Actively managed debt funds with the flexibility to go long on duration made a strong comeback on the returns chart in 2023, thanks to softening bond yields.
The average one-year returns of floater, long-duration, gilt, and dynamic bond funds, which ranged between 2.3 per cent and 4.5 per cent at the end of 2022, now stand at over 7.2 per cent, with some schemes delivering over 8.5 per cent, according to data from Value Research.
Debt fund returns are inversely related to yields of underlying investments, meaning a decline in yields is positive for funds.
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Higher risk weights mean that banks and NBFCs will have to set aside more capital for every such loan they extend. The days of easy credit may well become a thing of the past.
Floating-rate mutual funds are back in demand after a year-long period of consistent outflows.
In the past three months, investors have poured over Rs 6,100 crore into these debt schemes, indicating a reversal in fortunes for the category that recorded outflows for 11 consecutive months (May 2022 to March 2023), totalling Rs 32,250 crore.
Floating-rate funds invest at least 65 per cent in floating-rate instruments, which have their interest rates linked to the Reserve Bank of India repo rate.