Mutual funds being the most one of the most prominent investment scheme in the recent time especially since two- three years has a lot of sub categories which have been designed as per the requirements of the wide variety of investor base investing in them. One such sub category is the balanced fund. So, what exactly is the balanced fund? This is the question that arises very first in our minds.

Balanced fund is a style or more prominently a scheme of investment which constitutes of a bond component, a component in the stocks and at times it even has a money market component and these are all combined in a single scheme or a portfolio. These are termed as hybrid funds and these generally have a mixture of bonds and stocks to give a reflection of moderate or higher equity funds or they have an orientation of higher fixed income.

These balanced funds are targeted towards the investors who have very low risk criteria in their portfolio and are looking for safety along with a little capital appreciation and income on the investment they made. It is one of the most preferred mutual funds for beginners, and considered as the ideal choice to begin with. The investments that are made by these mutual funds in each section of the assets like the stocks or the bonds usually remain fixed in set proportion.

The best balanced mutual for the mid-term deposits are:
Principal balanced direct- Growth: The fund has 1.79cr in assets under management or the AUM and in terms of annualised returns 18.8%, 26.2%, 15.6% in 6months,1, and 2 years respectively.
HDFC prudence fund direct- Growth: The fund has 1042.83cr in assets under management or the AUM and in terms of annualised returns 15.7%, 24.3%, 14.0% in 6months,1, and 2 years respectively.
ICICI prudential balanced fund direct – Growth: The fund has 499.09cr in assets under management or the AUM and in terms of annualised returns 12.9%, 22.1%, 14.6% in 6months,1, and 2 years respectively.
L&T India prudence fund direct – Growth: The fund has 165.03cr in assets under management or the AUM and in terms of annualised returns 18.4%, 21.3%, 13.9% in 6months,1, and 2 years respectively.
Birla SL BAF direct – Growth: The fund has 23.16cr in assets under management or the AUM and in terms of annualised returns 10.4%, 20.0%, 12.7% in 6months,1, and 2 years respectively.
Reliance RSF balanced direct – Growth: The fund has 168.02cr in assets under management or the AUM and in terms of annualised returns 18.2%, 21.7%, 13.9% in 6months,1, and 2 years respectively.
HDFC prudence fund – Growth: The fund has 16351.80cr in assets under management or the AUM and in terms of annualised returns 15.0%, 22.9%, 12.9% in 6months,1, and 2 years respectively.
DSP Blackrock balanced Fund direct – Growth: The fund has 354.51cr in assets under management or the AUM and in terms of annualised returns 15.1%, 20.7%, 13.0% in 6months,1, and 2 years respectively.
Principal balanced – Growth: The fund has 66.51cr in assets under management or the AUM and in terms of annualised returns 18.1%, 23.9%, 14.2% in 6months,1, and 2 years respectively.
HDFC balanced Fund – Growth: The fund has 8040.62cr in assets under management or the AUM and in terms of annualised returns 18.1%, 23.9%, 14.2% in 6months,1, and 2 years respectively.