The Hindu Business Line : Update

(L to R): MR RAJAN MEHTA, Executive Director, Benchmark AMC, with Mr A.P. Kurien, AMFI Chairman, and Dr Dave, Chairman, Benchmark Trustee Co. Ltd. at the NSE listing of India's first Gold ETF

The first gold exchange traded fund (ETF) in India was listed on the NSE on March 19. The gold ETF from the benchmark house, Gold Benchmark Exchange Traded Scheme (Golf BeES), allows investors to buy into gold, just like buying stocks and trading on it. Each unit of Gold BeES comprises of one gram of gold. Benchmark allotted the units through the initial offer at Rs 945 per gram. The scheme will, in turn, invest in physical gold that will be held by the custodian. The unit prices will reflect the underlying value of physical gold in the international market. The scheme will also create fresh units for new investors by buying gold from its eight authorised participants. Investors can buy or sell the units of this scheme in the secondary market only through a demat account and need a trading account with a NSE broker. There will be no entry or exit load in the secondary market.

Canara Bank plans to sell 49 per cent of its stake in its asset management arm Canbank Investment Management Services (CIMS) to Robeco Groep, a Netherlands-based asset management company. Post-acquisition CIMS shall be named Canara Robeco. With this, Canbank Mutual Fund will operate as a joint venture with the Dutch company.

Canbank Mutual has about Rs 2200 crore of assets under management as of February 2007. It has about 10 equity funds and some floating and liquid funds. Some of the equity funds started in the 90's include Can D'Mat, Canfortune 94 and Cangrowth Plus. The joint venture aims to capture 5 per cent market share in the next five years and plans to launch five new equity-based products in the coming months.

UTI Mutual has also launched a gold ETF under the banner UTI Goldshare. The scheme will soon be listed on the NSE. The New fund offer closed on March 16. According to the company the NFO drew more than 25,000 investors, double that of the first ETF by benchmark. UTI Goldshare will be available for investment in the secondary market once it lists.

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