The Hindu Business Line : `We will try to create an identity of our own'

THE Sahara group's acquisition of the erstwhile First India MF had indeed surprised the market, a reaction that was soon dulled by Sahara's apparent unwillingness to be very active in the post-takeover phase. The MF, after remaining somewhat sedentary for months, is now looking at launching a number of funds.

Mr Arindam Ghosh, Chief Marketing Officer, talks about its latest strategy and draws upon recent experience to mould his views on the market. "We will have to raise awareness", is his simple answer when asked about the MF's plans.

Excerpts:

After the takeover, you really took your time to get moving, didn't you?

Let's just say that we were waiting for the most opportune moment... and Sahara MF is now sure that its plans will take off. We will try to create an identity of our own, given the opportunities that seem to be present in considerable numbers. Reaching out to the retail investor will constitute an important part of our strategy.

The knowledge gained by Sahara, thanks to the kind of interaction it has had with small depositors in the past, should be useful. The fund, which has initiated a re-branding exercise, will look at a pan-Indian presence.

Briefly, what are the new products that will be introduced?

There will be an equity scheme with its focus on mid-cap stocks as well as an institutional plan under the liquid fund. The latter will be attractive for large investors who are looking at a singular option with low expenses. The idea is to attract corporates and high net worth individuals through it.

We have also worked out a hybrid product; this will have a small equity component, one that will be linked to the Nifty. In other words, it will be run as an index fund. Here, the allocation to stocks will be limited to 15 per cent, a feature that can be found in many of the schemes that have a comparable blend of debt and equity. And as a deliberate measure, the MF will not add the MIP (monthly income plan) tag to it.

Let me add here that a few other points have been thought about, which may be taken up as we gather speed. A PF plan, for instance, may be provided under our gilt fund.

Are there serious attempts on your part to tap equity investors?

The mid-cap scheme that is being talked about will be the third equity product in the Sahara MF stable, the two existing ones being the tax-savings fund (Sahara Tax Gain) and the more recently-introduced diversified fund (Sahara Growth Fund). Each of the schemes will serve a purpose that will make it distinct from the other ones within our family of funds.

We are advising investors to look at equity options even more actively. The reason is simple... The fixed-income scenario, as investors may well appreciate, is likely to remain lacklustre for some more time.

Debt has actually become a source of concern for many sections of the market, driving some of them to equities. These sections include people who have been really risk-averse in their approach, to equities, despite the risks that are so obviously associated with this class of assets.