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S. Vaidya Nathan

FOUR new schemes are now open for subscription. An income scheme each from the Unit Trust of India and Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund and two equity schemes from Birla Mutual are on offer. The latter includes a mid-cap fund, which appears to have become the fashion of the day for funds.

Only recently, new schemes from Alliance Mutual (Alliance Frontline Equity) and Sundaram Mutual (Sundaram Select Focus, Sundaram Select Mid-Cap) and Sundaram Select Debt Fund closed for subscription.

<>PruICICI Income Plan>: Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund has announced the launch of Prudential ICICI Flexible Income Plan. This is an open-end income fund. There will be Cumulative and Income Options. The fund will invest up to 100 per cent in money market and debt securities with residual maturity of less than a year. The asset allocation can be modified by the fund in the interests of investors.

The Trustees also reserve the right to introduce a dividend option. The initial offering period is between September 16 and 21. The initial expenses will be borne by the fund. The minimum investment amount is Rs 5,000 and additional investments can be made in multiples of Rs 500

<>UTI's new plan>: The UTI launched a new scheme — the UTI Regular Income Scheme on September 12. The fund is an open-end debt scheme without any assured returns. The minimum investment is Rs 10,000 and, thereafter, in multiples of Rs 1,000. The fund has a Growth Option and an Income Option.

<>New Birla schemes>: Birla SunLife Mutual Fund has launched two new schemes — Birla Index Fund, an open-end fund which will track the S&P CNX Nifty, will close on September 18. And Birla Mid-Cap Fund will invest in mid-cap stocks.

<>ULIP target amount>: The UTI has increased the maximum target amount under the Unit Linked Insurance Plan to Rs 2 lakh for the 10-year Plan and Rs 1,99,500 for the 15-year Plan. The minimum yearly contribution for the 10-year plan is Rs 1,500 and the maximum Rs 20,000.

For the 15-year plan, the minimum is Rs 1,000 and the maximum Rs 13,300. Under the half-yearly plan the minimum and maximum for the ten year plan are Rs 750 and Rs 10,000 and for the 15-year plan, Rs 500 and Rs 6,550 respectively. Existing investors can apply for an increase in the target amount if it is in multiples of Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500 for the 10-year and 15-year plans respectively.

<>Passing on NPA recoveries>: The UTI has indicated that any recovery from non-performing assets and illiquid shares under MIP 96 (IV) and DIP 91 would be passed on to the unit-holders. For this purpose, the books of these two schemes will be kept alive for two years. The value recovered would be distributed over and above the terminal value already paid to the unit holders.

<>Mastershare'86 book closure>: The UTI has announced a book closure between October 12 and October 15 for updating records and to consider payment of income distribution if any. There will be no transactions during the period of book closure. The Executive Committee will meet on September 18 and consider the proposal for income distribution under Mastershare-86.

<>CGGF rates reset>: The UTI has reset the income distribution rate of Children's Gift Growth Fund from July 2001. For those investors who entered the scheme between April 1, 1986 and June 30, 1991, the reset rate is 12.5 per cent, 13 per cent for investors who entered between July 1, 1991 and June 30, 1992 and 14 per cent for investors who joined the fund after July 1, 1992 till the suspension of the scheme for fresh sales.

<>PruICICI loads>: Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund has cut the exit load on its Gilt Fund Treasury Plan and Gilt Fund Investment Plan. There will be no exit load now in these plans till further notice. The entry load continues to be nil, as in the past.

<>Templeton MIP dividend>: Templeton India Mutual Fund has announced a dividend of 0.80 per cent (Rs 0.08 per unit) for the Monthly Dividend Plan of the Templeton India Monthly Income Plan. The dividend is for a period of 29 days and the record date is August 23, 2002. This is not an assured return scheme.

<>US-64 prices>: The repurchase price for unit holdings of up to 5,000 units (enhanced from 3,000 units) is Rs 11.20 per unit in September 2002 under the Special Liquidity Package. The package was offered from August 2001 at a price of Rs 10 per unit and is due to end in May 2003 at Rs 12 per unit. The price for October will be Rs 11.30 per unit.

For holdings of over 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.

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