The debt fund investors earned deficiencies and fees from their fund managers from lowering their net asset values (NAVs), by downgrading debt instruments or defaulting issuers, by limiting reimbursement of fund housing and in severe cases by shutting down of funds. Debt fund investors were also discharged.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) recently released guidelines on more portfolio disclosure that funds must provide investors with to improve the transparency of debt funds. Investors may now use these details to help determine whether the risk profile of a scheme suits their needs.
To understand the risk, return from and track changes of the fund use the maturity yield (YTM) of the portfolio as an early warning system. Whilst YTM uses cost net as a returns measure, there are drawbacks as they do not recognize the impact on the returns from YTM adjustments when securities are bought and sold. In a fund with a high YTM in relation to its co-workers, a portfolio with a low credit rating may be indicated. To order to compensate creditors for the increased probability of defaults, bonds with a lower credit rating will deliver increased returns.
Assess YTM’s high-risk portfolios. Test the size of stocks in single, low-ranking stocks as a broad exposure can have major impacts on the fund, even if one issuer fails. Likewise, lower-rated securities have lower liquidity that can affect a fund’s ability to seek restitution if these securities are a significant part of the portfolio.
There may be similar average maturities in two bond portfolios, however, their terms may differ. The quality of the instruments found in each of these instruments can differ. In general, lower-rated portfolios are less long-lived. For eg, the average term for Axis Short Duration Fund is 2.4 years and the average maturity for ICICI Prudential Credit Risk Fund is 2.41 years. Nevertheless, the adjusted life of the AXIS Fund is 2, while the ICICI Fund (mainly AA portfolio) is 1.77. The AAA Portfolio is 1,77.
Each security’s YTM will be made available to monitor improvements in its credit rating. The deterioration in credit risk perception in the market would result in lower bond rates and higher yields and vice versa. Using this information as an indicator of the degree to which a specific vulnerability is exposed in a portfolio.
For more information required for fund firms, regulators must make periodic portfolios monitoring a critical part of investing in debt funds open to investors and advisors.
