After gold, Reliance MF open to silver, platinum funds

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group- promoted Reliance Mutual Fund (RMF), which launched its maiden Gold Savings Fund here today, is open to setting up investment schemes focused on silver and platinum if market regulator Sebi permits it, a top company official said.

"As of today, Sebi does not allow (to launch such investment schemes on silver and platinum). But when there is an opportunity, we will definitely try to explore," Reliance Capital Asset Management CEO Sundeep Sikka said.

He said they would focus on launching such investment schemes "step-by-step" and added that initially, they wanted to focus on the Gold Savings Fund.

Explaining that the fund allows customers to invest as little as Rs 100 per month, Sikka said that unlike a normal Gold Exchange Traded Fund that requires a demat account, their new scheme does not require one.

"This is a first-of-a-kind scheme. The objective is to give investors an option to invest in gold and to get away from storage and demat issues. It is going to be a gamechanger for the mutual fund industry," he said.

Citing a report, Sikka said as of October, 2010, there were about 1.8 crore demat accounts and only 40 per cent were "active" in it.

The new fund offer, which began on February 14, concludes on February 28, he said, adding that investment in gold has not been tapped in India, though it has huge potential.

The new fund will enable investors to avail long-term taxation benefits from the first year itself, Sikka said. The scheme's performance will be benchmarked against the price of physical gold, he added.