Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Jan 19, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Jan 19, 2002 |
|
|
|
|
|
Markets
-
Mutual Funds Report on real estate MF by month-end Our Bureau
MUMBAI, Jan. 18 The opportunity for investors to put their money in a real estate mutual fund may be at hand. An expert committee report on the proposed guidelines for such mutual funds is expected to be ready within a couple of weeks. The report is being finalised by an Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) sub-committee and will be handed over to AMFI by the end of this month. ``A draft report has already been submitted to AMFI and we are currently working on some changes. The final report will be submitted as per our scheduled deadline — before the end of January. It will then be forwarded by AMFI to the Securities and Exchange Board of India for approval,'' said Mr Milind Barve, Managing Director, HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd, who is also a member of the sub-committee. Mr Barve was speaking on the sidelines of the Eighth Annual Financial Services Convention, where he made a presentation on the various issues related to real estate mutual funds. Elaborating the benefits of investing in real estate, Mr Barve said, ``Real estate as an asset class is vastly different from capital market assets; hence it gives you a diversified investment opportunity. It is also a natural hedge against inflation, experiences low volatility; hence generating positive long-term returns.'' On the downside, he said, such investments required large amounts at a particular point in time. ``Also, investments in real estate are quite illiquid and discovery of price, too, is difficult. Besides, there are legal issues to be addressed.'' ``In such a scenario, a real estate mutual fund would provide a good opportunity for investors as it would require low investments per investor. It would also provide a higher level of liquidity as well as professional advice for price discovery and all legal issues would be addressed as you would be investing through an AMC,'' he said. He added that a mutual fund structure would be ideal for real estate investment as it was already well understood, provided transparency and adequate legal safeguards apart from the inherent tax benefits.
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|