Research:

Mutual Funds have professional in-house research team as well as access to best research analysts in India, while it is difficult for an individual to track all the sectors and companies.

Resources: 

Mutual Funds have access to company managements as well as various financial tools like Bloomberg, Reuters etc, while an individual rarely has these resources at disposal.

Costs:

You have to pay a Total Expense Ratio (TER) in Mutual Funds as fees which is usually 1-2% of AUM, while there is no fees in direct stock investing.

Risk:

Both have risk, but Mutual Funds have great risk management practices in place which reduces the risk to some extent.

Diversification:

Mutual Funds are well diversified across sectors, while individual portfolios can also be diversified by adding stocks from different sectors but it increases the time required to manage a diversified portfolio.

DISCLAIMER: This blog is solely for educational purposes and not to offer any investment advice. Please do your own research or consult a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.