Fund houses have begun lining up mutual fund schemes focused
on the government's newly proposed Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings scheme (RGESS),
which aims to attract first-time small investors into the capital market by
offering them tax benefits.
Two state-owned fund houses --SBI and IDBI, as also one
private fund house DSP Blackrock have filed draft offer documents for such
schemes with the market regulator Sebi, while others may soon follow the suit.
Filing draft papers is mandatory before launching new
schemes and the regulator usually takes about three-four weeks to clear these
schemes.
"RGESS is likely to help improve penetration of mutual
funds among the retail investors in the country. This scheme will not only
create awareness, but it also has the potential to channelise retail money to
capital markets in an informed manner," ICICI Prudential AMC MD and CEO
Nimesh Shah said.
"The scheme is only for the first time investors in the
capital market and there is a huge potential in the country. But only three
fund houses have filed draft papers as without knowing the target audience they
cannot go for the scheme and investors are required to have demat accounts,
"Quantum Asset Management Company CEO Jimmy Patel said.
DSP BlackRock had filed the draft papers with Sebi within days
of issuing guidelines by the regulator, while IDBI and SBI had submitted the
draft details last week.
In order to encourage flow of savings in the financial
instruments and improve the depth of the domestic capital market, Sebi last
month announced the framework for Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme.
Under the scheme, new investors can avail tax benefits who
invest up to Rs 50,000 in the stock market and whose gross total annual income
is less than or equal to Rs 10 lakh.
Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mutual-funds-start-lining-up-rgess-offerings/1056841/0
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