Principal Pnb MF Files An Offer Document

Principal Pnb mutual fund has filed an offer document for Principal Pnb Fixed Maturity Fund - 385 days - Series VI. It is a close-ended debt scheme with a maturity period of 385 days from the date of allotment. The new fund offering (NFO) for the scheme is Rs. 10. The scheme seeks to collect Rs 10 crore in each plan as the minimum subscription amount.

The minimum application under regular plan is Rs. 1,000/- and in multiple of Re. 1/- thereafter. The minimum application under institutional plan is Rs. 50 lakhs and in multiple of Re. 1/- thereafter.

There are two options under the scheme i.e. regular option and institutional option. The investors will have the choice of a growth or dividend sub-option under both the options. The regular option will be the default option and growth sub-option will be the default sub-option. Under dividend option, dividend payout facility and sweep is only available.

The investment objective of the schemes is to offer build an income oriented portfolio and provide returns along with regular liquidity to investors.

There will no entry load charged for the scheme due to its close-ended structure.

The scheme charges an exit load of 1.60% for the redemption made before the maturity period. There will not be any exit load charged for the redemption made at or after maturity date.

The fund will invest 0%-100% in debt securities and money market instruments that includes investment in securitiesed debt up to 100% of the net assets of the scheme. The scheme will also invest up to 100% in to the government securities with low risk profile.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

ABN Amro MF Launches New FMP

ABN Amro Mutual Fund launches ABN Amro Fixed Term Plan - Series 9 - 3Year - Plan A.The scheme is close-ended fixed term income scheme. The maturity date of the scheme / plan would be 3 years from the date of allotment of units under the scheme. Objective: The investment objective of the scheme would be to achieve growth of capital through investments made in a basket of fixed income securities in line with the duration of the scheme. The fund will invest up to 100% in debt instruments. Debt instruments may include the investment in securitised debt up to 60% of the net asset of the scheme. The fund may also invest up to 100% in money market instruments.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

ICICI Mulls Entry In Smaller UP Cities

Lucknow: ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Ltd, the alliance between the ICICI Bank and the UK-based Prudential Plc, mulls to penetrate into tier-III and -IV cities of Uttar Pradesh. From five branches in UP and Uttarakhand last year, they have increased the number to 14 in the current year. The company has presence in about 40 locations in the two states with offices at Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Dehradun, Meerut, Haldwani, Bareilley, Jhansi, Agra, Mathura, Aligarh and Gorakhpur. Tewari was in Lucknow to declare the roll out of company's new Indo-Asia Equity Fund. The fund is an open-ended diversified equity scheme that will invest predominantly in equity and equity-related securities. The company has garnished a business of Rs 800 crores from the state since the start of its operations in the state.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

ICICI Prudential MF Files An Offer Document

ICICI Prudential mutual fund has filed an offer document for ICICI Prudential Micro Cap Fund. It is a close-ended equity diversified scheme with a maturity period of 3 years from the date of allotment. The new fund offering (NFO) for the scheme is Rs. 10. The scheme seeks to collect Rs 1 crore in each plan as the minimum subscription amount.

The minimum application under regular plan is Rs. 5,000/- and in multiple of Re. 1/- thereafter. The minimum application under institutional plan is Rs. 1 crore and in multiple of Re. 1/- thereafter.

There are two options under the scheme i.e. retail option and institutional option. The investors will have the choice of a growth or dividend sub-option under both the options. The retail option will be the default option and growth sub-option will be the default sub-option. Under dividend option, dividend payout facility is only available.

The investment objective of the schemes is to offer capital appreciation linked to equity and equity related instruments of companies having Micro Capitalisation.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

Tata MF Set To Launch New Indo-Global Infrastructure Fund

Tata Mutual Fund set to launch new Indo-Global Infrastructure Fund. It is an open-ended equity scheme. It is a 3-year close-ended scheme with an automatic conversion into an open-ended scheme on expiry of 3 years scheme from the date of allotment.The investment objective of the scheme is to generate long term capital appreciation by investing predominantly in equity and equity related instruments of companies engaged in infrastructure and infrastructure related sectors and which are incorporated or have their area of primary activity, in India and other parts of the world. The scheme will invest 65%-85% in equities & equity related instruments of domestic companies. The investment in foreign securities would be 15%-35%. Investment in domestic debt, money market instruments will be 0%-35% including investment in securitised debt up to 20% of the net assets.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

SBI MF Launches New Debt Fund

SBI Mutul Fund launches new debt fund called SBI Debt Fund Series - 90 Days.The objective of the scheme is to provide regular income, liquidity, and returns to the investors through investment in a portfolio comprising of debt instruments. The fund will invest 0%-100% in Government of India dated securities and treasury bills. The investment in securitised debt will be up to 20% of the exposure to AAA/AA+ bonds, call & money market instruments.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

Tata MF Files An Offer Document

Tata mutual fund has filed an offer document for Tata Fixed Term Fund Series 15. It is a close-ended debt scheme. The new fund offering (NFO) for the scheme is Rs. 10. The scheme seeks to collect Rs 20 crore in each plan as the minimum subscription amount. The minimum application under regular plan is Rs. 10,000/- and in multiple of Re. 1/- thereafter. The minimum application under institutional plan is Rs. 1 crore and in multiple of Re. 1/- thereafter. The scheme is available with growth and dividend options. The dividend option will have dividend payout and dividend reinvestment facility.

The investment objective of the schemes is to generate income and / or capital appreciation by investing in wide range of debt money market instruments. There will no entry load charged for the scheme due to its close-ended structure. The scheme charges an exit load of 1% on redemption of units on or before expiry of 3 months from the date of allotment. The exit load will come down to 0.75% on redemption of units after 3 months but on or before 6 months from the date of allotment. The exit load will come down to 0.50% on redemption of units after expiry of 6 months but before maturity of the scheme. There will not be any exit load charged on the redemption made on maturity date.

The fund will invest 0%-100% in debt securities and money market instruments with low to medium risk profile. The investment in securitised debt will be up to 100% with exposure to derivatives will be up to 50%.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

ABN Amro MF Set To Launch New China-India Fund

ABN Amro MF set to launch new China-India Fund called ABN Amro China-India Fund. It is an open-ended equity scheme. The primary investment objective of the scheme is to provide long-term capital appreciation by primarily investing in equity and equity related securities of India and China. The fund may also invest a limited proportion in other international equity and equity related securities and also debt and money market instruments. The scheme will invest 65%-75% in Indian equities & equity related securities including investment in equity derivatives instruments up to 75% of the net assets. The investment in Chinese equities & equity related securities would be 25%-35%. Investment in domestic debt, money market instruments & other international equity & equity related securities will be 0%-10% including investment in debt derivatives/ securitised debt up to 10% of the net assets.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

Mutual Funds Continue Buying

Mutual funds (MFs) bought shares worth Rs 45.90 crore on Tuesday, 28 August 2007. They had bought shares worth a net Rs 345.40 crore on Monday, 27 August 2007.

Mutual funds' net inflow of Rs 45.90 crore on 28 August 2007 was a result of gross purchases of Rs 480.80 crore and gross sales of Rs 434.90 crore. The BSE 30-share Sensex gained 76.81 points or 0.52% at 14,919.19 on that day.

Mutual funds bought shares worth Rs 2,915.60 crore in the month of August 2007, till 28 August 2007. Mutual funds sold equities worth Rs 900.60 crore in the month of July 2007.

Mutual funds had pumped in Rs 9062.34 crore in Indian equity market in the financial year ended March 2007.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

ING Mutual Fund Announces Close-Ended Bond Scheme

Mumbai: ING Mutual Fund has declared a close-ended bond scheme, ING Fixed Maturity Fund Series XXXII. The new fund offer opens on August 30 and closes on September 10. The minimum application amount for the Retail Plan is Rs 5,000 and for the Institutional Plan it is Rs 1 crore. The scheme will offer an investment plan of 368 days maturity infusing in a portfolio of Government securities or highly rated corporate bonds maturing close to the maturity of the scheme so as to generate returns comparable with alternative fixed-income instruments of similar maturity. One year P1+ corporate bond yields have increased by 200 basis points in a short span of two months to around 9.5 per cent today.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

ICICI Prudential AMC Mulls Micro-Cap Equity Fund

MUMBAI: ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co. Ltd. on Aug filed initial papers with India's market regulator to launch a three-year close-end equity fund that will infuse mainly in micro-cap stocks. ICICI Prudential Micro Cap Fund will infuse at least 65 per cent of the assets in micro-cap companies and the rest in other stocks, debt and money market.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

Mutual Funds Step Up Buying

Mutual funds (MFs) bought shares worth Rs 344.70 crore on Monday, 27 August 2007. They had bought shares worth a net Rs 156.20 crore on Friday, 24 August 2007. Mutual funds' net inflow of Rs 344.70 crore on 27 August 2007 was a result of gross purchases of Rs 946.50 crore and gross sales of Rs 601.80 crore. The Sensex surged 417.51 points or 2.89% at 14,842.38 on that day. Mutual funds bought shares worth Rs 2869 crore in the month of August 2007, till 27 August 2007. Mutual funds sold equities worth Rs 900.60 crore in the month of July 2007. Mutual funds had pumped in Rs 9062.34 crore in Indian equity market in the financial year ended March 2007.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

HDFC MF Changes Its Fund Management Team

HDFC mutual fund has announced that Mr Shabbir Kapasi, Vice President- Fixed Income has resigned from the services of HDFC Asset Management Company. From 1 September 2007, Mr Shobhit Mehrotra and Mr Anil Bamboli will manage the scheme managed by Mr Kapsi. Mr Shobhit Mehrotra will act as fund manager for HDFC Income Fund, HDFC High Interest Fund- Short Term Plan and HDFC mutual fund Monthly Income Plan- Long Term Plan (Debt). Mr Anil Bamboli will act as fund manager for HDFC Gilt fund- Long-term plan and Short-term plan and for HDFC Cash Management Fund- Savings Plus Plan. The change will come into effect from 1 September 2007.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

ICICI MF Launches New FMP

ICICI MF launches ICICI Fixed Maturity Plan Series 39- 3 Months Plan A. The scheme is close-ended debt scheme. The maturity date of the scheme / plan would be 3 months from the date of allotment of units under the scheme. The investment objective of the scheme would be to generate regular returns by investing in a portfolio of fixed income securities/ debt instruments normally maturing in line with the time profile of the plans under the scheme. The fund will invest up to 100% in debt instruments. Debt instruments may include the investment in securitised debt up to 60% of the net asset of the scheme. The fund may also invest up to 100% in money market instruments.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

MFs, Banks Steps Up Investment In Primary Issuances

Mumbai: Banks and mutual funds intensified their investment in primary issuances as the rates moved up by 5-10 basis points. There was a slew of primary issuance as banks and few companies rushed to mop up funds on fears of liquidity tightening in next few weeks. With every primary issue there was further pressure on the other issuers to offer certificates of deposit at 5-10 basis points higher, said a fund manager. Trade was dull as most mutual funds and banks infused in primary issues to get better returns. Mutual funds continued to be major sellers while some banks were on the buying side. Infrastructure Development Finance Co placed 2.5 bln of rupees 3-month commercial papers at 8.45%. Tata Motors placed 1 bln rupees of 6.5-month CPs at 8.70% Inox Air Products placed 250 mln rupees of 3-month CPs at 8.62%. Allahabad Bank placed 2 bln rupees of 6-month CDs at 8.80%. The 3-month papers were quoted at 8.55-8.75% today compared with 8.50-8.70% previous.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

Mutual Funds Alter Exit Load

Mumbai: Mutual funds are changing their exit load structure even as a heated debate over entry load rages within the mutual fund industry. A concept paper by Sebi, last week, proposed doing away with entry load if investors purchase mutual fund schemes directly from fund houses. Reliance Mutual Fund, Birla Sunlife Mutual Fund and Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund have increased the exit load in as many as six of their equity schemes. In the case of equity funds, exit load is a desirable load since it acts as a deterrent to investors from treating the fund as a short term investment vehicle which may be detrimental to long term investors.

While fund houses like Birla Sunlife have baegan charging an exit load of 0.5 per cent on investments in some of their equity schemes up to Rs 5 crore if redeemed within 6 months, others like ICICI Prudential have slashed the exit load on three of its schemes, two of which are equity diversified schemes. Since investors tend to use such schemes to play the market, which was at an all-time high level in July, the exit load was increased. Most fund houses have preferred to increase or decrease the load but others like JM Financial Mutual Fund have reduced the time frame on the exit load.

The fund house has now changed it to one month. Funds are also using the exit load to fight the competition in the market. The market has witnessed a flurry of arbitrage schemes in recent times including SBI Arbitrage opportunities fund, Lotus India Arbitrage Fund and others. While arbitrage funds as a product is tailored for volatile markets, the JM Arbitrage Advantage fund's corpus went up during the market downturn. But Mehta attributed it purely to the change in the lock-in period or the exit load. However, fund watchers feel that arbitrage funds are a different ballgame since these funds are favoured investment destinations for high networth individuals.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

Abolishing Loads In MFs To Benefit All

Three days ago, SEBI chief M. Damodaran initiated one of the most significant acts of reform in the country's mutual fund industry for a long time. The market regulator wants the 'load' that is deducted from mutual fund investments to be abolished for those investments that are made directly with fund companies instead of being done through fund distributor.

This reform has produced a great deal of alarm among fund distributors and probably fund companies but in my opinion, this reaction is premature. Eventually, it will lead to a situation that is better for investors, distributors as well as fund companies. Let's see what load is and why this innocuous-sounding reform is so significant.

What is called 'load' in the fund business is the commission that is deducted out of the amount that an investor invests and paid to the distributor who does the selling. Conceptually, it is a fee paid by the investor in exchange of the investment advice and the service (helping fill the form, depositing it etc). The problem with the way load works till now is that it is effectively a single, fixed price for the distributor's services regardless of the actual quality of those services and regardless of whether the investor needs or uses those services. And the price is not exactly low-loads are generally 2.25% for equity funds.

Now, SEBI has said that if an investor goes directly to the fund company without a distributor being in the picture then the fund company should not deduct load. From whatever I've heard so far, fund distributors around the country are in a state of panic.

Suddenly they find that they are trying to sell a product that is available cheaper elsewhere and there assumption is that now no one will buy from them. Is this panic justified? I think that given that the load is supposed to be paying for investment advice and service, those distributors who are actually delivering these should see this as an opportunity rather than a threat. But for that to happen, SEBI's proposed reforms will have to be taken a logical step forward.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

ING MF Declares Dividend For Two Schemes

ING mutual fund has approved 30 August 2007 as the record date for declaration of dividend in Optimix Active Debt Multi Manager FoF Scheme and Optimix Asset Allocator Multi Manager FoF Scheme.

The fund has announced a dividend up to 0.6% (i.e. Re 0.06 per unit on the face value of Rs 10) under the dividend option of Optimix Active Debt Multi Manager FoF Scheme. The scheme has recorded NAV of Rs 10.208 on 23 August 2007.

The fund has announced a dividend up to 10% (i.e. Re 1.00 per unit on the face value of Rs 10) under the dividend option of Optimix Asset Allocator Multi Manager FoF Scheme. The scheme has recorded NAV of Rs 11.867 on 23 August 2007.

Optimix Active Debt Multi Manager FoF scheme launched with an objective to generate returns from a portfolio of pure debt oriented funds accessed through the diverse investment styles of underlying schemes selected in accordance with the Optimix Multi Manager Investment process. The scheme does not charge any entry as well as exit load.

Optimix Asset Allocator Multi Manager FoF scheme launched with an objective to generate capital appreciation primarily from a portfolio of equity and debt funds accessed through the diversified investment styles of underlying schemes selected in accordance with the Optimix Multi Manager Investment process. The scheme charged an entry load of 2.5% for the investment below Rs 5 crore. There is no exit load for the scheme.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

Kotak FMP 3M Series 19 Declares Dividend

Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund has approved the declaration of dividend under the Kotak FMP 3M Series 19. The record date for dividend is set as 30 August 2007. The NAV for the schemes stood at Rs. 10.197 on 23 August 2007. The AMC plans to distribute 100% of distributable surplus as on record date. Kotak FMP 3M Series 19 is a close-ended debt fund with an objective to generate returns through investment in debt and money market instruments with a view to significantly reduce the interest rate risk.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

Lotus India FMP NFO Raises Rs 175 Crore

Lotus India Asset Management Company, a joint venture between Fullerton Fund Management Group (wholly owned by Temasek Holdings, Singapore) and Sabre Capital Worldwide, announced collections of around Rs. 175 crore during the NFO of the Lotus India Fixed Maturity Plan - 3 Months - Series XIV, which closed on 21 August 2007.

The scheme seeks to generate income by investing in a portfolio of debt and money market instruments normally maturing in line with the duration of the scheme.

Lotus India Fixed Maturity Plan - 3 Months - Series XIV offered two options i.e. growth and dividend reinvestment. The NFO opened for subscription from 16 August 2007 and closed on 21 August 2007.

The minimum application amount was Rs. 5000/- and in multiples of Re 1/- thereafter. Units were available at Rs. 10 each. The scheme does not charge any entry load but there is an exit load of 0.75 % on investments if redeemed before the maturity date.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

MFs Likely To Assist PSUs Earn Significant Addl Profits

New Delhi: The Government's decision to permit public sector Navaratna and Miniratna companies to infuse up to 30 per cent of their surplus cash reserves in public sector mutual funds may yield significant additional profits for these companies. There are 42 listed PSEs that comprise big names such as ONGC, SAIL, Indian Oil, NALCO, GAIL and NTPC along with a large number of public sector banks. According to estimates available from the Public Enterprises Annual Survey 2006-07 done by the Department of Public Enterprises, investment of 30 per cent of public sector reserves (that include all the 240 companies as well as loss-making ones) as on March 2007 could pump in Rs 45,204 crore into the capital markets through the mutual fund route.

The survey shows that Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) have an aggregate cash balance of Rs 1,50,680 crore (including around 60,000 crore funds lying with the Navaratnas and Miniratnas) as on March 2007 and attracts an average interest of around 8 per cent annually. The data given by Value Research, the firm that tracks the Indian mutual fund market, shows that the real return from diversified mutual funds had actually been much higher than 12 per cent in recent years. On an annualised basis, return from mutual funds for a one-year period had been 27.02 per cent, for two years 31.05 per cent and for the past three years the annual return stood at 42.01 per cent. The combined market capitalisation of the listed 42 PSEs stood at Rs 8,66,879.47 crore in the beginning of August when the IPE study was conducted compared with Rs 7,52,337.75 crore in the beginning of the current financial year.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

DSP Merrill Lynch MF Declares Dividend

DSP Merrill Lynch Mutual Fund has declared dividend under the dividend re-investment option of the regular and institutional plan of DSP Merrill Lynch Fixed Term Plan - Series 1M. The fund house has fixed 28 August 2007 as the record date for the payment of dividend of Rs 22.31 and Rs 22.56 per unit on regular and institutional plan respectively. The face value per unit is Rs 1000.

DSP Merrill Lynch Fixed Term Plan - Series 1M is a close-ended income. The NAV of the regular and institutional option stood at Rs 1,021.31 and Rs 1,021.31 per unit respectively as on 23 August 2007. The scheme seeks capital appreciation by investing in a portfolio of debt and money market instruments securities maturing in line with the term of the scheme. The scheme carry no entry load whereas there will be an exit load of 0.75% if units are redeemed /switched out before maturity.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

ABN Amro MF Launches New FMP

ABN Amro MF has unveiled ABN Amro Fixed Term Plan Series 8 Yearly Plan D. The scheme is close-ended fixed term income scheme. The maturity date of the scheme / plan would be 366 day from the date of allotment of units under the scheme.

Objective: The investment objective of the scheme would be to achieve growth of capital through investments made in a basket of fixed income securities in line with the duration of the scheme.

Asset Allocation: The fund will invest up to 100% in debt instruments. Debt instruments may include the investment in securitised debt up to 60% of the net asset of the scheme. The fund may also invest up to 100% in money market instruments.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

Lotus India MF Launches New FMP

Lotus India MF has rolled out a scheme called Lotus India Fixed Maturity Plans- 3 months-Series XV and it is a close ended debt scheme.

The objective of the scheme is to generate income by investing in a portfolio of debt and money market instruments normally maturing in line with the duration of the scheme.

Asset Allocation: The fund will invest 0%-100% in money market instruments including reverse repo. The investment in government securities issued by the central government and/or state government(s) will be 0%-50%. The fund will invest 0%-100% debt instruments such as bonds and debentures. The investment in securitised debt will be up to 50%.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

Birla Sun Life MF Declares Dividend For FTP

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has announced the declaration of dividend for Birla Fixed Term Plan Quarterly Series 16. The record date is set as 28 August 2007. The quantum of dividend will be 100 % of distributable surplus available on the record date. The NAV for the scheme was recorded at Rs. 10.232 as on 22 August 2007.

Birla Fixed Term Plan Quarterly Series 16 is a close-ended income scheme. The investment objective for plan is to achieve growth of capital by investing in a portfolio of fixed income securities maturing in line with the duration of the scheme. The scheme carry no entry load whereas there will be an exit load of 0.50% if units are redeemed /switched out before maturity.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

DBS Chola MF Declares Dividend For FMP Scheme

DBS Chola Mutual Fund has announced the dividend under dividend option of DBS Chola Fixed Maturity Plan - Series 7 Quarterly Plan -IV. The record date for the declaration of dividend is 29 August 2007. The dividend to be declared will be the entire appreciation in NAV of the dividend plan since 1 June 2007 till the record date i.e. 29 August 2007.

The scheme seeks to generate regular returns and capital appreciation by investing in debt including securitiesed debt, government securities and money market securities normally maturing in line with the time profile of the respective plans.

Source : www.indian-commodity.com

Reliance MF Declares Dividend For Interval Fund

Reliance Mutual Fund has announced the declaration of dividend for Reliance Interval Fund - Monthly Interval Fund - Series II. The record date is set as 28 August 2007. The quantum of dividend under retail plan will be 0.57058 %. The quantum of dividend under institutional plan will be 0. 57822 %. The NAV for the scheme under retail plan was Rs. 10.0483 as on 21 August 2007. The NAV for the scheme under institutional plan was Rs. 10.0488 as on 21 August 2007.

Reliance Interval Fund - Monthly Interval Fund - Series II is a debt oriented interval scheme. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate regular returns and growth 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.

ICICI MF Launches Indo Asia Equity Fund

ICICI MF has rolled out a scheme called ICICI Prudential Indo Asia Equity Fund and it is an open-ended equity diversified scheme. ICICI Prudential Indo Asia Equity Fund is an open ended equity fund that seeks to generate long term capital appreciation by investing in equity, equity related securities share classes / units of equity fund of companies which are incorporated or have their area of primary activity, in Asia -Pacific region.

Asset Allocation: The scheme will invest 65%-100% in equity and equity related securities in India with medium to high-risk profile. The scheme will also invest 0%-35% in Asian equity funds, equity related securities or share classes/ units of equity funds including the investment in ADR/ GDR. The scheme will invest 0%-35% in debt securities including 20% in securitised debt.

Reliance MF Launches New Fixed Horizon Fund

Reliance MF has rolled out a scheme called Reliance Fixed Horizon Fund - IV- Series I. It is a close-ended income scheme with maturity period of 13 months. 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 series with the objective of limiting interest rate volatility

Asset Allocation: The scheme will invest 0%-70% in money market instruments. The scheme will invest 30%-100% in government securities issued by central &/or state government & other fixed income/ debt securities including but not limited to corporate bonds and securitiesed debt. Debt securities will also include securitised debt, which may go up to 100% of the portfolio.

Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals Takes A Lead

Among the days top 10 gainers in the A group Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals gained 15.50% on 22 August 2007 as it closed at 49.55 compared to previous close of 42.90 on 21 August 2007. Gain in the stock prices of the company will benefit various mutual fund schemes, which have invested in the stocks of the company.

Tata Dividend Yield Fund (G) is likely to benefit the most as it has the highest percentage hold of the stocks of the company compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company. Tata Dividend Yield Fund (G) has 2.63% share of its portfolio invested in the stocks of the company with 11,50,000 units as on July 2007.

UTI-Dividend Yield Fund (G) who follows Tata Dividend Yield Fund (G) with 2.57% share of its portfolio invested in the stocks of the company with 48,36,293 units as on July 2007 is likely to benefit less as it has reduced its exposure by 0.22%.

Canbank MF Declares Dividend For FMP

Canbank Mutual Fund has announced the declaration of dividend for Can Fixed Maturity Plan 1 Month Series II. The record date is set as 26 August 2007. The quantum of dividend will be 100 % of distributable surplus available on the record date. The NAV for the scheme was Rs. 10.056 as on 21 August 2007. The scheme launched with an objective to generate returns by investing in fixed income debt securities, the maturity of which would be tune with the maturity of the respective plans / series so as to insulate the portfolio from the interest rate volatility, if investors remain in the scheme till maturity.

Reliance Mutual Fund Plans NFOs

Sensex has lost 1,600 points from its peak and valuations have fallen to 17 times earnings from a high of 21 times and many brokerages believe it is a good time to buy.

Mutual funds do not want to miss this opportunity either. According to sources Reliance Mutual Fund is planning to launch new funds worth Rs 8,000-Rs 12,000 crore soon.

These New Fund Offerings (NFO) are likely to be close-ended funds for long-term capital appreciation. Reliance Mutual Fund also wants to increase Assets Under Management to Rs 85,000 crore by year-end which are Rs 65,000 crore as on August 1.

Mutual fund business is all about distribution and reach, Reliance Capital has plenty of both. Reliance Money is also planning to ramp up its distribution network from 4,000 centers in 700 cities now. It also aims to increase its customer base to two lakh by 2008-end.

Worldwide the appetite for risk has come down. Analysts say mutual funds will have tough time to post returns in these challenging times, so we have to wait and see whether these New Fund Offerings amidst so much uncertainty will take off.

HDFC MF Plans To Roll Out New FMP

HDFC mutual fund announced the launch of its close-ended income scheme: HDFC Fixed Maturity Plans-Series VI-90 Days-August 2007. The primary objective is to generate regular income through investments in debt and money market instruments and government securities. HDFC Fixed Maturity Plans-Series VI-90 Days-August 2007 will invest upto 60%-100% in debt and money market instruments and securitised debt. The investment in to domestic securitised debt will be upto a maximum of 75% of the scheme's net assets. The scheme will also invest 0%-40% in government securities.

The scheme being a close-ended scheme is not permitted to charge entry load. It will charge an exit load of 0.75% if the investment is redeemed before the maturity date. There will not be any exit load charged on the redemption made on maturity date.

Investment Of Rolta India To Benefit MF Schemes

Among the days top 10 gainers in the A group Rolta India gained 1.82% on 21 August 2007 as it closed at 414.60 compared to previous close of 407.20 on 20 August 2007. Gain in the stock prices of the company will benefit various mutual fund schemes, which have invested in the stocks of the company. DSP ML Technology.com (G) is likely to benefit the most as it has the highest percentage hold of the stocks of the company compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company. DSP ML Technology.com (G) has 2.83% share of its portfolio invested in the stocks of the company with 91024 units as on July 2007.

Tata Service Industries Fund (G) is also likely to benefit as scheme has invested 1.23% of its portfolio with 50001 units in the stocks of the company as on July 2007.

However, the scheme like LICMF Balanced Fund (A) is less likely to benefit as scheme exited completely from the stocks of the company as on July 2007.

137 Equity Mutual Funds Outperformed Sensex

Equity mutual funds as a class posted an average return of 25.79%, out performing the Sensex return of 23.33%, over the one-year period ended 17 August 2007. Of the 242 equity schemes, 107 exceeded the category average of 25.79% in the one-year period, while 137 outperformed the Sensex that posted 23.33%. The topper was Reliance Diversified Power Sector (G) with 70.35% return.

In the equity category, the Midcap, diversified categories and tax planning outperformed, giving a category average of 28.59%, 26.67 % and 26.20%, respectively.

In the equity diversified category, out of the 134 schemes, 59 exceeded the category average of 26.67%, while 85 outperformed the Sensex return of 23.33%, over the one-year period ended 17 August 2007. JM Basic Fund clinched the first position, with 64.65% return, followed by Stan Chart Premier Equity Fund (G), with 56.82% return.

In the mid-cap segment, Birla Midcap Fund (G) the topper, with 43.93% return, exceeding the category average of 28.59%, followed by Magnum Midcap Fund (G) with 41.79% return. Out of 25 outperformed 11 schemes the CNX Midcap index, with 32.15% return.

Pru ICICI FMCG Fund (G) was the topper in the FMCG category, with 19.47% return, outperforming the category average of 4.60% and out performing the BSE FMCG index with -8.70% returns.

In the tax-planning category, of the 30 schemes, 12 outperformed the category average of 26.20% Principal Personal Tax Saver Fund (G) Scheme, with 58.07% return, clinched the top position.

In the pharma segment, of the five schemes, one exceeded the category average of 6.28%. Reliance Pharma Fund (G) was the only scheme posted 29.46% return. It also, exceeded Sensex return of 23.33%.

Among the index funds, 13 of the 26 schemes exceeded the category average of 21.65%. Bank BeES topped the category with 43.83% return, followed by HDFC Index Fund- Sensex Plus Plan with 25.26% returns.

Birla Sun Life MF Launches New Fixed Term Plan

Birla Sun Life MF has rolled out a scheme called Birla Fixed Term Plan Series AA and which is a close end income scheme. The Scheme will have duration of 370 days from the date of allotment. The scheme seeks 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 will invest up to 100% in debt securities and money market instruments. The investment in securitised debt can be up to 100% of the net asset of the scheme. The Scheme will have retail plan and institutional plan with a common portfolio. Each plan under the scheme will have dividend and growth option. The dividend option shall have payout and reinvestment facility.

ING MF Launches New FMP

ING MF has rolled out a scheme called ING Fixed Maturity Fund Series XXX and it is a close-ended bond scheme. A close-ended bond scheme offering an investment plan of 92 days maturity, investing in a portfolio of government securities or highly rated corporate bonds maturing close to the maturity of the scheme so as to generate returns comparable with alternative fixed-income instruments of similar maturity. The scheme will invest in debt securities with maturity coinciding closely with the maturity of the scheme, so as to minimise the impact of price fluctuation of such securities and the value at maturity.

The scheme shall invest upto 100% in debt securities and money market instruments including call money and reverse repo. The debt securities may include securitised debt up to 90% of the net assets. The investments in derivatives instruments shall be to a maximum of 50% of the net assets of the scheme.

Canbank MF Declares Dividend

Canbank Mutual Fund has announced dividend in following schemes:

Date of dividend for 18/08/07

DIVIDEND DECLARATION DAILY DIVIDEND RE- WEEKLY DIVIDEND INVEST PLAN PLAN CANLIQUID- INSTITUTIONAL PLAN 0.00179232 N.A CANLIQUID- RETAIL PLAN 0.00171440 N.A. CANFLOATING RATE 0.00163647 N.A

Chambal Fertilizers And Chemicals Takes A Lead In Investing In

Among the days top 10 gainers in the A group Chambal Fertilizers and Chemicals gained 19.92% on 20 August 2007 as it closed at 44.85 compared to previous close of 37.40 on 17 August 2007. Gain in the stock prices of the company will benefit various mutual fund schemes, which have invested in the stocks of the company. Tata Dividend Yield Fund (G) is likely to benefit the most as it has the highest percentage hold of the stocks of the company compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company. Tata Dividend Yield Fund (G) has 2.63% share of its portfolio invested in the stocks of the company with 11.50 lakh units as on July 2007.

UTI Dividend Yield Fund- (G) is also likely to benefit as scheme has invested 2.57% of its portfolio with 48.36 lakh units in the stocks of the company as on July 2007. However, the scheme like Tata Dividend Yield Fund (G) is likely to benefit to a limited extent as scheme sold 13 shares of the company and holds 11.50 lakh units as on July 2007.

Fund Houses Not Affected Due To The Investments In Rid-, Small-Cap

Mutual fund schemes investing in small- and mid-cap companies have been fairly less affected in a market where most mutual fund schemes have given negative return, since the market went into a bearish mode following the subprime confusion in the US.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex dwindled almost 10.9 per cent by Friday from a record high of 15,868.85 points on July 24. In the same period, the BSE mid cap index fell 9.4 per cent and the BSE small cap index slid 7.9 per cent. Mutual fund schemes that typically invest more than 60 per cent of their portfolio in small- and mid-cap companies have been less affected by the downturn as compared to other schemes. Most mutual fund schemes have given negative returns of up to 12 per cent but these schemes have given maximum return in the market downturn. UTI MNC has benefitted during the downturn since it has exposure to low beta stocks. Domestic funds raised more than Rs 160 billion this year through 26 new equity schemes, according to Association of Mutual Funds in India. Bulk of this money was to be invested in mid-cap and small cap stocks.Fund schemes like HDFC Midcap Opportunities Fund, DSPML Micro Cap and others specifically targeting the midcap and small cap (and even the micro cap companies) were launched in the first six months of the year.

JM Financial MF Launches New Fixed Maturity Fund

JM Financial MF has rolled out a scheme called JM Fixed Maturity Fund-Series VI- Quarterly Plan 1 and it is a close end income scheme. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate returns through investments in fixed income securities normally maturing in line with the time profile of the respective plans. The fund will invest 65%-100% in short term debt securities including fixed income derivatives and securitised debt and money market instruments. The scheme will invest 0%-100% in government securities with low risk profile. The investment in securitised debt will not exceed 80% of the net asset of the plan.

Tata MF Rolls Out New Fixed Horizon Fund

Tata MF has rolled a scheme called Tata Fixed Horizon Fund Series-14 Scheme-A and it is close end debt scheme. The scheme has tenure of 371 days. The investment objective of the schemes is to generate income and / or capital appreciation by investing in wide range of debt and money market instruments. The fund will invest can invest upto 100% in debt and money market instruments and securitised debt. The scheme may invest upto a maximum of 50% of the scheme's net assets in domestic securitised debt.

Irda Embarks On Review Of Ulips

Mumbai: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) is considering to review the entire range of unit-linked products (Ulips) that are being sold by life insurance companies. Irda said that the review focuses on increasing dissemination of information and understanding of Ulips and improving transparency. This assumes significance since the Irda had recently directed phasing out of all actuarial-funded Ulips, where the charge structure is complex for policyholders to comprehend.

The Irda has clarified that the phasing out of such actuarial-funded Ulips is prospective and that the commitments to existing policyholders would be honoured as per contractual obligations. Meanwhile, companies like Aviva and Bajaj Allianz, which are the prominent players in the actuarial-funded Ulips, have been asked to modify their Ulip schemes and apply to the Irda on a priority basis for approval. The review of Ulips is aimed at ensuring transparency of costs and benefits to customers, and commission paid to agents for distributing such instruments. The lack of understanding of Ulips has remained a problem for customers. Earlier this year, the Irda had clarified that the policyholders in a unit-linked scheme can remain invested in the policy for another five years after maturity but cannot withdraw any amount or switch funds - equity or debt - or engage in fund management activity. The decision to continue with the scheme after maturity will purely be the option of the policyholder. The objective was to ensure that the insurance company does not act as a fund manager, and only provides the option of a better NAV to the policyholder.

Chambal Fertiliser To Boost Schemes' Performance

The BSE Sensex was down by 726.73 points (4.89%) and closed at 14141.52 for the week ended 17 August 2007. In the same week Nifty index was down 225.3 points, to close at 4108.05. Among the week's top 25 gainers in the A group Chambal Fertilizers and Chemicals gained 11.81% in the week ending 17 August 2007 as it closed at 37.40 compared to previous close of 33.45 in the week ending 10 August 2007. This gain in the stock prices of the company will benefit various mutual fund schemes, which have invested in the stocks of the company.

Tata Dividend Yield Fund (G) is likely to benefit the most as it has the highest percentage hold of the stocks of the company compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company. Tata Dividend Yield Fund (G) has 2.63% share of its portfolio invested in the stocks of the company with 11.50 lakh units as on July 2007.

UTI Dividend Yield Fund- (G) is also likely to benefit as scheme has invested 2.57% of its portfolio with 48.36 lakh units in the stocks of the company as on July 2007.

Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemicals was second topper of the week ended on 17 August 2007. With closing price of Rs. 55.80 its stocks closed 8.77% higher than the previous week.

Benchmark Derivative Fund (G) is likely to benefit the most as scheme has 0.37% share of its portfolio with 26400 units in the stocks of the company as on July 2007.

6% Dividend Under Kotak Flexi Fund Of Funds - Series II

Kotak Mutual Fund has announced a dividend of 6% (i.e. Rs 0.60 per unit on the face value of Rs 10) under Kotak Flexi Fund of Funds - Series II. The record date for the same has been fixed as August 23, 2007.

Dena Bank Ties Up With Birla Sun Life MF

Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd (BSLAMC) the Investment Managers of Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has entered into an agreement with Dena Bank, a leading Public sector bank, for distribution of its mutual fund products through select branches of the bank across the country. With this tie up Dena Bank will offer the entire bouquet of Birla Sun Life mutual fund products through its branches. The bank had also tied up with SBI mutual funds for distribution of fund house products.

ICICI Pru MF Slashes IT, Banking, Metal Stocks

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has pared exposure to information technology, banking & financial services, metals, and engineering & capital goods in July. Utilities, telecom, tobacco and cement & construction stocks weighed heavy on the MF house buy list. A study of equity portfolios of Prudential ICICI mutual fund for July shows that in the information technology, Infosys Technologies, Wipro and Satyam Computer Services topped the list of sells while HCL Technologies, Nucleus Software and Geometric Software Solutions topped the list of buys.(View - All Bulk Deals by Mutual Funds) In the banking & financial services, Andhra Bank and Union Bank of India were in the list of top sells while Punjab National Bank and ICICI Bank were in the list of top buys. It has exited Power Finance Corporation and IFCI. In the metals & mining segment, it has sold over 10.95 lakh shares of SAIL. Adhunik Metaliks and Tata Steel were also in the list of sells while Sterlite Industries and Sesa Goa topped the list of buys. It has entered into Kirloskar Ferrous Industries.

LIC MF Launches New Systematic Asset Allocation Fund

LIC MF launches LIC Mutual Fund Systematic Asset Allocation Fund. It is a 36-month close-ended hybrid fund. Upon completion of 36 months, the scheme will automatically be converted into an open-ended equity scheme. The investment objective of the scheme is to achieve a long-term growth by investing systematically in the equity / equity related instruments. Asset Allocation: In order to achieve the investment objective, the scheme will invest subscription initially in debt & money instruments and in a systematic and progressive manner will be allocated to equities over the close-ended period. According to indicative allocation, in first month from the date of allotment the house will invest 98.50% in debt and money market instrument and remaining 1.50% in equity or equity related instruments. In progressive manner it will increase it's share in equities reaching to 80.00% of the investment by the 36-month from the date of allotment keeping only 20.00% in debt and money market instruments.

Infosys Stocks Likely To Affect MF Schemes

Share prices of Infosys Technologies were down by 4.27% to Rs. 1828.90 reported at BSE at 11.49 a.m. on 17 August 2007 against previous day close of Rs. 1910.45.

Franklin Infotech Fund (G) is likely to lose as it has the highest percentage hold of the stocks of the company compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company. Franklin Infotech Fund (G) has 36.33% of its total portfolio size invested in the stocks of the company as on July 2007. The scheme holds 3.10 lakh share units of the company in July 2007 compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company.

It is followed by Kotak Tech - (17.70% of its portfolio), UTI GSF Software Fund (D) (16.87%) as on July 2007.

However the scheme like DSP ML Technology.com (G) was holding 8.95% of its portfolio in company's shares in June 2007 has sold all its shares as on July 2007 and is thus likely to benefit.

SBI To Sell Fidelity Mutual Funds

State Bank of India (SBI) will sell Fidelity mutual funds through its network of about 9,500 branches, Fidelity said. "The agreement with the State Bank of India was signed by Fidelity International's Indian subsidiary," Fidelity said in a statement on Thursday.

The US mutual fund company, which entered India in 2005, said its tie-up with the government-run State Bank of India provides a trusted platform to reach new investors. "We are delighted to partner State Bank of India to take our products out to a larger number of investors," said Ashu Suyash, the head of Fidelity Fund Management (India). Fidelity currently offers about a dozen mutual funds to Indian investors. Its flagship product, the Fidelity Equity Fund, posted a 55 per cent return in the past year. State Bank of India has an estimated 90 million customers.

SBI Funds Joins Hand With Dena Bank

Mumbai: SBI Funds Management Pvt Ltd, the investment managers for SBI Mutual Fund, has joined hands with Dena Bank to enhance the fund's reach. The total assets under management of SBI Mutual Fund is Rs 25,862 crore as of July 31, 2007. Bank branches are being converted into financial super markets providing a host of financial solutions like banking, insurance, and investments to customers under one roof.

JM Financial Launches Its Portfolio Management Scheme

JM Financial Services Private Limited (JM Financial Services) has launched a unique Portfolio Management Scheme that aims to offer 100% capital protection as well as potential capital appreciation. Christened Triple AAAce, the Scheme is India's first capital protection oriented portfolio management scheme based on the Dynamic Portfolio Insurance (DPI) methodology.

Triple AAAce has been assigned a credit opinion equivalent to AAA (so) by credit rating agency CRISIL, thereby making it India's first and only CRISIL rated Portfolio Management Scheme.

Globally acknowledged leader in structured products, Societe Generale Asset Management Alternative Investment (SGAM AI), France will act as a consultant and give recommendations and advice based on the DPI methodology.

Triple AAAce aims to provide investors an opportunity to get an optimal exposure to a basket of leading diversified equity mutual fund schemes while simultaneously aiming to achieve 100% Capital Protection. The Scheme is targeted at resident Indians and has a 5-year tenure with a facility to withdraw the invested amount at anytime during this 5-year period. It provides investors both, Growth as well as Payout option, with each option independently securing an AAA (so) credit opinion from CRISIL. While Growth option attempts to lock-in 85% of the Maximum Portfolio Value (Lock-in Feature) reached anytime during the 5-year tenure, the Payout option provides the Lock-in Feature in year 4 and year 5 of the Scheme. The Payout option, additionally, attempts to pay annually upto 7% of the Initial Corpus for the first 3 years of the Scheme.

DBS Chola To Enhance Distribution Network

Kolkata: DBS Cholamandalam Asset Management Limited has firmed up plans to expand its distribution network for marketing its various funds, including the recently unveiled DBS Chola Infrastructure Fund. They are looking at having a large pool of retail distributors and direct selling agents to facilitate greater penetration of our fund schemes. They also intend to launch a PE(private equity) fund but as of now, nothing is finalised. DBS Chola Infrastructure Fund is a three-year close-ended equity fund with automatic conversion into an open-ended scheme on maturity. The fund looks to generate capital appreciation by investing in equity and equity related instruments of companies that are hoped to benefit from the infrastructure development of the country.

Lotus India MF Launches New FMP

Lotus India MF launches Lotus India Fixed Maturity Plans- 375 Days-Series III. The objective of the scheme is to generate income by investing in a portfolio of debt and money market instruments normally maturing in line with the duration of the scheme. Asset Allocation: The fund will invest 0%-100% in money market instruments including reverse repo. The investment in government securities issued by the central government and/or state government(s) will be 0%-50%. The fund will invest 0%-100% debt instruments such as bonds and debentures. The investment in securitised debt will be up to 50%.

SBI Debt Fund - 13 Months Launches Another Series

SBI Mutual Fund has announced the NFO under SBI Debt Fund Series which is a 13 months fund. This offer is open from August16, 2007 to August 22, 2007.The minimum investment in the SDFS - 13 Months is Rs 50000 and Rs 5 Lakhs for the retail and institutional plan, respectively. The fund has come out with growth and dividend options for both the plans. The fund would charge an exit load of 2% if investment is redeemed before the maturity date.

Smaller Funds Looking At Indian Foray Set House In Order

Kolkata: They may not be the big in the global asset management space, but Shinsei, Mirae, Robeco and some of the other smaller outfits that are hoping to launch their operations in India are quickly putting their houses in order. A number of players, having already named key personnel, are currently seeking to recruit people in regional centres. Shinsei, the Japanese firm that has an on-going joined hands with UTI Mutual Fund, is known to have roped in Mr N. Sethuram, who was till recently the Chief Investment Officer of SBI Funds Management, in a senior position.

Shinsei, for the record, has just declared the formation of a joint venture with UTI International, a 100 per cent subsidiary of UTI Asset Management Co. Mirae, the Koran outfit that has lately set up shop in the country, is seeking a smooth unveil in a rapidly developing market. Mr Arindam Ghosh, who heads the show, noted Mirae is well on its way to firm up critical aspects of the business. The second level of hiring both at head office and branches is also underway. Mirae, which accounts for 35 per cent of the Korean market for equity funds, manages $78 billion worldwide.

Robeco, which has joined hands with Canara Bank for its Indian entry , is learnt to have found a chief executive in the former DBS Cholamandalam MF boss, Mr Rajnish Narula. Mr Narula, who had quit DBS Chola a few weeks ago. In March, Robeco had inked a deal to buy 49 per cent in the Canara Bank-promoted Canbank Investment Management Services, a move that will entail an investment of well over Rs 100 crore. The foray of these funds, as well as that of players like UBS, will substantially help increase the number of asset management companies in the country. At the moment, there are a little over 30 funds in operation. The number of players seems to have remained stagnant for quite a while, concedes Mr A.P. Kurian, Chairman, Association of Mutual Funds in India.

Canbank MF Renamed Its Short Term Plan

Canbank Mutual Fund proposes to change the name of Can Short Term Plan to Can Liquid plus. The changes will be effective from 21 August 2007.

After the proposed conversion, the fund would offer income option, daily dividend reinvestment option and growth option under its retail plan and daily dividend reinvestment option, weekly dividend reinvestment option, weekly dividend payout option and growth option under its institutional plan.

The minimum subscription amount for the fund would be Rs.5000 and Rs 50 Lakhs under the retail and institutional plan, respectively.

The benchmark index for the above scheme would be Crisil Liquid Fund Index.

HDFC MF Files Offer Document

HDFC Mutual Fund has filed an offer document for HDFC IndAsia Opportunities Fund. It is an open-ended equity fund. The new fund offering (NFO) for the scheme is Rs. 10 plus an applicable entry load. The fund house seeks to collect a minimum corpus of Rs. 1 crore for the scheme.

The minimum initial investment under scheme is Rs 5,000 and in multiple of Re 100 thereafter. The scheme offers investors a growth option and a dividend option. The dividend option offers dividend payout facility only.

The investment objective of the scheme is to generate capital appreciation in the long term through investment in a diversified portfolio of equity/equity related instruments of Indian and Asian (ex Japan) Companies.

The scheme charges an entry load of 2.25% for the investment less than Rs 5 crore. There will not be any entry load charged on the investment above Rs 5 crore.

The scheme charges an exit load of 1.00% for the investment below Rs 5 crore and if it’s redeemed within 1 year from the date of allotment. There will not be any exit load charges on the investment above Rs 5 crore.

The fund will invest 65%-95% in equity and equity related instruments of Indian companies and 0-35% in equity and equity related instruments of Asian Companies (ex Japan and India). The scheme will also invest 0%-30% in debt securities and money market instruments. The scheme investment in securitised debt will be up to 30% of the net asset of the scheme.

UTI MF Launches New Fixed Term Income Fund

UTI MF launches new fixed term income fund called UTI Fixed Term Income Fund- Series III-Plan 20 The scheme aims to generate regular returns by investing in a portfolio of fixed income securities normally maturing in line with the maturity period of the plan. The fund will invest 30%- 100% in debt securities including securitised debt. The investment in securitised debt can be up to 100% of the net asset of the scheme. It will also investment 0%-70% in money market instruments.

Lotus India MF Launched Lotus India Equity Fund

Lotus India AMC, a joint venture between Fullerton Fund Management Group and Sabre Capital Worldwide, has launched an Open-Ended Equity Scheme namely Lotus India Equity Fund. The investment objective of this scheme is to generate long-term capital growth from a focused portfolio of predominantly equity and equity-related securities. Lotus India Equity Fund is an open ended equity fund which aims to balance concentration and diversification risks and goes for diversification in a focused manner. The New fund will commence from August 16, 2007 and closes on September 7, 2007. The fund will invest 70-100% in equity and equity related instruments and 0-30% in debt and money market instruments. The fund offers two options i.e. Growth and Dividend. The Dividend option offers Dividend Payout and Dividend Re-investment facilities. Lotus India Equity Fund will follow self imposed guidelines while implementing its investment strategy, like Not less than 15 stocks and not more than 30 in the portfolio, Not less than 5 sectors in the portfolio and not more than 10 sectors, Not less than 2% exposure to a single stock, Not more than 10% exposure to a single stock at the time of investment & Active hedging to manage risks

Policy Makers Looking MF's As Tool For Capital Outflow

After the curbs on foreign borrowings, Indian policymakers are now set to take recourse to another tool to tackle strong capital inflows. The government and financial sector regulators-RBI and Sebi-are close to finalising a proposal to converge the regulations on overseas investments by locals and mutual funds to encourage outward flow of capital.

The plan is to allow local investors to utilize the $100,000 limit under the liberal remittance scheme (LRS) to invest in equities abroad through mutual funds.

Earlier, under this scheme, individuals could invest in fixed income investment products such as deposits, property and stocks. But the response has been poor. Outflows in 2004 were just $28.3 million and $13 million up to November 2005 as returns in the Indian market are far superior to those of overseas ones.

By providing a window for local investors to invest a substantially higher amount-$100,000 abroad through mutual funds-policy mandarins are hoping that the resultant outflow will make it easier to manage the surge in capital inflows. Higher outflows will reduce the pressure on the monetary policy authority to mop up dollars and then suck out the liquidity created by sale of securities.

Indian individuals are now allowed to invest only rupee resources abroad through mutual fund schemes. This is different from the $100,000 liberal remittance scheme. However, investor appetite here too has been poor, prompting many fund houses to focus only on the local markets.

The government has fixed a limit of $2 billion for overseas investment by mutual funds, besides a ceiling of $1 billion for investments in foreign exchange traded funds.

The finance ministry, RBI and Sebi are in the process of converging the regulations-Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and Sebi rules on mutual funds-to facilitate greater outward investment.

Birla Sun Life MF Launches New Fixed Term Plan

Birla Sun Life MF launches new fixed term plan Birla Fixed Term Plan Quarterly Series 20. Close end income scheme. It will mature on 91s t day from the date of allotment. The primary investment objective 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 will invest up to 100% in debt securities and money market instruments. The investment in securitised debt can be up to 100% of the net asset of the scheme.

UTI MF Files Offer Document

UTI Mutual Fund has filed an offer document for UTI Infrastructure Advantage Fund Series I. It is a close-ended equity fund. The new fund offering (NFO) for the scheme is Rs. 10. The duration of scheme is 3 years from the date of allotment. The fund house seeks to collect a minimum corpus of Rs. 1 crore for the scheme.

The minimum initial investment under scheme is Rs 5,000 and in multiple of Re 1 thereafter. The scheme offers investors a growth option and a dividend option. The dividend option offers dividend payout facility only.

The investment objective of the scheme is to provide income distribution and / or medium to long-term capital appreciation by investing predominantly in equity / equity related instruments in the companies engaged either directly or indirectly in the infrastructure growth of the Indian economy.

The scheme does not charge any entry as well as exit load for the scheme.

The fund will invest 65%-100% in equity & equity related instruments of companies engaged either directly or indirectly in the infrastructure sector and 0-35% in debt and money market instruments including securitised debt. The scheme may invest upto 100% of its portfolio in securitised debt.

ABN Amro MF Launches New Fixed Term Plan

Name of Fund: ABN Amro Fixed Term Plan Series 8 Yearly Plan C Scheme: Close end fixed term income scheme. Maturity date of the scheme / plan would be 366 day from the date of allotment of units under the scheme.

The investment objective of the scheme would be to achieve growth of capital through investments made in a basket of fixed income securities in line with the duration of the scheme.

The fund will invest up to 100% in debt instruments. Debt instruments may include the investment in securitised debt up to 60% of the net asset of the scheme. The fund may also invest up to 100% in money market instruments.

HDFC MF Mulls Equity Fund For Asia

MUMBAI: HDFC Asset Management Co Ltd on Aug 13, filed initial papers with the market regulator SEBI to unveil an equity fund that will infuse in stocks of companies from Asian countries. HDFC IndAsia Opportunities Fund will infuse at least 65 per cent of the assets in local companies and at least 5 per cent in other Asian countries, excluding Japan, the fund house said in its offer document. The fund will charge an entry load of 2.25 per cent on investment of less than Rs 5 crore and also levy an exit load of 1 per cent for redemption within one year. Investment of Rs 5 crore or more would not attract any load.

Dena Bank To Boost Schemes Performance

The BSE Sensex was down by 270.15 points (1.78%) and closed at 14868.25 for the week ended 10 August 2007. In the same week Nifty index was down by 68.2 points, to close at 4333.35.

Among the week’s top 25 gainers in the A group Dena Bank gained 9.72% in the week ending 10 August 2007 as it closed at 57.55 compared to previous close of 52.45 at the week ending 3 August 2007. This gain in the stock prices of the company will benefit various mutual fund schemes, which have invested in the stocks of the company.

Reliance Banking Fund - Bonus is likely to benefit the most as it has the highest percentage hold of the stocks of the company compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company. Reliance Banking Fund - Bonus has 5.82% share of its portfolio invested in the stocks of the company with 18.79 lakh units in July 2007.

Kotak Equity Arbitrage Fund (G) is also likely to benefit as scheme has invested 3.23% of its portfolio with 3.30 lakh units in the stocks of the company in July 2007.

Polaris Software Lab was second topper of the week ended on 3 August 2007. With closing price of Rs. 121.20 its stocks closed 9.29% higher than the previous week.

Taurus Discovery Stock is likely to benefit the most as scheme has 3.36% share of its portfolio with 69746 units of the company in July 2007. Franklin Infotech Fund (G) likely to gain next to it as scheme holds 2.33% share of its portfolio with 3.17 lakh units in the company in July 2007.

Liquid Plus Plans Boost MF's Assets 21Pc In July

Bangalore: Immense inflows into liquid and liquid plus plans accelerated the asset growth of the domestic mutual fund industry in July. July-end, fund industry assets stood at Rs 4.866 trillion, up 21.41 per cent over June. In comparison, June assets declined by 3 per cent on massive erosion in liquid plans due to corporate advance tax payments and June-quarter corporate earnings. In June, cash plans assets fell by 21.35 per cent, while in July liquid funds registered nearly 49 per cent jump in assets. By July-end, assets under management of liquid plans stood at Rs 1.355 trillion. Liquid schemes attracted inflows as corporates normally park their surplus cash in these schemes, which offer 7.5-8 per cent annual returns instead of keeping the money idle in bank current accounts. Like cash plans, liquid plus funds also do not levy entry and exit load, thus facilitating easy cash management. The assets of income fund category increased by 22 per cent, mainly led by liquid plus plans and a few fixed maturity plans. In July, 17 FMPs collectively generated Rs 21.95 billion as compared with 30 such schemes collecting Rs 45.34 billion rupees in June. Gilt funds displayed slight asset rise as long-term bond yields softened and improved the returns of long-term schemes. Assets under management of tax-saving schemes and diversified equity funds increased by 5.04 per cent and 5.85 per cent, respectively, which was more or less in line with the stock market rise. Despite collections in new schemes, assets did not rise significantly, indicating a shift from existing schemes to new ones. SBI Infrastructure Fund-I, Tata SIP Fund-II, and Franklin High Growth Companies Fund collectively garnered Rs 38.90 billion in June, but units were allocated only in July, hence the reflection in July assets figure. The huge inflows in debt schemes pulled down the share of equity schemes to 30.15 per cent from 34.6 per cent in June.

Assets in this category declined by 1.63 per cent mainly due to a fall in assets of Benchmark Mutual Fund, which is the pioneer of exchange-traded funds in India. By July-end, assets of Benchmark Mutual fell to Rs 70.86 billion as compared with nearly Rs 72 billion in June. The assets of Benchmark Mutual's Banking BeES fell 1.56 per cent despite the 2.79 per cent rise in the CNX Bank Index. Reliance Mutual continued to top the assets league with Rs 664.20 billion assets. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund and UTI Mutual Fund retained their second and third slots in assets under management tally. By July-end, assets of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund and UTI Mutual Fund increased 11.64 per cent and 9.01 per cent to Rs 486.89 billion and Rs 425.48 billion, respectively. However, in terms of average assets, HDFC Mutual was at the third position with assets of Rs 410.41 billion, followed by UTI Mutual with Rs 401.14 billion.

ICICI Prudential MF To Declare Dividend For Interval Fund

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund will declare dividend on the face value of Rs 10 per unit on the ICICI Prudential Interval Fund - Quarterly Interval Plan I. The fund house has fixed 16 August 2007 as the record date for the purpose of declaration of dividend, which will be 100% of the distributable surplus available as on the record date. The NAV of the scheme stood at Rs 10.23 per unit as on 9 August 2007. ICICI Prudential Interval Fund - Quarterly Interval Plan I is a bond fund. The objective of the scheme is to generate optimal consistent with moderate levels of risk and liquidity by investing in debt securities and money market securities. The scheme does not charge any entry load. The scheme carries an exit load of 0.50% if the investment is redeemed before the specified transaction period.

Kotak FMP 3M Series 18 Declares Dividend

Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund has approved the declaration of dividend under the Kotak FMP 3M Series 18. The record date for dividend is set as 16 August 2007. The NAV for the schemes stood at Rs. 10.227on 9 August 2007. The AMC plans to distribute 100% of distributable surplus as on record date. Kotak FMP 3M Series 18 is a close-ended debt fund with an objective to generate returns through investment in debt and money market instruments with a view to significantly reduce the interest rate risk.

Dividend Declared In Birla FTP - Half Yearly Series 2

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has announced August 13, 2007 as the record date for the declaration of dividend under Birla Fixed Term Plan - Half Yearly Series 2. The AMC plans to distribute entire appreciation in the NAV as dividend.

Mutual funds on buying spree

Mutual funds (MFs) bought shares worth Rs 45.30 crore Thursday, 9 August 2007. They had bought shares worth a net Rs 377.30 crore on Wednesday, 8 August 2007. Mutual funds' net inflow of Rs 45.30 crore on 9 August 2007 was a result of gross purchases of Rs 721.50 crore and gross sales of Rs 676.10 crore. The BSE 30-share Sensex shed 207.83 points or 1.36% at 15100.15 on that day. Mutual funds bought shares worth Rs 567.10 crore in the first few days in the month of August 2007, till 9 August 2007. Mutual funds sold equities worth Rs 900.60 crore in the month of July 2007. Mutual funds had pumped in Rs 9062.34 crore in Indian equity market in the financial year ended March 2007.

JM Financial MF Declares Dividend

JM Financial Mutual Fund has approved the declaration of dividend under the JM Fixed Maturity Fund- Series V-Quarterly Plan 3. The record date for dividend is set as 14 August 2007. The AMC plans to distribute entire appreciation in the NAV as dividend. The NAV for the schemes stood at Rs. 10.10 on 9 August 2007. JM Fixed Maturity Fund- Series V-Quarterly Plan 3 is close-ended income scheme comprising various plans seeking to generate regular returns through investment in fixed income securities normally maturing in line with the time profile of the respective plan.

Tata MF To Launch Global Infra Fund

After kicking off the country's first infrastructure fund four years ago, Tata Mutual Fund is now set to launch a global fund that will invest in stocks of infrastructure companies in other fast-growing economies. The proposed Indo-Global Infrastructure Fund will focus more on Asia, for; as the management sees more growth in this part of the world. Indo-Global Infrastructure Fund, as the name signifies, will invest 65 %of funds in India and the rest 35% in other markets. For the proposed Indo-Global Infrastructure Fund, Tata Mutual Fund will tie up with separate global fund houses for investments in different markets.

Most of Tata Mutual Fund's eight schemes have given 45 per cent-plus returns. Tata Infrastructure Fund gave returns of 66.66 per cent in the past year, beating the Sensex that gained 44.74 in the same period. On 9 August 2007, three other funds also have infrastructure schemes and four others are working to launch theirs. Tata Mutual Fund was also first off the block to launch funds investing in service industries and life science and technology companies.

UTI MF Unveils New Fixed Income Interval Fund

UTI Mutual Fund has rolled out a scheme called UTI Fixed Income Interval Annual Series II. It is debt oriented interval scheme with income-oriented portfolio consisting of government securities and other fixed income/ debt securities. The scheme aims to generate regular returns by investing in a portfolio of fixed income securities normally maturing in line with the time profile.

The fund will invest up to 0%-90% in money market instruments and 10%-100% in government securities issued by central &/or state govt. & other fixed income/debt securities including but not limited to corporate bonds and securitised debt. However, debt securities will also include securitised debt, which may go up to 100% of the portfolio.

ICICI Prudential MF Launches New FMP

ICICI Prudential MF has launched a new FMP called ICICI Prudential Fixed Maturity Plan - Series 39 - 24 Months Plan B and the scheme is a close ended debt scheme. The scheme objective is to generate regular returns by investing in a portfolio of fixed income securities/ debt instruments normally maturing in line with the time profile of the plans under the scheme.

Asset Allocation: The fund will invest up to 0%-100%in money market instruments, short-term and medium term debt securities/debt instruments and securitised debt. However investment in securitised debt will up to 50% of the corpus of the scheme.

There are two options available under the scheme viz. retail option and institutional option. Presently only retail option is available for investment with cumulative and dividend sub-options. Dividend payout is the only facility available under dividend sub-option. The cumulative sub-option shall be the default sub-option.

Tata Tea Stocks Likely To Benefit MF Schemes

Share prices of Tata Tea went up by 2.79% to Rs. 734.75 reported at BSE at 12.21 p.m. on 9 August against previous day close of Rs.714.80. The rising prices of shares on the stock market will have a positive impact on the NAVs of the various mutual fund. Franklin FMCG Fund (G) is likely to benefit the most as it has highest exposure to Tata Tea among the peer groups who have invested into the stocks of the company as on July 2007. The scheme has 7.07% of its portfolio holding in the company with 23000 units as on July 2007. It is followed by ICICI Pru Discovery Fund (G) (6.26% of portfolio size), ICICI Pru Tax Paln (G) (4.68%), Birla India Gen Next Fund (G) (4.39%) as on July 2007.

Magnum SFU FMCG Fund is less likely to benefit as scheme sold all its shares as on July 2007 as compared to 5081 units held in June 2007.

SBI MF Tops Nielsen's Brand Equity Index For 2007

SBI Mutual Fund leads Nielsen's Brand Equity Index in the 2007 Winning Brands Mutual Fund, a premier study that tracks the brand performance of various mutual fund houses. The Nielsen Winning Brands Mutual Fund study, in its third year, polled 1,662 Indian consumers via face-to-face interviews across 10 cities in India.

As the findings reveal, Reliance Mutual Fund has emerged as a runner up with the fastest growth, almost doubling its index score from the previous year, and jumping from fifth to the second position in 2007. Last year's runner up, ICICI Prudential, slipped to the number three position, albeit very close behind Reliance.

It's worth noting that this year saw the absolute indices of some of the dominant brands like SBI, Prudential, UTI and HDFC appear much lower than in the previous year.

On average, consumers' awareness of the investment related brands went up from 12.9 brands last year to 18.5 brands in 2007, showing a significant increase. However, the average number of brands in a consumer's consideration set went up slightly from 2.76 to 3.4, which implies a strong need to build brand consideration. This is even more important as Indian consumers are increasingly investing their discretionary money into stocks and mutual funds, according to a global consumer confidence and opinion survey conducted at the end of April 2007.

ICICI Prudential Eyes DIFs

Country's second largest private fund house in market share, ICICI Prudential AMC, may launch Dedicated Infrastructure funds (DIFs) to boost its prospects in country's emerging infrastructure sector.DIFs, a tool for mutual funds to invest in securities and unlisted infrastructure companies, had recently received green signal from the U K Sinha Committee, constituted by market watchdog SEBI with a view to promote investments in infrastructure sector.

ICICI will come up with DIF, which will invest in unlisted infrastructure companies with longer gestation periods, once the regulator clears the proposal, company CIO Nilesh Shah told UNI today. ICICI Prudential, which is the second largest MF house in the country in terms of market share (10 per cent), has Assets Under Management (AUM) at Rs 48,688 crore. The fund house today said it has recognised engineering and construction sectors, utilities and real estate as the most favored sectors in domestic market. The DIF proposal, which has been currently posted for public comments by the SEBI, is expected to be allowed for SEBI-recognised AMCs by the end of this year or early next year, according to sources.

The U K Sinha Committe, which had tabled the recommendations on August 6, had proposed that DIFs can be launched by all SEBI-registered AMCs and may be allowed to invest upto 100 per cent of its funds in unlisted securities, including both equity and debt instruments. DIFs will operate as closed-ended schemes, with a maturity of seven years and a possibility of one or two extensions, subject to adequate disclosure in the offer documents and approval of trustees.

Reliance MF Declares Dividend For Interval Fund

Reliance Mutual Fund has announced the declaration of dividend for Reliance Interval Fund - Monthly Interval Fund - Series I. The record date is set as 14 August 2007. The quantum of dividend under retail plan will be 0.55248 %. The quantum of dividend under institutional plan will be 0.56098 %. The NAV for the scheme under retail plan was Rs. 10.051 as on 7 August 2007. The NAV for the scheme under institutional plan was Rs. 10.052 as on 7 August 2007. Reliance Interval Fund - Monthly Interval Fund - Series I is a debt oriented interval scheme. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate regular returns and growth 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.

Mutual Funds Turn Sellers In Equities

Mutual funds (MFs) sold shares worth Rs 5.20 crore on Tuesday, 7 August 2007. They had bought shares worth a net Rs 47.90 crore on Monday, 6 August 2007.

Mutual funds' net outflow of Rs 5.20 crore on 7 August 2007 was a result of gross purchases of Rs 345.90 crore and gross sales of Rs 351.20 crore. The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 29.74 points or 0.20% at 14,932.77 on that day. Mutual funds bought shares worth Rs 144.39 crore in the first few days in the month of August 2007, till 7 August 2007. Mutual funds sold equities worth Rs 900.60 crore in the month of July 2007. Mutual funds had pumped in Rs 9062.34 crore in Indian equity market in the financial year ended March 2007.

Housing Federal Bank Loses 3.36% On 7 August 2007

Among the day's top 10 losers Housing Federal Bank lost 3.36% on 7 August 2007 as it closed at 350.90 compared to previous close of 363.10 on 6 August 2007. This loss in the stock prices of the bank will detriment various mutual fund schemes, which have invested in the stocks of the bank. Reliance Banking Fund (Bonus) is likely to lose as it has the highest percentage hold of the stocks of the bank compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the bank. Reliance Banking Fund (Bonus) has 7.10% of its total portfolio size invested in the stocks of the bank as on July 2007. The scheme holds 3.49 lakh units of the bank in July 2007 compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the bank.

Birla Taxplan' 98 is also likely to lose as scheme holds 4.74% of its portfolio with 10000 units of the bank as on July 2007. However, the scheme like Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund (G) is likely to gain as scheme sold all its shares as on July 2007.

Vijaya Bank Stocks Likely To Benefit MF Scheme

Vijaya Bank stocks were up by 3.11% to Rs. 54.70 reported at BSE at 2.48 p.m. on 8 August against previous day close of Rs.53.05. The rising prices of shares on the stock market will have a positive impact on the NAVs of the various mutual funds. DBS Chola Midcap Fund (G) is likely to benefit the most as it has highest exposure to Vijaya Bank among the peer groups who have invested into the stocks of the company as on July 2007. The scheme has 3.36% of its portfolio holding in the company with 2.44 lakh units as on July 2007.

It is followed by ING Dividend Yield Fund (G) (2.66% of portfolio size), Birla Dividend Yield Plus (G) (2.50%), Tata Dividend Yield Fund (G) (1.05%) as on July 2007.

ICICI Pru Blended- Plan A (G) was holding 9.32 lakh units in June 2007 out of which scheme has sold 935 units as on July 2007 and thus is likely to benefit to a limited extent.

ABN Amro MF RevisedIits Offer Document

ABN Amro Mutual Fund (MF) revised the offer document of ABN Amro Futures Leaders Fund. As per the revision, any subscription or switch in of units through SIP / STP, which is more than Rs 5 crore, will attract a CDSC of 0.50% if the units are redeemed or switched out within three months from the date of subscription or switch in.

The investment objective of the scheme aims to invest primarily in companies with high growth opportunities in the middle and small capitalization segment, defined as `Future Leaders`. The fund will emphasis on companies that appear to offer opportunities for long-term growth and will be inclined towards companies that are driven by dynamic style of management and entrepreneurial flair.

HDFC MF Declares Dividend For FMP

HDFC Mutual Fund has announced the declaration of dividend for HDFC Fixed Maturity Plan 13 Month July 2006 (1)-Retail and institutional plan- dividend option. The record date is set as 13 August 2007. The quantum of dividend will be 100 % of distributable surplus available on the record date. The NAV for the scheme under retail plan was Rs. 10.786 as on 6 August 2007. The NAV for the scheme under institutional plan was Rs. 10.824 as on 6 August 2007. HDFC Fixed Maturity Plan 13 Month July 2006 (1)-Retail and institutional plan- dividend option is a close-ended scheme. The investment objective for plan is to generate regular income through investments in debt or money market instruments and government securities. The scheme carry no entry load whereas there will be an exit load of 1.00% if units are redeemed /switched out before maturity.

Principal Pnb MF Announces Dividend

Principal Mutual Fund has announced 9 August 2007 as the record date for the declaration of dividend under Principal Pnb Fixed Maturity Plan - 91 Days - Series VII. The AMC plans to distribute entire appreciation in NAV from 11 May 2007 to 9 August 2007 as dividend.

DBS Chola MF Unveils New Scheme

DBS Chola Infrastructure Fund is a close ended equity scheme which seeks to generate capital appreciation by investing in equities of companies that are expected to benefit from the infrastructure development happening in the country. The fund will have a diversified portfolio of companies engaged in the infrastructure sectors such as Cement, Power, Telecom, Oil and Gas, Ports, Construction, Banking, Engineering etc. The fund aims to provide optimum risk adjusted long term returns by capitalizing on the opportunities available in the infrastructure sector.

At DBS Chola MF, we rely on our own independent research to find out the best investment opportunities available in the market. Before making any investments, our team of analysts and fund managers weigh the risks, consider alternatives, and look at hidden pitfalls. It's integral to our philosophy of intelligently balancing risk and reward for long - term success. To pursue its investment objective, DBS Chola Infrastructure Fund will adopt both Top-down and Bottom-Up approach to create a diversified portfolio of stocks. The aim would be to select fundamentally sound companies having potential to deliver superior earnings growth in the long term. The fund will have no market capitalization bias and will be multi - sectoral. The fund being a multi - sector fund, will have lesser concentration risk than a typical sector fund.

Wipro Stocks May Benefit MF Scheme

Share prices of Wipro went up by 2.04% to Rs. 467.20 reported at BSE at 11.55 a.m. on 7 August 2007 against previous day close of Rs. 457.85. UTI-GSF-Software Fund (D) is likely to gain as it has the highest percentage hold of the stocks of the company compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company. UTI-GSF-Software Fund (D) has 9.29% of its total portfolio size invested in the stocks of the bank as on 31 July 2007. The scheme holds 2.25 lakh units of the company in July 2007 compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company. It is followed by Franklin India Taxshield 99 (6.95% of its portfolio), Franklin Infotech Fund - (G) (6.21%) as on July 2007. However the scheme like Reliance Regular Savings Fund - Equity (G) is likely to benefit to a limited extent as it sold all its shares as in July 2007 compared to 1.50 lakh units held in June 2007.

Mutual Funds Restart Buying Of Equities

Mutual funds (MFs) bought shares worth Rs 48.30 crore on Monday, 6 August 2007. They had bought shares worth a net Rs 256.80 crore on Friday, 3 August 2007. Mutual funds' net inflow of Rs 48.30 crore on 6 August 2007 was a result of gross purchases of Rs 395.90 crore and gross sales of Rs 347.60 crore. The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 235.37 points or 1.55% at 14,903.03 on that day. Mutual funds sold equities worth Rs 900.60 crore in the month of July 2007. Mutual funds had pumped in Rs 9062.34 crore in Indian equity market in the financial year ended March 2007.

Mphasis To Boost MF Schemes' Performance

Share prices of Mphasis went up by 1.02% to Rs. 291.40 on 7 August 2007 reported at BSE at 2.37 p.m. against previous day close of Rs. 288.45. The rising prices of shares on the stock market will have a positive impact on the NAVs of the various mutual funds. JM Equity & Derivative Fund (G) will benefit the most as it has highest exposure to Mphasis among the peer groups who have invested into the stocks of the company. The scheme has 6.78% of its portfolio holding in the company with 2.00 lakh units as on 31 July 2007. It is followed by Kotak Tech (6.53% of its portfolio size), Reliance Regular Savings Fund - Equity (G) (4.83%), Kotak MNC (4.74%) as on 31 July 2007. However, scheme like JM Equity Fund - (G) is less likely to benefit as scheme sold all its shares as on July 2007 as compared to 2.03 lakh units held in June 2007. JM Emerging Leaders Fund (G) was holding 1.16 lakhs units in June 2007 has sold all its shares as on July 2007 and is also less likely to benefit.

Principal PNB MF Rolls Out New Fund

Principal PNB MF has rolled out a new fund called Principal Pnb Long Term Equity Fund - 3-Year Plan - Series II, which is a 3-year close-ended plan. The primary objective of the Scheme is to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in equity and equity related instruments

Asset Allocation: The fund will invest up to 0%-65% in equity and equity related instruments of Mid Cap Companies and 0%-35% in equity and equity related instruments of companies other than Mid Cap Companies. However investment in fixed income securities, which includes money market instruments, MIBOR Linked Short Term Papers will up to 35% of the corpus of the scheme.

Fund Opens: 3 August 2007

Fund Closes: 31 August 2007

Face Value: Rs 10

Minimum Investment Amount: Rs 5,000.

Infosys Stocks May Affect Mutual Fund Schemes

Share prices of Infosys Technologies were down by 1.59% to Rs. 1888.80 reported at BSE at 1.00 p.m. on 6 August 2007 against previous day close of Rs. 1919.35. Franklin Infotech Fund (G) is likely to loose as it has the highest percentage hold of the stocks of the company compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company. Franklin Infotech Fund (G) has 39.36% of its total portfolio size invested in the stocks of the company as on July 2007. The scheme holds 3.93 lakh units of the company in July 2007 compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company.

It is followed by Kotak Tech - (23.69% of its portfolio), UTI GSF Software Fund (D) (17.67%) as on July 2007. However the scheme like Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Focus (G) was holding 5.58% of portfolio in company's shares in June 2007 has sold all its shares as on July 2007 and is thus likely to benefit.

Everest Kanto Cylinder Likely To Affect MF Schemes

Share prices of Everest Kanto Cylinder were down by 1.84% to Rs. 1023.00 reported at BSE at 2.20 p.m. on 6 August 2007 against previous day close of Rs. 1042.15. JM HI FI Fund (G) is likely to loose as it has the highest percentage hold of the stocks of the company compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company. JM HI FI Fund (G) has 4.42% of its total portfolio size invested in the stocks of the company as on July 2007. The scheme holds 12028 units of the company in July 2007 compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company.

JM Basic Fund (G) is also likely to loose as scheme holds 1.69% of portfolio in companies shares as on July 2007. However, scheme is likely to gain to a limited extent as scheme sold 1.73% of portfolio as on July 2007 and thus holds 1.69% of portfolio in companies shares as on July 2007 as compared to 3.42% hold in June 2007.

Domestic Funds May Fresh Buying In Volatile Market

Mumbai: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have used the volatile market to cash out even as domestic institutions have exploited the fall to make fresh buying. While FIIs have sold over Rs 4,000 crore in the last seven trading sessions, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have been net buyers in the cash market to the tune of Rs 3,062.32 crore in the same period. The correlation between domestic institutional investors and foreign institutional investors is negative, that is when one is buying the other is selling. Mutual funds are waiting for the market to dip so they can pick up stocks, the source said. After the past seven trading sessions, FIIs have ended up net sellers since the beginning of July. Though Sebi numbers show high investment in 2007, that is largely on account of primary market investments. In a volatile market, we have followed a strategy of picking up stocks with good earnings visibility in the next 2-3 years, said Sanjay Dongre, fund manager, UTI Mutual Fund. The market will continue to be volatile for the next 2-3 months. The end of this calendar year will produce some visibility on FY09 earnings.

According to Sebi, mutual funds have invested in excess of Rs 1,300 crore in the equity segment and Rs 3,920 crore in the debt segment in the past seven trading sessions. Mutual funds are not just buying stocks, but they are also launching schemes to capitalise on the market volatility. HSBC Mutual Funds's Dynamic Fund is a case in point. Dynamic equity funds take a call on the market situation and can move entirely into debt instruments, if the view on equity markets is negative.

Allahabad Bank Stocks May Have An Effect On MF Schemes

Share prices of Allahabad Bank were down by 2.57% to Rs. 89 reported at BSE at 11.02 a.m. on 6 August 2007 against previous day close of Rs. 91.35. Birla Sun Life Long Term Advantage Fund - Sr.1 (G) is likely to loose as it has the highest percentage hold of the stocks of the bank compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the bank. Birla Sun Life Long Term Advantage Fund - Sr.1 (G) has 3.03% of its total portfolio size invested in the stocks of the bank as on 31 July 2007. The scheme holds 13 lakh share units of the bank in July 2007 compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the bank.

It is followed by Reliance Banking Fund - (Bonus) (2.73% of its portfolio), JM Arbitrage Advantage Fund (G) (2.23%) as on July 2007. However the scheme like Taurus Starshare is likely to benefit as it sold 32163 units and holds 52056 units as on July 2007 as compared to 84219 units hold in June 2007.

UTI FMP Q May 07 Series-I Declares Dividend

UTI Mutual Fund has announced August 7, 2007 as the record date for the declaration of dividend under UTI FMP Quarterly May 07 Series I. The AMC plans to distribute entire appreciation in the NAV as dividend.

ING MF Declares Dividend Under ING Fixed Maturity Fund - Series XXIII

ING Mutual Fund has announced 9 August 2007 as the record date for the declaration of dividend under ING Fixed Maturity Fund Series-XXIII. The AMC plans to distribute entire appreciation in the NAV from 8 May 2007 to 9 August 2007 as dividend. The scheme recorded NAV of Rs 10.249 on 2 August 2007.

Kotak FMP 3M Series 16 Declares Dividend

Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund has approved the declaration of dividend under the Kotak FMP 3M Series 17. The record date for dividend is set as 9 August 2007. The NAV for the schemes stood at Rs. 10.233 on 2 August 2007. The AMC plans to distribute 100% of distributable surplus as on record date.
Kotak FMP 3M Series 16 is a close-ended debt fund with an objective to generate returns through investment in debt and money market instruments with a view to significantly reduce the interest rate risk.

Birla Sun Life MF Launches New Fixed Term Plan

Birla Sun Life MF has unveiled the scheme called Birla Fixed Term Plan Series Y and the scheme is close end income scheme. The primary investment objective 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.
Asset Allocation: The fund will invest up to 100% in debt securities and money market instruments. The investment in securitised debt can be up to 100% of the net asset of the scheme.

143 Equity Schemes Outperformed Sensex

Equity mutual funds as a class posted an average return of 43.41%, out performing the Sensex return of 39.31%, over the one-year period ended 3 August 2007. Of the 231 equity schemes, 103 exceeded the category average of 43.41% in the one-year period, while 143 outperformed the Sensex that is posted 39.91%. The topper was Reliance Diversified Power Sector (G) with 88.30% return.
In the equity category, the Midcap, diversified categories and tax planning outperformed, giving a category average of 48.16%, 47.94 % and 45.40%, respectively.

In the equity diversified category, out of the 129 schemes, 59 exceeded the category average of 44.36%, while 86 outperformed the Sensex return of 39.31%, over the one-yea period ended 3 August 2007. JM Basic Fund clinched the first position, with 84.67% return, followed by Stan Chart Premier Equity Fund (G), with 75.98% return.

In the mid-cap segment, Magnum Midcap Fund the topper, with 62.58% return, exceeding the category average of 47.94%, followed by Junior BeES with 62.16% return. Out of 24 outperformed 6 schemes the CNX Midcap index, with 54.92% return.

Pru ICICI FMCG Fund (G) was the topper in the FMCG category, with 31.51% return, outperforming the category average of 16.15% and out performing the BSE FMCG index with 5.37% returns.

In the tax-planning category, of the 25 schemes, 10 outperformed the category average of 45.40% Principal Personal Tax Saver Fund (G) Scheme, with 74.26% return, clinched the top position.

In the pharma segment, of the five schemes, one exceeded the category average of 26.56%. Reliance Pharma Fund (G) was the only scheme posted 57.79% return. It also, exceeded Sensex return of 39.31%.

Among the index funds, 6 of the 26 schemes exceeded the category average of 37.38%. Bank BeES topped the category with 69.25% return, followed by Birla Index Fund (G) with 35.05% returns.

In the IT category, four of the seven schemes outperformed the category average of 41.84%, while six exceeded the CNX IT return of 16.38%. DSP ML Technology.com (G) was the topper, with 77.31% return, followed by ICICI Pru Technology Fund (G), with 59.18% return. Six schemes exceeded the BSE Infotech index, which gave 17.06% return.

Among the Fixed Maturity Plan, 7 of the 33 schemes exceeded the category average of 9.07%. FT FTF-Series1-60 Month (G) topped the category with 18.73% return, followed by FT FTF - Series II - 60 Month (G) with 18.41% return.

In the Floating Rate Income Fund, 36 of the 57 schemes outperformed the category average of 7.29%, while 45 exceeded the Crisil Composite Bond Fund Index return of 6.42%. Sundaram BNP Paribus Floating Rate-LT-IP- (G) was the topper with 24.96% return, followed by Templeton Floating Rate Income - LT- Inst (G), with 8.53% return.

Among the Gilt Fund, 25 of the 58 schemes exceeded the category average of 6.49% while 1 scheme exceeded the I Sec Composite Gilt benchmark return of 11.23%. ICICI Pru Gilt Fund Invest- PF Option topped the category with 11.24% return.

In the Monthly Income Plan, 21 of the 46 schemes outperformed the category average of 11.26%, while 21 exceeded the C Mipex (MIP Blended Index) return of 11.14%. Cancigo (G) topped the category with 23.62% return, followed by Reliance Regular Savings Fund - Balanced (G) with 17.19% return.

In the Short Term Income Plan, 26 of the 32 schemes outperformed the category average of 6.98%, while 23 exceeded the Crisil Short-Term Bond Fund Index return of 7.35%. Birla Sun Life Short Term Fund (G) topped the category with 9.72% return, followed by Grindlays SSIF -STP-Super Inst (G) with 9.45% return.

GMR Infrastructure Stocks Likely To Benefit MF Scheme

Share prices of GMR Infrastructure went up by 8.17% to Rs. 830 reported at BSE at 11.38 a.m. on 3 August 2007 against previous day close of Rs. 767.30.

Junior BeES is likely to gain as it has the highest percentage hold of the stocks of the company compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company. Junior BeES has 6.38% of its total portfolio size invested in the stocks of the company as on June 2007. The scheme holds 3898 units of the company in June 2007 compared to its peer groups who have invested in the stocks of the company.

It is followed by LICMF Unit Linked Insurance Scheme (G) (3.81% of its portfolio), Kotak Emerging Equity Fund (G) (3.39%) as on June 2007.

However the scheme like Sahara Mid Cap Fund (G) is less likely to benefit as it completely exited from the stocks of the company in June 2007 compared to 2.00% hold in May 2007.

DSP ML MF to Raise 10% of Targeted Cap From Gujarat

At the launch of DSP Merrill Lynch World Gold Fund the fund house expects to raise 10% from the Gujarat market of the target of Rs 800 crore it aims to raise from the Indian market.

The fund expects to raise Rs 800 crore from the overall market in India. The fund collected will be invested into the parent company's fund - Merrill Lynch International Investments Fund - World Gold Fund (MLIF - WGF) and nearly 2-3 % will be managed by the DSP Merrill Lynch to maintain liquidity for some redemption if required.

DSP Merrill Lynch World Gold Fund is fund-of-fund scheme, where in the DSP will be investing the money raised through these mutual fund schemes into the fund of its parent company's mutual fund 'World Gold Fund'.

The World Gold Fund of the Merrill Lynch is a fund, where in the money is invested into the stocks of the gold mining companies and not into the gold directly. The fund is an open-ended fund-of-funds scheme investing in gold mining companies through an international fund with a primary investment objective of seeking capital appreciation by investing predominantly in the units of Merrill Lynch International Investments Fund - World Gold Fund (MLIF - WGF). This scheme is open ended and not an Exchange Traded Fund.

SBI Shortlists 3 Cos For General Insurance Alliance

KOLKATA: State Bank of India (SBI), the country's biggest lender, has shortlisted three foreign partners for its proposed entered in the general insurance venture. There was a possibility that the general insurance company will be formed in the current fiscal. SBI would form a holding company for SBI Life and SBI Mutual Fund shortly. Strategic investors might also be given a part of the stake in the holding company. SBI would require Rs 15,000 crore to sustain business. The bank is yet to decide on equity dilution for rasing funds.

Standard Chartered MF Declares Dividend

Standard Chartered Mutual Fund has declared dividend for its two schemes namely Standard Chartered Fixed Maturity Plan-Quarterly Series 11 and Grindlays Super saver income fund- medium term plan (A).
For Standard Chartered Fixed Maturity Plan-Quarterly Series 11, the quantum of dividend will be the entire appreciation in net asset value of dividend plan/option available on record date. However for Grindlays Super saver income fund- medium term plan (A), the quantum of dividend will be Rs 0.15 per unit dividend together with statutory levies.

Standard Chartered Fixed Maturity Plan-Quarterly Series 11 launched with an objective to generate income by investing in portfolio of debt and money market instruments normally in line with the duration of the scheme.

Grindlays Super saver income fund- medium term plan (A) launched with an objective to generate stable returns with a low risk strategy by investing in good quality fixed income securities.