LIC MF Declares 50% Dividend In LIC Index Nifty Fund

LIC Mutual Fund has declared a dividend of 50 per cent (i.e. Rs.5/- per unit on the face value of Rs 10) under the LIC Index Nifty Fund. The record date for the same has been fixed as February 02, 2007. This is the fourth dividend payout from the fund since its launch. Earlier it had declared a dividend of 40 per cent in November 2005.

Mutual Funds In Selling Mood

Mutual Funds (MF) were net sellers as they sold shares worth a net Rs 351.07 crore on 24 January 2007 compared to Wednesday’s (23 January) sales of Rs 537.14 crore. MFs made gross sales worth Rs 770.34 crore and their gross purchases aggregated 419.27 crore on Thursday (24 January 2007). The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 69.22 points (0.49%), to settle at 14,110.46 on 24 January 2007
MF net outflow for January 2007, till 24 January, stood at Rs 1090.56 crore. The figures from April 2006-January 2007 of the current financial year 2006-07 is an inflow worth Rs 11229.54 crore.

Mutual Funds Continue Selling Spree

Mutual funds continiued their selling spree for the third straight day on 23 January 2007, equity shares worth Rs 537.14 crore. Mutual funds' net outflow of Rs 537.14 crore on 23 January was a result of gross purchases of Rs 400.38 crore and gross sales worth Rs 937.52 crore. There have been alternate bouts of inflows and outflows in equities by mutual funds this month. A substantial outflow in four trading sessions, between 8 January and 11 January, was followed by an inflow in five trading sessions, from 12 January to 18 January. Mutual funds turned sellers again for the next three days. In January 2007, mutual funds have been net sellers worth Rs 739.49 crore in the Indian equity market.

MFs Take Cautions In Selling

Mutual funds have sold equities for the second day in a row on Monday (22 January 2007). Domestic funds sold shares worth a net Rs 54.23 crore on Monday, which, however, was much lower than an outflow of Rs 402 crore on 19 January 2007. Mutual funds' net outflow of Rs 54.23 crore on 22 January was a result of gross purchases of Rs 468.40 crore and gross sales worth Rs 522.63 crore. The Sensex rose 27 points that day in volatile trade. There have been alternate bouts of inflows and outflows in equities from mutual funds this month. A substantial outflow in four trading sessions, between 8 January and 11 January, was followed by an inflow in five trading sessions, from 12 January to 18 January. Mutual funds turned sellers again for the next two days. For January 2007 so far, mutual funds have been net sellers worth Rs 202 crore.

Mutual Funds Sell Shares Worth Rs 40.04 cr

Mutual Funds (MF) are reported selling shares worth a net Rs 402.04 crore on 19 January 2007 compared to Thursday?s (18 January) purchases of Rs 58.95 crore. MFs brought made gross sales worth Rs 811.08 crore and their gross purchases aggregated 409.04 crore on Friday (19 January 2007). The 30-shares BSE Sensex lost 35.04 points, and ended at 14,182.71 on 19 January 2007. MF net outflow for January 2007, till 19 January, stood at Rs 148.12 crore. The figures from April 2006-January 2007 of the current financial year 2006-07 is an inflow worth Rs 12171.98 crore.

Tata MF Rolls Out Tata SIP Fund

Tata Mutual Fund has come out with a new scheme-Tata SIP Fund. This is a three-year close-ended fund with a hybrid asset allocation. The investment strategy of the fund centers on systematic investment in equity-related securities.
Given that the equity market is highly volatile, the fund intends increasing its exposure to equities in a phased manner. Hence in the first year, only 0-35% will be invested in equity, while the rest will be deployed in debt and money-market instruments. By the end of the second second the targeted equity exposure will be 30-70% and this will finally increase to 65-100% by the third year. Therefore, instead of an investor doing a monthly SIP, the fund itself will invest in stocks systematically. At the end of the 36-month tenure, investors will be given the option of deploying the redemption amount in Tata Pure Equity fund without any loads. Liquidity window will be available on first Wednesday of every month before the completion of 36 months' duration. The minimum investment amount is Rs 5000 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter. The scheme will be benchmarked against BSE-Sensex.

Murthy Nagarajan and Venugopal M are the designated fund managers. Snapshot Unit cost during NFO: Rs 10 Type of fund: Close-ended Options: Growth, Dividend payout Minimum investment: Rs 5,000 Benchmark: BSE Sensex Fund Managers: Murthy Nagarajan and Venugopal M. Offer opened: 15 January 2007 Offer closes: 15 February 2007.

Mutual Funds Cut Exposure To Equitis

Fund managers of equity diversified funds pruned their exposure to equities as an asset class last month. The total market value of funds in equities has gone down to 90.67 per cent in December 20 06 from 91.64 per cent in November 2006, while cash holdings of funds have increased to 9.33 per cent in December 2006 from 8.36 per cent in previous month.
The equity diversified scheme segment recorded the largest appreciation over the month. Software, banking, construction and electric equipment sectors attracted the most exposure from mutual funds in December. State Bank of India, Infosys Technologies, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel were the top picks. Automobiles, entertainment and pharmaceuticals sectors witnessed additional buying by four and more than four funds, said HDFC Securities in a research report. This kind of a change is very insignificant to impact the market. Since it's year end they have got lot of money. I don't think fund managers are expecting a correction and so they are increasing their cash holdings. Sundaram Mutual Fund has been for the past four months holding 20-30 percent of their corpus in cash. Pru ICICI Dynamic Fund, Reliance Vision Fund and Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund schemes with more than Rs 1,000 crore corpus were the leaders in the equity diversified category posting returns of 5.63 per cent, 4.99 per cent and 4.94 per cent.

LIC Mutual Fund Comes Out With Dividend In 2 Schemes

LIC Mutual Fund has decided to pay a dividend of 18 per cent and 15 per cent in LICMF Unit Linked Insurance Scheme and LICMF Balanced Fund respectively. The record date for both the dividends would be January 22, 2007.

AMFI Adds New Points Of Services

Mumbai: The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) has added Bajaj Investor Service, IL&FS Investsmart, Geojit Financial Services and Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd to the existing points of services to collect documents from investors wanting a mutual fund identification number (MIN). Mutual fund investors with fresh investments above Rs 50,000 will get MIN initially.

Mutual Funds Increases Sale On Bourses

Mutual funds have increased sales on the bourses. Sebi on January 11 released mutual fund investment figures pertaining to two trading sessions on 9 January and 10 January. Mutual funds were net sellers to the tune of Rs 364.58 crore on 9 January and Rs 123.66 crore on 10 January.
It was the third day in a row when mutual funds were net sellers on 10 January. They have been net sellers in 5 out of the 7 trading sessions in 2007 so far. Their cumulative outflow in the first 7 trading days of January 2007 has reached Rs 457 crore. Mutual funds had pumped in a net Rs 1627 crore in December 2006 as fund managers put to use some of the excess cash.

Pru ICICI Mutual Fund Declares Dividends Under Pru ICICI Emerging S.T.A.R. Fund

Pru ICICI Mutual Fund has declared a dividend of 25% (Rs 2.5 per unit on the face value of Rs 10) in its Pru ICICI Emerging S.T.A.R. Fund (Stocks Targeted At Returns) an open-ended equity scheme. The primary objective is to generate capital appreciation by actively investing in diversified mid cap stocks.
The AMC have also announced a dividend of 18% (Rs 1.8 per unit on the face value of Rs 10) in Pru ICICI FMCG Fund, an open-ended FMCG sectoral fund, with an objective is to generate long-term capital appreciation through investments primarily in FMCG sector.

The record date for the dividends is 12 January 2007. All investors registered in the Dividend Plan of the schemes as on 12 January 2007 will receive this dividend. The NAV as on 8 January 2007, under dividend option of its Pru ICICI Emerging S.T.A.R. Fund was Rs 23.84 and under dividend option of its Pru ICICI FMCG Fund was 34.36.

The dividend as decided shall be paid, subject to availability of distributable surplus. Pursuant to payment of dividend, the NAV of the schemes would fall to the extent of payout and statutory levy (if applicable).

Mutual Funds Switch To Selling

Mutual funds (MFs) were seen selling shares worth a net Rs 148.30 crore on 8 January 2007 compared to Friday’s (5 January 2007) purchases of Rs 15.48 crore.
MFs made gross sales worth Rs 712.99 crore, their gross purchases aggregating Rs 564.69 crore on Monday (8 January 2007). The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 208.37 points (1.5%), settling at 13,652.15, on 8 January 2007. MF net inflow for January 2007, up to 8 January, stand at Rs 31.61 crore. The MF’s net inflow for the first three months of the current financial year 2006-07 is Rs 8952.45 crore.

Kotak Mutual Fund Is A Close-Ended Debt Oriented Scheme

Kotak Mutual Fund is a close-ended debt oriented scheme with a three-year maturity. The asset allocation carries an upper limit of 30% for equity derivatives. The rationale behind the equity investments will be based on a value hedging strategy. It is essentially a market neutral strategy wherein there are two positions, which exactly offset each other in value terms. The fund falls in the low risk bracket as it intends investing only in AAA CRISIL rated securities. Kotak wealth builder is rated by crisil AAA (so) rated.
Investment pattern: Debt 70 to 100% Derivatives: 0 to 30% Liquidity window: 25th of every March, June, September, and December. Entry load: no entry load. Unamortised expenses will be recovered from investors who exit early. Exit load: no exit load. NFO PERIOD: 2nd January 2007 to 31st January 2007

UTI MF Looks At UM Over Rs 50,000 cr This Year

UTI Mutual Fund looks to cross Rs 50,000 crore in terms of Asset Under Management (AUM) on the back of a slew of schemes slated to be launched during the year.
As of December 31, 2006, UTI MF had a corpus of Rs 38,108 crore under its management as compared to Rs 25,600 crore at the end of same month previous year. Over a period of one year, the fund house has seen its AUM increase by more than 48 per cent. The fund house would four more new schemes by March-April this year, he said, adding if not all the four, at least two would definitely make its way into the market by the end of first quarter this year. UTI MF proposes to launch Gold Exchange Traded Fund and Global Navigator Fund (overseas fund) in next two months. Besides, presently two schemes - UTI Capital Protection Scheme and UTI Long Term Advantage Fund are open for subscription. The fund manager expects to mop up about Rs 2,000 crore from these two schemes.

Mirae To Enter MF Biz In India

Mumbai: South Korea is all set to inter Indian financial services market with Mirae Asset group foraying the mutual fund business. Mirae Asset Global Investment Management have submitted the sponsor registration forms to Sebi and are awaiting the approval. The company intends to set up a wholly owned subsidiary and will not rope in a partner. Besides mutual funds, Mirae is also looking at other portfolios. We are very keen on a variety of business operations in India. Mirae Asset, which already has $800 million invested in Indian equities, is expected to raise another $200 million from Korean investors for investments in Indian stocks. Mirae Asset Group, is an independent financial group in Korea and has worldwide operations, providing value-added financial services and competitive products.
The proposed foray of Mirae Asset comes at a time when other players such as Japan's Shinsei bank, UBS, Aviva and Pioneer are planning to enter the domestic mutual fund business. The Tokyo-based Shinsei Bank is also all set to enter into the domestic mutual fund business by forming a joint venture Asset Management Company (AMC) with Andhra Bank. If the deal goes through, Shinsei becomes the second Japanese financial services company to enter into the AMC business in India.

MFs May Report 20 pc Returns In 2007

The buoyant mutual fund sector, which recorded as high as 40% returns last year, is all set to attract a major chunk of domestic share in 2007. Though, the sector, that is sitting over an all time high assets under management value (AUM) of Rs 3.4 trillion, may not see such high yields this year. During the last two years, they have grown nearly at the rate of 35-40%, matching the bull run in the stock market. The market may not be performing same in 2007, the returns from the equity schemes may narrow down to 15-20%. The sector, with 30 active players, raised nearly $8 billion via equity mutual fund schemes. Besides, relying on conventional equity and debt funds, study various alternatives like gold, realty, commodity-based funds as well as geographical opportunities like overseas investments in better performing economies.
Currently, size of the asset under management in the country is $ 65 billion against the country's GDP of $ 780 billion. Once, we totally shift to the market-controlled interest rate regime, not only the MF sector, but the investment scenario in the country will also undergo a sea change. With the Reserve Bank of India controlling the credit flow to the markets so as to check inflation and overheating of economy, the debt funds are currently finding it tough to compete against the bank deposits, as the hike in lending rates has subsequently been followed by increase in the deposit rates offered by banks. As the market may remain subdued in 2007, returns from the equity schemes may narrow down to 15-20 per cent.