The growth in assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry in India with the plethora of funds has been profound over the past decade. This research explores the relative significance of the determinants considered by investment advisors when choosing mutual funds using conjoint analysis. It further examines the perceived value assigned to various levels of these determinants to identify the optimal combination of the determinants. The study found that the most important determinants ranked in the order of significance were the fund category, fund’s AUM and experience of the fund manager. Moderate importance was found to be assigned to the type of fund managed and fund age, while the past performance and expense ratio was preferred the least. The optimal combination of determinants from investment advisors is also identified. Amid growing diversification and competition, the findings of this study are anticipated to aid in the structure of funds and provide valuable guidance to individual investors in selecting mutual funds.
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