JP Morgan India Smaller Companies Fund

JP Morgan Mutual Fund has launched its second equity fund, JP Morgan India Smaller Companies Fund. This open-ended, equity fund aims to generate long term capital appreciation from a portfolio that is substantially constituted of stocks of smaller companies. The focus will be on companies constituting the bottom fourth by way of market capitalization of stocks listed on the NSE / BSE.

Scheme Details
Issue Opens: November 9, 2007
Issue Closes: November 30, 2007
Type: Open-end, equity scheme
Benchmark Index: CNX MidCap
Minimum Investment: Rs 5000
Load Structure: The fund will levy an entry load of 2.25 per cent for investment of less than Rs 5 crore. An exit load of 1 per cent would be charged if the investment is redeemed within six months from the date of allotment.

Performance History: Fund Manager
Harshad Patwardhan is the designated fund manager for the scheme. He has around 13 years of experience in the equity markets. Prior to joining JP Morgan Asset Management he worked for 2 years with Deutsche Equities India Private Limited as a Senior Research Analyst. He has also worked with several foreign brokerage houses covering a variety of sectors.
Mr Patwardhan is currently managing JP Morgan India Equity Fund which is a Rs 1,150 crore diversified equity fund. This fund has delivered a return of 40.62 per cent (as on November 26, 2007) since its launch in May 2007.

Performance History: JP Morgan
JP Morgan AMC started its operation in the year 2007. Currently they are managing assets worth Rs. 2,163 crores. JP Morgan India Smaller Companies Fund is the second equity offering by the fund house. There is not much to say about the performance of the funds as they have a brief performance history.

Opinion
Funds focusing upon stocks of smaller companies may be suitable for those investors who do not mind taking higher risk in pursuit of out-performance. Currently, a lot of mid- and small-cap focused funds with proven credentials are available to investors. In our opinion, they should be given preference vis-à-vis this latest offering.

Performance delivered by funds of similar peer group:

Returns Fund Launch Date 3 Months 6 Months 1 Year DSPML Micro Cap Reg Fund May-07 27.20 - - DSPML Small And Mid Cap Reg Oct-06 31.18 28.09 36.05 Franklin India Smaller Companies Dec-05 23.73 27.10 33.37 JM Small & Mid-Cap Reg Apr-07 33.83 38.78 - Principal Junior Cap Jun-05 40.67 38.61 53.61 Sundaram BNP Paribas S.M.I.L.E. Jan-05 54.43 58.37 64.41 Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Small Cap Jan-07 27.06 24.48 - Return as on November 26, 2007

(Source: Value Research)

FMP Update

Fixed Maturity Plans are good options for investors wanting to block their money for a fixed time frame. Though the returns are not assured, investors can expect a return in tune with the current interest rate scenario.

These close-ended schemes seek to generate regular returns and capital appreciation by investing in debt, government and money market securities normally maturing in line with the duration of the scheme.

Here are the FMPs available in the market:

JM FMP Series VI - Quarterly Plan 5
Tenure: 91 Days
Offer Open: November 23, 2007
Offer Closes: November 26, 2007
Plan: Regular and Institutional
Schemes: Growth and Dividend
Minimum Investment: Rs. 5000 (for regular plan) and Rs. 5 lakhs (for institutional plan)
Cost Per Unit: Rs.10

HDFC FMP 90 Days November 2007 (2)
Tenure: 90 Days
Offer Open: November 22, 2007
Offer Closes: November 26, 2007
Plan: Retail and Wholesale
Schemes: Growth and Dividend Payout
Minimum Investment: Rs. 5000 (for retail plan) and Rs. 1 crore (for wholesale plan)
Cost Per Unit: Rs.10

Principal Pnb FMP 385 Days - Series VI
Tenure: 385 Days
Offer Open: November 16, 2007
Offer Closes: November 22, 2007
Plan: Regular and Institutional
Schemes: Growth and Dividend Payout
Minimum Investment: Rs. 1000 (for regular plan) and Rs. 50 lakhs (for institutional plan)
Cost Per Unit: Rs.10

Reliance FHF IV - Series 6
Tenure: 502 Days
Offer Open: November 21, 2007
Offer Closes: November 23, 2007
Plan: Retail and Institutional
Schemes: Growth and Dividend
Minimum Investment: Rs. 5000 (for retail plan) and Rs. 1 crore (for institutional plan)
Cost Per Unit: Rs.10

DSPML FMP - 3 Months - Series 1
Tenure: 3 Months
Offer Open: November 22, 2007
Offer Closes: November 27, 2007
Plan: Regular and Institutional
Schemes: Growth and Dividend Reinvestment
Minimum Investment: Rs. 25000 (for regular plan) and Rs. 1 crore (for institutional plan)
Cost Per Unit: Rs.10

(Source : Value Research)

Sundaram BNP has launched a new fund - Sundaram BNP Paribas Energy Opportunities

Sundaram BNP has launched a new fund - Sundaram BNP Paribas Energy Opportunities. It is a three year closed-end equity fund. The fund will invest in shares of energy and energy related companies. It will automatically be converted into an open ended fund after three years from the date of allotment.

The scheme may invest in stocks of companies that fall into any of the following categories:
• Producers of energy

• Contractors for oil & gas

• Suppliers of equipment and materials for creation of necessary infrastructure for production, distribution and consumption of energy

• Providers of services for creation of necessary infrastructure for production, distribution and consumption of energy

• Distributors of energy in various forms

• Manufacturers who may benefit from expanded availability of energy at competitive prices

• End users of power

• Players who benefit from likely changes such as usage of gas by homes and usage of energy from alternative sources and any changes that may emerge due to enhanced availability of energy

• Producers of energy from alternative sources

• Other beneficiaries from the energy theme who may come to the forefront in the years ahead

Scheme Details
Issue Opens: November 12, 2007
Issue Closes: December 11, 2007
Fund Category: Closed-end, Equity Scheme
Benchmark Index: BSE Oil and Gas Index
Minimum Investment: Rs 5000
Entry Load: Nil
Exit Load: Nil. However, redemption will be permitted after deduction of unamortized initial issue expenses
Cost: Initial issue expenses, not exceeding 6 per cent of the corpus collected, would be amortized on a daily basis over the three-year close-ended tenure of the scheme

About the Fund Manager
S. Krishnakumar is the designated fund manager. He earlier worked as head of research at Anush Shares & Securities and a Product Development Engineer for six years at Lucas TVS.

Currently, he is managing two equity funds at Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual Fund- Sundaram BNP Paribas S.M.I.L.E. and Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver '98, and the two capital protection oriented schemes. During his tenure, these funds have performed quite well.

Fund From To Return Rank/Count Sundaram BNP Taxsaver '98 Oct-06 Till Date 41.60 2/6 Sundaram BNP S.M.I.L.E.-G Feb-06 Till Date 42.35 48/138 Sundaram BNP Capital Protection Oriented I 3Y Jul-07 Till Date 7.45 9/24 Sundaram BNP Capital Protection Oriented I 5Y Jul-07 Till Date 8.46 3/24

About Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual Fund
Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual Fund was incorporated in the year 1996. Currently it has assets worth Rs.12,482 crore under management, a bulk of which is contributed by its equity funds.

The fund house's 13 equity fund offerings contribute over Rs 7,000 crore to its total assets under management. Most of these are less than three year old and hence not yet rated. However, its older equity funds have a good performance record. Out of its five rated equity funds, one is rated 3-star, three are rated 4-star, while Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Midcap enjoys a 5-star rating.

Overall, the fund house comes across as a formidable player in the domain of equity funds.

Fund Launch Date 3 Months 6 Months 1 Years 3 Years Sundaram BNP Paribas Growth Mar-97 43.19 56.49 61.91 52.83 Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Focus Jul-02 52.44 65.26 73.32 60.08 Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Midcap Jul-02 29.21 39.71 43.35 61.39 Sundaram BNP Paribas India Leadership Jun-04 42.85 54.31 56.57 56.60 Sundaram BNP Paribas S.M.I.L.E. Jan-05 46.86 65.55 65.20 - Sundaram BNP Paribas CAPEX Opp.-G Sep-05 48.75 80.59 87.54 - Sundaram BNP Paribas CAPEX Opp.-D Sep-05 50.28 81.83 87.72 - Sundaram BNP Paribas Rural India Apr-06 42.74 56.65 55.56 - Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Small Cap Jan-07 17.67 25.23 - - Sundaram BNP Paribas Equity Multiplier Jan-07 50.98 63.48 - - Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver '98 Mar-98 35.68 46.27 48.26 42.62 Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver Nov-99 41.99 52.58 60.77 56.55 Sundaram BNP Paribas Global Advantage Jul-07 - - - -

Performance of Similar Funds
Currently there are only two funds focussing only upon the energy/ power sector. Of these, Reliance Diversified Power Sector Fund stands out in terms of performance, with phenomenal returns of over 128 per cent in the last one year period.

Fund Launch Date 6 Months 1 Year 3 Years Reliance Diversified Power Sector Apr-04 94.52 128.26 88.70 UTI Energy Jun-99 29.24 39.76 27.95

Opinion
A sector fund is a vehicle of targeted diversification. So it should anyway be only a small part of an equity portfolio. There are two existing open-end funds with similar objective. Avoid this fund for its cost and availability of a superior alternative.

(Source from Value Research)

Grindlays Super Saver Income Fund declares Record Date

Standard Chartered Mutual has announced November 30, 2007 as the record date for the declaration of under the Bi monthly dividend option of Grindlays Super Saver Income Fund - Medium Term Plan. The quantum of dividend is Rs. 0.0750 per unit.

DBS Chola FMP - Series 8 Quarterly Plan II Declares Dividend

DBS Chola Mutual declares dividend under DBS Chola Fixed Maturity Plan - Series 8 Quarterly Plan II. The record date for the same is November 30, 2007.