BSE MF trading gets better start than NSE

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) saw higher trading on its mutual fund (MF) platform on the first day of its launch than the National Stock Exchange’s (NSE’s) similar platform.

Over 250 orders worth Rs 8.44 crore were placed on BSE Star MF today, nearly 10 times more than any single-day turnover on NSE so far. Tata Mutual Fund was the first to start trading on BSE. As many as 20 fund houses have joined the BSE platform.

Reliance, Tata Mutual, Birla Sun Life, SBI, HDFC, ICICI Prudential, UTI, DBS Cholamandalam Asset Management, DSP BlackRock, JM Financial, Kotak Mahindra, Deutsche, JPMorgan, Religare, Morgan Stanley, Edelweiss, Axis, Mirae and Taurus have confirmed participation,

“The platform will offer a low-cost inclusive network for all mutual funds and intermediaries in the MF industry,” BSE Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Madhu Kannan said at the launch.

National Securities Depository (NSDL) and Central Depository Services (India) are facilitating the venture. Earlier, NSE had started with NSDL, but CDSL would also join its platform early next week.

BSE’s rival, NSE, had launched its platform, Mutual Fund Service System (MFSS), on Monday. After UTI, Birla Sun Life joined the NSE platform with 40 schemes from Thursday, while Reliance is set to join with 12 schemes.

Like NSE, BSE will waive all charges till April 2010 to attract investors. The exchange would introduce an awareness programme for investors, Kannan said.

The platform will enable the exchange’s members to use their existing infrastructure for MF transactions. All existing MF investors can also use the new electronic platform.