HDFC MF Changes Fund Manager

With effect from 2 April 2007, Mr. Chirag Setalvad will be managing the following funds: - HDFC Capital Builder Fund, HDFC Long Term Advantage Fund, HDFC Children’s Gift- Savings Plan, HDFC Children’s Gift- Investment Plan, HDFC Multiple Yield Fund- Plan 2005 and HDFC Balanced Fund. Earlier these funds were being managed by Mr. Vinay Kulkarni. Mr Setalvad has a degree in Business Administration from University of North Carolina and brings with him an experience of over 10 years in fund management and equity research.

Mutual Funds Continue Selling

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) were net sellers of equities for the fourth consecutive trading session on Thursday (29 March 2007). MFs sold shares worth Rs 60.01 compared with Wednesday (28 March 2007) sales of Rs 206.79 crore.
Last month, out of 19 trading sessions, MFs were net sellers of equities for eight days, and net buyers for 11 days in February 2007.

MFs made gross sales worth Rs 582.14 crore, their gross purchase aggregating Rs 422.13 crore on Thursday. The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 95.32 points (0.74%) higher, at 12,979.66 on that day.

MFs net inflow from April 2006 - March 2007, up to 29 March 2007, stands at Rs 8902.78 crore, while they bought shares worth Rs 14302.20 crore during April 2005-March 2006 period.

Principal MF Files Offer Document With SEBI

Principal Mutual Fund has filed an offer document with SEBI for its Principal PNB fixed maturity plan 385 Days - Series V.
The investment objective of the scheme is to build an income-oriented portfolio and provide returns along with regular liquidity to investors.

The scheme will have two investment plans that is regular plan and institutional plan with growth and dividend options under each plan. The dividend option under both plans will have the facility of payout and sweep.

The scheme may invest in domestic securitised debt such as asset backed securities (ABS) or mortgage backed securities (MBS). ABS are securitized debts where the underlying assets are receivables arising from various loans including automobile loans, personal loans, loans against consumer durable, etc. MBS are securitized debts where the underlying assets are receivables arising from loans backed by mortgage of residential / commercial properties.

The scheme would invest in money market instruments and short dated debt instruments, including government securities.

The asset allocation will involve the investment up to 100% in debt and money market instruments.

The minimum target amount under the scheme will be Rs 100 million. And the minimum application amount will be Rs 1,000 under Regular Plan and Rs 5 million under institutional plan for dividend option and growth options under both the plans and any amount thereafter under each plan.

MFs Go Slow On Equity Purchase

Mumbai: With stock markets more or less directionless in recent weeks, mutual fund houses remain to have cash levels of up to 20 per cent of their total corpus. Mutual funds were net sellers in the equity market to the tune of Rs 1,742 crore till March 28 the biggest single month sales since June 2006. The fund houses are, however, purchasing into debt, a move that reflects their heavy cash position. During this month, the fund houses have infused Rs 4,235 crore in debt instruments, their biggest single month investment in debt since November 2006. Since last month, some of the top performing schemes has upped their cash levels to 50 per cent. Incidentally, there is no major new fund offers (NFOs) lined up and the ongoing offers have not got good response as a result. NFOs have extended the issue closure date.
Besides, the worry over issues of hike in crude prices, appreciation of the rupee and high inflation continues. This could prove costly for the fund houses as most diversified equity schemes have good exposure to the information technology sector. The funds were not deploying the cash in purchasing equities as they could be anticipating more correction from the present levels. They are looking forward to infuse into these sectors, a fund manager belonging to a top mutual fund said.

Mutual Funds Selling Continue

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) were net sellers of equities for the third consecutive trading session on Wednesday (28 March 2007). MFs sold shares worth Rs 206.79 compared with Monday (26 March 2007) sales of Rs 295.26 crore.
Last month, out of 19 trading sessions, MFs were net sellers of equities for eight days, and net buyers for 11 days in February 2007.

MFs made gross sales worth Rs 690.69 crore, their gross purchase aggregating Rs 483.90 crore on Wednesday. The 30-share BSE Sensex settled with a loss of 239.98 points (1.83%), to 12,884.34 on that day.

MFs net inflow from April 2006 - March 2007, up to 28 March 2007, stands at Rs 8962.81 crore, while they bought shares worth Rs 14302.20 crore during April 2005-March 2006 period.

UTI-Children’s Career Balanced Plan Declares Bonus

UTI-Children’s Career Balanced Plan has declared a bonus in the ratio of 1 unit for every 10 units held of face value of Rs.10/- each. Pursuant to the payment of bonus, the NAV of the scheme would fall to the extent of bonus units allotted and statutory levy if any
The record date for the bonus is 30 March 2007.
UTI-Children’s Career Balanced Plan has declared bonus at regular intervals since its launch in 1993. During the last fiscal year the Plan had declared a bonus in the ratio of 1 unit for every 10 units held of face value of Rs.10 each.
NAV per unit of UTI-Children's Career Balanced Plan as on 26 March 2007 was Rs.14.5136.

Mutual Funds Net Outflow At Rs 1534 Crore For March 2007

Mutual funds have stepped up selling in equities. They sold shares worth a net Rs 295.26 crore on Monday (26 March 2007), the day when the Sensex had lost 162 points. That was much higher than their sales of Rs 168.15 crore on Friday (23 March 2007).
Mutual funds’ net outflow of Rs 295.26 crore on 26 March 2007 was a result of gross purchases of Rs 463.48 crore and gross sales worth Rs 758.74 crore.
Mutual funds have been net sellers for most of the present month. Their outflow stands at Rs 1534 crore so far this month (till 26 March).

Reliance MF Unveils New Scheme

Reliance Mutual Fund has launched a close-ended income scheme, Reliance Fixed Horizon Fund -III Annual Plan - Series IV. The scheme has duration of 371 days. The primary investment objective of the scheme is to seek to generate regular returns and growth of capital by investing in a diversified portfolio of: -
Central and State Government securities and Other fixed income/ debt securities normally maturing in line with the time profile of the plan with the objective of limiting interest rate volatility.
The minimum subscription amount for Institutional Plan is Rs. 1 crore per option and in multiples of Re. 1 thereafter and for Retail Plan is Rs. 5,000/- per option and in multiples of Re. 1 thereafter. The scheme will be benchmarked against Crisil Composite Short term Bond Fund Index. Mr Prashant Pimple is the fund manager.

Change In Definition Of High Dividend Yield Stocks Under ABN Amro Dividend Yield

ABN Amro Mutual Fund changes the definition of its high dividend yield stocks for ABN Amro Dividend Yield Fund. Earlier, stocks which had their dividend yield in excess of the dividend yield of the BSE Sensex Index were considered as high dividend yield stocks. But from now onwards, stocks having a dividend yield in excess of 0.50 per cent shall be termed as high dividend yield stocks. Investors who are not willing to continue with the fund after the above change, can exit the fund without any exit load between 9th April and 8th May, 2007.

Mutual Fund Returns Fall

Mumbai: The current financial year has proved to be a year of plenty for India's mutual fund industry as it's asset size reached Rs 3 lakh crore for the first time. The year also marked foray of global fund houses like J P Morgan, UBS, AIG and Nikko, while Standard Chartered made an exit from its India AMC business. The Indian mutual fund industry, acclaimed as the top return-yielding destination, has lived up to its reputation. Some of the best performing schemes gave a return of up to 65 per cent during the 2006 calendar year. Compared with the previous financial year, the returns have declined, mainly due to a decline in the stock prices. The net asset value of most equity funds fell nearly 10 per cent since January 2007. In spite of the fluctuations in the prices of banking and IT stocks, funds dedicated to these have given healthy returns on investments, while diversified and tax saver schemes have managed to perform better than their respective benchmarks.

ABN Amro Sustainable Development Fund Extend NFO

The New Fund Offer Period for ABN Amro Sustainable Development Fund has been extended by six days. Now, the fund would close on April 5, 2007.

Preponement Of NFO Of Birla FTP Series-U

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has preponed the offer period for Birla Fixed Term Plan Series-U to March 28. The fund was scheduled to close on April 11, 2007.

Monthly Interval Fund Under Reliance Interval Fund

Reliance Mutual Fund has declared the launch of the Monthly Interval Fund Series II under Reliance Interval Fund. The net indicative yield for Monthly Interval Fund Series II closing on 29 March 2007 is 11.25% for both the plans. The NFO period for the new scheme is from 28 March 2007 to 29 March 2007.

Mutual Funds Turn Sellers

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) turned net sellers of equities on Friday (23 March 2007). MFs sold shares worth Rs 168.15 crore compared with Thursday's (22 March 2007) purchases of Rs 87.10 crore. Last month, out of 19 trading sessions, MFs were net sellers of equities for eight days, and net buyers for 11 days in February 2007. MFs made gross sales worth Rs 666.95 crore, their gross purchase aggregating Rs 498.80 crore on Friday. The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 22.10 points lower, at 13,285.93, on that day. MFs net inflow from April 2006 - March 2007, up to 23 March 2007, stands at Rs 9464.86 crore, while they bought shares worth Rs 14302.20 crore during April 2005-March 2006 period.

Introduction Of Institutional Plan Under Four Schemes Of DSPML MF

With effect from 1st April 2007, DSPML Mutual Fund introduces Institutional Plan under its four equity funds:- DSPML Equity Fund, DSPML Opportunities Fund, DSPML Top 100 Equity Fund and DSPML T.I.G.E.R. Fund. The minimum investment amount for the institutional plan would be Rs.5 crores. There will be no entry or exit load in the plan and the plan offers Growth and Dividend options with payout and re-investment facility. The units of the plan will be available at Rs 10 per unit. After the introduction of institutional plan, the existing plans shall be renamed as ‘Regular Plans’. Both, Regular and Institutional Plans will have the same investment objective and benchmark index and will share a common portfolio.

UTI MF's Micro-Pension Scheme For Rural Women

Pune: UTI Mutual Fund has forayed into an arrangement with Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank Ltd (Mann Deshi) for giving its members an investment opportunity via a micro-pension initiative under its Retirement Benefit Pension Fund. This will enable rural women with meagre income in Western Maharashtra to attain financial independence and become self sufficient in their old age. Mann Deshi, a regulated cooperative bank run by and for women, has over 40,000 members, of which 2,000 will be joining the scheme initially. Under this arrangement, those between 18 and 55 years will contribute a minimum of Rs 200 per month towards UTI-Retirement Benefit Pension Fund till they are 58. Empowering women to attain financial independence is the prime objective of Mann Deshi Bank and UTI Mutual Fund will help them achieve this objective. Financial inclusion is the provision of financial services at an affordable cost to the excluded. These services include savings, credit, remittances, insurance and pension services.

Record Date In Three FMPs Of Principal Mutual

Principal Mutual Fund has announced 28th March, 2007 as record date for the declaration of dividend under its three Fixed Maturity Plans: Principal Pnb Fixed Maturity Plan- 91 Days - Series VI, Principal Pnb Fixed Maturity Plan - 91 Days - Series VII, Principal Pnb Fixed Maturity Plan - 91 Days - Series VIII.

Another FMP From UTI Mutual Fund

UTI Mutual Fund unveils another fixed maturity plan- UTI Fixed Maturity Plan Quarterly-March 2007 Series II. The fund remains open for subscription from 16th March to 28th March, 2007. The fund has a tenor of 94 days and will charge an exit load of 2 per cent if redemption is made within 90 days.

Robeco To Unveil India Equity Fund By Year-End

Europe's oldest asset management company Robeco, which has just bought a 49 per cent stake in Canara Bank's mutual funds business, plans to launch an India equity fund out of Luxembourg by this year-end. There is a lot of European interest in Indian equities. They already have a China Fund and we can create an India Fund as well. They propose to launch an India equity fund in around six months after obtaining necessary regulatory approvals. Present in India last week to ink a joint venture for the mutual funds business with state-run Canara Bank. Robeco's other plans for India include entering the pension funds segment. It also wants to set up a private equity fund across emerging markets, including India. Robeco was presently in negotiations with the Dutch Development Bank for establishing a private equity fund with a focus on SMEs in emerging markets. Robeco, which already has an exposure in India of $0.5 billion through its Emerging Markets Fund, plans to scale that to up to $1 billion. Robeco holds a 65 per cent stake in SAM. The Canara Robeco JV will bring into the Indian market clean technology, smart energy and water products. SAM has tremendous expertise in this segment and they hope to launch its products by end of this year. SAM's products are sold in Australia, China and Japan.

Standard Chartered MF Announces Dividend In Standard Chartered FMP

Standard Chartered Mutual Fund has declared the record date for declaration of dividend under the dividend option of Standard Chartered Fixed Maturity Plan- Quarterly Series 2. The record date would be March 28, 2007. The fund intends to pay out the entire appreciation during the tenure of the fund.

Birla MF Unleashes One More FTP

Birla Mutual Fund has come out with another fixed term plan- Birla Fixed Term Plan Quarterly Series 11.The fund remains open for subscription from 16th March to 26th March, 2007.It is a 91 days fund and is specifically designed to control price risk. The primary aim of the scheme is to generate current income by investing in a portfolio of fixed income securities maturing normally in line with the duration of the scheme. The fund offers two investment options: Growth and Dividend with payout facility. The minimum investment amount for the scheme would be Rs. 5000 and the performance of the fund would be benchmarked against Crisil Liquid Fund Index. No entry load will be charged by the fund but an exit load of 0.50 per cent will be levied if redemption is made before maturity.

Mutual Funds Take To Buying

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) have bought equities on 22 March 2007. MFs purchased shares worth Rs 86.90 crore compared with Wednesday's (21 March 2007) sales of Rs 56.33 crore. In 19 trading sessions of February 2007, MFs were net sellers of equities for eight, and net buyers for 11. MFs made gross purchases worth Rs 557.89 crore, their gross sales aggregating Rs 470.99 crore on March 21. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 362.15 points (2.8%), to settle at 13,308.03, on that day. MFs net inflow from April 2006 - March 2007, up to 22 March 2007, stands at Rs 9632.81 crore. Domestic funds also bought shares worth Rs 14302.20 crore during April 2005-March 2006 period.

Bonus Announced Under Principal Income Fund

Principal Income Fund has come out with a bonus of 2:3 (2 unit for every 3 units held of face value Rs.10/- each) under its Growth Option. The record date for the same would be March 26, 2007.

Mutual Funds Take To Selling

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) were seen selling equities on 21 March 2007. MFs offloaded shares worth Rs 56.33 crore compared with Tuesday's (20 March 2007) purchases of Rs 140.15 crore. Last month, out of 19 trading sessions, MFs were net sellers of equities for eight days, and net buyers for 11 days in February 2007. MFs made gross sales worth Rs 453.94 crore, their gross purchases aggregating Rs 397.61 crore on Wednesday. The 30-share BSE Sensex 239.94 points (1.89%), to settle at 12,945.88, on that day. MFs net inflow from April 2006 - March 2007, up to 21 March 2007, stands at Rs 9545.91 crore, while they purchased shares worth Rs 14302.20 crore during April 2005 - March 2006.

JM MF Announces NFO Of Its New FMP From JM Mutual Fund

JM Mutual Fund has come out with the NFO of its new FMP- JM Fixed Maturity Fund- Series IV-Yearly Plan. The fund will remain open for subscription from 21st March to 22nd March, 2007. Being a close-ended income fund, the allocation of the fund would be centered around short term debt securities, money market securities and government securities. The fund offers two options- Growth and Dividend and the minimum investment amount for them is Rs 5000. The fund charges an exit load of 1.50 per cent.

Tata Mutual Announces Record Date

Tata Mutual Fund has fixed 26th March, 2007 as the record date for the declaration of dividend under its Fixed Horizon Funds. The schemes are as follows:
Tata Fixed Horizon Fund-Series 6 13 Months Plan A Tata Fixed Horizon Fund Series 6 6Months Plan H Tata Fixed Horizon Series 8 3Month Plan D Regular Option Tata Fixed Horizon Fund Series 8 3Month Plan E Regular Option Tata Fixed Horizon Fund Series 8 3Month Plan F Regular Option Tata Fixed Horizon Fund Series 9 3Month Plan D Regular Option Tata Fixed Horizon Fund Series 9 3Month Plan E Regular Option.

Mutual Funds Turn Net Buyers

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) stepped buying of equities on 20 March 2007. Mutual funds purchased shares worth Rs 140.15 crore compared with Monday's (19 March 2007) purchases of Rs 33.07 crore. Last month, out of 19 trading sessions, MFs were net sellers of equities for eight days, and net buyers for 11 days in February 2007. MFs made gross purchases worth Rs 413.27 crore, their gross sales aggregating Rs 273.12 crore on Tuesday. The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 60.95 points (0.48%), to settle at 12,705.94, on that day. MFs net inflow from April 2006 - March 2007, up to 20 March 2007, stands at Rs 9602.24 crore, while they bought shares worth Rs 14302.20 crore during April 2005-March 2006 period.

Birla Sun Life MF Prepones NFO Of Birla FTP Q Series-10

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has preponed the offer period for Birla Fixed Term Plan Quarterly Series-10 by twenty five days. Now, the fund will close on March 20, 2007.

Canbank MF Announces Dividend On Canfloating Rate Fund

Scheme: Canfloating Rate
Date of dividend: 17/03/07, 18/03/07 & 19/03/07 (for 3 days)
Declaration of Dividend under Daily Dividend Re-invest Plan
Daily Div Reinvest Plan INDUVIDUALS & HUF 0.00719141 OTHERS 0.00669716

Sundaram Tax Saver Fund Declares 20-Pc Dividend

Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual Fund has come out with a dividend of 20% (Rs 2 per unit on face value of Rs 10) in its open ended ELSS Scheme - Sundaram BNP Paribas Tax Saver. All investors registered under the dividend option of the scheme as on March 23, 2007 will receive this dividend. Pursuant to payment of dividend, the NAV of the schemes would fall to the extent of payout and statutory levy (if applicable). The NAV under the dividend plan of the scheme as on March 16, 2007 was Rs 13.9910. The last dividend announced by the scheme was of 25% in December 2006. Over the last one year, Sundaram BNP Paribas Tax Saver has yielded 6.5% as compared to 9.9% given by its benchmark BSE 200 as on March 19, 2007.

50% Dividend In Magnum Global Fund

SBI Mutual Fund has decided to pay a 50 per cent dividend under the dividend option of Magnum Global Fund. The record date for the same is March 23, 2007. Earlier, the fund had declared a 42 per cent dividend in July 2005.

Birla Mutual Fund Revises Load Structure

Birla Mutual Fund has changed the exit load structure of Birla Index Fund from March 19, 2007. From today, the fund will not charge any entry or any exit load.Earlier, the fund did not charge any entry load but an exit load ranging from 0.25 to 1 per cent depending on the amount of investment and the period within which the redemption was made.

Tata Growth Fund Announces Dividend

Tata Mutual Fund has decided to pay a 100 per cent dividend under the dividend option of Tata Growth Fund. The record date for the same has been fixed as March 23, 2007. The fund’s last declared dividend was of 20 per cent in August 2006.

MF NAVs End With Negative Returns As Mkts Slip In Red

Equity diversified NAVs lost all gain, which recovered on Thursday and ended with negative returns as markets slipped in red. The Sensex closed down 113.45 points or 0.90% at 12430.4, and the Nifty down 35.05 points or 0.96% at 3608.55.All sectoral funds declined sharply. The BSE FMCG, Bankex, Healthcare, Auto and IT indices lost 1%, 1.4%, 0.5%, 0.5% and 1%, respectively. Tax saving and balanced funds also finished in negative terrain.
Among the sector funds, the top losers were JM Auto Sector Fund (G) down 0.70%, UTI Auto Sector Fund (G) down 0.42% and UTI Banking Sector Fund (G) down 1.18%.Long term debt funds closed mixed with negative bias as advance:decline ratio was 37:39.Among the equity diversified funds, the top losers were JM HI FI Fund (G) down 1.98%, Standard Chartered Imperial Equity Fund (G) down 1.98% and Sundaram BNP Paribas Capex Opportunities Fund (G) down 1.78%.

Among the tax saving funds, the top losers were Taurus Libra Tax Shield down 1.44%, Tata Tax Saving Fund down 1.43% and LIC MF Tax Plan (G) down 1.36%.

Among the balanced funds, the top gainers BOB Children Fund - Gift Plan were up 0.01%. The top losers were Kotak Dynamic Asset Allocation (G) down 1.33%, BOB Balance Fund (G) down 1.18% and LIC MF Balanced Fund - C (G) down 1.14%.

UTI Services Sector Fund Announces 101% Dividend

UTI Mutual Fund has come out with a dividend of 101% (Rs.10.10 per unit on face value of Rs.10/-) in its open-ended sestor fund - UTI Services Sector Fund. The record date for the dividend is March 16, 2007. All unitholders registered under the dividend option of UTI Services Sector Fund as on March 16, 2007 will be eligible for this dividend. Also investors who join the dividend option of the scheme on or before the record date will be eligible for the dividend.
Pursuant to the payment of dividend, the NAV of the dividend option of the scheme would fall to the extent of payout and statutory levy if any. The NAV per unit as on March 9, 2007 was Rs 33.88 under the dividend option.UTI Services Sector Fund was launched in May 1999 as an open-ended equity scheme. The Investment objective of the scheme is to provide investors the benefits of capital appreciation and income distribution through investments in equities and equity related instruments of companies engaged in the business of banking, finance & insurance, education & training, telecom services, travel & tourism, leisure & entertainment, transportation etc.

45 Per Cent Dividend Announced In DSPML Tiger Fund

DSPML Mutual Fund has come out with a dividend of 45% (i.e. Rs 4.50 per unit on the face value of Rs. 10) under the dividend option of DSPML Tiger Fund. The record date for the same has been fixed as March 21, 2007. This is the third dividend payout by the fund. Last year, a dividend of 45 per cent was declared in February 2006.

Principal MF Revises Load Structure

Principal Mutual Fund has declared the revision of load for five of its equity funds, with effect from 19 March 2007. The fund house has introduced an exit load of 0.50% if redemption is made within 180 days under Principal Growth, Principal Large Cap and Principal Infrastructure & Services Industries Fund. The entry load in all the three funds remains unchanged. In case of Principal Index Fund also, no change has been made in the entry load structure. But, now the fund would charge an exit load of 0.50% if investment is redeemed within 30 days. Whereas, in case of Principal Focused Advantage Fund, both entry and exit load have been modified. From 19 March 2007 onwards, an entry load of 2.25% will be charged for investment less than Rs 2 crore and an exit load of 0.50% if redemption is made within 180 days.

Reliance MF Unveils Reliance Interval Fund- A Debt Oriented Interval

Reliance Mutual Fund declares to unveil Reliance Interval Fund A Debt Oriented Interval Scheme. The fund will be launched in two series 1 and 2. The New Fund Offer for series 1 opened on 14th March, 2007 and closed on 15th March, 2007. The New Fund Offer for series 2 opens on 28th March, 2007 and will close on 29th March, 2007. The investment objective of the scheme is to seek to generate regular returns and growth of capital by investing in a diversified portfolio of: 1) Central and State Government securities and 2) Other fixed income/ debt securities normally maturing in line with the time profile of the plan with the objective of limiting interest rate volatility The fund can invest 30 to 100 percent of its portfolio in money market instruments and 0 to 30 percent in government securities.

Standard Chartered MF Declares Dividend

Standard Chartered Mutual Fund has announced a maiden net dividend of 0.877% under the Retail and Institutional options of Standard Chartered Arbitrage Fund. The record date for the both the dividend payouts has been fixed as 20 March 2007.

Mutual Funds Continue Sales

Mutual funds continued sales of equities on March 13 But their outflow of Rs 13.48 crore on Tuesday was much lower than March 12, Rs 146 crore. The outflow was still higher at Rs 384 crore on Friday 9 March. Mutual funds net outflow of Rs 13.48 crore on March 13 was a result of gross purchases Rs 334.20 crore and gross sales Rs 347.68 crore. The cumulative outflow in equities by mutual funds for March 2007 thus far has reached Rs 882.76 crore.

Bajaj Joins Hand With Allianz For MFs, Credit Cards

NEW DELHI: Bajaj Auto and German financial services provider Allianz on March 14, declared the setting of a joint venture for distribution of mutual funds, credit cards, personal loans and home loans. Unlike the other two joint ventures between Bajaj and Allianz for their insurance business, the new joint venture is a 50-50 JV between the two companies. The company-Bajaj Allianz Financial Distributors, will have a paid up capital of Rs 2.4 crore and will distribute financial products of different asset management companies, banks and non banking financial companies. The newly formed joint venture is still in negotiations with companies and did not disclose the products it will be distributing. The company will specifically aim the non urban areas for distributing the financial products.

MFs Sitting On Vast Cash Position

Sensing a purchasing opportunity following the recent fall in stock prices, most mutual fund houses have increased the cash levels of their top schemes by up to 50 per cent of the total corpus during the last one-and-a-half month. Most of the top performing equity mutual fund schemes have an average cash level of 15%, which is almost thrice the normal level maintained by them. Some schemes are even sitting on cash of up to 50% of their corpus. Reliance Mutual Fund's Long Term Equity fund, Prudential ICICI's Equity and Derivatives Fund and SBI's Magnum Global are some of the funds which are currently sitting on huge cash. Mutual funds bought equities worth a total of Rs 12,697.09 crore in February 2007 and sold equities worth Rs 12,971.14 crore, becoming net sellers of Rs 274.05 crore. This month, the funds have sold equities worth Rs 5,231.63 crore till 12 March 2007, while buying was restricted to Rs 4,362.35 crore. They have been net sellers of Rs 869.28 crore.

101% dividend in UTI Services Sector Fund

UTI Mutual Fund has declared a dividend of 101 per cent (i.e. Rs 10.10 per unit on the face value of Rs. 10) under the dividend option of UTI Services Sector Fund. The record date for the same has been fixed as March 16, 2007. This is the second time such a big quantum of dividend is being declared by the AMC. Last year, the same amount of dividend was paid in February 2006.

Canbank MF Declares 60 pc Dividend On Can Equity Tax Scheme

Kochi: Canbank Mutual Fund has announces 60% dividend on its CanEquity Tax Saver Scheme, which has a face value of Rs 10. The CanEquity Tax Saver Scheme is an open-ended equity linked tax saving scheme. The investment objective of the scheme is to give long-term capital appreciation by predominantly investing in equities. The investments in the scheme up to Rs 1 lakh is freed from tax under 80 C of the Income Tax Act and the buyback of units under the scheme can be made after a lock-in period of three years from the date of allotment. The record date for income distribution has been fixed as March 15. All unit holders whose names appear in the register as on record date are eligible for this income distribution. The books of the scheme shall remain closed on March 16 on account of the dividend distribution.

UTI To Tie Up With Europe Bank To Float Offshore Fund

Mumbai: UTI Asset Management Company is close to join hands with a European bank for unveiling offshore fund dedicated to investments in the domestic infrastructure stocks. The corpus of the fund will be about $300 million. This will be UTI AMC's second infrastructure fund and comes after the close of its first infrastructure fund it unveiled in tie-up with Australia's AMP in 1999. The fund had given a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35 per cent in dollar terms. They are talking with a top European financial services firm for this fund, which would be aimed at investing in infrastructure. With increasing equity returns from the domestic investments, the domestic AMCs were looking forward to unveiling more offshore funds. UTI AMC had raised $108 million from Japanese investors recently via a tie-up with Shinsei Bank. UTI AMC, via its subsidiary UTI International has five offshore funds, which also include India fund, India IT fund and India Pharma fund.

Mutual Funds Net Sellers

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) continue to sell equities for the second consecutive trading session on 8 March 2007, after buying continuously for two days. MFs began March 2007 with consecutive two days of selling. On 8 March 2007, MFs sold shares worth Rs 39.76 crore compared with Wednesday's (7 March 2007) sales of Rs 379.56 crore.
Last month, out of 19 trading sessions, MFs were net sellers of equities for eight days, and net buyers for 11 days in February 2007. MFs made gross sales worth Rs 617.99 crore, their gross purchases aggregating Rs 578.23 crore on Thursday. The 30-share BSE Sensex vaulted 469.60 points (3.7%), to 13,049.35, on that day. MFs net inflow from April 2006 - March 2007, up to 8 March 2007, stands at Rs 10364.64 crore.

Domestic MFs Turn Sellers

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) sold equities on 7 March 2007 after buying continuously for two day. MFs were seller of equities during the first two days of the month. On Wednesday (7 March 2007), MFs sold shares worth Rs 379.56 crore compared with Tuesday's (6 March 2007) purchases of Rs 68.44 crore. Last month, out of 19 trading sessions, MFs were net sellers of equities for eight days, and net buyers for 11 days in February 2007. MFs made gross sales worth Rs 717.76 crore, their gross purchases aggregating Rs 338.20 crore on March 7. The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 117.34 points (0.92%) lower, at 12,579.75, on that day. MF net inflow from April 2006 - February 2007, up to 7 March 2007, stands at Rs 10321.15 crore.

Funds Poised To Expand KYC Umbrella

Mumbai: Mutual fund houses are poised to expand the Know Your Client (KYC) norm umbrella by coming out with newer requirements like asking their high net worth investors to provide details of their big investments made in the past. ABN AMRO Asset Management Company is the first to take this step. The fund house has proposed to seek KYC compatibility from those investors who have invested more than Rs 6 lakh into various schemes during 2006. In a bid to comply with these norms put forward by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the fund houses or the trustees are permitted to decide their own investment threshold for identifying KYC investors. All existing investors, as on December 31, 2006 of all schemes whose aggregate investments with ABN AMRO mutual fund, is above the prescribed limit of Rs 6 lakh for individuals and Rs 18 lakh for in case of non-individuals and above during the calender year 2006, are required to provide KYC confirmation and PAN before June 30, 2007, a notice-cum-addendum published by the AMC said. As of now, the investors willing to invest more than Rs 50,000 in a single fund scheme are required to submit their PAN as well as comply with the KYC documentation. This is our internal decision to come out with investor threshold even for past investment, as to know the details of the investors and source of investment. There has been no specific instructions from the industry-body Association of Mutual funds in India in this regard. But, the PMLA permits us to set up threshold and seek more information, Nikhil Johri, managing director ANB AMRO AMC said. Earlier, after rounds of investor dissatisfaction, the Government had replaced the Mutual Fund Investment Number (MIN) with PAN. Industry sources see ABN Amro's decision as begining of expansion of KYC requirements. Compulsory PAN indentity for any MF investment has been on cards since long time and when MIN was introduced it was seen as first step towards it.

JM Financial Rolls Out Small & Mid-Cap Fund

JM Financial Mutual Fund has rolled out its JM Small & Mid-cap Fund. The scheme looks at providing capital appreciation by primarily investing in small and mid cap stocks. The portfolio will include those companies, which have the potential to become tomorrow’s bluechips. JM Small & Mid-cap Fund is an open-ended equity oriented scheme providing regular and institutional plans with growth and dividend options in each plan. The scheme will invest in small cap stocks in the range of 20% - 40% and in mid-cap stocks in the range of 20% - 80%. An individual investor can start by investing as little as Rs 5000 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter in this fund. There is no upper limit for investment. The New Fund Offer (NFO) for JM Small & Mid- cap Fund commences on 9 March 2007 and closes on 7 April 2007.

Reliance MF To Pay Dividend Under Reliance Growth Fund

Reliance Mutual Fund has announced a 75% dividend under Reliance Growth Fund. The record date for the same has been fixed as 12 March 2007. Prior to this, the fund declared a 25 per cent dividend in October 2006.

HDFC AMC Sets Up Branch In Nashik

Mumbai/ Nashik: HDFC Assets Management Company Ltd (AMC) has set up a branch in Nashik. The branch located near the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan. It is HDFC AMC's first branch in Nashik and the third in Maharashtra after Pune and Nagpur. HDFC AMC assets under management (AUM) was Rs 31,424.74 crore. In 2003, following a decision by the Zurich Insurance Company (ZIC), the sponsor of Zurich India Mutual Fund, to divest its asset management business in India, HDFC AMC had entered into an agreement with ZIC to acquire the asset management business.

Tata MF Comes Out With Dividend In Tata Infrastructure

Tata Mutual Fund has decided to pay a dividend of 20% (i.e. Rs 2 per unit on the face value of Rs 10) under the dividend option of Tata Infrastructure Fund. The record date for the same has been fixed as March 9, 2007.

Kotak Wealth Builder Debuts At Rs 9.9954

Kotak Wealth Builder - Series 1 debuted at Rs 9.9954 per unit as against a face value of Rs 10 per unit. The scheme, whose initial public offering closed on January 31, 2007 re-opened for fresh investments and sales yesterday. Kotak Wealth Builder - I is a close - ended debt scheme with 36 months maturity. The scheme has been rated AAA (so) by CRISIL. The objective of the scheme is to generate income by investing in the Debt & Money Market instruments and to generate capital appreciation by investing in equity derivatives. (Check out - Mutual Fund New Fund Listings). The scheme was launched on January 2, 2007. Benchmarked against CRISIL MIP Blended Index the fund would invest 70-100% in Debt and Money Market Securities, 0-30% in Equity Derivatives.

MF NAVs Witness Negative Returns As Mkts Crumble Sharply

Equity diversified NAVs plummeted as the markets slipped sharply on the back of selling presure and ended the week in deep red. The Sensex lost 273.42 points or 2.08% at 12886.13, and the Nifty down 84.45 points or 2.22% at 3726.75.
Equity diversified funds advance:decline ratio was at 4:16, balanced funds at 1:33 and tax saving funds at 0:29.All sectoral funds declined sharply. The BSE Auto, Bankex, FMCG, Healthcare and IT indices ended down 1.07%, 2.08%, 1.68%, 0.92% and 2.31%, respectively. JM Financial Services Sector Fund (G), Franklin Infotech Fund (G) and UTI Software Fund (G) were the top losers.Long term debt funds also heavily impacted as only 19 funds advanced while 56 funds declined. However, short term debt funds ended with positive returns despite declined of 17 funds while 40 funds advanced.

Among the equity diversified funds, the top gainers were Taurus Star Share up 0.56%, SBI Arbitrage Opportunities Fund (G) up 0.25% and Standard Chartered Arbitrage Fund - Plan A (G) up 0.21%. The top losers were UTI Master Plus 91 (G) down 2.60%, DWS Alpha Equity Fund (G) down 2.59% and UTI Index Select Equity Fund (G) down 2.59%.

Among the tax saving funds, the top loser was LIC MF Tax Plan (G) down 2.08%, DWS Tax Saving Fund (G) down 2.03% and HDFC Tax Saver (G) down 2.00%.Among the sector funds, the only gainer was Reliance Pharma Fund (G) up 0.61%, up % and up %. The top losers were JM Financial Services Sector Fund (G) down 2.73%, Franklin Infotech Fund (G) down 2.61% and UTI Software Fund (G) down 2.45%.Among the balanced funds, only gainer was BOB Children Fund - Gift Plan up 0.01%. The top losers were Kotak Dynamic Asset Allocation (G) down 3.59%, LIC MF Unit Linked Insurance Scheme down 1.86% and Pru ICICI Balanced Fund (G) down 1.66%.

MF Industry Raise Rs 3.55 Lakh Crore In Feb '07

The mutual fund industry mobilised Rs 3.55 lakh crore of assets under management (AUM) in February 2007, of which Fund of Funds (FoFs) accounted for Rs 2311 crore. This was higher than what fund houses managed in January 2007 - Rs 3.41 lakh crore in all. Of this, FoFs made up Rs 2539 crore.
Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund emerged as the country's largest fund house, displacing Reliance Mutual from its first position, end February 2007. Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund topped the charts with Rs 43280 crore of AUM - a rise of 24.6% over January 2007. This is clearly more than what the Reliance Mutual Fund managed: Rs 42215 crore in February 2007 (a rise of 8.2% over January 2007).

Occupying the third and fourth slots were UTI Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund, which had AUM of Rs 38603 crore and Rs 31080 crore, respectively. UTI Mutual Fund has come down from first position in December 2006 to second in January 2007, which further slipped to third in February 2007. HDFC mutual Fund has maintained its position. The pecking order in the asset management industry in January 2007 was in favour of Reliance Mutual Fund, which had Rs 39019 crore under management. UTI Mutual Fund, the then second position holder, had 37535 crore AUM. Pru ICICI Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund followed, with AUM of Rs 34745.73 crore and Rs 31424 crore, respectively.

For UTI Mutual Fund, the kitty has been shrinking if the end-November tally is considered. It had then topped the league tables with as much as Rs 41622 crore AUM. Thereafter Reliance Mutual Fund topped the first position in January 2007 and then ICICI Prudential mopped the first position in February 2007 dragging UTI Mutual Fund to third position after Reliance Mutual Fund, which was actually the third-largest player.

Considering the latest scores, the list of prominent fund houses includes Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (Rs 22102 crore), Birla Sun Life (Rs 21070 crore) and SBI Mutual Fund (Rs 18473 crore). While Franklin Templeton Mutual and Birla Mutual Fund have reduced their asset base (end-January: Rs 23907crore and Rs 21189 crore respectively), SBI Mutual Fund has substantially added to their kitty. SBI Mutual Fund had AUM of Rs 17552 crore ends January 2007.

Among the smaller players in the industry are Quantum Mutual Fund (Rs 53 crore), Escorts Mutual Fund (Rs 119 crore), BOB Mutual Fund (Rs 132 crore), Sahara Mutual Fund (Rs 175 crore) and newcomer Lotus India Mutual Fund (Rs 1238 crore). Some of the other fund houses, each with less than Rs 5000 crore AUM, are Canbank Mutual Fund, DBS Chola Mutual Fund, ING Vysya and Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund. StanChart Mutual Fund, which UBS Global Asset Management recently agreed to acquire in India, closed February 2007 with Rs 12997 crore - marginally higher than Rs 12745 crore it had in end-January 2007.

Out of the 30 mutual funds, twelve registered a fall in their AUM in February 2007 over January 2007, when 9 fund houses witnessed a fall in their AUM. The top three funds witnessing a fall in their AUM included Benchmark Mutual Fund (18.8%), Taurus Mutual Fund (9.8%), and Quantum Mutual Fund (8.9%).

In terms of percentage rise, Lotus India Mutual Fund clocked the first position with an increase of 91.4% in its AUM in February 2007 compared with January 2007. It was followed by Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund, witnessing a rise of 24.6%.

UTI AMC Plans To Set Up Office In S`pore

The UTI Asset Management Company plans to set up an office in Singapore by June to take advantage of the double tax avoidance pact with country for its offshore funds in South East Asia region. At present, the company has offices at London, Dubai, Bahrain and these offices operate the offshore schemes through Mauritius route. But once Singapore office becomes operational new products are expected to be unleashed through Singapore route to take advantage of the tax benefits under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement signed between India and Singapore. This fund to be christened as 'Global navigator' will be launched sometime in April or May. The company already received $190 million from Shinshei Bank of Japan during Jan-Feb, which is being invested in Indian equity market.

30% Dividend Announced In Franklin India Prima Plus

Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund has decided to apy a 30% dividend under the dividend option of Franklin India Prima Plus Fund. The record date for the dividend is March 7, 2007. There shall be one day book closure in both- Growth and Dividend options of the fund on March 8, 2007.

Max Insurance Forges Alliance With Co-op Bank

Max New York Life and District Central Cooperative Bank Ltd have announced a strategic alliance in Medak to sell life insurance products through the cooperative bank. This alliance is expected to strengthen Max New York Life's rural presence in Andhra Pradesh.
The District Central Cooperative Bank Ltd Medak was established in 1957 by the amalgamation of erstwhile Cooperative Central Banks at Medak and Sangareddy. The bank has a share capital of Rs. 42.84 crores and caters to 3 lakh customers in Medak district. With this partnership, the bank will sell Max New York Life's insurance products through a network of 21 branches, 67 PACS (Primary Agricultural Societies) and 38 ceded societies.

On the other hand, Max New York Life will tailor its products according to the needs and affordability in the rural areas. Important factors like education of children and girls' marriage, etc. flexible premium payment options will be taken into account.

All processes and procedures will be simplified to improve customer experience

Mutual Funds Seen Buying On Eight Consecutive Day

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) were seen buying for the eight consecutive day after being sellers continuously for seven trading days in February 2007. On 27 February 2007, MFs purchased shares worth Rs 348.58 crore compared with Monday's (26 February 2007) purchases of Rs 270.59 crore. Out of 18 trading sessions in February, MFs were net sellers of equities for eight days, and net buyers on ten. MFs reported gross purchases worth Rs 774.60 crore, their gross sales aggregating Rs 426.02 crore. The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 170.69 points (1.2%), to 13,478.83, on 27 February 2007. The cumulative investment by MFs, till 27 February 2007, is an outflow of Rs 517.53 crore. Inflow from MFs in April 2006 - February 2007, up to 27 February 2007, stands at Rs 10460.34 crore.

Dividend Tax Up On MFs Investing In Money Markets

The Union Budget has raised up the dividend distribution tax (DDT) on mutual funds investing in money market and liquid markets to 25 per cent for all investors. The Finance Minister said the funds enjoy concessional tax rates allowing for huge arbitrage opportunities. Mutual fund managers said that though this provision may shift a few to the long-term bond market, investors will still enjoy higher tax benefits against fixed deposits of banks. Post-tax returns of investors in liquid and money market funds will be hit by the dividend distribution tax rate going up from 22.44 per cent to 28.32 per cent (including surcharge and cess) for corporates and from 14.03 per cent to 28.32 per cent for individuals. However, for non-liquid funds, the dividend distribution tax remains the same.

Load Revision Announced In Tata Growth Fund

Tata Growth has decided to revise its load structure with effect from 1 March 2007. The fund will charge an entry load of 2.25 per cent for investment amount less than Rs 5 crores instead of Rs.2 crores. Additionally, the AMC has removed the exit load slab of 2 per cent for investment amount less than Rs. 2 crores if redeemed within 24 months. Now, the exit load for the fund would be Nil.