SBI MF announces change in key personnel

SBI Mutual Fund has announced change in key personnel effective from 12 December 2008. Navneet Munot has been appointed Chief Investment Officer. Navneet Munot, 38 has done his M.com, C.A., C.F.A., and C.A.I.A. He has over 14 years of experience in the area of financial services. He has joined from Morgan Stanley Investment Management where he worked as executive director responsible for Multi-Strategy Funds. Before that he worked with Birla Sun Life AMC as CIO - Fixed Income and Hybrid Funds. He also worked with Birla Global Finance and Birla Sun Life Securities.

JPMorgan India Tax Advantage Fund floats on

JP Morgan Mutual Fund has begins initial offer period of JPMorgan India Tax Advantage Fund from 18 December 2008 till 16 January 2009. The Fund is an open-ended tax advantage fund.
The objective of the scheme is to generate income and long-term capital growth from a diversified portfolio of mainly equity and equity-related securities. Redemption of units can be made only after a period of three years (lock-in period) from the date of allotment of Units proposed to be redeemed as prescribed in the ELSS.

conversion of JM EnD Fund to JMNiftyPlus

Accordingly the following changes are proposed in JM Equity & Derivative Fund w.e.f. 2nd February, 2009
a) Change of name of the scheme to: JM Nifty Plus Fund
b) Change of investment objective of the Scheme
The Investment objective of the scheme will be to generate investment returns by predominantly investing in S & P CNX Nifty Stocks and Nifty and its 50 constituents in the same weightages as its composition and through deployment of surplus cash in debt and money market instruments and derivative instruments.
Consequent to the above change in the investment objective of the Scheme, the scheme will undergo a change from an income oriented interval scheme to an open ended equity scheme and will be subject to the provisions of Equity Scheme.

After conversion of the scheme to an Equity Scheme i.e on or after 3rd February, 2009
Investors are requested to indicate their preference while investing in the Scheme. In case an investor fails to specify his preference, he shall be deemed to have opted to select the Growth Option.
Dividend Option shall offer investors the facilities of : (a) Dividend Payout and (b) Dividend Reinvestment. Under dividend reinvestment, dividends declared will be reinvested into the Plan / Scheme. In case, an investor fails to specify his/her sub-option preference under dividend option, he/she shall be deemed to have opted to select the dividend reinvestment option. However, in case the dividend payable to any unit holder is below Rs. 100/-, then the same will be automatically reinvested.
Systematic Investment Plans (SIP)/ Systematic Transfer Plans (STP)/ Systematic Withdrawal Plans (SWP)
The existing requests for SIP/STP/SWP in JM Equity & Derivative scheme (An Income oriented scheme) will stand cancelled and investors will be exempted from adhering to the minimum specified criteria for valid SIPs/STPs/SWPs. The investors will have to make a fresh application for registering their SIPs/STPs/SWPs request in the converted equity Scheme i.e JM Nifty Plus Fund.
The scheme will adhere to the requirements of SEBI Circular no. SEBI/IMD/Circ. No. 10/22701/03 dated December 12, 2003 read with SEBI Circular no. SEBI/IMD/Circ. No. 1/42529/05 dated June 14, 2005 and subsequent relevant circulars issued on minimum number of investors and maximum permissible holding by single investors on the conversion date /within three month from the date of conversion or the end of the succeeding calendar quarter from the date of conversion, whichever is earlier.
d) Load structure – There will no entry load when the investors shift from the existing scheme to the converted scheme. However, after the conversion of the Scheme, the exit load as applicable on the date of conversion, will be charged, if the units are redeemed/switched out with in the applicable lock in period set out in the table below. The start date will be calculated w.e.f. 2nd February, 2009.
The normal load structure of equity schemes is as under and will also be applicable to the converted scheme.
In case of investments <> Entry Load: 2.25%. Exit Load: 1% if redeemed within 1 year of allotment / transfer/conversion of units.
In case of investments > = Rs. 3 crores:: Entry Load: Nil. Exit Load: 0.5% if redeemed within 3 months of allotment/transfer/conversion of units
In case of investments made through Systematic Investment Plan:: Entry Load: 2.25%. Exit Load: 1% if redeemed within 1 year of allotment / transfer/conversion of units
In case of Systematic Transfer Plan:: Entry Load: Nil. Exit Load: 2.25% if redeemed within 2 years of allotment/ transfer of units of respective installments.

Fitch assigns new credit rating to LIC Liquid Fund

Fitch Ratings has downgraded LIC Liquid Fund's bond fund credit rating to 'AA(ind)' from 'AA+(ind)'. The downgrade of LIC Liquid Fund's rating reflects the deterioration in the credit quality of the fund's portfolio. The fund is relatively diversified across industry sectors but exhibits some concentration in 'F1' rated securities (or equivalent). Fitch also took into account investment practices and management controls relating to credit quality in the asset management company when assessing the rating.
As of 30 November 2008, 33% of the portfolio was invested in assets rated 'F1+(ind)'/'AAA(ind)' or equivalent, while the minimum credit rating of securities held was 'A+', or equivalent. Fitch also notes that the portfolio management team intends to at least maintain the fund's credit quality.

HDFC Top 200 Fund (G) buys Hindustan Unilever

HDFC Top 200 Fund (G) in November 2008 took fresh exposure to only one stock. In November 2008, the scheme has purchased 20.00 lakh units (2.56%) of Hindustan Unilever while on the other hand the scheme completely exited from GAIL (India) by selling 7.50 lakh units (0.84%) along with this from Ranbaxy Laboratories by selling 4.42 lakh units (0.39%) and Suzlon Energy by selling 10.99 lakh units (0.26%) among others in November 2008.
The scheme sector-wise, took no fresh exposure to any sector in November 2008. Besides this, during the period the scheme did not exit completely from any sector. The scheme in November 2008 had highest exposure to Infosys Technologies with 8.95 lakh units (6.04% of Portfolio Size) followed by Reliance Industries with 8.39 lakh units (5.16%), ICICI Bank with 25.02 lakh units (4.77%) and State Bank of India with 7.83 lakh units (4.62%) among others.
However, it has reduced its exposure to Satyam Computer Services by selling 11.00 lakh units to 12.15 lakh units (by 2.10%), L&T by selling to 2.39 lakh units to 3.50 lakh units (by 1.11%), HDFC to 4.18 lakh units (0.53%) and Siemens by selling 2.94 lakh units to 7.15 lakh units (by 0.53%) among others in November 2008.
Sector-wise, the scheme had highest exposure to Computers - Software - at 11.34% (13.45% in October 2008) along with Refineries at 10.78% (8.52%), Banks - Private Sector at 10.04% (11.05%) and Banks - Public Sector at 8.54% (7.80%) among others in November 2008.
Where as sector wise, the scheme had reduced exposure to Computers - Software - Large at 11.34% (by 2.11%), Engineering-Turnkey Services to 1.38% (1.11%), Banks - Private Sector at 10.04% (by 1.01%) and Electric Equipment to 3.92% (0.74%) among others in November 2008.

ICICI MF introduces Quarterly SIP

ICICI Mutual fund has introduced Quarterly Systematic Investment Plan facility in additions to the Monthly SIP facility and this will be applicable from January 1, 2009. The Quarterly SIP will be having Rs 5000 as minimum amount of installments and will be minimum 4 quarterly installments.
However, all the terms and conditions (including load structure) of Monthly SIP will be applicable to Quartely SIP.

Peerless to set up asset management company

Peerless General Finance & Investment Company Limited (PGFI) has got preliminary in-principle approval from the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to set up an asset management company. It is the first financial services company in eastern India to have received Sebi's preliminary in-principle approval to enter the mutual fund business.

However, the company is waiting for a final approval from the regulator for foraying into the business.
Jayanta Roy, director, corporate planning and strategy, PGFI, said, "Based on an internal study, conducted by the three global firms, we understand that India will come out of the financial crisis by the last quarter of 2009. If we get Sebi's final approval by three-six months, the timing will be absolutely right for starting the business."
The company has appointed Akshay Gupta as the chief executive officer for the proposed company.
Gupta is a former senior executive from ICICI-Prudential Mutual Fund.
S K Roy, managing director, PGFI, said, “We are delighted to get the preliminary Sebi nod for setting up a mutual fund business, which will allow us to leverage our expertise in managing depositors’ money and offering investors a wide array of financial solutions to fulfill their diverse financial needs. This venture is consistent with our plan to emerge as the country’s leading financial supermarket for retail distribution of various financial products under one umbrella – Peerless Smart Money (PSM)”.
PGFI, a 75 year-old company, has a customer base of 40 million people, with assets secured approved investments and a high capital adequacy ratio.
It employs over 100,000 self employed financial advisors.
It has done maturity payment of over Rs 14,500 crore.
The company has a a network of offices in 148 towns and cities in 24 states and union territories, with total IT connectivity enables the company to achieve its vision of providing the common man with personal finance options and employment opportunities across India.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/peerless-to-setasset-management-company/00/46/344067/

AMCs put 60% assets in just 10 stocks

Asset management companies (AMCs), which invest the pooled funds of retail investors in securities, are said to provide more diversification, liquidity, and professional management than individual investors can themselves manage. But a look at the stocks held by 28 asset management companies show that one-third of their assets is invested in only 10 stocks. Their favourite 10 being: RIL, SBI, Bharti, ONGC, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Bhel, L&T, HDFC Bank and HDFC.
AMCs of fund-houses such as Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Benchmark Asset Management, Deutsche Asset Management and LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management have invested funds to the tune of Rs 200 crore to Rs 1,100 crore in these 10 stocks.
This means that this type of top-heavy form of AMCs' equity portfolio could be affected by a swing in just a few stocks.
As per latest data, AMCs held maximum assets in form of shares in RIL (Rs 4,592 crore), followed by SBI (Rs 3,855 crore), Bharti (Rs 3,508 crore), ONGC (Rs 2,995 crore) and ICICI Bank (Rs 2,954 crore). While these pivotal stocks are a part of sensex, these stocks account for 7% to as high as 61% of AMC assets invested in stocks.
"A high concentration could mean a compromise. Though 30% is a good mark which shows diversification, anything above 50% can signal weakness," said Dhirendra Kumar of Value Research, a fund-tracking firm. He added that a portfolio concentration skewed towards large-caps is far better than one skewed towards mid-caps and small-caps.
Going by that 30% cut-off, AMCs of fund-houses such as Birla Sun Life, ICICI Prudential, Quantum MF, Canara Robeco, Tata MF, IDFC MF, Principal MF, ING MF and Sundaram BNP MF, among others will fall under the category. Still, its interesting to note most fund managers of AMCs agree that there are around 10 or 12 good investment opportunities available.
"These favourite 10 stocks are a play on the great Indian story that is set to play out in the next few years. Reliance's Jamnagar refinery, State bank of India solidarity, Bharti's retail as well as telecom growth or Infosys' IT prowess are all part of the economic superhouse story. However, with all of them making 70% to 80% of sensex, the downside always exists.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India_Business/AMCs_put_60_assets_in_just_10_stocks/articleshow/3876221.cms