dynamic bond funds

India’s gold imports hit a record $71.98 billion in 2025-26, rising over 24% from $58 billion a year earlier. This was largely due to skyrocketing global gold prices, which have bumped up the value of imported gold.

Rising geopolitical tensions in West Asia have pushed up crude oil prices, triggering a rise in bond yields. Higher oil prices and a weakening rupee are stoking inflation concerns, prompting investors to reassess their debt portfolios

Global oil markets face turmoil due to the Iran-US conflict and Strait of Hormuz disruptions. India, heavily reliant on oil imports, feels the pinch through rising inflation and borrowing costs. The Reserve Bank of India monitors the situation, opting for stability over aggressive action. Households may experience a gradual tightening of budgets as costs rise and monetary easing is delayed.

This isn’t how safe havens are supposed to behave in a crisis. So what’s changed — and what should you do next?

Debt funds presented a mixed performance in 2025, with credit risk funds excelling while long-term funds lagged despite interest rate cuts. Experts anticipate range-bound yields, suggesting short-term funds may offer steadier returns. A barbell approach, balancing short and long-term allocations, is recommended for 2026 to achieve stability and potential gains.

Bond investors face disappointment as rate cut hopes fade, impacting debt fund performance, especially long duration funds. Experts advise caution due to potential inflation resurgence and a likely range-bound yield environment. An accrual strategy with short-term yields is recommended, alongside a balanced barbell approach combining short-term, gilt, and corporate bond funds for stability and potential gains.

With the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond touching a new low on Thursday amid expectations of a rate cut, investors should look at dynamically managed funds and short-term funds for earning stable returns in the fixed income space.

Accumulation of wealth through investments in mutual fund schemes is probably the best bet for retail investors - more so, in the current market conditions.

Despite a sharp fall in the assets under management over the past year, dynamic bond funds have managed to enter the top- 10 best performing open-end debt funds list, delivering returns in excess of 3% in the past three months (till August 12).

Richard Bookstaber, a financial analyst and former hedge fund and US Treasury insider who wrote A Demon of Our Own Design, the book that foreshadowed the 2008 financial crisis, warns that today’s financial system is even more fragile. Private credit, AI-driven tech, stock concentration, and geopolitical tensions form a tightly linked network where shocks spread quickly. Unlike past crises, risks now arise from the physical world, energy, semiconductors, and supply chains, beyond the reach of traditional financial tools.

Aditya Birla Mutual Fund has realigned the value of its holdings in Jharkhand Road Projects Implementation Co held in two of its debt funds — Medium Term Plan and Dynamic Bond Fund. As a result, the NAV of its Medium Term Plan fell by 4.5%, while that of Dynamic Bond Fund by 1.5% as of Friday’s close, the fund house said.

Mumbai, Mar 2 () Mirae Asset Mutual Fund is targeting assets under management (AUM) of Rs 10,000 crore by December, a top company official said today.

Duration funds, including gilt funds and long duration funds, of late, yields have climbed down significantly in response to a sharp cooling of crude oil prices and easing retail inflation. However, experts say this should not be construed as a platform for duration funds to flourish. Even if interest rates do not rise much, there is still a lot of uncertainty.

Bond prices have tumbled in the wake of the government-RBI move to save the rupee from sinking.

Long-duration and gilt categories saw their gains of the past three months wiped out in a single day. Market experts now believe that India’s rate-cutting cycle is over.

For most mutual fund investors, bond funds can seem confounding. And with Sebi introducing 16 categories of bond funds as part of its recent scheme rationalisation exercise, matters have become even more complicated. So which among these funds are the must-haves?