NFONEST

October 2020

Six NFOs of various hues are open at present and find a place in the October 2020 GEMGAZE.   

Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund

Opens: October 5, 2020

Closes: October 19, 2020

Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund is an open-ended equity scheme, with an investment horizon of five years or more, following the special situations theme. The fund will seek to have a focused portfolio through bottom-up approach of stock selection based on the size of opportunity, prospects of future growth and scalability, potential of growth in return on equity, and margin of safety. The portfolio will be sector and market cap agnostic. The fund can also invest up to 25% of the corpus in international opportunities pertaining to special situations such as corporate restructuring, management change, tech disruptions, Atmanirbhar Bharat etc. The fund is benchmarked against S&P BSE 500 TR Index. It will be managed by Senior Fund Manager Mr. Anil Shah who brings with him nearly three decades of experience in equity research and investments. The fund management team also includes Mr. Chanchal Khandelwal and Mr.Vinod Bhat.

ITI Banking and PSU Debt Fund

Opens: October 5, 2020

Closes: October 19, 2020

ITI Mutual Fund has launched ITI Banking and PSU Debt Fund. It is an open-ended debt scheme predominantly investing in debt instruments of Banks, Public Sector Undertakings, Public Financial Institutions and Municipal Bonds. ITI Banking and PSU Debt Fund is mandated to invest 80% to 100% of its assets in Debt (including securitised debt) and Money Market Instruments issued by Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs), Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), Public Financial Institutions (PFIs) and Municipal Bonds. Up to 20% of the fund’s portfolio can be held in Debt (including government securities) and Money Market Instruments issued by entities other than the above. It can also invest up to 10% of its assets in Units issued by REITs & InvITs. The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against CRISIL Banking and PSU Debt Index. ITI Banking and PSU Debt Fund will be managed by Mr Milan Mody and Mr George Heber Joseph.

Edelweiss MSCI India Domestic & World Healthcare 45 Index Fund

Opens: October 6, 2020

Closes: October 20, 2020

Edelweiss Mutual Fund has launched its first thematic index fund in collaboration with Morgan Stanley Capital Investment (MSCI). The fund will invest in 45 top healthcare companies from India and around the world. The scheme will have 70% exposure to Indian healthcare stocks. The remaining 30% weightage will be to 20 stocks listed in the US spread across 4 sub-industries each - pharmaceuticals, healthcare equipment, biotechnology and life sciences tools and services. The fund will be benchmarked against the MSCI India Domestic & World Healthcare 45 Index and managed by Mr. Hardik Varma and Mr. Mayur Dharmshi.

SBI Floating Rate Debt Fund

Opens: October 6, 2020

Closes: October 8, 2020

SBI Mutual Fund has launched SBI Floating Rate Debt Fund. It is an open-ended debt scheme investing predominantly in floating rate instruments (including fixed rate instruments converted to floating rate exposures using swaps/derivatives). Accordingly, the investment objective of the scheme is to generate regular income through investment in a portfolio comprising substantially of floating rate debt instruments. The scheme may invest a portion of its net assets in fixed rate debt securities swapped for floating rate returns and money market instruments. SBI Floating Rate Debt Fund is mandated to invest 65% to 100% of its assets in Floating rate securities (including floating rate money market securities, and fixed rate securities converted to floating rate exposures using swaps / derivatives). Up to 35% of the fund’s portfolio can be held in Fixed rate debt securities, securitized debt, money market instruments and units of mutual funds including debt ETF. It can also invest up to 10% of its assets in units issued by REITs & InvITs. The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against CRISIL Ultra Short Term Debt Index. SBI Floating Rate Debt Fund will be managed by Mr Rajeev Radhakrishnan and Mr Mohit Jain.

Quant ESG Equity Fund

Opens: October 15, 2020

Closes: October 30, 2020

Quant Mutual Fund has launched an open ended equity scheme – Quant ESG Equity Fund. It is a thematic fund that will focus on investing in companies identified based on the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) theme. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate long term capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of companies demonstrating sustainable practices across Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) parameters. Under normal circumstances, 80% to 100% of the fund’s portfolio will be invested in companies with favourable ESG criteria. It can invest up to 20% of its assets in equity & equity related securities of other companies. The fund can also hold up to 20% of its assets in debt & money market instruments, and has flexibility to invest up to 10% of its assets in units issued by REITs and InvITs. The stock selection of the scheme will be based on Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) aspects of the companies. The endeavor of the Scheme would be to follow ESG parameters which can impact or pose risks to the long-term sustainability of the business, delve deeper into a company’s management practices, culture and risk profile which would thereby help in understanding the impact on long term investors. The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against Nifty 100 ESG TRI (Total Return Index). The fund will be managed by Mr Anikt Pande, Mr.Sanjeev Sharma and Mr. Vasav Sahgal.

Axis Banking ETF

Opens: October 16, 2020

Closes: October 29, 2020

Axis Mutual Fund has launched a new scheme - Axis Banking ETF. It is an open ended Exchange Traded Fund that will track the Nifty Bank Index. Accordingly, the investment objective of the scheme is to provide returns before expenses that closely correspond to the total returns of the NIFTY Bank Index subject to tracking errors. Under normal circumstances the scheme will invest at least 95% of its assets in securities covered by the Nifty Bank Index. A very small portion (0% to 5% of its assets) may be kept in debt and money market instruments. Axis Banking ETF would invest in stocks comprising the underlying index and endeavor to track the benchmark index. The Fund may also invest in debt & money market instruments, in compliance with regulations to meet liquidity and expense requirements. Axis Banking ETF endeavors to invest in stocks forming part of the underlying index in the same ratio as per the index to the extent possible and to that extent follows a passive investment strategy, except to the extent of meeting liquidity and expense requirements. It will invest in the securities included in its underlying index regardless of their investment merit. The AMC does not attempt to individually select stocks or to take defensive positions in declining market. The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against Nifty Bank Total Return Index. It will be managed by Mr Ashish Naik.

Kotak NASDAQ Fund of Fund is expected to be launched in the coming months.