Gold Savings Funds

An interesting way of buying Gold is developing in India nowadays. It is thorugh Gold savings funds. They resemble Gold fund of funds, but there are some drastic differences between them. Gold savings fund usually invest the money in Gold ETFs of the parent company and small percentage in fixed deposits and other money market instruments. where as Gold fund of funds invest in physical gold and equity and other instruments. Major merit of this type of investments is the non requirement of Demat account for the investors. In other words, unlike Gold ETF, you don't need a demat account for buying the units of Gold savings fund.

If an investor want to buy the units of the fund, just go to the branches of asset management company and buy and sell the units. Another merit is the presence of SIP or EMI options in the scheme. You can remit SIP as low as Rs.100. For those sections of the population which are still outside the Demat network can buy Gold through this route. Main demerit of Gold Savings fund is the high expense ratio. It is more expensive than Gold ETF. At present three mutual funds are offering this type of funds. SBI, Kotak and Reliance mutual fund. These funds mirror the performance of the parent Gold ETF. Expense ratio is high when compared to Gold ETF. For those who have demat account, gold ETF is a better option. For those who don't have Demat account, Gold Savings fund can be a better a option.