mid, and small cap (at least 25% each). - for example, Nippon India Multi Cap Fund.
Equity Linked Savings Scheme - a tax-saving equity fund with a mandatory 3-year lock-in, eligible for deduction under Section 80C. - for example, SBI ELSS Tax Saver Fund.
Concentrated in a single sector (e.g. banking, IT) or theme (e.g. infrastructure) - higher risk from the lack of diversification.
Holds a concentrated portfolio of up to 30 stocks, betting on fewer, higher-conviction picks.
Seeks companies the manager believes are undervalued relative to their fundamentals.
Invests in instruments maturing within 91 days. The lowest-risk debt category, often used to park short-term cash. - for example, Parag Parikh Liquid Fund.
Holds bonds with average maturities of a few months to a few years, balancing yield against interest-rate sensitivity. - for example, Axis Short Term Fund.
Invests at least 80% in the highest-rated corporate bonds (AA+ and above).
Invests mainly in debt issued by banks, public sector undertakings, and public financial institutions.
Invests only in government securities - no credit risk, but sensitive to interest-rate movements.
Invests in lower-rated corporate bonds for higher yield, accepting meaningfully more default risk.
The manager actively shifts the portfolio's maturity profile based on the interest-rate outlook.
A mix of roughly 65–80% equity and the rest debt - meaningful growth exposure with some cushioning.
A mix of roughly 10–25% equity and the rest debt - income-oriented, with limited growth exposure.
Also called Dynamic Asset Allocation - shifts the equity-debt mix based on market valuation, rather than holding a fixed ratio. - for example, DSP Dynamic Asset Allocation Fund.
Invests across at least three asset classes - typically equity, debt, and gold - in a single fund. - for example, ICICI Prudential Multi-Asset Fund.
Profits from short-term price differences between a stock's cash and futures markets, taxed like an equity fund but with lower volatility.
Passively tracks a market index (e.g. Nifty 50) rather than trying to beat it, at a lower cost. - for example, ICICI Prudential Nifty 50 Index Fund.
Exchange-Traded Fund - an index fund that trades on the stock exchange like a share, bought and sold through a demat account.
Invests in units of other mutual funds rather than directly in securities.
Invests in gold or gold-backed instruments, offering exposure to the metal without holding it physically.
The same categories above, regrouped by their typical risk-o-meter tier - broader at the base, where risk is lowest, narrower toward the tip, where both risk and (typically) allocation shrink.
No single category sits on this curve - it's what combining categories with different risk-return profiles can do for a portfolio as a whole. Everything below the curve is taking on risk without being paid for it; the curve is the best return available at each level of risk.
Every scheme discloses a risk level on a standard six-tier scale, reviewed and, if needed, updated monthly by the fund house. The "Typical" badges elsewhere on this page point back to this scale - a specific scheme's own riskometer is always the authoritative figure.
Suited to investors unwilling to accept any meaningful loss of capital - typically overnight and liquid funds.
A small step up in risk, typically short-duration and conservative hybrid funds.
Balanced exposure to growth and stability, typically corporate bond and balanced hybrid funds.
Meaningful growth exposure with corresponding volatility, typically aggressive hybrid and large-cap funds.
Higher growth potential with higher volatility, typically flexi-cap, mid-cap, and sectoral funds.
The highest growth potential and the highest volatility, typically small-cap and thematic/sectoral funds.
Bought directly from the fund house, with no distributor commission built into the expense ratio - a lower expense ratio, and marginally higher long-term returns, than the same scheme's Regular Plan.
Bought through a distributor, with trail commission built into the expense ratio. This is how Mannheim Capital is compensated - embedded in the scheme's own cost structure, not billed separately.
Net Asset Value - the per-unit price of a fund, calculated once each business day from its underlying holdings.
Also called TER (Total Expense Ratio) - the annual fee charged by the fund, as a percentage of assets, covering management, distribution, and operating costs.
A fee charged if units are redeemed before a specified holding period, meant to discourage short-term trading.
Assets Under Management - the total market value of all the money a fund currently manages.
Compound Annual Growth Rate - the smoothed annual rate of return over a period, useful for comparing lump-sum investments across different timeframes.
Extended Internal Rate of Return - like CAGR, but accounts for irregular cash flows. The standard way to measure returns on a SIP, where money goes in at different times.
A Systematic Investment Plan invests a fixed amount at regular intervals; a Systematic Transfer Plan moves money between two funds on a schedule; a Systematic Withdrawal Plan redeems a fixed amount at regular intervals. A SIP's main benefit is rupee-cost averaging - the same amount buys more units when prices are down and fewer when they're up, smoothing your average cost without needing to time entries. It doesn't guarantee profit or protect against loss in a falling market; it's a disciplined method of investing, not a return enhancer.
The rate at which prices rise over time, eroding the purchasing power of money left uninvested. Cash and fixed deposits sitting idle quietly lose ground to it every year - the baseline reason to invest at all, before any question of which fund or strategy.
A minimum holding period during which units cannot be redeemed - mandatory for ELSS (3 years), optional (with a lower expense ratio) on some other schemes.
The index a fund's performance is measured against - e.g. a large-cap fund is typically benchmarked to the Nifty 100 or a comparable index.