Top 7 Best Balanced Mutual Funds to invest in 2017-2018 through SIP
Many investors fear of invesing in equity mutual funds as such funds invest in stock markets and they are high risk. One of the best way to reduce your risk is to invest in Top Balanced Mutual Funds through SIP. Balanced mutual funds also called as Hybrid mutual funds invests upto 65% in equity and balance in fixed income options. Which are the best Balanced Mutual Funds to invest in 2017 through SIP? Who can invest in these Top Balanced Mutual Funds 2017 in India? Couple of years back, I have provided some of the top 5 Best Balanced Mutual Funds and now, in this article, I would provide some analysis and list down top 7 Balanced Mutual Funds to invest in 2017-2018 in India.
Also Read: 10 Best Performing SIP Mutual Funds to invest for next 10 years
What are Balanced or Hybrid Mutual funds?
Equity mutual funds invests in various shares in company. It includes stocks from various market cap like, large cap, midcap and smallcap. Balanced mutual funds would invest upto 60% of the amount in equities and the balance of upto 40% in fixed income options like bonds, debentures and other fixed income investment options in India. With such strategy, the amount invested in equity would provide good growth in investment and amount invested in debt segment would provide stable and fixed returns. If you compare balanced fund vs equity fund, the risk is reduced and returns are high in balanced funds.
Let me explain with an example. A balanced mutual fund scheme has invested 70% in equity markets and 30% in fixed income options which provides 9% returns (Investment amount Rs 100,000 – Split into Rs 70,000 in the equity markets and Rs 30,000 in fixed income options). Assume that the stock market has provided 15% returns in bull run and in bearish market it has provided only 6% returns.
In bull market, your investment would fetch you approx 13% returns.
In a bearish market, your investment would fetch you approx 7% returns. The downside of risk is reduced if you compare the low returns in a bearish market. This way, it would be win-win situation in both situations. See the below table to understand how returns would look like.
Top 7 Best Balanced Mutual Funds to invest in 2017-2018 through SIP
These top 7 balanced mutual funds have been analyzed and shortlisted based on some of the key parameters.
- These are picked up based on highest returns given through SIP in last 5 years. While this parameter was considered earlier, I am giving high importance to this now while ranking in the top balanced funds list.
- These are picked based on highest annualized returns in the last 5 and 10 years. Balance fund returns 10 years will help you to know whether fund is performing well in long run or not.
- Funds, which are rated by Crisil as Rank-1, Rank-2 and Rank-3 which indicates top performance across various market cycles.
- Value research rated these mutual funds as 5 star, 4 star and 3 star.
- AUM (Assets under management) > 100 Crores. This proves investor confidence among these top 10 mutual funds.
- Some of the funds might be a repetition from my earlier recommendation.
Top#1: ICICI Balanced Mutual Fund
Fund Objective: The scheme invests in equities and related securities as well as fixed income and money market securities. It invests 60% minimum in equity and balance in debt related instruments.
Fund Performance: This fund has beaten its benchmark and provided 19% annualised returns in last 5 years. If you have invested in this fund for Rs 1,000 per month through SIP for 5 years, your total investment would have been Rs 60,000 and your investment value would have been Rs 94,000 now. This is highest return through SIP in balanced mutual fund segment.
Why to invest: This fund performed well in last 10 years and given 12% annualised return comparing to Value Research balanced fund category of returns of 7.4%. It gave highest SIP returns in last 5 years. Crisil Ranks it as Rank-3 and Value Research Ranks as 4 Star (4 out of 5). As per VR (Valueresearchonline), Risk Grade is “Below Average” and Return Grade is “Above Average”. This is the top balanced fund to invest in 2017 for long term through SIP. This is even the best balanced mutual fund by value research.
Top#2: HDFC Balanced Mutual Fund
Funds objective: This mutual fund scheme aims to generate capital appreciation from a combined portfolio of equity and debt instruments. This scheme invests up to 60% in equity and balance in debt related instruments.
Fund Performance: This fund has beaten its benchmark and provided 18% annualised returns in last 5 years. If you have invested in this fund for Rs 1,000 per month through SIP for 5 years, your total investment would have been Rs 60,000 and your investment value would have been Rs 93,000 now. This is the second highest return through SIP in balanced mutual fund segment.
Why to invest: This fund performed well in last 10 years and given 14% annualised return comparing to Value Research balanced fund category of returns of 7.4%. It gave second highest SIP returns in last 5 years. Crisil Ranks it as Rank-2 and Value Research Ranks as 4 Star (4 out of 5). As per VR (Valueresearchonline), Risk Grade is “Below Average” and Return Grade is “Above Average”.This is the best balanced fund for SIP to invest in 2017-2018 for long term.
Also Read: Top 5 Tax Saving Mutual Funds to invest in India to get exemption u/s 80C
Top#3: Birla Sun Life 95 Balanced Fund
Fund Objective: The fund aims to achieve long-term capital appreciation and current income from a balanced investment portfolio with an allocation of 60% equity and 40% debt and money market securities.
Fund Performance: This fund has beaten its benchmark and provided 16% annualised returns in last 5 years. If you have invested in this fund for Rs 1,000 per month through SIP for 5 years, your total investment would have been Rs 60,000 and your investment value would have been Rs 92,000 now. This is the third highest return through SIP in balanced mutual fund segment.
Why to invest: This fund performed well in last 10 years and given 14% annualised return comparing to Value Research balanced fund category of returns of 7.4%. It gave highest SIP returns in last 5 years. Crisil Ranks it as Rank-2 and Value Research Ranks as 3 Star (3 out of 5). As per VR (Valueresearchonline), Risk Grade is “Average” and Return Grade is “Average”.This is the top and best balanced fund to invest in 2017 for 5 to 10 years period.
Top#4: Tata Balanced Fund
Fund Objective: The fund scheme aims periodic returns and long-term capital appreciation from a balanced portfolio of debt and equity.
Fund Performance: This fund has beaten its benchmark and provided 18% annualised returns in last 5 years. If you have invested in this fund for Rs 1,000 per month through SIP for 5 years, your total investment would have been Rs 60,000 and your investment value would have been Rs 90,500 now. This is the 4th highest return through SIP in balanced mutual fund segment.
Why to invest: This fund performed well in last 10 years and given 14% annualised return comparing to Value Research balanced fund category of returns of 7.4%. This fund is one among the funds that gave highest SIP returns in last 5 years. Crisil Ranks it as Rank-3 and Value Research Ranks as 4 Star (4 out of 5). As per VR (Valueresearchonline), Risk Grade is “Average” and Return Grade is “Above Average”.This is the good balanced fund for SIP to invest for 2017 for a long term of 8-10 years.
Top#5: HDFC Prudence Fund
Fund Objective: The fund scheme aims periodic returns and long-term capital appreciation from a balanced portfolio of debt and equity.
Fund Performance: This fund has beaten its benchmark and provided 16% annualised returns in last 5 years. If you have invested in this fund for Rs 1,000 per month through SIP for 5 years, your total investment would have been Rs 60,000 and your investment value would have been Rs 90,400 now. This is the 5th highest return through SIP in balanced mutual fund segment.
Why to invest: This fund performed well in last 10 years and given 14% annualised return comparing to Value Research balanced fund category of returns of 7.4%. This fund is one among the funds that gave highest SIP returns in last 5 years. Crisil Ranks it as Rank-4 and Value Research Ranks as 3 Star (3 out of 5). As per VR (Valueresearchonline), Risk Grade is “Below Average” and Return Grade is “Average”.This is the top balanced mutual fund to invest for 2017 for a long term of 8-10 years.
You may like: How to get higher returns from Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) in Mutual Funds
Top#6: SBI Magnum Balanced Mutual Fund
Fund Objective: The fund scheme aims periodic returns and long-term capital appreciation from a balanced portfolio of debt and equity.
Fund Performance: This fund has beaten its benchmark and provided 18% annualised returns in last 5 years. If you have invested in this fund for Rs 1,000 per month through SIP for 5 years, your total investment would have been Rs 60,000 and your investment value would have been Rs 90,000 now. This is the 6th highest return through SIP in balanced mutual fund segment.
Why to invest: This fund performed well in last 10 years and given 11% annualised return comparing to Value Research balanced fund category of returns of 7.4%. This fund is one among the funds that gave highest SIP returns in last 5 years. Crisil Ranks it as Rank-3 and Value Research Ranks as 4 Star (4 out of 5). As per VR (Valueresearchonline), Risk Grade is “Below Average” and Return Grade is “Average”.This is a good balanced mutual fund to invest for 2017 for a long term.
Top#7: L&T India Prudence Fund
Fund Objective: The fund scheme aims periodic returns and long-term capital appreciation from a balanced portfolio of debt and equity.
Fund Performance: This fund has beaten its benchmark and provided 18% annualised returns in last 5 years. If you have invested in this fund for Rs 1,000 per month through SIP for 5 years, your total investment would have been Rs 60,000 and your investment value would have been Rs 92,000 now. This gave highest return compared to 5th and 6th fund indicated above, however considering the fund history of < 10 years, we pushed this to 7th position.
Why to invest: This fund performed well in last 5 years and given 18% annualised return comparing to Value Research balanced fund category of returns of 10%. This fund is one among the funds that gave highest SIP returns in last 5 years. Crisil Ranks it as Rank-3 and Value Research Ranks as 4 Star (4 out of 5). As per VR (Valueresearchonline), Risk Grade is “Below Average” and Return Grade is “Above Average”.This is a good balanced mutual fund to invest in 2017 for a long term.
Summary of Top Balanced Mutual Funds 2017
What about Balanced Mutual funds Taxation?
Now you might be thinking about how balanced mutual funds are taxed. All the ones which I recommended here are equity oriented balanced mutual funds. These are taxed like any other equity mutual funds. Returns for less than 1 year are considered as short term capital gains and 15% tax needs to be paid. Any gains arising after 1 year are long term capital gains and they are tax free.
Also Read: Which are some of the best Monthly Income Plan Mutual Funds to invest now?
What are the balanced mutual funds advantages and disadvantages?
Here are the main advantages of investing in balanced funds:
- It invests 60 to 65% in equities thereby reduces the risk.
- It invests upto 35% to 40% in fixed income options which provides stability to returns.
- Good for conservative and moderative risk takers.
Here are the main disadvantages of investing in balanced funds:
- May not give high returns especially in bull run.
- Funds invests upto 65% in equity, which has still some element of risk.
Conclusion: Balanced Mutual Funds invests upto 40% in fixed income options, hence are less risk compared to other equity mutual funds. These balanced mutual funds indicated here are good for moderate t low risk investors. These funds can deliver 12% to 15% annualized returns if you can invest for 8-10 years through SIP. You can invest in lumpsum too, however invest when markets are taking corrections.
Happy Investing in Balanced Mutual Funds!!!
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Suresh
Top 7 Best Balanced Mutual Funds to invest in 2017-2018 through SIP
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Can u send me details study of mutual funds which r under tax exemption.
Returns are tax free.
Waiting for Ur pots
Regards
Obula
Hi Obulreddy, After Long term capital gains are taxed, ther are no tax free mutual fund schemes. If you want income tax exemption u/s 80C, you can invest in ELSS / Tax Saving Mutual Fund Schemes.
GOOD INFORMATION.
very good and helpful article
I guess you’ve missed the Balanced Fund which is giving the best return. Reliance Regular Savings Fund – Balanced Option.
Please evaluate my Portfolio:
Aditya Birla SL Equity Fund (2000)
Reliance Tax saver (2000)
Axis long term equity (2000)
SBI Blue chip (2000)
Reliance small cap (2000).
Aditya Birla SL Advantage (2000)
I am selecting right fund to invest for long-term 10-15 years. Please suggest me!
Apart from Tax Savers (ELSS) which is needed for tax planning, one should move to Balanced Funds if one doesn’t have time or inclination to look at it more than twice a year. Besides, don’t have more than 4 funds in the portfolio.
Say about high risk fund? I have no idea?
Whats the best idea? High risk or mid risk?
Dipak, All mutual funds are risky. However sector funds or midcap/smallcap funds are high risk
sir, i m ravish jain ,i want to invest in balanced mutual fund of lumsum of rs 100000/
so better to invest this amount by sip or at strech 1lac.
if i want to do lumsum then vil i ve to choose equity % and debt % myself or fund manager choose
It is better to invest through SIP
Very good artical and helpful too. I m 46 yrs guy having three mutual funds i.e. SBI blue chip growth, mirae emarging blue chip companies fund and principal emerging blue chip companies fund. I m investing rs. 10000 each i.e. total 30000 per month in the funds for last one year and i have selected these funds for next 10 years. i want to invest 10000 per month more. please advise me on my portfolio. i also have term insurance of rs. 1 cr, health insurance of rs. 50 lac, having own house and fd of rs. 25 lac.
thanks
You have good funds in your portfolio. You can add Birla SL Frontline fund / ICICI Pru focussed blue chip fund
Please guide best balance fund name & how to invest
well written and explained.
sir, please advice 3 Mutual fund for Lumpsum Investement of Rupee 20 Lakh (to be invested in your suggested ratio) for Long Term (10 Year) with
Risk – Low or Moderate
Return – Above Average
Tax – Tax Free
Hi Kumar, Since markets are at peak, i would not advice you to invest in lumpsum. You can invest in debt funds and do STP to equity funds. You can look in these funds. 1) Large cap – Birla SL Frontline fund / ICICI Pru focussed blue chip fund 2) Mid-cap – HDFC Mid-cap opps fund / Franklin India smaller co’s / SBI Midcap fund 3) Balanced – You can check HDFC Balanced Fund / ICICI Balanced fund.
Thank you Very Much Sir for the advice.
Hi Suresh,
As you said Markets are at peak so I am curious to know how and where we can check that market is at the peak? How we can monitor ups and downs of market so that accordingly we can invest when market is down?
Hi Saurabh,
There are many site like money control, economic times or simply type sensex in google it will show you trend.
See the last 5-6 years trend and you will get to know.
Hope it will help
HDFC PRUDENCE fund is best fund & best return for the investment
nice fund
I really appreciateyour effort very well explanation and research good going .
Informative article with very good explanation, very helpful to beginners in muf investments
Plz guide and notify me for investment for better return
You have mentioned that ,the disadvantage of investing in balanced fund is that it may not give high returns, especially in bull run. But si ce 65% is invested in equity, logically it should give high returns in bull run.
Very good information to invest in balance fund
Thanks Nagendra, Give me FB like 🙂
Hello,
I am planning to invest in SIP everymonth as savings for next 3 to 5 years. I can invest maximum of 5K/month and gradually increase. Kindly advise can go fo SIP or any other funds. Please help me with the name of the funds to invest.
res sir i want to invest rs 10 lakkh in debt and balanced fund pl guide 5 best debt fund and 5 balaced fund to invest
very good artical written by you. thanks for helping people in financial sector. I am a retired bank employee aged 64. Every year a huge amount is debited as a tax on fdr’s intrest. Please advice some sips in mutual funds to invest. Which are the best sips to invest.
Not sure if I understood your comment properly 1) If you wish you invest in mutual funds through SIP, you can go for balanced funds indicated in this article considering your age 2) If you are looking for tax saving FDs invest in some of the good ELSS funds like DSP BR Tax Saver fund or Reliance tax saver fund
I have 30 lakhs maturing next week. I am an NRI and i do not require liquidity in the next 3-4 years and prepared to take Medium Risk. How, where and when should i invest ?
Hi Subrahmanyam, Since you have big lumpsum investment, better to invest in debt funds now. You can do systematic transfer plan(STP) to 3-5 large cap + balanced mutual funds for next 10-12 months. You can consider Birla SL Frontline equity, ICICI Focussed blue chip fund, HDFC balanced fund and ICICI balanced fund.
Dear Suresh,
thanks for the response and advise. Which debt funds should I consider to invest in ?
thanks.
Hi,
Kindly advise I am investing 4k/month in HDFC Top 200-Growth, 4k/month in ICICI Prudential Focused Blu chip and 2k/month in Reliance Gold Saving since 2010. I have a crop of approx 12 Lakh. Kindly advise should i invest the crop as lumpsum in Balance fund? If yes, please advise Fund Name.
Good funds. Since you have large lumpsum, my advice is to invest in debt funds and do STP into large cap funds like Birla SL Frontline equity fund and ICICI Focussed blue chip fund and HDFC Top 200 fund. Do STP for 10-12 months i.e. approx Rs 1 Lakh per month into equity funds
Hdfc prudence fund Montly dividend or icici balanced fund Montly dividend. That dividend amount u should start sip in equity funds
Hi,
I liked your article. I have a question. Instead of investing in balanced mutual funds, isnt it a good idea to invest in equity mutual funds and FD deposits. Equity has risks and FD has guaranteed returns.
I have the following investments in SIP
1) HDFC top 200(G)- Rs 5000/ Month
2) Sundaram select midcap- Rs 5000
3) Reliance equity opportunities – Rs 2000
4) Reliance small cap fund- Rs 4000
5) ICICI prudential top 100- Rs 4000
Remaining money goes into FD deposits.
Does this look good?
Please advise.
Hi Sushumna, Balanced funds provide stability to returns as invests upto 65% in equity and balance in debt instruments. Yes the way you indicated, one can do that, but you need to track them seperately. Instead that you can go with Balanced funds. The funds indicated by you are good. HDFC Top 200 fund was underperformer in last couple of years, however it is picking up now.
Hdfc prudence fund Montly dividend or icici balanced fund Montly dividend. That dividend amount u should start sip in equity funds
Hi want to invest about 10lacs matured in PPF through BALANCED FUNDS in lumpsum ..is it right time. Pl suggest with fund names. Regards
My advice is not to invest lumpsum especially when markets are at peak. Invest in short term debt funds and do STP to some of the top balanced funds indicated in this article. You can do STP for 12-15 months
Dear Mr Suresh,
The ranking of the funds – does it assume growth option or dividend payout, or is the ranking independent of these options?
Also, will the ranking depend on whether I choose monthly (or quarterly) dividend option?
If a fund has all these options, for example ICICI Pru Balanced Fund, will its rank change depending on which option I choose?
Dear Mr Suresh,
Thanks for this informative article which has relevance to current time frame, i.e. 2017-18.
I have a question: Will your ranking change if I invest lump-sum, instead of SIP, in any of these funds?
Thanks and regards,
Anand
Hello,
R K Sharma sir
as per your need u can go with the SBI Magnum balanced fund
Iam planning to invest around 3500 per month in SIP. so plz suggest best option
go with the dsp micro cap fund for the minimum period of 5 year
I am 61 years old I want to invest in balanced and debt mutual funds to get maximum returns in short term I.e. between 1-3 years through sip of 10,000 per month
I am 60 years old I already have a Rs2000 SIP in Axis long term equity fund for tax purpose
i now have to invest an additional 50000 lump some for tax this year I was planning on investing the 50000
in Franklin India Elss fund or should I select some other fund
Hello Suresh,
I have been investing Rs.2000 on a monthly basis since 2015 towards HDFC TOP 200 Fund- Growth for a period of 5yrs.
Starting today, I have added 2 more SIPs ICICI Prudential Balanced Fund – Growth(Rs.2000 monthly) and BSL Frontline Equity Fund – Growth(Rs.1000 monthly) to my portfolio for a period of 3 yrs based on your suggestion in the section "Top 10 best performing SIP MUtual Funds to invest in next 10yrs".
Kindly advice in case of any changes required to my profile.
Thanks,
Ajay
Hi Suresh,
Hope you are doing well.
I am planning to start SIP from Apr-2017 onward with amount of 6k-7k. But i am totally new in this market. Please guide me how to plan SIP so that i can get good return. I am planning for long term(like 10-15 year).
kindly provide your valuable suggestion.
First open MF account with any broker like icicidirect or fundsindia or any other broker. Sttart investing in large cap funds indicated in earlier articles. Keep reading our articles on mutual funds. Then you can invest in other funds which are best suitable to you.
Sir I will trying to invest monthly 1000 rupees for long term.so which sbi fund are low risk and best return
sbi bluechip
Hello Sir,
Thanks a lot for educating the world through your awesome posts..
I am your regular blog reader I need advice from you..
My age is 34 now and I have invested in Birla sun life manufacturing equity fund -G from last 2.5 years and it is giving around 13℅ interest.
After reading your earlier post of investing in SIP I have invested below SIPS also.
1. ICICI prudential value discovery Fund (G)-4000 monthly
2.UTI equity Fund(G)- 4000 monthly
3.SBI bluechip Fund(G)-4000 monthly
4.Kotak select focus Fund Regular Fund(G)-4000 monthly
Please advice if my portfolio looks good or I need to choose any balanced or hybrid Fund.
good funds stay invested
Thanks a lot for sharing your suggestions. SIP allows you to invest a certain amount at regular intervals. It is a planned approach towards investments and helps you the habit of saving and building wealth for the future.
Dear suresh
I would like to invest 1000 each on these funds for next 10 years pls advise me
Birla sl frontline equity
Sbi magnum blue chip
Franklin tempelton prima plus
Tata balanced
Hdfc balanced
Pls advise me
Good funds Martin.
Thank you suresh
Hi,I would like to invest Rs 25Lakh ,any advise please
Since most of the funds reach their highest returns within a year, does it make sense to sell all units by the end of 1 year?
Hi Smita, Mutual funds should be invested for long term. If you are getting good returns, you can always take a call
Hi Sureshji,
Hope you are doing well. I am a regular reader of your blog and I need your valuable suggestion on my MF investments. I am investing Rs 7500 per months in various funds. Kindly suggest if my investments are properly posted or do I need to some re-balancing?
Birla SL MNC Fund: 1500
DSP BR Micro cap fund: 1000
ICICI value discovery fund: 3000
ICICI focussed bluechip fund: 2000
However, I feel the overlap ratio of Value discovery and Focussed blue chip is very high. Kindly suggest if my investments are right or do I need to switch some SIPs to other or should I start with some additional fund as well. My investment horizon is long term
Thanks,
Vijay.
Good funds.ICICI Value discovery fund invests in diversified fund whereas Focussed blue chip is large cap fund. You need not worry. Going forward if you want to invest addl funds, you can consider large cap funds.
Suresh sir..u hv suggested as per your last 1 year articles/blogs wherein u hv constantly vouched for the above balance funds . Great . These funds will do well in future as well. All the best to all investors.
Thanks for such precise information, but do any of these companies offer hybrid mutual funds.
Hi Desi, Balanced funds are also called hybrid mutual funds. No diference.
Dear sir, I am planning to invest in Birla SL banking fund.Please tell me is my decision is ok?
Hi Suresh,
Good work.. One Suggestion… If you can add the current NAV value for each fund it will great !!!
Thanks
Dilip
Good