Mutual Fund Mastery interview preparation
Indian AMCs, distributors, registrars and the global fund houses that hire for the same skills — covering the trust structure, NAV and cut-off rules, SEBI scheme categorisation, debt risk and the Potential Risk Class matrix, passives, costs, taxation and distribution. Every question is either traced to a named firm from a public candidate report, or tagged at desk level when we could not trace it; we do not invent attributions.
100 questions, mapped to the firms that asked them
- Questions
- 100
- Traced to a firm
- 32
- Firms
- 19
- Updated
- September 2026
064How is a debt mutual fund taxed now, and what changed in April 2023 and again in July 2024?Indian AMCsWealth and advisory
Say this
For units of a specified mutual fund bought on or after 1 April 2023, all gains are treated as short-term and taxed at the investor's slab rate, with no indexation and no holding-period benefit. That single change destroyed the tax advantage debt funds had over fixed deposits, and July 2024 then restored a long-term route for older units.
Then walk it
- Before April 2023: a debt fund held over three years got long-term treatment at 20 percent with indexation, which in a 6 percent inflation environment often meant an effective rate in single digits. That was the whole reason institutions and high earners used debt funds instead of deposits.
- The Finance Act 2023 introduced the specified mutual fund category — broadly, schemes not holding more than a set proportion in domestic equity — and made all gains on units acquired from 1 April 2023 taxable at slab rates as short-term, whatever the holding period.
- July 2024 added a second layer. For units bought before 1 April 2023, holding beyond twenty-four months now gets 12.5 percent without indexation. Indexation is gone across the board, so grandfathered units get a lower rate but lose the inflation adjustment.
- The definition of a specified mutual fund was then refined to key off holding more than 65 percent in debt and money market instruments, which pulled some funds — international feeders, certain gold and multi-asset products — out of the punitive bucket and gave them a 24-month long-term route at 12.5 percent.
- Consequences you can see in the flow data: a surge into arbitrage funds and equity savings funds, which get equity taxation for a similar risk profile, and renewed interest in target maturity products held to maturity where the pre-tax yield still competes.
- How I would answer it honestly in an interview: state the three dates, say indexation is gone, and add that the definition has moved twice in three years so you always check the current position before advising. Confident recall of a superseded rule is worse than saying that.
Where candidates lose it
Still quoting indexation benefits on debt funds. Indexation is gone and quoting it is the single clearest sign a candidate learned this from pre-2023 material. The second trap is confidently reciting a definition that has since changed — flag that the rules have moved twice.
Expect next
- Why did arbitrage fund AUM grow after this change?
- Does a fixed deposit now beat a debt fund on tax?
- What is a specified mutual fund?
065How are hybrid, gold and international funds taxed, and what is the 65 percent test doing?Indian AMCsWealth and advisory
Say this
Everything turns on portfolio composition, not on the scheme's name. At least 65 percent in domestic equity gets equity taxation. More than 65 percent in debt and money market instruments gets the punitive specified mutual fund treatment. Anything in between falls into a third bucket with a 24-month long-term period at 12.5 percent.
Then walk it
- Bucket one, equity taxation: aggressive hybrid at 65 to 80 percent equity, arbitrage funds, equity savings funds. Twelve-month long-term period, 12.5 percent above the exemption, 20 percent short-term.
- Bucket two, specified mutual funds: conservative hybrids and plain debt schemes with more than 65 percent in debt and money market. Slab rate as short-term gains, no holding-period relief on units bought from April 2023.
- Bucket three, the middle: gold funds and gold ETFs, international funds and feeders, and multi-asset funds that hold, say, 50 percent equity, 30 percent debt and 20 percent gold. These are neither equity-oriented nor specified, so they get a 24-month long-term holding taxed at 12.5 percent, and slab rate before that.
- Physical gold and gold ETFs are treated differently from a gold fund of funds, and sovereign gold bonds were different again, which is why 'how is gold taxed' is never one answer. Ask which wrapper first.
- The design lesson is that AMCs now build products to land in a particular tax bucket. A multi-asset fund is often engineered to hold exactly enough domestic equity to cross 65 percent, and a balanced advantage fund hedges to keep gross equity above the line while net equity is far lower.
- So when comparing two funds that look similar, check the actual equity proportion in the last disclosed portfolio. Two multi-asset funds can sit in different tax buckets, and on a 20 lakh gain that difference is worth lakhs.
Where candidates lose it
Answering by scheme name. A multi-asset fund is not one tax treatment, it is three possible ones depending on composition. The strong answer starts with 'it depends on the portfolio, not the label' and then gives the three buckets.
Expect next
- How is a gold ETF taxed against a gold fund of funds?
- Why do AMCs engineer portfolios around 65 percent?
- How would you check which bucket a multi-asset fund is in?
Firm tags come from public, anonymous candidate reports on Wall Street Oasis: strong signal, not sworn testimony. Firms are named as the places a question was reported, not as partners of Fin Maverick. Answers are written for this page to show how to think out loud; they are not scripts to recite.