MAM
Starting mutual fund investments: Smart strategies every first-time investor should know
Did you know that in July 2025, the mutual fund industry reached the ₹75.35 lakh crore mark for the first time? This remarkable rise shows how mutual funds continue to attract investors through benefits such as professional management, diversification, liquidity, affordability via Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs), and the potential for long-term wealth creation.
For beginners, however, reaping these benefits requires careful planning. To build confidence and avoid common errors, it is important to adopt smart strategies. Let’s take a look at a few of them.
1. Define your goals and time horizon
Before you invest a single rupee, you must set financial goals, which could include:
• Child’s education
• Vehicle purchase
• House downpayment
• Retirement
For long-term goals (five to seven years or more), equity funds or hybrid funds could be suitable as they offer higher growth potential. For shorter-term goals, many prefer debt funds, as they carry lower risk. Clarity of purpose ensures the right match between fund type and investment duration.
2. Understand your risk appetite
Every mutual fund carries risk, but the type and level differ. For example:
• Equity funds can show sharp short-term fluctuations but offer strong potential for long-term wealth creation.
• Debt funds react to interest rate changes and credit quality, offering steadier returns but lower growth.
• Hybrid funds combine multiple asset classes to balance risk and returns.
As a first-time investor, it makes sense to match your financial goals and risk tolerance with the right category. Chasing only high returns often leads to panic during downturns. A clear understanding of risk helps you stay calm and make steady, thoughtful decisions.
3. Invest in SIPs
SIPs enable you to put a fixed amount into mutual funds at regular intervals, usually monthly. This method removes the pressure of timing the market and builds discipline by treating investment like a routine expense.
SIPs benefit from rupee-cost averaging. Your contributions buy more units when prices fall and fewer when prices rise. This gradually smooths market volatility and supports steady wealth creation. For first-time investors, SIPs offer a simple, low-stress entry into mutual funds.
4. Diversify your portfolio
Diversification is a golden rule of investing. Divide your capital across different types of funds and asset classes. For example, a first-time investor could consider a mix of large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap funds, or perhaps a hybrid fund that combines both equity and debt.
This strategy minimises risk, as poor performance in one fund can be offset by good performance in another.
5. Compare funds using key parameters
Do not purchase a fund just because it performed well in the past year. Look at its track record over five to 10 years, consistency of returns, and the experience of the fund manager. The expense ratio is also critical, as higher costs reduce net returns. Analysing risk levels, portfolio composition, and fund objectives helps you identify the best fit.
A thoughtful review ensures the selected fund supports long-term objectives.
6. Stay disciplined and review periodically
Mutual funds deliver meaningful results when investors stay committed for the right duration. Exiting too early due to short-term volatility often means settling for less than the investment’s potential. Equity funds often need five to seven years to show results, while debt or hybrid funds may suit shorter timelines.
Regular reviews, ideally once a year, are important to check performance, costs, and strategy. This balance keeps investments aligned with changing financial priorities.
To sum up
Starting mutual fund investments requires sensible planning and discipline. Set clear goals, understand different types of risk, use SIPs for steady contributions, compare funds on meaningful parameters, diversify properly, and stay invested with patience.
These strategies can help first-time investors avoid common mistakes, gain confidence, and make money work towards defined goals.
Most importantly, they can build a foundation that supports both short-term needs and long-term aspirations.
Start your mutual fund journey today!
MAM
Brands push beyond compliance as trust takes centre stage
ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026 spotlights shift from legal checks to credibility.
MUMBAI: In a world where a disclaimer can be legally sound yet socially suspect, brands are learning that compliance may tick boxes but trust wins markets. At the inaugural ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026, a panel on “Beyond Compliance: The New Currency of Trust” unpacked a growing industry reality: the gap between what the law permits and what consumers accept is widening and fast.
Moderated by Meenakshi Ramkumar of National Law School of India University, the discussion brought together leaders across law, marketing and academia to examine how brands must evolve in a digital ecosystem increasingly shaped by scrutiny, scepticism and speed.
Ramkumar set the tone by highlighting a critical shift, advertising today operates in the same digital space that fuels misinformation, scams and fake news, making credibility harder to establish. “The challenge is not just about what brands do, but the broader context of low institutional trust,” she noted, adding that when violations go unchecked, trust erodes not just in brands but in the regulatory system itself.
This vacuum, she said, has given rise to consumer activism from boycotts to social media backlash as a parallel accountability mechanism.
For Amit Bhasin, Chief Legal Officer at Marico, the distinction was clear, legal compliance is non negotiable, but insufficient. “Compliance is the minimum threshold. The real challenge is staying aligned with changing consumer expectations,” he said.
He pointed to how advertising narratives have evolved from traditional depictions of gender roles to more shared responsibilities reflecting a broader societal shift. “Earlier, it was fine to show one person doing the household work. Today, that may not land well. Consumers expect brands to reflect reality,” Bhasin observed.
He also highlighted internal debates where campaigns that may be legally permissible are still rejected for being culturally insensitive, noting that responsible advertising often requires asking uncomfortable questions before the public does.
If compliance is the baseline, reputation is the battlefield.
Bhasin noted that reputational risk has become a far greater concern than legal exposure, particularly in an era where campaigns can be dissected within hours online. “Earlier, a controversial ad might invite a newspaper editorial. Today, within hours, you’re at the centre of a storm,” he said.
Brands, he added, now evaluate campaigns through a dual lens legal viability and reputational vulnerability with the latter often proving more decisive.
From a healthcare perspective, Satish Sahoo of Cipla Health underscored the complexity of operating within fragmented yet stringent regulatory frameworks, spanning drugs, food, cosmetics and Ayush. “Anything under a drug licence is the most tightly regulated,” he said, adding that this necessitates proactive, not reactive, compliance.
He shared an example from the oral rehydration salts (ORS) category, where Cipla resisted the temptation to position products aggressively despite competitive pressure. “Our product is WHO compliant, and our communication reflects that. We chose not to blur the lines, even if others did,” he noted.
The long term payoff, he suggested, lies in credibility built over consistency, not quick wins.
Yet, as Harsha N of National Law School of India University pointed out, even perfect compliance does not guarantee trust. Drawing from historical and modern examples from exaggerated product claims in the 1800s to contemporary environmental and health advertising, he argued that legal frameworks often lag behind consumer expectations. “A brand can be fully compliant and still be perceived as misleading,” he said, citing instances where fine print disclosures fail to reach or convince the average consumer. He added that larger companies carry a disproportionate responsibility to set ethical benchmarks, even in areas where the law remains silent.
The conversation also turned to digital advertising, where the challenge extends beyond content to how ads are experienced. From algorithmic targeting to personalised messaging, brands now operate in an environment where regulation struggles to keep pace with technology.
Sahoo noted that social media has amplified awareness, with influencers and consumers increasingly scrutinising product claims and calling out inconsistencies. “Awareness has gone up dramatically. People are questioning what goes into products and what brands are saying,” he said.
The role of self regulatory bodies such as Advertising Standards Council of India also came under the spotlight.
Harsha acknowledged that while SROs play a crucial role, they are not immune to criticism, particularly around perceived conflicts of interest and enforcement gaps. “SROs have a higher threshold of responsibility not just to interpret the law, but to anticipate societal expectations,” he said.
He added that failures in self regulation often push the burden back onto government intervention, underscoring the need for stronger, more proactive oversight.
One of the more nuanced debates centred on whether building trust comes at a cost. While Sahoo acknowledged that quality and compliance can increase costs, he argued that companies must absorb them as part of their long term strategy.
Bhasin, however, framed the challenge differently not as cost, but as competitiveness in a market where not all players play by the same rules. “The real tension is when others cut corners and you choose not to,” he said.
The panel concluded with a call to embed trust into business metrics.
Sahoo suggested that organisations must go beyond revenue targets to include consumer equity and trust based KPIs, ensuring that ethical considerations are not sidelined in the pursuit of growth. “Trust sounds abstract, but it can translate into measurable consumer equity,” he said.
As the discussion wrapped up, one message stood out: the rules of advertising are being rewritten not just by regulators, but by consumers themselves. In an ecosystem where attention is fleeting and scepticism is high, brands that merely comply may survive, but those that build trust are the ones that endure.
