Principal MF appoints PVK Mohan as Head-Equity

Principal Mutual Fund has announced elevation of P V K Mohan as Head-Equity with immediate effect. Prior to this, Mohan was working in the company as Senior Fund Manager, Equity.

In his new role, he will focus on Principal Mutual Fund's investment process targeting delivery of consistent returns in equity funds and leading the team of analysts towards the goal, a press release issued here today stated.

Mohan has around 17-years of experience in equity research and fund management.

In his previous assignments he has worked with IL&FS and IL&FS Mutual Fund, DSP Blackrock Investment Managers and ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company . He has a degree in electrical engineering from REC, Calicut, and a PGDM from IIM, Bangalore.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-company/corporate-announcement/Principal-MF-appoints-PVK-Mohan-as-Head-Equity/articleshow/6774086.cms

JPMorgan unveils emerging market equity fund

JPMorgan Asset Management India Private Ltd today announced the launch of the ‘Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa Equity Off-shore fund' (EEMEA).

It is an open-ended fund and will be open for subscription on October 18 and close on October 29, said a news release from the company. The performance of the fund will be benchmarked against the MSCI EMEA (Total Return Net).

It is an equity fund which will invest in a diversified portfolio of companies incorporated in central, eastern and southern Europe, West Asia or Africa, or have offices in these regions.

The EEMEA region includes over 10 countries, from South Africa to Russia.

“Apart from the wealth of natural resources that this region represents, EEMEA is a strong consumption play which is under appreciated by the market. A high-beta Russia and a defensive South Africa make EEMEA a well diversified universe.

This broad remit means that the fund can take advantage of portfolio diversification, thereby enhancing risk-adjusted returns and give investors exposure to a wide range of exciting long-term investment opportunities in these constantly evolving emerging markets,” said Ms Sonal Pandit, Portfolio Manager, Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa Team of Emerging Market Equities.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/10/20/stories/2010102052071300.htm

Bank stocks attract fund houses in September

About 16% of investments flow into the sector.

Bank stocks were clear favourites of the mutual fund houses in September, says a report on the holding pattern of the fund industry.

Around 16 per cent of the investments made by fund houses were in the banking sector, followed by the petroleum, gas and petrochemical products at 11 per cent and software and consultancy services at 7 per cent, according to a report by brokerages Sharekhan and Religare Finvest.

Fund managers maintain that they are and will continue to be bullish on the banking sector, keeping in mind the growth opportunities in the sector.

The banking sector index moved up by 15 per cent during the period.

Another sector that fund managers consider attractive is FMCG. However, it accounted for only 3 per cent of the investments made by fund houses.

The FMCG index gained 5.5 per cent.

South Indian Bank was the top buy for mutual fund houses during August-September with around 5.7 crore shares being purchased. ITC was the top sell with around 1.7 crore of the shares being sold. Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd was the second highest buy at 1.5 crore shares.

Other big names that featured on the sell list included Reliance Industries Ltd, Reliance Communication Ventures Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Infrastructure Development Finance Co Ltd.

In spite of ITC being the top sell share, it continued to be popular among fund houses; 213 schemes featured this stock, with the number of shares held being at 17 crore. The value of these shares was Rs 3,079.78 crore. The next most popular scrip was NTPC with 14.9 crore shares being included in 162 schemes. However, the value of NTPC share was higher at Rs 3,235.09 crore.

A total of 7.69 crore shares were sold by the fund houses during this period. Out of this, 1.86 crore were sold by DSP Blackrock Mutual Fund. IDFC and Reliance mutual funds occupied second and third spots respectively. IDFC MF sold 1.42 crore shares and Reliance MF sold 47 lakh shares.

The assets under management of the mutual fund industry saw an increase of around 4 per cent between August and September.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/10/20/stories/2010102052401200.htm

UTI to launch SIP investments via NSE-MFSS platform

UTI Mutual Fund on Tuesday announced the launch of SIP investments (Systematic Investment Plans) through NSE's-the Mutual Fund Service System (MFSS) platform.

UTI Mutual Fund was the first fund house to partner with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for selling mutual fund schemes through the NSE-MFSS platform in the month of November 2009.

Keeping with that tradition of bringing the most convenient way of investment to our investors through cutting edge technology, we are the first fund house now to launch SIP investments (Systematic Investment Plans) through this NSE-MFSS platform, the company said in a statement here.

Terminals of NSE brokers will be the official point of acceptance and hence the date of acceptance of the transaction will be the date of entering the request on the terminal.

Investors will also have the added advantage of obtaining the same day's NAV (before 3 p.m.) at a large number of outlets in more than 1500 towns and cities, including remote locations.

The investors will also have an advantage of getting their units allotted in demat mode in addition to the existing physical mode as per their choice.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-finance/mutual-funds/mf-news/UTI-to-launch-SIP-investments-via-NSE-MFSS-platform/articleshow/6776822.cms