Axis MF may launch an offshore fund next year

Axis Mutual Fund, one of the recent entrants in the mutual fund industry, may launch an off- shore fund in the next six-eight months.

It is also awaiting Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) approval for venturing into portfolio management services (PMS), as it expected to launch the services in the last quarter of the present financial year, said Rajiv Anand, managing director and CEO, Asis Mutual Fund, at a press meet here today.

“We want to participate in all the moneys that is coming into the capital markets in India, whether from the domestic or the international markets. On a secular basis, about $25-30 billion should come to India on a year-on-year basis, over a period of time. We want to participate in it by either managing or advising, be it in the fixed income or equity side. We are actively considering creating an off-shore vehicle or advisory services,” said Anand.

The company would explore geographies like the Gulf, South East Asia and Europe, for the off- shore vehicle, said Chandresh Nigam, head, equity, Axis Mutual Fund. The AMC, which has about Rs 3,000 crore of assets under management at present, applied for PMS licence with Sebi in September this year.

“We intend to become one of the top 10 players in the mutual fund industry with an market share of at least three per cent over the next five years,” said Anand.

This financial year, the mutual fund house is planning to launch an equity tax saver fund, Fixed maturity Plan (FMP) and dynamic income fund among other schemes. Axis Mutual Fund recently launched its first equity fund, Axis Equity Fund, a diversified equity fund benchmarked to the S&P CNX Nifty. It will opened for subscription on November 11 and will close on December 8. It will re-open for purchase and redemption on January 7, 2010.

The scheme is available in two options-growth and dividend and one per cent will be charged as exit load if the investor redeems/switches out from scheme within one-year from the date of allotment.