The Hindu Business Line : Stanchart MF launches IPO of its PF plan

TARGETING the massive Rs 1,50,000-crore pension funds, Standard Chartered Mutual Fund has launched the IPO of its PF plan under the Grindlays Government Securities Fund.

Briefing newsmen about the new plan here on Thursday, Mr Naval Bir Kumar, Managing Director of Stanchart MF, said the open-ended plan comprised a feature called `Defined Maturity Date' that allowed PF fund managers to predefine a date for automatic redemption of their units, facilitating better planning of their cash flows.

The PF managers had the advantage of investing in an open-ended fund, while getting a predefined maturity date of their choice, he said.

Terming the timing of the launch as most ideal, he said the company awaited a right opportunity to launch the scheme ever since the Government allowed PFs to invest up to 70 per cent of incremental accretions in special funds that invested in 100 per cent g-secs.

He, however, said that it was too early to comment on the size of the corpus under the plan. The MF felt that the corpus under the plan would grow over a period of time as PF managers planned their funds with the increasing fund size.

The issue, which opened on February 24, will close on March 17.

With regard to the plans to expand to smaller cities, Mr Kumar said the company would be reaching out to 30-35 smaller cities through a distribution network this year with a focus on retailing.