HSBC Emerging Markets Fund

Joining the bandwagon of AMCs that had recently launched mutual funds targeting investment in equities of foreign countries such as South East Asia, China etc, HSBC has launched a Mutual Fund called HSBC Emerging Markets Fund.

HSBC Emerging Markets Fund (HEMF) is an open-ended scheme seeking to provide long-term capital appreciation. The scheme will invest in units / securities issued by overseas mutual funds or unit trusts which will primarily be in equity and equity related instruments of emerging economies like Brazil, China, Russia, India, etc. The fund may also invest a limited proportion in domestic debt and money market instruments.

80 - 100% Units/securities issued by overseas mutual funds or unit High trusts of emerging markets. Currently HSBC GEM Equity Fund is envisaged to be used for investing in the emerging markets however; HEMF could use any other global fund of HSBC Group to invest in emerging markets.

0 - 20% Domestic Debt, Money Market instruments (including CBLO Medium & reverse repo) and units of domestic mutual funds.

Scheme Details
Issue Opens: January 28, 2008
Issue Closes: February 25, 2008
Type: Open-ended, equity scheme
Plan : Dividend Option,Dividend Reinvestment, Growth Option
Minimum Investment: Rs. 10,000. Additional amount in multiples of 1 thereafter
Entry Load: 2.5% for investments/switch in below Rs 5 crores, otherwise Nil..
Exit Load : 1% for investments below Rs.5 crores, if redeemed/switched out within 1 year from the date of investment, otherwise Nil.
Benchmark : BSE 200 & MSCI Emerging Markets Index
Liquidity : The Units of the Scheme shall be available for subscription at Applicable NAV based prices, subject to prevalent load provisions, if any on every business day not later than 30 days after the close of the New Fund Offer Period.

Birla Sun Life International Equity Fund

Birla AMC has come out with an international equity fund which aims to invest in domestic and international stocks. This scheme is different from the recent launches of the other AMCs which still focus mostly on Asia or SE Asia.

This is an Open-Ended and Equity Diversified Scheme two plans namely Plan A and Plan B

Investment Objective
Plan A: The plan would exclusively invest in international stocks.

Plan B: The plan would invest in a blend of domestic and international stocks. It would have the flexibility to invest in stocks across different market capitalisation.

The international investments for both the plans would aim to create a portfolio that is diversified geographically, to take benefit of low correlation between various countries, and to create a portfolio of high quality - high growth stocks.

The domestic portion of the portfolio would provide a strong base to the scheme and the international portion would aim towards reducing the risk through diversification and contribute to returns.

Asset Allocation
Plan A: Around 90-100 % of investments would be allocated to foreign equity and equity-related instruments. Fixed income securities and money market component in the portfolio would be around 0 - 10 %.

Plan B: Around 90-100 % of investments would be allocated to equity and equity-related instruments out of which 65 to 75% would be in Indian securities and 25 to 35% would be in foreign securities. Fixed income securities and money market component in the portfolio would be around 0 - 10 %.

Fund Opens: September 17, 2007

Fund Closes: October 16, 2007

Face Value: Rs 10

Investment Options: Growth, Dividend Reinvestment, Payout and Sweep Facility

Entry Load: An entry load of 2.50% would be charged for investment upto 5 crores.

Exit Load: An exit load of 1% would be charged for investment less than 5 crores if redeemed within six months from the date of allotment.

Minimum Investment Amount: Rs 5000

Benchmark Index
Plan A: S&P Global 1200

Plan B: It would be benchmarked against a customised benchmark created using BSE 200 to the extent of 65% of portfolio and S&P Global 1200 to the extent of 35% of portfolio