Mutual funds approach Sebi with 50 NFO proposals

Aiming to tap into the upbeat investor sentiment, mutual fund houses have filed draft papers with market regulator Sebi to launch over 50 New Fund Offers.
Since the beginning of the year, draft documents for 53 NFOs have been submitted with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
Of these, 21 draft offers have been filed so far this month, while 19 papers submitted in February and the other 13 were filed in January.
Some of the NFOs have already been launched after getting regulatory clearances.
ICICI Prudential MF, IDBI MF, SBI MF, Edelweiss MF and HSBC MF are among the fund houses that are offering NFOs to investors.

A large number of these schemes are aimed at investment in equity and equity-related securities. Besides, they are offering schemes like 'Fixed Maturity Plan'.

Manufacturing, retirement, economic recovery, resurgence of the business cycle and e-commerce are some of the themes that are attracting mutual fund houses.
A number of fund houses are expected to come up with more schemes that will invest in equity and equity-related securities to take benefit from the rising stock markets.
According to market participants, MF houses are rushing to Sebi to launch new schemes on account of good response received from investors in the recent fund launches.

Besides, they said the NFO market has picked up as investors' confidence about equity markets is back and participation from retail investors is also on the upswing.
According to an estimate, mutual fund sector had launched 75 NFOs in the equity segment during the calendar year 2014.