India's investment landscape has undergone a significant transformation due to rising financial awareness, digital accessibility, and changing risk preferences among young investors, making mutual funds a popular choice for their diversification, affordability, and relatively lower risk. This study focuses on individuals aged 21 to 35 and aims to analyse their preferences, attitudes, and decision-making behaviour toward mutual fund investments by examining key factors such as risk tolerance, return expectations, financial literacy, investment goals, liquidity needs, and the influence of digital platforms and social media. It also evaluates their awareness of important concepts like NAV, SIPs, expense ratios, and fund categories, and how this knowledge affects their investment choices. Additionally, the research explores preferred types of mutual funds, the role of financial advisors and peer influence, and the impact of technology-driven platforms on investment behaviour. The study further analyses risk-return perception, responses to market volatility, and long-term investment discipline, while identifying common challenges such as lack of trust, limited knowledge, and difficulty in selecting suitable schemes, with the aim of providing insights for improving financial education and developing more investor-friendly financial products.
Phadtare et al. (Thu,) studied this question.