Mutual funds are one of the best investment options for investors who fear the volatility of markets to create a handsome wealth in the long run for achieving financial independence or for their retirement, Children's education, owning a house, car or to accomplish any other financial goal. 

Mutual funds are not only professionally managed by the the experts of fund houses but are also strictly regulated by authorities like SEBI and AMFI ensuring the interest of investors. So answer for the question, Are Mutual funds safe?? Yes, of course they are. 

Mutual funds are also one of the finest ways to start investing as it takes only about a hundred bucks to get started. Here are the 5 top funds to begin your journey of investing with just ₹100 per month:

1. ICICI Prudential Technology Direct - Growth: This is an equity based fund which primarily invests in technology based companies. This fund is one of the top performer in its category with average annual returns of 23% in last 5 years and of 28% in last 3 years. The fund manager Sankaran Naren is an alumnus of IIM kolkata and has about 3 decades of work experience in the industry and is currently working as fund manager for around 40 mutual fund schemes.               
2. Nippon India US Equity Opportunities Fund Direct - Growth: This fund belongs to international category and invests in the stocks listed on S&P 500 index in the United States. This fund is an consistent performer and has given returns of 21% in last 5 years and 22% in last 3 years. International funds come with an additional benefit of currency fluctuation which may in long term increase your returns.                                
3. ICICI Prudential US Bluechip Equity Direct - Growth: This is an another International fund in the list with average annual returns of 19.5% in last 5 years and 22.3% in last 3 years. The fund manager priyanka khandelwal is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Company secretary with work experience of nearly half decade. But Expense ratio of this fund (1.29%) is slightly higher when compared with Nippon's international fund above (1.08%).                               
4. Kotak Bluechip Fund Direct - Growth: This fund belongs to Large cap category where investors can expect stable returns in the long run with low risk. The last 5 year returns are 14.5% and last 3 year returns are 12.71% and the expense ratio of this fund is also on lower side with just at 0.92%. Rating agency CRISIL has assigned 5/5 stars where as Value research and Morning star have assigned 4/5 stars, it shows that the fund is improving its performance in its category.                                
5. Nippon India Small Cap Fund Direct - Growth: The said fund is one of the top performer in small cap category with average annual returns of 20.75% in last 5 years. Rating agencies Value research and morning star have assigned 4/5 stars and in addition the fund manager Samir Rachh is a highly experienced professional with 30 years of experience in the industry. 

The above funds are selected based on the performance of last 5 years. Returns where ever used refers to CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate).