The Hindu Business Line : MF asset information: AMFI must make them comparable

THE asset base of the mutual fund industry at the end of March 2003 has been placed at about Rs 79,500 crore by the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI).

The comparable asset base in March 2002 was at about Rs 1,00,500 crore, indicating a a decline of Rs 21,000.

This is largely on account of the vesting of US-64 and assured return schemes in a separate undertaking administered by the Government.

In the process, the entire database of AMFI is not on a comparable footing. AMFI has been providing data of monthly sales, repurchases and assets (fund-house wise and type-of-schemes wise) since July 1999.

The removal of the US-64 and assured returns schemes from the asset database is justified.

What AMFI needs to do is to cull out information of the assets of these schemes on a monthly basis over the last year and adjust its database accordingly.

If this is not done, the efforts put into developing a proper database of mutual fund flows would be rendered futile.

Since the required information for this purpose is available with UTI and the Government, there is an urgent need for AMFI to rectify this anomaly in its database.

It would enable investors get a better picture of what is happening in the industry over a period. It would also provide a more meaningful base for evaluating the fund flow numbers of the revamped UTI Mutual Fund. The latter has all the NAV-based schemes of the former Unit Trust of India.

UTI RIS: UTI Mutual Fund has declared a dividend of 0.55 per cent (Rs 0.055 per unit) for the Income Option of its Regular Income Scheme. The record date for the dividend is April 30.

The fund was launched in September 2002. This is the fourth income distribution since its launch. The fund has assets of Rs 174 crore under management.

Templeton MIP dividend: Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund has declared a dividend of 0.53 per cent (Rs 0.053 per unit) for the Monthly Dividend Option of Templeton Monthly Income Plan.

The record date for the dividend is April 25 2003. The dividend is for a period of 31 days.

Reliance MF options: Reliance Capital Mutual Fund is not launching the Annual Plan and Double Benefit Plan under Series I of the Reliance Fixed Maturity Plan. The fund had planned to launch these options at the end of April.

Birla MFs swap: Birla SunLife Mutual Fund has sought approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India to enable investors exchange debt instruments for holdings in any Birla SunLife debt scheme or Birla Bond Index Fund.

The latter is benchmarked against the CRISIL bond market index. Investors can surrender their debt holdings to the asset management company and get Birla Bond Fund units for an equivalent sum.

US-64 prices: The repurchase price for unit holdings of up to 5,000 units (enhanced from 3,000 units) is Rs 12 per unit in May under the Special Liquidity Package.

The package was offered from August 2001 at Rs 10 per unit and is due to end in May 2003 at Rs 12 per unit.

The price for April was Rs 11.90 per unit. For holdings in excess of 5,000 units, a repurchase facility linked to the NAV is available from January 2, 2001.

For such holdings, an assured repurchase price of Rs 10 per unit or NAV, whichever is higher, is available on May 31, 2003, if the units are held till then.

If redeemed earlier, the redemption will be at NAV-based prices if carried out before May 31, 2003. For less than 5,000 units, the assured repurchase price for May 2003 is Rs 12 per unit.

These special repurchase prices will also be available beyond May 2003.

Investors have the option of receiving government of India-backed bonds with a coupon of 6.75 per cent per annum and a tenure of five years.

BL Research Bureau

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