NFONEST

October 2017

With mutual funds gaining traction among retail investors, asset management companies have filed draft offer documents with the regulator SEBI for 85 new schemes so far in 2017. In comparison, 106 draft papers were filed by the fund houses in 2016. Equity, debt, hybrid and fixed maturity plans (FMPs) are some of the themes for which the mutual fund houses have filed the applications. Fund houses like Mahindra, Axis, ICICI Prudential, Birla Sunlife, HDFC, UTI, Reliance, Edelweiss and SBI have filed the offer documents for new fund offers (NFOs) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Many of the schemes are already being launched, while others will be opened for subscription soon after the necessary clearance. Interestingly, some mutual fund companies have approached SEBI for launching plans with Hindi names so that investors in rural areas understand the objectives of the schemes in a better manner. The move is seen as moving away from the old tradition of English names for investment schemes. Dynamic Bond Bachat Yojana, Pragati Bluechip Yojana, Unnati Mid & Small Cap Yojana are some of the schemes filed with SEBI by Mahindra Mutual Fund.

NFOs of various hues adorn the October 2017 NFONEST.

ICICI Prudential Value Fund – Series 18

Opens: October 3, 2017

Closes: October 17, 2017

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has launched a new plan named as ICICI Prudential Value Fund - Series 18, a close ended equity scheme. The scheme will have tenure of 1300 days from the date of allotment of units. The investment objective of the scheme is to provide capital appreciation by investing in a well-diversified portfolio of stocks through fundamental analysis. The plan shall offer direct plan and regular plan with dividend payout option. The plan would invest 80% to 100% of assets in equity and equity related instruments with medium to high risk profile and invest up to 20% in debt, money market instruments and cash with low to medium risk profile. Investment in derivatives can be up to 50% of the Net Assets of the scheme. Benchmark Index for the plan is S&P BSE 500 Index. The fund managers of the scheme are Sankaran Naren and Ihab Dalwai. The investments under ADR / GDR and other foreign securities will be managed by Priyanka Khandelwal.

India Bulls Tax Savings Fund

Opens: September 21, 2017

Closes: December 20, 2017

Indiabulls Mutual Fund has launched a new fund named as Indiabulls Tax Savings Fund, an open ended equity linked savings scheme. The investment objective of the fund is to generate long-term capital appreciation from a diversified portfolio of predominantly equity and equity-related Securities. The scheme shall offer tax benefits under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. The scheme would allocate 80%-100% of assets in equity and equity related instruments as per ELSS guidelines with high risk profile and invest up to 20% of assets in debt, money market instruments, cash & equivalent with low to medium risk profile. The performance of the scheme will be benchmarked against S&P BSE 500 Index. The fund managers of the scheme are Sumit Bhatnagar (Equity) and Malay Shah (Fixed Income).

UTI Long Term Advantage Fund – Series VI

Opens: October 5, 2017

Closes: January 5, 2018

UTI Mutual Fund has launched a new fund named as UTI Long Term Advantage Fund - Series VI, a 10 year close-ended equity linked savings scheme. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate capital appreciation over a period of ten years by investing predominantly in equity & equity related instruments of companies along with income tax benefit. The scheme will allocate 80%-100% of assets in equities, cumulative convertible preference shares and fully convertible debentures and bonds of companies with high risk profile and invest up to 20% of assets in money market instruments with low to medium risk profile. The scheme's performance will be benchmarked against S&P BSE 100 Index. The scheme will be managed by Lalit Nambiar.

IIFL Capital Enhancer Fund, Mahindra Pragati Bluechip Yojana, ICICI Prudential Liquid iWIN ETF,  Axis Growth Fund, Mahindra Dynamic Bond Bachat Yojana, Indiabulls Dynamic Bond Fund, Aditya Birla Sun Life Nifty Next 50 ETF, Baroda Pioneer Dynamic Equity Fund, Bharat 22 ETF are expected to be launched in the coming months.