Uti Expects Rs 19,000cr Record Mopup This Year
Mutual funds major Unit Trust of India expects to attract massive inflows during 1997-98, spurred by a shakeout in the non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) sector following the CRB scandal. UTI is hopeful of touching its all-time high mobilisation figure of about Rs 19,000 crore, recorded in 1993, in the coming year. The Trust will unveil its annual figures for 1996-97 in a few days.
UTI chief general manager (policy, research and planning) Basudeb Sen does not want to fix a mobilisation target for the coming year at this stage, since it could mean underestimating the huge inflows into the Trust. ``We dont want to fix a target. That would take away the challenge from the team, since the fund flows expected can be very large, Sen said.
With the equity markets also booming, the stage is set for UTI to enact a repeat of the heady days when its Mastergain 1992 scheme mopped up record funds. With pressure by corporates for redemptions easing, and fund flows into flagship scheme US-64 showing a marked uptrend over the past few months, UTI is confident that collections in the coming fiscal will easily top the 1996-97 figure of a little over Rs 7,500 crore.
``What we are saying is that with the economy getting stronger and the investors seeking to return to the markets, the potential for UTI is of the order of Rs 19,000 crore, which was the highest it mopped up in a single year, said Sen.
Sen pointed out that UTI has mopped up close to $1 billion, or Rs 3,500 crore, in the past six months alone. The collections have been raised largely through debt funds like the Monthly Income Plan. UTI has just launched its new Index Equity Fund, which will invest in index stocks, marking the Trusts return to equity schemes. UTI had moved away from equity schemes for some time because of the dismal market conditions.
With the stockmarkets showing signs of a renewed uptrend, and the Sensex crossing the 4,000-mark, UTI feels the time is now ripe to woo domestic funds. In a recent study reported by Business Standard, the Trust had predicted that equity markets would see a sharp upturn and UTI would re-enter equity schemes.