Whether to buy Mutual Funds or Shares Directly ?

Broadly there are two ways you can invest in equity .. either thru Mutual Funds or Directly buying Equity Shares. Not only new investors but old ones also face this dilemma and many times keep switching between the two. See if below helps : 

What to buy in share market is important but more than that what matters is your psychology. How do you cope up with ups and downs and daily volatility is more important. Do you get panicky when market falls and get excited when TV channels beat the drums ? Do you get frustrated when share your friend bought gets doubled but yours one is not moving at all ? There are many aspects to human psychology.. Neither do I know all nor I can write all I know but point is that think about what kind of person you are 

If you honestly have control on your emotions..do not easily get panicky or euphoric then you can go through direct equity else better to go via mutual funds. Key is to honestly answer what kind of a person you are. Advantage with mutual funds is that NAV changes only at the end of the day and fluctuation is not as much as in direct shares whereas individual shares are going up and down every second during the trading day so it becomes difficult to control yourself if you have not tuned yourself to these ups and downs

Coming to which will give better returns - mutual fund or direct equity ? There is no straight answer. If you are a great stock picker (which every one thinks he is but mostly is not) then you can do better than mutual funds but else mutual fund is the better route. My experience is that investing directly in shares is time consuming process.. it will take years before you pick up the right stock picking skills and understand what to buy and what not.. and dont forget then you need skills to decide what and when to sell as well..so it is time consuming process. If you are ready to invest few years in learning then it is worth to directly invest in shares but if you are frequently asking friends or tracking various channels to check the new recommendations then better stop and go via Mutual Funds