DBS Chola MF declares dividend for its Interval Income Fund

DBS Chola Mutual Fund announced 4 April 2008 as the record date for declaration of dividend under dividend option of both retail and institutional plan of DBS Chola Interval Income Fund-Quarterly Plan B.

The fund house has decided to distribute 100% of surplus available as on record date. The NAV for the scheme was Rs.10.0146 as on 31 March 2008.

DBS Chola Interval Income Fund-Quarterly Plan B is an open-ended income scheme. The objective of the scheme is to generate regular income through investments in debt including securitised debt, money market and government securities normally maturing in line with the time profile of the respective plans and also with a provision to offer liquidity at periodic interval.

ICICI MF Declares Dividend

ICICI Mutual Fund has announced 7 April 2008 as the record date for declaration of dividend under dividend option of ICICI Prudential Fixed Maturity Plan-Series 39-Three Months Plan C.

The fund house has decided to distribute 100% of surplus available as on record date. The NAV for the scheme was Rs.10.1898 as on 26 March 2008.

ICICI Prudential Fixed Maturity Plan-Series Series 39-Three Months Plan C is a close-ended debt scheme. The investment objective of the scheme is to seek 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 plan.

The scheme charges 1% an exit load for redemptions made during repurchase facility period. Redemption on maturity, it may not ask for exit load.

Birla Sun Life MF Revises Load Structure

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has announced the revision in the entry load structure of Savings 5 Plan offered under Birla Monthly Income Plan-II, an open-ended income scheme.

According to the revised load structure, the fund will charge an entry load of 2.25% for purchases/switch- in of units. Before revision of the load structure, the fund was not asking an entry load.

There is no change in exit load i.e. Savings 5 Plan offered under the Birla Monthly Income Plan-II will not charge an entry load.

The aforesaid changes are to be done with effect from 3 April 2008.

DSP Merrill Lynch MF Rolls Out FMP

DSP Merrill Lynch MF has unveiled a new scheme called DSP Merrill Lynch Fixed Maturity Plan 6 Months Series 5 and it is a close-ended income schemes with maturity profile of 6 months.

The primary investment objective of the schemes is to seek capital appreciation by investing in a portfolio of debt and money market securities. It is envisaged that the portfolio of each Scheme will display a maturity profile that is generally in line with the Term of the scheme. The schemes may also use fixed income derivatives for hedging and portfolio balancing. Both funds will invest can invest up to 100% in debt instruments and up to 100% in money market. These schemes may invest up to a maximum of 100% of the scheme's net assets in domestic securitised debt.

The scheme has two plans i.e. regular and institutional plan. Both plans will provide growth and dividend reinvest option. There will no entry load charged for the schemes due to its close-ended structure.DSP Merrill Lynch FMP 6 Months Series 5 charges an exit load of 0.75%, if the investment is redeemed before the maturity date. The minimum investment amount under regular plan will be Rs. 25,000 and in multiples of Re. 1 thereafter for the scheme. The scheme will have the minimum investment amount under institutional plan of Rs.1 crore and in multiples of Re. 1 thereafter.

MFs Announce Attractive Dividends To Retain Investors

The mutual fund (MF) industry is all set to meet the redemption pressures in a volatile securities market. Mutual funds have more and more started announcing higher dividends to retain the retail investors in various schemes. The fund houses are announcing dividends ranging from 40% to 80% at the close of the current financial year on March 31, 2008. Principal PNB Mutual Fund has decided to pay 80-pc dividend on the Principal Tax Saving Fund, an open-ended equity linked tax saving scheme. The Net Asset Value (NAV) of the scheme as on date is Rs 64.23. The record date for the declaration of the dividend has been kept March 31, 2008. Likewise, Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has announced to offer a dividend of 60% on its Birla Equity Fund. The NAV of the scheme is Rs 91.29. Commenting on the MF industry's decision to offer an attractive dividend, a senior fund manager from a domestic fund house said that a majority of MF schemes have witnessed a big dip in their Net Asset Value (NAV) due to the recent meltdown in the equity market. The market capitalisation (M-Cap) was hit due to the volatility in the market which was caused due to the sub-prime factor in the global market. Obviously, MF industry offering attractive incentives in form of dividends will certainly help the fund houses in retaining the retail investors in different schemes, he said. Among other fund houses, Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund has offered a tax free dividend of 40% on its balanced fund. The NAV of the scheme is presently Rs 22.15.

Max New York Life Plans To Set Up More Offices

Max New York Life Insurance Co Ltd, a joint venture between New York Life and Max India Ltd, is planning to augment the number of its offices and agent advisors in the eastern region as part of its latest expansion plan, Mission Everest.

As per Mission Everest, the company plans to open 500 offices by 2011 to boost health and pension schemes. The mission also targets to increase the number of direct agents from the existing 30,000 to 2 lakh by 2011. At present, the eastern region has got 24 offices. Out Of that, three are in West Bengal.

Franklin Templeton MF Declares Dividend

Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund has announced the declaration of dividend for Templeton Fixed Tenure Fund-Series VII-370 Days Plan. The record date is set as 2 April 2008. The fund house has decided to distribute 100% of surplus as on record date on the face value of Rs 10.

Templeton Fixed Tenure Fund-Series VII-370 Days Plan is a close-ended income fund that seeks to provide investors steady returns.

Sundaram BNP Paribas MF Ties Up With Central Bank

Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management Company and Central Bank of India has signed a MoU to form a strategic distribution alliance.

Under this new arrangement, Central Bank of India will distribute the entire bouquet of Sundaram BNP Paribas mutual schemes across its branches and extension counters across major business cities in the country.