MFs prefer short-term debt to bypass mark-to-market rule

Rising interest rates also trigger trend.

Mutual funds are showing an increasing preference for short maturity debt, partly to avoid a requirement to mark-to-market (show it at current value) of any debt maturing in 91 days or more, according to bankers responsible for placing debt with funds.

MFs are also showing lower appetite for longer term debt since interest rates are showing an upward bias, bankers and fund managers said.

“One part of the story is that we are moving towards short-term debt because of the MTM rule. The second issue is, we also think the Reserve Bank of India is not done with policy rate hikes and given the current negative sentiment on inflation, liquidity is likely to be tight for the next three months,” said Nandkumar Surti, Chief Investment Officer of JP Morgan Asset Management.

Adding: “Having said that, one-year CP (commercial paper) rates for well-rated companies is at eight per cent and we still have appetite for this paper.”

New developments
From August 1, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) told MFs to mark-to-market all securities of maturity greater than 91 days, including CPs, certificates of deposits (CDs) and Collateralised Borrowing and Lending Obligations (CBLO) while calculating their net asset value. MFs are typically the biggest buyers of these securities.

“There is a distinct change in the appetite of MFs. One reason is the MTM rule,” said a senior executive from the country’s third largest private sector lender, Axis Bank. “Another reason could also be that MFs have seen large outflows in recent months and don’t want to tie funds in longer-term securities.’’

“In our ultra-short term funds, we have been running low duration for quite some time,” said Navneet Munot, Chief Investment Officer of SBI Mutual Fund. “The next one month will be a good time to buy short-term paper because yields are high.”

Yields and prices move in opposite directions. Hence, when the yield on a security moves up, as is the trend in a rising interest rate scenario, its mark-to-market value falls.

“Yield on CPs and CDs have both gone up by 150-200 basis points in the past few months. With such a large increase, MFs might be wary of buying dated paper for fear of taking large MTM hits,” said Ananth Narayan, Managing Director and Head of Rates at Standard Chartered Bank. “The appetite of MFs is also likely to be tempered by advance tax payments which are due next month.”

Banks are willing to buy longer tenure paper which companies want to issue to meet their funds requirement before interest rates rise any further, said S Rajendren, general manager at the Union Bank of India treasury. Appetite for long-term paper from MFs remains low, he said.