Best Edelweiss Debt Mutual Funds

Edelweiss Group was founded in 1993, while its investment management wing, Edelweiss Mutual Fund, saw its inception in August 2007. Edelweiss Mutual Fund’s product catalogue encompasses the entire risk spectrum. Besides offering wealth management and growth solutions, Edelweiss also provides a knowledge platform to help investors stay updated.

Edelweiss’s QAAUM for the quarter ending 31 March of 2021 stood at Rs.4689.31 crore. The company has a wide array of investment options available to help investors choose according to their propensity to handle financial risks and market conditions. Edelweiss offers more than 30 investment schemes, including the best Edelweiss debt mutual funds.

Investments can seem increasingly complicated as it is difficult to predict future market conditions. Therefore, knowing the intricacies of debt mutual funds before investing is imperative for investors.

Debts funds primarily focus on debt instruments like government bonds, corporate bonds, treasury bills, debentures, commercial papers, etc.  These funds offer lower returns than equity or hybrid mutual funds but higher than interest from FD/RD. However, the best Edelweiss debt mutual funds and other funds in a similar category provide more stability on returns compared to their higher risk counterparts. This is mainly because these funds are not as vulnerable to market risks. 

But, debt funds are susceptible to interest rate, credit, and inflation risks premised on the underlying instruments’ maturity periods or their issuer. Fixed-income instruments, in general, get impacted by interest rate fluctuations. When interest rates dip, old debt securities gain value and vice versa. Resultantly, debt funds with investment in such securities edge lower in value. Credit risk refers to the probability of an issuer not making good repayments, which can significantly impact such securities’ value. 

Taxability

Classification of different types of debt funds, including gilt funds, liquid funds, low-duration funds, credit risk funds, etc., are done depending on the issuer or scheme period. Further, the tax applicable to a debt fund’s capital gains also depends on the duration of a scheme.

Long-term Capital Gains Tax: Gains from debt MFs after three years from the date of purchase come under long-term capital gains (LTCG). Investors are privy to indexation benefits, but LTCG is taxed at 20% plus cess and surcharges.

Short-term Capital Gains Tax: Short-term capital gains from the best Edelweiss debt mutual funds are added to an investor’s taxable income and taxed accordingly.

Factors to Consider Before Investing

Besides knowing the taxation guidelines, investors also need to consider various factors before investing in MFs to minimise investment risks. These include:

Investment goal: It is paramount to identify investment goals and expectations before investing in any of the top Edelweiss debt mutual funds. Individuals looking for higher returns may not find debt mutual funds suitable, whereas individuals seeking stability might be more benefitted from it. Therefore, it is imperative to choose accordingly.

Risk appetite: Although lower than equity or hybrid funds, even the best Edelweiss debt mutual funds 2022 involve risk. These can be in the form of credit, inflation, interest rate risks, etc. Hence, investors may want to analyse their risk appetite, i.e. ability to handle unexpected losses before finalising.

Maturity period: The best Edelweiss debt mutual funds are susceptible to changing interest rates. A debt fund comprising securities with a longer maturity period will perform better in a falling interest rate scenario. In the case of a rising interest rate regime, debts funds with a larger concentration of their investments in short-term debt instruments will perform better.

Credit risk of its portfolio entries: Credit rating of the fixed income instruments is also a key aspect if investors are looking to minimise investment risks. The ratings are based on the credibility of the underlying instruments’ issuers. An AAA-rated issuer has lower chances of defaulting than a C-rated issuer. Thus, checking these before investing can help investors make an informed decision. 

Exit load: Exit load refers to the penalty imposed by AMCs on investors who choose to redeem their MF units before a specified scheme period. This is to prevent investors from divesting early. However, exit loads of the top Edelweiss debt mutual funds vary depending on the scheme’s duration, type of debt scheme, etc. Therefore, investors may want to go through the scheme details before investing.

Assets under management: AUM or Assets Under Management refers to the total fund corpus of a scheme. Higher AUM allows debt funds to spread the fixed expenses of a scheme thinly across its investors. 

Expense ratio: AMCs levy an annual fee on its investors to meet the various fund charges, including fund manager salaries, marketing, advertising, allocation expenses, etc. This charge varies according to AMC requirements and impacts the take-home returns of investors. Hence, it is wise to compare the expense ratios of the best Edelweiss debt mutual funds and decide accordingly.

Past performance of funds: Knowing about the past performance of MFs give an understanding of the fund’s ability to generate returns despite changing market conditions. It is difficult to emulate past performances by even the best Edelweiss debt mutual funds 2022 due to market behaviour and changes. However, past performance does help gauge the success or track record of an MF scheme’s performance and thus an important factor to consider before investing.

Direct or regular plan: Investors can buy units of regular plans via third-party agents like brokers. Direct plans let people buy units directly from an AMC. The latter, as a result, reports a lower expense ratio, as there are no third-party expenses.

Choose investment mode: Investors can either choose to invest via SIP (systematic investment plan), which involves periodic investments. Or else, they can opt to invest in a lump sum, which requires investors to deposit only once.