The history of mutual funds in Nepal began with the introduction of “NCM Mutual Fund 2050” in 1993. The Mutual Fund Regulation, 2010 has played an important role in development of Mutual funds as momentous progress can be observed after its implementation. The mutual fund sector has raised Rs. 17.49 billion through public offering and this figure is projected to reach Rs. 19.79 billion by the end of FY 2019/20. Considering the momentous growth in the mutual fund industry this study attempts to analyse the investment pattern of Nepalese mutual fund Investors based on various parameters. This study also attempts to identify the critical factors influencing investment in mutual fund schemes of Nepal. The results indicate that the investors are moderately averse to mutual fund schemes. The results further show that the investors chose mutual fund schemes, being relied on key performance indicators of Mutual funds and their perception towards several aspects of mutual fund schemes. Moreover, fund managers’ qualities and corporate governance factors are considered important though the results are not statistically significant.

This paper examines the holiday effect on the Nepalese stock market over an 11-year period. A regression-based approach has been used to ascertain the presence of holiday effect in the Nepalese market. The 11-year data has also been divided into 2 subgroups of 5 years and 6 years to study how the holiday effect has changed over time. The pre-holiday effect could not be identified, but this study has revealed a negative post-holiday effect with increasing intensity dependent on consecutive holidays during the full sample period. Upon examining the two timeframes, it has been discovered that a strong pre-holiday effect existed in the prior periods, which has since diminished, and in the subsequent time periods a negative post-holiday effect with increasing intensity has been observed. This is indicative of the changing perception and behavior of investors in the 11-year period.