Mutual fund investors have started moving away from balanced funds as they are spooked by the recent correction in the market and the new dividend distribution tax on equity funds announced by the finance minister in the Budget 2018, say mutual fund advisors.
“A lot of mutual fund investors looked at balanced funds as a good option to opt for regular dividends. The introduction of DDT has hit such investors. The dividends are expected to be lower than usual and with the markets being volatile, they can be infrequent also. This is impacting the balanced funds,” says Vishal Dhawan, Founder, Plan Ahead Wealth Advisors. Dhawan adds that he never encouraged investors to rely on balance fund dividends for their primary income.