Just as individual bonds have credit ratings, debt mutual funds too have credit ratings. Basically, they provide a third-party opinion to investors on the expected probability of default of the securities that are part of the fund’s portfolio. Most investors only look at the past returns of funds. At a time when interest rates on bank fixed deposits and other fixed-income instruments are falling, they gravitate toward bt funds that have given high returns in the recent past, such as credit opportunities funds. However, investors need to understand that some of these funds come with higher risks, especially in the