Consider a client who approaches you with a corpus of ₹20 lakh, currently sitting in a savings bank account, specifically asking for returns better than a bank FD without venturing into the volatility of pure equity markets. As a distributor, you might instinctively lean toward a liquid fund, but for an investor in a higher tax bracket, the post-tax yield of debt instruments often fails to meet their expectations.
This is where you must explain the mechanics of arbitrage, a strategy that seeks to profit from the price difference between the cash and derivatives market. By buying a stock in the cash segment and simultaneously selling the equivalent quantity in the futures market, the fund manager locks in the spread, effectively neutralizing the market’s directional risk.
In the context of Indian mutual funds, arbitrage schemes are treated as equity funds for taxation purposes, provided they maintain at least 65 percent of their corpus in equity and equity-related instruments. This distinction is vital for your client conversation because, despite holding equities, the fund’s delta—or sensitivity to market movement—is kept near zero through hedging.
When you explain this to a client, highlight that the return is not driven by the stock price going up, but by the ‘cost of carry’—the difference between the spot price and the future price that converges on the expiry date. This strategy essentially transforms market volatility into a source of predictable income rather than a risk to the principal.
However, you must be careful when discussing these funds with clients who confuse them with pure equity growth funds. Because arbitrage returns are correlated with market inefficiencies and interest rate cycles, there are periods where the spread narrows, leading to lower absolute returns. If your client has a short-term horizon or a very low threshold for tracking error compared to their expectations, you must set clear boundaries.
Always ensure the client understands that while these funds minimize equity risk, they are not entirely risk-free, as they still carry counterparty risk in the derivatives segment and liquidity constraints if the spread disappears.
As a professional distributor, your role is to map these strategies to the client’s liquidity needs and tax situation. When you recommend an arbitrage fund, you are effectively using a sophisticated institutional tool to solve a simple retail problem: the need for tax-efficient, low-volatility returns. Always document your suitability assessment to demonstrate that you explained the nature of the hedging strategy and why it differs fundamentally from a large-cap equity fund.
Nuance
Check Your Understanding
An investor in the 30% tax bracket wants to invest ₹15 lakh for one year to gain stable returns while remaining in a low-risk category. Which of the following best explains why an arbitrage fund might be recommended over a liquid fund?
In an arbitrage strategy, what is the primary source of the fund’s income?
This is a companion read for Section 12.2 — Risk levels in mutual fund schemes from Pass Certification Examination for Mutual Fund - Specialized Investment Fund Distributors by Akhilesh Gururani, available on Amazon Kindle.
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