Financial literacy empowers consumers to make more informed financial decisions, including investing in mutual funds. In this study, the sociodemographic profile of working adults with low investment literacy visà-vis high investment literacy are examined first. Next, the impact of investment literacy and risk tolerance on the likelihood of investing in mutual funds are explored. Among a sample of 260 working adults comprising mainly of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) students from a leading public higher institution in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the study shows that those with Business/Economics education backgrounds have the highest investment literacy and are more likely to invest in mutual funds compared to individuals from the Arts and other miscellaneous backgrounds. Although Muslims are the least literate in investment matters, they are more likely to hold mutual fund investments relative to those who profess Christianity and Hinduism. Individuals with relatively high income and occupational levels have relatively higher investment literacy. Risk tolerance does not influence the likelihood of investing in mutual fund investments. Policymakers should focus on females, those with Arts education background, Muslims, and those from the lower income/employment ranks to increase their investment literacy through financial education workshops. Mutual fund companies may consider embarking an aggressive knowledge sharing videos related to mutual funds via non-mainstream media such as social media to increase the penetration of mutual fund investments, among the untapped markets.

Investment literacy; Mutual fund investment; Unit trust; Risk tolerance; Stock market