The Nifty 50 was down about 16% from its peak in January 2020 as on 13 March, driven lower by the steady progress of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, equity mutual funds have been battered. Large-cap funds are down 16.74% on average since the start of 2020, and small-cap funds are down 10.15% (as on Friday, 13 March). While some mutual funds stay invested at all times, some equity funds had quietly raised their cash levels before the storm hit India, anticipating the fall in the market. Among large diversified funds, ICICI Focused Equity Fund was sitting on 26.32% cash at the end of February 2020, and several Axis Schemes were sitting on 17-18% cash, allowing them to take advantage of the subsequently fall.
Key to long-term investing: ‘Time in the market’ more important than ‘timing the market’
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