HOW TO ANALYSE CASH LEVEL IN PORTFOLIOS?
The next logical point of focus must be the Cash Level in the scheme. The Cash level is the amount of money the mutual fund is holding in Cash, i.e. the amount not invested in stocks and bonds but lying in cash. If the scheme is having higher than industry average cash levels consistently, more so in a bull market, it will lead to a inferior performance by the scheme than its peers. However, in a falling market, it is this higher cash level that will protect investor wealth from depleting. Hence whenever one is analyzing cash levels, it is extremely important to see why the fund manager is sitting on high cash levels. It may be so that he is expecting a fall therefore he is not committing large portions of monies. It may be so in a bull market or a bear market. The strategy could be to enter once the prices correct. High cash levels can also be seen as a cushion for sudden redemptions and in large amounts.