SBI MF to launch sectoral-specific funds

Looking at the potential of the Indian economy, one should remain invested in
equities, SBI MF’s chief investment officer Navneet Munot said

SBI Mutual Funds, the joint venture between State Bank of India and Societe General AMC (France), plans to launch sectoral-specific funds in the near future, a company official said.“We will launch sectoral specific funds which we don’t have in our portfolio,” SBI Mutual Fund chief marketing officer R S Srinivas Jain said on the sidelines of a press meet here.“We have filed several products with the market regulator for its approval. We will launch the same, once we get approval,” Jain said.The uncertainty in the global market looks likely to continue, he said.However, looking at the potential of the Indian economy, one should remain invested in equities, SBI MF’s chief investment officer Navneet Munot said, adding that SBI MF’s gold ETF, will provide more liquidity and transparency.During the quarter ending March 2009, being the financial closing period, there may be some selling pressure from corporates, Munot said, adding, “However, overall, the growth is in line with expectations.”SBI Mutual Fund is one of the country’s premier fund-houses, managing assets over Rs27,627 crore as on 28 February 2009. The fund house serves over 5.5 million investors through a network of over 200 points of contact.

Source: http://www.livemint.com/2009/03/31123419/SBI-MF-to-launch-sectoralspec.html

SBI MF aims to collect Rs1.5-2 bn from gold ETF

SBI MF will join the five other gold ETFs traded on the NSE. India’s gold collection under exchange-traded funds rose 32.8% to 5.172 tonnes in the year to February-end State Bank of India Mutual Fund aims to collect Rs1.5-2 billion from its new gold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), a senior official said on Monday.

“Based on the current market situation, our current expection is that in the initial stage we should probably do about Rs150-200 crores,” R.S. Srinivas Jain, chief marketing officer with SBI Mutual Fund, told reporters at the launch.“And over the period of time we should be a substantially large fund,” Jain added.

The new fund offering will close on 28 April.SBI MF will join the five other gold ETFs traded on the National Stock Exchange. India’s gold collection under exchange-traded funds rose 32.8% to 5.172 tonnes in the year to February-end, data from the funds showed.Though gold collections under ETFs are growing, they remain miniscule against India’s imports of about 700 tonnes annually.Gold ETFs — instruments that can be traded like shares and are backed by physical gold holdings — are more than a year old and the segment may get crowded with some other funds planning to enter.
http://www.livemint.com/2009/03/30153900/SBI-MF-aims-to-collect-Rs152.html