New Delhi, May 15 -- Conservative investors tend to invest in safe investment instruments including public provident fund (PPF) and fixed deposits, among other options. Typically, investors look for assured returns on some part of their investment. It is recommended to allocate a portion of the portfolio to fixed income instruments.

For instance, if you have a portfolio of Rs.one crore, you may want to invest 30 percent in the fixed income instruments so that regardless ofmarket movement, this investment of Rs.30 lakh continues to grow at a consistent, albeit sluggish, pace. These instruments could be PPF,fixed deposit(FDs),debt mutual funds andbonds.

Here we draw parallels between the two investment schemes based on myriad criteria.

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