Balanced Fund

Balanced fund is also known as hybrid fund. It is a type of mutual fund that buys a combination of common stock, preferred stock, bonds, and short-term bonds, to provide both income and capital appreciation while avoiding excessive risk.

Balanced funds provide investor with an option of single mutual fund that combines both growth and income objectives, by investing in both stocks (for growth) and bonds (for income). Such diversified holdings ensure that these funds will manage downturns in the stock market without too much of a loss. But on the flip side, balanced funds will usually increase less than an all-stock fund during a bull market.

Advantages of Balanced Fund

Generally, balanced funds maintain a 60:40 equity debt ratio. This means that 60% of their total investment is in equity and the balance 40% in debt and cash equivalents. Balance funds combine the power of equities (shares) and the stability of debt market instruments (fixed return investments like bonds) and provide both income and capital appreciation while avoiding excessive risk.
Balanced funds continuously rebalance their portfolios to ensure that the broad asset allocation is not disturbed. Therefore, the profits earned from the stock markets are encashed and invested in low risk instruments. This helps the investor in maintaining the appropriate asset mix, without getting into the hassles of rebalancing the portfolio on their own.