What are the pros and cons of liquid funds?
Liquid funds are ideal for low-risk investors looking to park surplus cash for the short term. The biggest advantage of liquid funds is that it offers superior returns than bank deposits. But the returns on liquid funds is not guaranteed. This is the biggest disadvantage of liquid funds.
Some of the advantages of mutual funds include advanced portfolio management, dividend reinvestment, risk reduction, convenience, and fair pricing, while disadvantages include high expense ratios and sales charges, management abuses, tax inefficiency, and poor trade execution.
There are downsides to liquidity. Liquidity can undermine a disciplined investment plan. For example, it can exacerbate emotional investing, both out of fear and out of greed. Financial liquidity can also lead to lower returns as investors miss out on potential liquidity premiums that can come with illiquid assets.
However, there are also some disadvantages to liquid investments such as lower returns compared to illiquid assets, inflation risk, short-term investment focus, limited exposure to high-growth opportunities, and the need for careful assessment of individual financial goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon.
Advantages of Liquid Funds
Liquid funds offer investors high liquidity, low risk, and potential for competitive returns. These funds invest in short-term, high-quality securities, ensuring quick redemption and minimising the risk of capital loss while offering attractive yields.
Since the underlying assets of a liquid fund have a maturity of up to 91 days, they do not experience a lot of volatility. Hence, the NAV of the fund remains almost steady. This makes liquid funds low-risk investments.
- Risk of Loss. There's no guarantee you'll earn a positive return in the stock market. ...
- The Allure of Big Returns Can Be Tempting. ...
- Gains Are Taxed. ...
- It Can Be Hard to Cut Your Losses.
Hedge funds employ complex investing strategies that can include the use of leverage, derivatives, or alternative asset classes in order to boost return. However, hedge funds also come with high fee structures and can be more opaque and risky than traditional investments.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Can offer a stream of income | Exposes investors to credit and default risk |
Can help diversify an investment portfolio and mitigate investment risk | Typically generate lower returns than other investments |
When an otherwise solvent business does not have the liquid assets—in cash or other highly marketable assets—necessary to meet its short-term obligations it faces a liquidity problem. Obligations can include repaying loans, paying its ongoing operational bills, and paying its employees.
Why is liquidity a problem?
A liquidity crisis occurs when a company can no longer finance its current liabilities from its available cash. For example, it is no longer able to pay its bills on time and therefore defaults on payments. In order to avoid insolvency, it must be able to obtain cash as quickly as possible in such a case.
A company's liquidity indicates its ability to pay debt obligations, or current liabilities, without having to raise external capital or take out loans. High liquidity means that a company can easily meet its short-term debts while low liquidity implies the opposite and that a company could imminently face bankruptcy.
Liquid funds are a liquid, low-cost, low‐risk product with flexible investment options. Liquid funds are designed to provide safety of principal and liquidity and a modest return. Hence they are often viewed as substitutes for short-term bank deposits.
Liquid funds are considered to least risky among all classes of debt funds as they mostly invest in high-quality fixed-income securities that mature soon. Therefore, these funds are suitable for risk-averse investors.
Liquid funds invest in short-term fixed income instruments and hence, it is easier for investors to park their money in these funds. Unlike the equity funds that are meant for long-term investments, these funds come with short-term maturity and are a great alternative to fixed deposits (FDs).
Liquid funds invest in highly rated short-term debt securities such as T-Bills and commercial papers. Arbitrage funds invest across debt, equity, and equity derivatives to leverage cash and futures market arbitrage opportunities while maintaining fully hedged positions.
In liquid funds, you can put your money today and take it out a day after, and you will get one day's return on your investment. So, there is no restriction, and they are very safe.
You can redeem anytime you want. There is no lock‐in period in liquid funds. Do liquid funds have an exit load? Yes, but only if you redeem within seven days of investing.
Scheme Name | Plan | 1Y |
---|---|---|
ICICI Prudential Liquid Fund - Direct Fund - Growth | Direct Plan | 7.30% |
LIC MF Liquid Fund - Direct Plan - Growth | Direct Plan | 7.31% |
Kotak Liquid Fund - Direct Plan - Growth | Direct Plan | 7.30% |
Axis Liquid Fund - Direct Plan - Growth | Direct Plan | 7.33% |
- High-yield bonds. Your first instinct might be to let go of all your stocks and move into bonds, but high-yield bonds can be particularly risky during a recession. ...
- Stocks of highly-leveraged companies. ...
- Consumer discretionary companies. ...
- Other speculative assets.
What are 3 very risky investments?
While the product names and descriptions can often change, examples of high-risk investments include: Cryptoassets (also known as cryptos) Mini-bonds (sometimes called high interest return bonds) Land banking.
Cash is the most liquid asset possible as it is already in the form of money. This includes physical cash, savings account balances, and checking account balances. It also includes cash from foreign countries, though some foreign currency may be difficult to convert to a more local currency.
Liquidity means the conversion of investment into a cash form. The least liquid current asset is inventory. This is because sales of finished goods depend highly on customer demands. If the need for the good is low, then the inventory stock will increase and not be quickly converted into cash.
Billionaire Christopher Hohn's TCI led the annual ranking by 2023 returns, which were $12.9 billion after fees, while Citadel, Millennium Management and D. E. Shaw, all multi-strategy firms, were the top three hedge funds by lifetime gains.
Hedge funds were developed, in part, to help investors manage investment risk. Their market-neutral, or balanced, approach to investing helps seek out positive returns by investing in varied instruments over long- and short-term periods.
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