Canbank MF Announces 7% Dividend Under Cancigo Fund

Canbank Mutual Fund has come out with a dividend of 7% (i.e. Rs 0.70 per unit on the face value of Rs. 10) under the dividend option of Cancigo Fund. The record date for the same has been fixed as May 3, 2007. Last dividend was being declared in November 2006 by the fund.

Record Date Announced In Grindlays Fixed Maturity Plan

Standard Chartered Mutual Fund has set May 2, 2007 as the record date for the declaration of dividend under the dividend option of Grindlays Fixed Maturity Plus Plan-1. The AMC plans to distribute entire appreciation in the NAV since its inception as dividend.

Canbank MF Announces Dividend

Canbank Mutual Fund has announced dividend in following schemes: Date of dividend: 27/04/07 DIVIDEND DECLARATION: DAILY DIVIDEND RE-INVEST PLAN WEEKLY DIVIDEND PLAN CANLIQUID - INSTITUTIONAL PLAN 0.00194818 N. A. CANLIQUID - RETAIL PLAN 0.00194818 N. A. CANFLOATING RATE 0.00233781 N. A.

LIC MF Launches Fixed Maturity Plan -Series 22

LIC MF has unveiled its Fixed Maturity Plan -Series 22. The close-ended, debt scheme investment objective is to minimize interest rate risk by investing in a portfolio of fixed income securities normally maturing in line with the time profile of the scheme. The new fund offer (NFO) opens on 16 April and closes on 30 April 2007. The minimum initial application for the fund is Rs 10,000 and in multiples of Rs 1,000 thereafter. The issue price is Rs 10.

AIG To Invest $10 M In Maiden Fund

New Delhi: American International Group (AIG) plans to pump in $10 million in the maiden fund offering of AIG Global Investment Group in India - AIG India Equity Fund. This amount of $10 million would come from AIG's own balance sheet. AIG India Equity Fund is an open-ended diversified equity fund, which would be open for buy from May 3 to May 31. AIG is keen to enter into mortgage guarantee and asset reconstruction (capital recovery) businesses in the coming months. AIG also mulls to expand its headcount in India from 4,500 professionals across eight businesses to 6,600 by the end of the current calendar year, it is also looking to expand its geographical presence across India and take the number of offices (in all the eight businesses) to 350 across 120 cities from the existing level of about 180 offices.

Canbank Mutual Fund To Pay 7 Pc For Cancigo

Kochi: Canbank Mutual Fund has announced a seven per cent dividend (pre-tax) for Cancigo scheme under the income plan. Cancigo scheme is an open-ended debt scheme with marginal exposure in equities. The scheme can infuse up to 90 per cent in debt instruments and money market instruments and up to 25 per cent in equities. The objective of the scheme is to raise income by investing in debt instruments, money market instruments and a small portion in equity. The scheme carried no entry load, while there is an exit load of 0.5 per cent for investments up to Rs 5 lakh, exiting before six months. The minimum amount that can be invested in the scheme is Rs 5,000.

Mutual Funds Buying Continue

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) were buyers of equities on Thursday (26 April 2007). MFs bought shares worth Rs 17.80 compared with Wednesday’s (25 April 2007) purchases of Rs 258.70 crore. MFs made gross purchases worth Rs 1040.10 crore, their gross sales aggregating Rs 1022.40 crore on Thursday. The Sensex rose 11.11 points (0.08%), to end at 14,228.88 on that day.

LIC MF Launches Fixed Maturity Plan Series 22

LIC MF has announced the launch of its Fixed Maturity Plan Series 22. The close-ended, debt scheme investment objective is to minimize interest rate risk by investing in a portfolio of fixed income securities normally maturing in line with the time profile of the scheme. The new fund offer (NFO) opens on 16 April and closes on 30 April 2007. The minimum initial application for the fund is Rs 10,000 and in multiples of Rs 1,000 thereafter. The issue price is Rs 10.

Standard Chartered MF Declares Dividend

Standard Chartered Mutual Fund has announced 1 May 2007 as the record date for the declaration of dividend under the dividend option of Grindlays Fixed Maturity 16th Plan. Grindlays Fixed Maturity 16 th plan is a close ended Debt specialty Fund launched in October 2005. The AMC plans to distribute entire appreciation in the NAV since its inception as dividend.

DBS Chola Hedged Equity Fund Debuts At Rs. 10.47

DBS Chola Hedged Equity Fund has debuted at Rs 10.47 per unit as against face value of Rs 10 per unit. The scheme launched in the month of Mar 07. The objective of the scheme is to generate long term capital appreciation through investment in equity and equity related instruments.

Birla Sunlife MF Declares Dividend

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has announced a dividend of 8% (i.e. Rs 0.80 per unit on the face value of Rs. 10) under the dividend option of Birla Dividend Yield Plus Fund. The record date for the same has been fixed as 30 April 2007. Birla Dividend Yield Plus Fund is a open ended equity diversified fund launched in February 2003. Last year, the fund paid a dividend of 8% in October.

Mutual Funds Continue Buying

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) were buyers of equities on Wednesday (25 April 2007). MFs bought shares worth Rs 258.70 compared with Tuesday’s (24 April 2007) purchases of Rs 361.10 crore.
MFs made gross purchases worth Rs 818.90 crore, their gross sales aggregating Rs 560.20 crore on Wednesday. The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 81.05 points (0.57%), at 14,217.77 on that day.

Kotak MF Revises Load Structure

Kotak Mutual Fund has revised the exit load structure for the Short Term Plan under Kotak Bond Fund. The fund will start charging an exit load of 1% from April 25 2007 for investment upto Rs.2 crore if redemption is made within 6 months and 0.50% for investment upto Rs.2 crore and units are redeemed after 6 months but within 1 year. The entry load structure is has not been changed. It continues to remain Nil.

Mutual Funds Step Up Buying

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) were buyers of equities on Tuesday (24 April 2007). MFs bought shares worth Rs 361.10 compared with Tuesday’s (23 April 2007) purchases of Rs 172.30 crore. MFs made gross purchases worth Rs 1142.10 crore, their gross sales aggregating Rs 781.10 crore on Tuesday. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 208.39 points (1.5%), to finish at 14,136.72 on that day.

AIG Global Unveils Maiden Scheme

Mumbai: US-based AIG Global Investment Group on Wednesday declared the launch of its maiden scheme in India AIG India Equity Fund. The fund is an open-ended equity fund targeting to generate long-term capital appreciation from a diversified portfolio of predominantly equity and equity-related securities comprising equity derivatives. The maiden offering of AIG Global Investment Group will infuse 80-100 per cent of its corpus in equity and equity related securities and 0-20 per cent in debt and money market instruments. AIG Global Investment group believes no single sector has outperformed consistently over the long term. The minimum investment amount is Rs 5,000. AIG India Equity Fund is the first among a range of investment solutions that we plan to offer. The new fund offer is priced at Rs 10 per unit (plus applicable entry load) and will be open for purchase from May 3 to May 31. The fund will re-open for ongoing purchases-redemptions on June 29.

ICICI Prudential Launches SIP @ Rs 50 a Month For Rural Masses

MUMBAI: Aimed at giving access to formal finance to over 600 million rural poor, ICICI Prudential on April 25, unveiled Micro Systematic Investment Plan (MSIP). The scheme will give an opportunity for the rural poor to infuse periodically in small amounts, as low as Rs 50 and its multiples. The ICICI Prudential has over 200 tie-ups with micro finance institutions (MFIs) and NGOs across the country, which will act as aggregators and subsequently, deposit the consolidated amount to the fund house. ICICI Bank has 3.2 million customers in rural areas. ICICI Prudential is one of the largest players in the domestic mutual fund industry.

SBI MF Launches New Scheme

SBI Mutual Fund has launched a new closed-ended debt scheme under SBI debt fund series (SDFS)-SBIMF-SDFS 180 Days Fund. The new fund offer period is from 24-25 April 2007. The minimum investment amount is Rs 50,000 and then in multiples of Rs 1000 thereafter. The scheme has both growth and dividend option with monthly dividend frequency (at the maturity on 22 October 2007). Being a closed ended debt scheme the scheme charges no entry load. However, it attracts an exit load of 0.50% for exit on any day except the specified redemption date.

DSPML MF Launches New Scheme

DSPML Mutual Fund makes one more addition in its fund's list with the launch of a new fund called DSPML Strategic Bond Fund. It is an open-ended income fund.
The objective of this fund is to generate optimal returns while maintaining high liquidity by actively managing the portfolio comprising of debt and money market securities.

The fund's investment would primarily focus on debt and money market securities having a short-term horizon. It would put up its entire assets in money market and debt instruments with residual maturity of 367 days.

Tata Life Sciences & Technology Fund Declare 25% Dividend

Tata Mutual Fund has declared a dividend of 25% (Rs 2.5 per unit on the face value of Rs 10) in its Tata Life Sciences & Technology Fund - an open-ended equity scheme which aims to invest in fast growing, intellectual property driven new economy sectors which have the potential of creating long term value.
The record date for the dividend is April 27, 2007. All investors registered under the dividend option of the scheme as on April 27, 2007 will receive this dividend. Please note that 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). The NAV as on April 20, 2007 under dividend option of scheme was 39.72.

Tata Life Sciences & Technology Fund was launch in July 1999. The objective of the scheme will be to provide income distribution and/or medium to long term capital gains while at all times emphasising the importance of capital appreciation.

The last dividend declared by the scheme was 25% in November 2006. Over the last one year, Tata Life Sciences & Technology Fund has yielded 18.7% as compared to 15.5% given by its benchmark Sensex as on April 20, 2007.

Lotus India Mid Cap Fund Debuts At Rs 10.07

Lotus India Mid Cap Fund has debuted at Rs 10.07 per unit as against a face value of Rs 10 per unit. The scheme, whose new fund offer closed on March 30, 2007 re-opened for fresh investments and sales on April 20, 2007. Lotus India Mid Cap Fund is a close ended equity scheme with a maturity of 3 years. The scheme was launched on February 15, 2007 with an objective to provide long term capital appreciation by investing in a portfolio that is predominantly constituted of equity and equity related instruments of mid cap companies. However, there can be no assurance that the fund's objectives will be achieved.

Tata Asset Management Mulls Open-End Debt Scheme

MUMBAI: Tata Asset Management Ltd. on April 23, registered initial papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India to unveil an open-end debt mutual fund scheme. Tata Treasury Manager Fund will infuse at least half its assets in debt and money market instruments with maturity of up to one year and the rest in instruments with longer maturity.

Mutual Funds Turn Buyers

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) were net buyers of equities on Friday (20 April 2007). MFs bought shares worth Rs 192.40 compared with Thursday’s (19 April 2007) sales of Rs 25.80 crore. MFs made gross purchases worth Rs 676.70 crore, their gross sales aggregating Rs 484.20 crore on Friday. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 277.71 points (2%), to settle at 13,897.41 on that day.

ING Vysya MF Launches ZIP

ING Vysya Mutual Fund has come out with a new systematic investment vehicle called Zoom Investment Plan (ZIP). Under this plan, a fixed amount can be transferred on a daily basis from the growth option of ING Vysya Liquid Fund to any of the following equity schemes: ING Vysya Domestic Opportunities Fund, ING Vysya Select Stocks Fund, ING Vysya Nifty Plus Fund, ING Vysya Dividend Yield Fund, ING Vysya Midcap Fund, ING Vysya A.T.M Fund, ING Vysya L.I.O.N Fund and ING Vysya Tax Savings Fund.
To avail this facility, investor needs to have minimum investment of Rs.5000 in ING Vysya Liquid Fund and each transferable installment should be of Rs.99. An entry load of 2.25% will be levied on investment transferred in any equity scheme and if the funds transferred are being redeemed within 180 days, an exit load of 0.50% would be charged.

MFs Concern Over Sebi Regulation

The heads of debt mutual funds (MFs) have decided to submit a memorandum on 23 April 2007 to the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) on the recent circular issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) regarding fund houses parking money in the short-term deposits of scheduled commercial banks. They will ask Amfi to take up their serious concerns on the circular with the regulator.
The issue concerning debt fund managers is likely to be on top in the agenda of the general body meeting, which will be held on 23 April 2007. The debt fund managers, from fund houses having a sizeable exposure in the debt market, met to examine the impact of Sebi’s new norms on the short-term deposits with the banks.

Some of the fund houses have a large exposure in the short term deposits of the scheduled commercial banks. And, they consider that three months time is too short a period for them to regularise their previous investments in the short-term deposits.

Fund managers are of the opinion that Sebi’s circular, dated 16 April 2007, of putting a cap of 15% on the net assets in short-term deposits of all the scheduled commercial banks put together is a small amount. Instead, this limit should be extended to 25%, the sources said. They are also demanding that the regulator allow fund houses to charge investment management and advisory fees for parking of funds in short term deposits in case of liquid and debt-oriented schemes. Sebi in the circular has not permitted the asset management companies (AMC) to a charge fee in this regard.

MFs’ Concern Over Sebi Circular To Come Up In Amfi Meeting

The heads of debt mutual funds (MFs) have decided to submit a memorandum today to the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) on the recent circular issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) regarding fund houses parking money in the short-term deposits of scheduled commercial banks, reports The Financial Express. They will ask Amfi to take up their serious concerns on the circular with the regulator.
Read the Circular - MF short term deposits to be capped at 15% The issue concerning debt fund managers is likely to be on top in the agenda of the general body meeting which will be held on Monday, April 23. The debt fund managers, from fund houses having a sizeable exposure in the debt market, met informally on Wednesday to examine the impact of Sebi’s new norms on the short-term deposits with the banks.

Sources close to the development said, “We will ask Amfi to request Sebi to implement the circular with prospective effect instead of with retrospective effect of three months.” Some of the fund houses have a large exposure in the short term deposits of the scheduled commercial banks. And, they consider that three months time is too short a period for them to regularise their previous investments in the short-term deposits.

Fund managers are of the opinion that Sebi’s circular, dated April 16, of putting a cap of 15% on the net assets in short-term deposits of all the scheduled commercial banks put together is a small amount. Instead, this limit should be extended to 25%, the sources said. They are also demanding that the regulator allow fund houses to charge investment management and advisory fees for parking of funds in short term deposits in case of liquid and debt-oriented schemes. Sebi in the circular has not permitted the asset management companies (AMC) to a charge fee in this regard.

JP Morgan Makes Mutual Fund Entry

Mumbai: Global money manager JP Morgan has unveiled its first domestic mutual fund scheme JP Morgan India Equity Fund. The open-ended scheme would infuse in equities and equity-related securities, including derivatives, to generate income and long-term capital growth. The amount was invested in a select group of about 54 domestic stocks through five India-dedicated funds. The unveil of the new scheme marks the fund house's foray into the mutual fund business in the country. The fund house has a portfolio of large-cap stocks for its India-focussed funds. It would be following similar portfolio for the India Equity Fund, but could also look for potential mid-cap stocks.

Mutual Funds Turn Sellers

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) were net sellers of equities on Thursday (19 April 2007). MFs sold shares worth Rs 25.80 compared with Wednesday’s (18 April 2007) purchases of Rs 19 crore. MFs made gross sales worth Rs 483.30 crore, their gross purchases aggregating Rs 457.60 crore on Thursday. The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 52.49 points (0.38%), at 13,619.7 on that day.

Mutual Funds Increase Tech Stocks Exposure

Kolkata: Technology stocks are calling the shots in the realm of mutual funds. Fund managers have been stepping on the gas when it comes to increasing their exposure to the tech sector, a trend that seems to be taking a firmer shape at this juncture. Allocations to technology by diversified equity funds have generally increased in the last few months, culminating in the quarter ending March 31, 2007, compared to the allocation figures pertaining to the end of the last calendar year. These, MF circles generally suggest, have resulted in an improvement in the business dynamics of tech companies and advances registered by them in terms of topline and bottomline growth. Fund circles point out in this context that tech funds, which have given about 30 per cent for the one-year period ending April 18, 2007, have come up exceptionally well, beating all other categories during the period.
A list worked out by distribution firm Plexus Management indicates that some of the most commonly held counters are such heavyweights as Infosys, TCS, Satyam and Wipro. Most fund managers have infused in these in varying degrees. Included in this list are the likes of Subex, Tulip IT, Tech Mahindra, I-flex and Mphasis BFL. Those that scaled up tech holdings between December 31, 2006, and March 31, 2007, include JM MF, which has doubled exposure from 6.08 per cent of net assets to 12.11 per cent, according to data provided by Value Research. Some of the others are: ABN AMRO (from 18.85 per cent to 27.78 per cent), Morgan Stanley (from 20.67 per cent to 25.03 per cent), UTI (from 16.28 per cent to 19.3 per cent), Tata (from 17.38 per cent to 20.73 per cent) and Franklin Templeton (from 15.84 per cent to 19.59 per cent).

MFs To Meet Amfi Over Sebi Deposit Norms

In view of the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s norms on investments in short-term deposits, mutual fund managers are likely to approach the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) on Monday to examine issues such as re-balancing of portfolio and its impact on returns and investors.
According to industry sources, fund managers had an informal interaction to discuss Sebi norms on deposits.

On 16 April 2007, the market regulator said mutual funds cannot deploy more than 15% of their corpus in short-term deposits of banks, which can be extended up to 20% with a prior approval from the respective board of trustees of mutual funds. Further, the Sebi defined short-term deposits as those with tenure of 91 days.

Also, Sebi said existing schemes are required to comply with this norm within a period of three months.

Amidst rising rate scenario, mutual funds floated a slew of quarterly FMPs in March 2007, offering 11-11.75% annualised return. Along with quarterly FMPs, a slew of 13-month FMPs were also floated which offer double indexation benefits to investors, giving them the advantage of indexing investments to inflation for two years while remaining invested for slightly over one year.

As per Amfi data, 95 new fixed-term plans garnered Rs 29,232 crore during March 2007.

In case fund managers choose to wind up deposits, it would adversely impact the returns which were offered to investors while floating FMPs.

There are a few fund houses such as Tata Mutual, Standard Chartered Mutual, Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual, DBS Chola Mutual which do not see any problem as they do not have deposits over 91-day tenure in their portfolios. But some representatives of fund houses desired clarity on re-balancing portfolio in case the deposit is over 91 days.

UTI Long Term Advantage Fund Debuts At Rs 10.07

UTI Long Term Advantage Fund has debuted at Rs 10.07 per unit as against a face value of Rs 10 per unit. The scheme, whose new fund offer closed on 20 March 2007, re-opened for fresh investments and sales on 17 April 2007.
UTI Mutual Fund had attracted over Rs 248 crore with the launch of UTI Long Term Advantage Fund, a ten-year close-ended Equity Linked Savings Scheme.

UTI Long Term Advantage Fund was launched on 21 December 2006. The investment objective of the scheme is to provide medium to long-term capital appreciation along with income tax benefit. Investment made in the scheme will qualify for deduction from Gross Total Income upto Rs.1,00,000 (along with other prescribed investments) under section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Birla Sun Life MF Steps Cautious Into Gold ETF

Ahmedabad: At a time when every other mutual fund company in the country is desperately trying to unveil its Gold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) as fast as they can, Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund is taking stepping cautious towards unveiling its product. At present the company is examingin the other companies' experience with their Gold ETF product so that they can come out with a better and refined product.
After analysing the performance of these companies which have unviled their Gold ETF products they plan to modify our products according to the investors' requirements and then come out with a refined product in the market. The company has already applied for its Gold ETF in SEBI and is awaiting the permission. The company can unveil its Gold ETF in a month or two if it wishes to. At present they have 30 branches and we are planning to open another 25 to 30 branches. In Gujarat it has one branch each in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat. The company also unveiled its Birla Long Term Advantage Fund Series I in the state. The fund will infuse in a portfolio of attractively-priced small and mid-cap stocks that are expected to post attractive growth in the next few years. The situation is ideal for investors to infuse in the small and mid-cap companies as the market status is bearish.

Merger Of Two Schemes Of ING Vysya MF

ING Vysya Mutual Fund has announced the merger of ING Vysya Equity with ING Vysya Select Stocks Fund with effect from 19 May 2007. After the merger, the asset allocation and investment objective of ING Vysya Select Stocks would remain the same.
The investors of ING Vysya Equity Fund have been provided with an option to exit out from the scheme at the prevalent NAV, without any exit load between 19 April 2007 and 18 May 2007.

MF Managers To Meet Amfi Over Sebi Deposit Rules

Bangalore: In aspect of the Securities and Exchange Board of India's rules on investments in short-term deposits, mutual fund managers are likely to approach the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) on April 23, to examine issues such as re-balancing of portfolio and its impact on returns and investors. Fund managers had an informal interaction to discuss Sebi norms on deposits. Further, the Sebi defined short-term deposits as those with tenure of 91 days. Also, Sebi said existing schemes need to comply with this norm within a period of three months. This new norm is seen impacting the fixed maturity plans, which offer indicative yields by locking in investments.
Amidst rising rate scenario, mutual funds floated a slew of quarterly FMPs in March, offering 11-11.75 per cent annualised return. Along with quarterly FMPs, a slew of 13-month FMPs were also floated which offer double indexation benefits to investors, giving them the advantage of indexing investments to inflation for two years while remaining invested for slightly over one year. As per Amfi data, 95 new fixed-term plans garnered Rs 29,232 crore during March.

In case fund managers choose to wind up deposits, it would adversely impact the returns which were offered to investors while floating FMPs. AMFI, said, There would be some impact on returns if deposits (over 91-days) have to be broken. There are a few fund houses such as Tata Mutual, Standard Chartered Mutual, Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual, DBS Chola Mutual which do not see any problem as they do not have deposits over 91-day tenure in their portfolios. But some representatives of fund houses desired clarity on re-balancing portfolio in case the deposit is over 91 days. The norms are not clear for exiting schemes.

Sebi Norms On MFs’ FD Exposure To Hit FMPs, AUM

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)’s circular announcing strict norms for the fund houses that park money in short-term deposits of scheduled commercial banks is likely to pose severe challenges for the mutual funds industry, reports The Financial Express.
The heads of the debt funds will have an informal meeting on Wednesday in Mumbai to take examine the implications of the circular.

A senior fund manager from a global mutual fund house said that the fund houses or schemes having exposure of more than 20% in the short-term deposits of the scheduled commercial banks are likely to face problems in regularising their previous investments in short-term deposits as the stipulated time of three months may not be enough. The meeting of the fixed-income manager will assess the impact of the Sebi circular on the MF industry, he said.

Sebi's new norms may have an impact on the fixed maturity plans (FMPs) of the MF industry.

More than 70% of the prospectus filed by MF industry recently are meant for FMPs with three months to 13 months horizons.

Commenting on the impact of the circular, Ram Kumar, Head, Fixed-income, SBI MF, said that the number of FMPs to be launched in future will come down and its popularity as MF product may also take a hit. The overall collection of the MFs may also come down, he said.

Taking a cue from Ram Kumar, Sandesh Kirkere, CEO, Kotak Mutual Fund, said that the MFs need to do a little bit of re-balancing act in the wake of the Sebi circular. However, he said that it has brought clarity in the concept of `pending deployment’. The new norms will bring uniformity in the MFs investment pattern in the banking sector.

Sebi circular issued on Monday said that no mutual fund scheme shall park more than 15% of the net assets in the short term deposit(s) of all the scheduled commercial banks put together. However, in certain cases, it may be raised to 20% with prior approval of the trustees, it added.

Mutual Funds Turn Sellers

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) were net sellers of equities on Tuesday (17 April 2007). MFs sold shares worth Rs 251.10 compared with Monday’s (16 April 2007) purchases of Rs 204.90 crore. MFs made gross sales worth Rs 781.20 crore, their gross sales aggregating Rs 530.10 crore on Monday. The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 82.54 points lower, at 13,613.04 on that day.

Principal MF Files Offer Document With SEBI

Principal MF has filed an offer document with SEBI for its Principal Money at Call Fund The investment objective of the scheme is to generate steady return by investing in debt and money market securities. The scheme will be available in two plans that are regular plan and institutional plan. Each of the plans will offer two options namely Growth and Dividend. Under normal circumstances, up to 100 % of the fund will be invested in debt instruments and money market instruments. The minimum application amount under regular plan will be Rs 10,000 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter and Rs 1 crore under institutional plan and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter.

UTI Long Term Advantage Fund Debuts At Rs 10.07

UTI Long Term Advantage Fund has debuted at Rs 10.07 per unit as against a face value of Rs 10 per unit. The scheme, whose new fund offer closed on March 20, re-opened for fresh investments and sales on April 17, 2007. UTI Mutual Fund had attracted over Rs 248 crores with the launch of UTI Long Term Advantage Fund, a ten year close-ended Equity Linked Savings Scheme. UTI Long Term Advantage Fund was launched on December 21, 2006. The investment objective of the scheme is to provide medium to long term capital appreciation along with income tax benefit. Investment made in the scheme will qualify for deduction from Gross Total Income upto Rs.1,00,000/- (along with other prescribed investments) under section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Mutual Funds Increase Buying

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) have stepped up equity buying on 16 April 2007. MFs bought shares worth Rs 204.90 compared with Friday?s (13 April 2007) purchases of Rs 199.80 crore. MFs made gross purchases worth Rs 703.70 crore, their gross sales aggregating Rs 498.80 crore on March 16. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 311.50 points (2.33%), to settle at 13,695.58 on that day.

Franklin Templeton Alters Load Structure Of TIPP

Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund has modified the load structure of its Templeton India Pension Plan (TIPP). As per the amendment, the fund house has changed the exit load. As per the change, now there will be a exit load of 2.25% on TIPP which was nil earlier. This change will come into effect from 16 April 2007.

All prior investments continue to be subject to the load structure at the time of their original investment, as may be applicable. TIPP is an open-ended tax saving scheme whose objective is to provide regular income and capital appreciation in dividend and growth plan. All investment under TIPP is subject to the lock in period of 3 years.

AIG Asset Wants To Create Niche In India

The recently-launched AIG Asset Management, the Indian mutual fund arm of AIG Global Investment Group, wants to create a niche for itself in alternative assets like private equity, real estate funds and hedge funds. The AMC is the first international fund house to enter India directly without a joint venture with an Indian entity. It also plans to bring a novel strategy to India where the fund house itself invests money in the mutual fund, alongside several retail and institutional investors. AIG Global Investment Group was ranked fifth in the latest list of Fortune 500 companies by assets. AIG AMC'ss first launch will be an equity-diversified scheme (without any specific market cap bias) that is expected to hit the market by May.

MFs Poised To Roll Out A Slew Of New Schemes

Mutual funds are poised to come out with a slew of new schemes. Two top global asset management companies (AMCs), American International Group (AIG) and JP Morgan Asset Management are launching their maiden schemes in India in the forthcoming days, after having received Sebi's approval. The New Fund Offering (NFO) period is from April 19 to May 18. Harshad Patwardhan is the fund manager, said a senior official of JP Morgan Asset Management.

Global insurance and financial services firm, AIG will launch its first equity scheme named AIG India Equity Fund by this month end. Another fund that is lining up its first product is the UK-based Dawnay Day AV. The fund house recently received an in-principle approval from Sebi for entering the mutual fund business in India. Last week, Fidelity launched its `International Opportunities Fund', which would invest 35 per cent of its corpus in international equities with a focus on Asia. The NFO is open till the end of this month. DWS Investments (DWS), the retail mutual fund arm of Deutsche Bank, today launched the `DWS Capital Protection Oriented Fund'. Duetsche Asset Management India is planning an aggressive roll-out of DWS-structured and capital-protected funds in the next 18 months.

UTI MF To Introduce Institutional Plan Under All Series Of New UTI FMP

UTI Mutual Fund has decided to unveil an Institutional Plan under all the series of Fixed Maturity Plans to be launched in future. The plan would have two options: growth and dividend. Minimum investment under the plan would be Rs.1 crore and will share the common portfolio as of Regular Plan.

UTI Gold ETF Come Out With Maiden NAV Of Rs 949.72

UTI Gold Exchange Traded Fund has come out with its maiden NAV of Rs 949.72 per unit. The scheme, whose new fund offer closed on 16 March 2007, re-opened for fresh investments and sales on 13 April 2007. The scheme will debut on the stock exchange on 17 April 2007. UTI Mutual Fund has raised nearly Rs 250 crore from about 26,000 investors, with the launch of UTI Gold Exchange Traded Fund.
UTI Gold Exchange Traded Fund is an open ended Exchange Traded Fund. The scheme was launched on 1 March 2007. The objective of the scheme endeavour to provide returns that, before expenses, closely track the performance and yield of Gold. However the performance of the scheme may differ from that of the underlying asset due to tracking error. There can be no assurance or guarantee that the investment objective of UTI-Gold ETF will be achieved. Units of UTI Goldshare are listed on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). Minimum lot for purchase / sale on NSE is 1 unit and in multiples thereof. Investors can puchase and sell UTI Goldshare units on NSE. The UTI-Gold Exchange Traded Fund will be benchmarked against the price of gold.

HDFC MF To Unveil Wholesale Option

HDFC Mutual Fund has decided to introduce Wholesale Option under HDFC Cash Management Savings Plus Plan, which will be effective 23 April 2007. The plan offers growth and dividend option with daily, weekly and monthly frequencies. Minimum Investment amount under the plan would be Rs.1 crore and it would not charge any entry or exit load. While, the existing plan would be renamed as HDFC Cash Management Savings Plus Plan- Retail Option. Apart from being renamed, two new dividend options would also be introduced under the Retail plan: daily dividend and monthly dividend. The plan would not charge any entry or exit load. Both, Retail and Wholesale Plan will share common portfolio.

Lotus India Contra Fund Starts At Rs 10.05 Per Unit

Lotus India Contra Fund has begun at Rs 10.05 per unit as against a face value of Rs 10 per unit. The scheme, whose new fund offer closed on 15 March 2007, re-opened for fresh investments and sales on 12 April 2007. Lotus India Contra Fund is an open ended Equity Scheme launched on 15 February 2007. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate capital appreciation through investment in equity and equity related instruments. The Scheme will seek to generate capital appreciation through means of contrarian investing. However, there can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Scheme will be realised. Contrarian investing involves picking ‘neglected stocks’ with strong asset values as well as focusing on high potential under owned sectors.

MFs` Short Term Deposits To Be Limited At 15%

Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is all set to release a circular asking mutual fund houses not to park more than 15 per cent of their corpus as bank deposits at any point of time. Sebi will define the time-frame of short-term deposits as 90 days. The regulator is also planning to restrict investments by a fund house in its associate bank to 10 per cent of the Net Asset Value (NAV). The 15 per cent limit for short-term deposits, however, could be enhanced to 20 per cent with the approval of trustees. Consequently, fund houses have varying policies on parking their funds in short-term deposits. Some fund houses may park 60 per cent of their corpus for 60 days while others may park only 20 per cent of their corpus in deposits for only seven days. The regulator has held discussions with the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) and fund managers ahead of announcing these amendments. A reporting system will also be put in place for the purpose of verification by Sebi.

Deutsche MF Launches New Scheme

Deutsche Mutual Fund has come out with a capital protection-oriented scheme. In August 2006, SEBI came out with regulations, which paved the way for launch of capital protection oriented schemes.
The DWS Capital Protection Oriented Scheme is a three-year, closed-ended fund.

The scheme would endeavor to protect the capital by investing in high quality fixed income securities and generate capital appreciation by investing up to 20% of its assets in equity and equity related instruments.

Mutual Funds Turn Net Sellers

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) turned net sellers of equities on Thursday (12 April 2007). MFs sold shares worth Rs 21 compared with Wednesday (11 April 2007) purchases of Rs 289.40 crore. MFs made gross sales worth Rs 422.00 crore, their gross purchase aggregating Rs 400.90 crore on Thursday. The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 270.27 points, at 13,384.08 on that day.

ICICI Pru AMC Offers SIP For Just Rs 50

Mumbai: ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company providing Rs 50 per month as the minimum investment amount in its Systematic Investment Plan (SIP). That will give it the lowest in the industry with Reliance Mutual Fund last week decreasing the minimum investment in SIP to Rs 100 per month. ICICI Prudential AMC and Reliance AMC have been pushing each other in the race for maximum assets under management. While ICICI Prudential AMC had maximum assets in February, Reliance AMC was on top in March. The minimum redemption amount where SIP is available will be Rs 500 and an entry load of 2.25 per cent of the applicable Net Asset Value will be charged. Also, fund managers said small investments in equity markets would expose the investors to higher risks.

ICICI Pru MF Picks Banking, Metal; Sells FMCG, Engg

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund slashed its exposure to FMCG, engineering, manufacturing, cement, chemical, technology and utilities. However, it augmented its exposure to banking, metal, oil & gas, pharma, auto, telecom and media. A study of equity portfolios of ICICI Prudential mutual fund for March shows that in FMCG pack, it sold over 27.86 lakh shares of Triveni Engineering and over 61.65 lakh shares of ITC. Godrej Consumer was also in sell list, while it exited Nestle India and Agro Dutch. It bought over 11.92 lakh shares of HLL
In engineering space, Thermax, Siemens and Kalpataru Power Transmission were top sells while Gujarat Apollo and Action Construction were top buys. It exited from Indo Tech Transformers, Sunil Hitech, Bharat Bijlee and Atlas Copco. In manufacturing sector, Amtek Auto and TNPL were in sell list while Bharat Forge and Bharat Electronics were bought. It exited Vardhman Textiles but entered Vardhman Holdings and Page Industries. Cement and construction stock India Cements, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, and Ansal Properties were top sells whereas Nagarjuna Construction and Jaiprakash Associates were top buys. It exited Akruti Nirman and Gayatri Projects.

In chemical, it sold over 8 lakh shares of IPCL. Gujarat State Fertilizers Company and Gwalior Chemical were top bought stocks. In the technology pack, Satyam, Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Infosystems were top sells while Hexaware Technologies, Gometric Software were top bought stocks. It also sold over 41.70 lakh shares of utility stock NTPC but bought over 10.58 lakh shares of Tata Power. ICICI Prudential MF increased its exposure to banking, metal, oil & gas, pharma, auto, telecom and media. In banking sector, Federal Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI were in the buy list while Bank of India was sold. It made fresh entry in Union Bank of India, IDFC, IDBI and Bank of Baroda. It exited Canara Bank, and Indian Overseas Bank.

In metals, it bought over 73 lakh shares of SAIL and nearly 17 lakh shares of Tata Steel. Hindalco was also in buy list whereas Nalco and Kamdhenu Ispat were in sell list. It introduced Sterlite Industries.

Cairn India, Reliance Industries were top bought stocks while HPCL, ONGC were top sold stocks in oil & gas sector. In pharma, Dr Reddy Labs, Ranbaxy Labs were top buys while Cipla and Ahlcon Parenteral were in top sell list.

In auto pack, it bought over 12.13 lakh shares of Tata Motors. Maruti Udyog was also in buy list. Baja Auto and Munjal Auto were in top sell list.

In media, Zee Entertainment, HT Media were in buy list whereas Jagran Prakashan was top sold stock. It made fresh entry into Zee News.

Franklin Templeton Announces Maiden Tax-Free Dividend

Franklin Templeton Investments (India) has announced maiden tax-free dividend of Rs.0.70 per unit (Face Value of Rs.10), in its fund - Templeton India Equity Income Fund (TIEIF). The fund seeks to provide a combination of long-term capital appreciation and regular income investing primarily in stocks (domestic & overseas) that have current or potential attractive dividend yield. All investors registered in the dividend plan as on 18 April 2007 will receive this tax-free dividend.
TIEIF with its focus on dividend yield and international stocks can help in providing a smoother ride for investors through market cycles - given the characteristics of high dividend yield companies and diversification through international exposure.

The record date for the dividend is 18 April 2007 and any purchases on or before this date will be eligible for the dividend. There will be a one-day book closure for the growth and dividend plans on 19 April 2007 and will reopen for fresh purchases and redemptions on 20 April 2007.

Under the dividend reinvestment plan, the dividend declared will be reinvested at the NAV of 20 April 2007 and unit holders will be allotted additional units for the dividend amount.

UTI’s Gold ETF To Be Listed On NSE

UTI Gold exchange traded fund will be listed on NSE on 17 April 2007. The new fund offer (NFO) of UTI Mutual Fund’s gold exchange traded fund (ETF) received overwhelming response from investors across the country. The NFO has raised nearly Rs 250 crore from about 26,000 investors, perhaps the biggest number of investors for an NFO. UTI’s Gold ETF, to be known as `Gold Share’, is the second ETF to hit the market after Benchmark’s Gold BeES.

Mutual Funds Resume Buying

Mutual funds turned net buyers on Wednesday (11 April) as they purchased shares worth a net Rs 289.40 crore on that day. Mutual funds pressed heavy sales to the tune of Rs 432.59 crore on Tuesday (10 April). In the current month (till 11 April), mutual funds were net sellers to the tune of Rs 263.09 crore. In the financial year 2006 - 2007 (from April 2006 to March 2007), mutual funds pumped in Rs 9062.34 crore in the Indian equity markets.

Birla Sun Life MF Mulls To Tap Retail Investor Market

Chennai: The mutual fund industry has to concentrate more on retail clients to expand further, said Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund. Although the industry witnessed substantial growth over the past two years, most of the money came from the top 15 cities or so. With at least 10-15 asset management companies looking to open shop in India over the next 12-15 months, the industry will witness increased competition with the new players also concentrating on the existing centres; hence, there is a need for players to expand geographically especially in the retail space.
Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund mulls to expand its distribution reach to tap into the retail investor market. The fund house plans to add at least 50 more branches in the next 12 months. On the products side, it plans to come up with more fund offers across various asset classes. It is looking to unveil at least three equity funds this year, the first of them being the Birla Sun Life Long Term Advantage Fund (currently open for subscription). The fund house has also registered an application with the SEBI for a gold exchange traded fund. Birla Sun Life is also exploring the possibility of launching offshore funds with a feeder structure. The company will also promote its existing schemes. The two which have been identified are Birla Sunlife Equity and Birla Midcap Fund.

Rajan Raheja Acquires 39 Pc Stakes In ING MF

Mumbai: The Rajan Raheja-controlled Hathway Investments has purchased ING Vysya Bank's 39 per cent stake in the ING Vysya mutual fund for an undisclosed sum. Following the change in the ownership, the name of ING Vysya MF has been changed to ING Mutual Fund. The parent firm now holds 42.5 per cent stake in ING Vysya Mutual Fund, while Hathway owns 39 per cent and Kirti Equities controls 18.5 per cent. ING IM is the asset management company of ING Vysya Mutual Fund. The decision to partner the Rajan Raheja Group follows the relationship with ING Vysya Life insurance. Realty developer Rajan Raheja also holds a 50 per cent stake in ING Life Insurance. Raheja's Exide Industries had purchased this stake in 2005. Raheja recently exited his 25 per cent holding in the Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund. By acquiring a stake in the ING MF, Raheja has re-entered the asset management business in the country, which is growing at a phenomenal rate. ING Vysya MF had total assets worth Rs 2,777.81 crore at the end of March.

Reliance MF Occupies No. 1 Slot In Fund Houses List

Kolkata: Reliance MF, with Rs 46,306 crore under management, has taken the No. 1 slot among fund houses at the end of March 2007, the latest assets under management (AUM) figures issued by the Association of Mutual Funds of India have shown. Reliance MF is followed by ICICI Prudential MF (Rs 37,869 crore), UTI MF (Rs 35,488 crore) and HDFC MF (Rs 28,357 crore). Incidentally, considering all the average AUMs for March, the tally stood at Rs 3,60,410 crore. These figures exclude FoF (fund of fund) data. Some of the larger players in the industry are Franklin Templeton MF (Rs 22,018 crore), Birla Sun Life MF (Rs 19,046 crore) and SBI MF (Rs 16,807 crore).

Max New York Life On Expansion Spree In Gujarat

Ahmedabad: Max New York Life (MNYL) is mulling to introduce its hub and spokes model in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Haryana to increase its penetration in the rural market. The model will be introduced in three states as the insurance company eyes 78 per cent of the untapped rural market of Gujarat and two other states in the forthcoming years. The hub and spokes model of distribution is successfully running in Punjab where it was introduced first. MNYL claims to be the first insurance company in India to have launched the hub and spokes model of distribution in Punjab.
The model has helped the company penetrate rural market in the state further. It is the first of its kind model for rural marketing of insurance products, MNYL has opened 31 offices in Punjab including eight hubs in Bhatinda, Patiala, Phagwara, Gurdaspur, Moga, Sangrur, Hoshiarpur and Nawashahar. Under the scheme the company also joins hand with 22 co-operative banks across India. In the survey, India Financial Protection Survey conducted by MNYL and National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) across India, There is a huge opportunity sin rural Gujarat to create financial security among households.

Lotus India MF Launches New Scheme

Lotus has launched its first interval fund, Lotus India Arbitrage Fund. The equity-oriented fund aims to generate income by cashing in on arbitrage opportunities emerging out of pricing mismatch between the cash market and the derivatives market. The surplus cash will be deployed in fixed income securities. The maximum exposure to equity and equity-related instruments, including derivatives, will be up to 80% of the portfolio. The maximum portion in debt and money market instruments will be up to 35%.

AIG Global Asset Management To Infuse In MF Arm Picks

Mumbai: AIG Global Asset Management Company is promising some distinct features in its products to be unveiled in India to give a sense of assurance to its investors. Parent AIG Global Investment Group, a Sebi-registered foreign institutional investor, will be putting its money in stocks, which are in the portfolio of its mutual fund arm. AIG Global will infuse in stocks it pick via its MF business. AIG would be unveiling its first equity diversified scheme, AIG India Equity Fund, very soon. The AMC has already filed its draft application with the Securities and Exchange Board of India and hopes to unveil the fund by May.
Fund houses will have to concentrate on global money management. Offering structured products, such as a global mid-cap fund, the managers need to have global product capability. AIG will be replicating its global research standards for the Indian business. Its equity platform for investment communications system brings its research analysts on a single platform. AIG Global AMC is among the slew of foreign funds, including Dawnay Day, JP Morgan, UBS, Nikko Asset, Korea's Mirae Asset, Credit Suisse, which have announced or entered India in recent months.

Tata MF Declares Dividend

Tata Mutual Fund has declared the dividend on Tata fixed horizon fund series-3 Scheme F, dividend option.
The fund house has fixed 10 April 2007 as the record date for the dividend, pursuant to payment of which, the NAV would fall to the extent of dividend payout and statutory levy, if applicable. The entire surplus available on the record date will be distributed as dividend.

All unit holders holding units under the dividend option of the scheme on the record date shall be eligible for dividend.

The scheme aims at investing in debt and money market instruments.

Tata fixed horizon fund series-3 scheme F, dividend option doesn’t charge any entry load. However, there is an exit load of 1.50% if the units are redeemed before 14 months from the date of allotment.

UTI AMC Appoints Head Of Equity

Shri Anoop Bhaskar has been appointed as the Head - Equity of UTI Asset Management Company Private Limited (UTI AMC). He will be in-charge of fund management of the equity schemes of UTI AMC aggregating to approx. 13500 crore (as on 31 March 2007).
Shri Bhaskar is an MBA with specialization in finance and has been associated with fund management and Research of equity products since the last 14 years. Before joining UTI AMC he was overall in-charge of all equity products at Sundaram Asset Management, Chennai. He has also worked with Templeton Asset Management, Chennai for a period of ten years as senior research analyst and portfolio manager.

Shri U K Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director, UTI AMC said, “Shri Anoop Bhaskar with his vast experience in fund management and research will help us to significantly strengthen our existing capabilities in fund management.

Fidelity MF Launches New Scheme

Fidelity Mutual Fund has come out with a new equity fund, the Fidelity International Opportunities Fund. It is an open-ended equity scheme, which will invest in equity and equity related securities of undervalued companies in Indian, and international markets to generate long term capital appreciation.
The investment approach adopted by the fund will be bottom-up stock picking favouring companies that offer best value relative to their respective long-term growth prospects, returns in capital and management quality.

A custom benchmark would be created using the BSE 200 Index to the extent of 65% of the portfolio and MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Index for the balance 35% to review the fund's performance.

Currently, there are two equity funds, which have a mandate to invest a part of their assets in international markets: Principal Global Opportunities Fund and Templeton India Equity Income Fund.

Mutual Funds In Buying Mode

Mutual funds bought shares worth a net Rs 41 crore on Thursday 5 April as compared to their sales of Rs 138 crore on Wednesday 4 April. Mutual funds’ net inflow of Rs 41.02 crore on 5 April was a result of gross purchases Rs 358.82 crore and gross sales Rs 317.80 crore.

Birla Sun Life Unveils New Fund

Mumbai: Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has unveiled Birla Sun Life Long Term Advantage Fund - Series I, a three-year closed-ended equity fund. The fund targets to generate long-term capital appreciation by infusing predominantly in equity and equity-related securities of small and mid cap companies. The fund will be benchmarked against the BSE 500 index. Mid and small cap companies now quote at a substantial discount to the large cap companies and hence offer better risk-to-reward and investment opportunities.

Benchmark MF Registers For MidCap BeEs

Mumbai: Benchmark Mutual Fund has registered with SEBI its Midcap Benchmark Exchange Traded Scheme, (Midcap BeES), an open-ended index fund to be listed on the exchange in the form of an Exchange Traded Fund tracking the CNX mid-cap index. Midcap BeES is designed to give returns that, before expenses, closely correspond to the total returns of stocks as represented by the CNX Midcap Index. Each unit of Midcap BeES will have a face value of Rs 10 each and will be issued at a premium approximately equal to the difference between face value and 1/10th of the value of CNX Midcap Index. Midcap BeES will be available in dematerialised form.

Change In The Scheme Name Of ABN AMRO MF

With effect from 9th April 2007, ABN Amro Mutual Fund has decided to change the name of ABN AMRO Long Term Floating Rate Fund to ABN AMRO Money Plus Fund due to changes in market conditions resulting into less liquidity for long term floating rate instruments and since the majority of the fund's portfolio is invested in short to medium term securities including money market instruments.No change will be made in the current asset allocation or any other feature of the fund. The investors who do not want to continue with the scheme, have been given an opportunity to exit the respective scheme without any exit load between 16th April-15th May, 2007.

IDBI Bank Mulls To Set Up Two Subsidiaries

Bangalore: IDBI Bank Ltd has proposed establishing a private equity fund and a mutual fund as separate subsidiaries in a bid to become a complete financial powerhouse. Both these arms will be established this year, once clearances from the Reserve Bank of India, Securities Exchange Board of India and the Government are received. The corpus for the private equity arm would be decided only after the clearances. The mutual fund subsidiary would be established by IDBI Bank on its own, via it was not averse to any foreign joint venture partner. The bank planned to add 100 new branches each year for the next five years. This included five branches in Moscow, Beijing, Singapore, Bahrain and a representative office in Dubai.
Deposits during the last financial year were Rs 42,000 crore. Advances comprised Rs 62,000 crore for the period. The UWB acquisition contributed Rs 9,000 crore of business to the bank. The bank was still considering a hike in the prime lending rate, which currently stands at 11.75 per cent. They are amenable to stretching the loan maturities, whenever borrowers want the option. The bank had made cash recoveries of Rs 2,000 crore, through the Stressed Asset Stabilisation Fund (SASF), during the last two years. This year the bank is aiming another Rs 1,000 crore. The recoveries would contribute to the bank's bottomline, since the recoveries comprised zero cost funds. The bank was also continuing with its infrastructure focus. For the purpose the bank has earmarked Rs 15,000 crore for various infrastructure projects.

Standard Chartered MF To Pay Dividend Under Standard Chartered Grindlays Fixed Maturity 20th Plan

Standard Chartered Mutual Fund has fixed the record date for declaration of dividend under the dividend option of Standard Chartered Grindlays Fixed Maturity 20th Plan. The record date would be 9 April 2007.

Mutual Funds Sell Equities Worth Rs 104.96 Cr

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) are seen selling equities on 3 April 2007. MFs sold shares worth Rs 104.96 compared with Tuesday (3 April 2007) purchases of Rs 63.30 crore. Last month, out of 21 trading sessions, MFs were net sellers of equities for 13 days, and net buyers for 8 days in March 2007. MFs made gross sales worth Rs 384.30 crore, their gross purchase aggregating Rs 279.34 crore on Tuesday. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 169.21 points (1.36%), to end at 12,624.58 on that day.

Reliance Mutual Brings Down Minimum Investment Amount For SIP

Reliance Mutual Fund has brought down its minimum investment amount in its Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) to just Rs 100 per month. Reliance Mutual Fund is the first Asset Management Company in the country to offer investment in SIP at such a low value per month. The minimum investment at present for SIPs offered by most fund houses varies from Rs 500 - Rs 1,000. A fund manager said a fixed deposit for a small investor would offer better returns and expose him to less risk. A systematic investment plan helps disciplined, regular investments in equities. With the entry level of SIP at Rs 100 per month, investors would be in a better position to use `rupee cost averaging' as investments spread regularly over a period of time would result in the average cost per unit coming down.

ICICI Prudential MF Registers Offer Document With SEBI

ICICI Prudential MF has announced filing an offer document with SEBI for its ICICI Fixed Maturity Plan -Series 38. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate regular returns by investing in a portfolio of fixed income securities or debt instruments normally maturing in line with the time profile of the plans under the scheme.
The scheme will be available in two options that is retail option and institutional option. Cumulative and Dividend sub-options are available under each option. Dividend payout is the facility available under dividend sub-option only. Under normal circumstances, up to 100 % of the fund will be invested in money market instruments, short term and medium term debt securities debt instruments and securitised debt. The Scheme may invest in other schemes managed by the AMC or in the schemes of any other Mutual Funds.

The minimum application amount under retail option will be Rs 5,000 per option and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter and Rs 2 crore under institutional plan and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter.

Under normal circumstances, up to 100 % of the fund will be invested in money market instruments, short term and medium term debt securities debt instruments and securitised debt. The Scheme may invest in other schemes managed by the AMC or in the schemes of any other Mutual Funds. There is no entry load but there is an exit load of 1% for quarterly plans and 2% for one and two year plans.

Principal MF Registers Offer Document With SEBI

Principal Mutual Fund has registered an offer document with SEBI for its Principal Liquid Plus Fund. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate regular income through investment in debt securities and money market instrument. The scheme will be available in three plans that is regular plan, institutional plan and institutional premium plan. All these three plans will share a common portfolio. Further each of the plans will offer two sub-options namely growth and dividend. Each of the dividend options will have a frequency of declaration of dividend on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Further, the aforesaid dividend options will have the facility of re-investment, pay-out and sweep.
The scheme may invest in domestic securities 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 debt market and money market instruments.

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

The minimum application amount will be Rs 10,000 under Regular Plan, Rs 1 crore under institutional plan and Rs 10 crore in institutional premium plant.

Mutual Funds See Huge Churn As Market Leadership Shifts Yet Again

The mutual fund industry saw a decline in assets under management for the month of March. The overall tight liquidity situation at the end of the financial year led to large scale withdrawal from liquid schemes even as rising interest rates attracted inflows into fixed maturity plans.
Total assets, excluding fund of funds, managed by the industry declined substantially by Rs26,980 crore to Rs326,329 crore as at the end of March from Rs353,309 crore as of end February 2007. The industry had Rs231,045 crore in assets under management as of March 2006. Reliance Mutual Fund reclaimed the market leadership with a Rs4,091 increase in assets over the previous month. In fact, Reliance is the only large fund house to achieve an increase in assets during March. The fund house saw substantial inflows into its fixed maturity plans during the month.

Reliance had lost out the top position in term of month-end assets to ICICI Prudential during the previous month, but was ahead of its competitor in terms of average assets for the month of February.

ICICI Prudential, till last month knows as Prudential ICICI, had seen a sharp jump in assets during February, mostly from inflows into liquid schemes. Higher demand for funds by corporate investors and other large investors during the financial year-end led to an equally sharp erosion in March. The fund house saw a decline of Rs5,411 crore during the month and slipped to second position behind Reliance.

UTI MF held on to its third place, though its assets under management declined by Rs4,115 crore. The fund house, which was the biggest fund manager for many years, has clearly lagged its two large private sector competitors in recent months.

UTI Gold Fund Attracts 26,000 Investors

The new fund offer of UTI Mutual Fund’s gold exchange traded fund (ETF) has received very good response from investors across the country. The new fund offer (NFO) has raised nearly Rs 250 crore from about 26,000 investors, perhaps the biggest number of investors for an NFO.
UTI’s Gold ETF, to be known as `Gold Share’, is the second ETF to hit the market after Benchmark’s Gold BeES. The minimum subscription for the scheme was Rs 20,000,while its was Rs 10,000 for Benchmark’s gold ETF. Other mutual funds that have also lined up to launch their gold ETF schemes include Reliance Mutual Fund, Tata MF, Escorts and ICICI-Prudential Mutual Fund. At present, India accounts for 23% of the world’s jewellery demand and around 35% of global investment in gold comes from the country. The gold Benchmark Exchange Traded Scheme made its debut last month on the NSE at Rs 1,000 a unit. One unit of the exchange traded fund scheme is equivalent to one gram of gold. Gold ETF is intended to offer investors a means to participate in the gold bullion market without taking physical delivery of gold and to buy and sell on the NSE. The performance of the scheme may differ from that of the domestic prices of gold owing to expenses and certain other factors.

MF Industry Witnesses A Slip Of 7.6% In March '07

The industry closed March 2007 with Rs 3.26 lakh crore of assets under management (AUM). This was lower than what fund houses managed in February 2007 - Rs 3.53 lakh crore. The industry posted a fall of 7.6%, highest in FY 2006-07.
Advance tax outflows, banks and institutions pulling out funds on account of CRR hikes and tight liquidity have meant that most fund houses have seen a contraction in their assets under management. The huge outflow of Rs 30,000 crore towards the advance tax payments in March led to severe crunch in the money market, with the call money rates shooting up to a 10-year high of near 60%. The benchmark indices also posted negative returns on a month-to-month basis, which further fuelled the shrinking in AUMs.

Reliance Mutual Fund emerged as the country’s largest fund house, displacing Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund from its first position end March 2007. Reliance Mutual Fund topped the charts with Rs 46306.78 crore of AUM — a rise of 9.7% over February 2007. This is clearly more than what Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund managed: Rs 37869.59 crore in March 2007 (a fall of 12.5% over February 2007).

Reliance Mutual Fund registered a net purchase of Rs 4090.86 crore during March 2007 over February 2007, thereby replacing Prudential ICICI from the top slot.

However the other toppers registered a decline in AUM in March 2007 compared to February 2007. Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund, UTI Mutual fund and HDFC Mutual Fund showed a decline of 12.5%, 8.1% and 8.8% respectively during March 2007. Occupying the third and fourth slots were UTI Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund, which had AUM of Rs 35488.25 crore and Rs 28357.99 crore, respectively. UTI Mutual Fund maintained its third position from the previous month. It has the highest AUM in December 2006. HDFC Mutual Fund also maintained its position from the previous month.

The pecking order in the asset management industry in February 2007 was in favor of Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund, which had Rs 43280.68 crore under management. Reliance Mutual Fund was the runner-up with Asset under Management of Rs 42215.91 crore. UTI Mutual Fund, the third position holder, had Rs 38602.99 crore AUM. HDFC and Franklin Templeton followed, with AUM of Rs 31079.88 crore and Rs 22102.19 crore, respectively.

Reliance Mutual Fund was the top fund in January 2007. Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund replaced it in February 2007. The Asset under Management of Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund and Reliance Mutual Fund in February 2007 were Rs 43280.68 crore and Rs 42215.91 crore respectively. However in March 2007 Reliance Mutual Fund again overtook Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund in terms of AUM.

The prominent Mutual Funds besides the top four includes, Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (Rs 22018.8 crore), Birla Sun Life (Rs 19046.78 crore), and SBI Mutual Fund (Rs 16807.33crore). Besides Reliance Mutual Fund almost all the major funds showed a decline in AUM in March 2007 compared with February 2007.

Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund recorded the highest outflow with redemption of Rs 5411.09 crore in March 2007, while UTI mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, and Franklin Templeton Mutual registered an outgo of Rs 3114.75 crore, Rs 2721.89 crore and Rs 83.39 crore respectively. Birla Mutual Fund reduced their asset base by Rs 2023.54 crore in March 2007. Other major Mutual Funds like SBI Mutual Funds, Tata Mutual Fund, DSP Merrill Lynch Mutual Fund and Kotak Mutual Fund also witnessed substantial outgo with redemptions of more than 1000 crore. Fidelity Mutual Fund showed an increase in Asset under Management in March 2007, increasing by Rs 142.98 crore to Rs 5813.5 crore.

Record Date Announced For Dividend In Standard Chartered FMP

Standard Chartered Mutual Fund has come out with the record date for declaration of dividend under the dividend option of Grindlays Fixed Maturity 20th Plan. The record date would be April 9, 2007. The fund mulls to pay out the entire appreciation during the tenure of the fund.

HDFC MF Rolls Out New Fund

HDFC Mutual Fund has rolled out an open-ended scheme HDFC quarterly interval fund - Plan A. The new fund offer opens Apr. 2, 2007 and closes Apr. 30, 2007. The offer price is Rs 10. The scheme targets generating regular income through investments in debt, money market instruments and government securities. HDFC quarterly interval fund offers wholesale plan and retail plan (with growth and dividend option). The minimum application amount under retail plan is Rs 5,000 and in multiple of Re 1 thereafter. On the other hand, in wholesale plan this amount is Rs 1 crore and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter an application. There is no entry load but there is an exit load of 0.75% if the units are redeemed on any day other than the specified transaction period (STP) and there is no exit load if the units are redeemed during STP.

SBI MF Unleashes 60 Days Debt Fund Series

SBI Mutual Fund rolled out a 60 days fund under SBI debt fund series (SDFS), a close-ended debt scheme. The news fund offer (NFO) opens from 3 April 2007 and closes on same day that is 3 April 2007. The fund aims to invest in a portfolio of AAA/AA rated debt instruments, government securities, and call and money market instruments in line with the maturity of the scheme. The minimum investment in the SDFS-60 days fund would be Rs 50,000 and in multiples of Rs 1,000 thereafter. The SDFS-60 days fund a part of the SBI debt fund series, aims at providing regular income liquidity and returns to the investors through in a portfolio comprising of debt instruments asset allocation: government securities.

Mutual Funds Sell Equity Worth Rs 1679 Cr

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) began the month upbeat, as they purchased shares worth a net Rs 63.56 crore on Monday (2 April 2007). MFs reported gross purchases worth Rs 461.70 crore, their gross sales aggregating Rs 398.14 crore on March 29. MFs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1679.51 crore in March 2007. The Sensex had plunged 617 points, its second-biggest, single-day loss, ever, to close at 12,455, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), raised two key policy rates.

Prudential ICICI MF Changes Load Structure

Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund has revised the load structure of its three schemes, that is Prudential ICICI Long term plan, Index fund and Equity and diversified fund- wealth optimiser plan. The new structure of entry and exit load will be applicable from 3rd April 2007. The changes in the load structure of these schemes are as follows: 1) Prudential ICICI Long Term plan: There would be no entry and exit load. 2) Prudential ICICI index fund: The entry load will be 1% of the applicable NAV and there will be no exit load. 3) Prudential ICICI Equity and diversified fund- wealth optimiser plan: a) An entry load of 2.25% of the applicable NAV for investment less than Rs 5 crore and there is no entry load if the investment is more than Rs 5 crore. b) An exit load of 0.50% of the applicable NAV if the units are redeemed or switched within six month from the date of allotment.

Prudential ICICI MF Re-Named

The name of Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund has been rechristined as ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund with effect from April 2, 2007. The move reflects the change in shareholding pattern of ICICI Bank and Prudential Plc (effected in August 2005) in the Asset Management Company (AMC) and the Trust Company. The names of the AMC and the Trust company have also been changed to ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Ltd and ICICI Prudential Trust Ltd. A similar change has also been made to the names of the fund house''s schemes.

MFs Sell Equities Worth Rs 83.70 Crore

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) were net sellers of equities for the fifth consecutive trading session on 30 March 2007. MFs sold shares worth Rs 83.70 crore on Friday compared with Thursday (29 March 2007)'s sales of Rs 60.01 crore. MFs made gross sales worth Rs 380.88 crore, their gross purchases aggregating Rs 297.18 crore on March 30. MFs net inflow in April 2006 - March 2007, stands at Rs 8819.08 crore. Domestic funds bought shares worth Rs 14302.20 crore during April 2005 - March 2006 period.

UTI MF Proposes To Change The Name Of UTI Bond Advantage Fund

UTI Mutual Fund plans to change the name of UTI Bond Advantage Fund from 3rd April 2007. The new name would be UTI Liquid Plus Fund which will have Retail and Institutional Plans with daily, weekly and monthly frequencies. Minimum investment amount for Retail Plan would be Rs.1 lakh and for Institutional Plan, it shall be Rs.1 crore. The fund would benchmark its performance against Crisil Liquid Fund Index. It would charge an exit load of 0.15% if redemption is made within 7 days. Except from these, all other features of UTI Bond Advantage Fund remains unchanged.