Bide Your Time

Closes on : March 31, 1997

Listing at : National Stock Exchange

Lead manager : Shriram Investment Services

Since most of the schemes will open later, it is advisable to wait till they are announced.

Tax saving schemes are one of the vehicles that help keep pace with the tax man, as a tax rebate of 20 per cent on the investment up to Rs 10,000 (under Sec. 88 of the Income Tax Act) is available. Though these schemes usually open for subscription around December-January, the Shriram Mutual Fund plans to catch the early bird and its scheme opened last month.

The commencement date of the scheme is April 1, 1997 and there is no reason why an investor should put in his money now. The funds can instead be parked in a bank fixed deposit earning about 10-11 per cent interest per annum. The fixed deposit can be broken and the proceeds can be invested. Again, since most of the schemes will open later, it is advisable to wait till they are announced.

The invstement manager for the fund is Shriram Asset Management Company and the sponsors are Shriram Investments and Shriram Transport Finance Company. The past record of the other schemes is average.

The three funds launched in the past -- Tax Guardian 95, Risk Guardian 95 and Tax Guardian 96 -- have achieved net asset values of Rs 9.37, Rs 9.27 and Rs 9.24 as on September 20, 1996 respectively.

A look at the top 10 scrips in the portfolio of the various mutual funds schemes apart from some blue chips has Shriram Investments as second with Rs 0.76 crore and Relic Finance at the seventh position at Rs 0.52 crore. Some other scrips in the top 10 which are not fancied by the market are Varun Shipping and Deepak Fertilisers.

The portfolio mix will be 80 per cent in equity and the rest in debt. The scheme may declare dividend even during the initial lock-in period of three years. The units will be listed after three years on the NSE.