Tata Mutual Fund launches six sectoral and thematic index funds

Schemes are based on infra, manufacturing, health care, realty sectors and themes, among others

Tata Mutual Fund on Monday launched 6 thematic index funds focused on infrastructure, health care, realty, financial services, automobile and manufacturing.

Three of these — Nifty 500 Multicap India Manufacturing 50:30:20 Index Fund, Nifty 500 Multicap 50:30:20 Infrastructure Index Fund and Nifty MidSmall Healthcare Index Fund — are a first in the industry.

The other schemes are Nifty Realty Index Fund, Nifty Financial Services Index Fund and Nifty Auto Index Fund.
 

The fund house said the choice of sectors and themes was based on compelling consumer trends.
 

"The decision to introduce these index funds is backed by rising income levels and compelling consumer trends. Rising auto demand with sustainability and green energy are powering the growth of this sector. Factories are operating at near-maximum capacity, spurring manufacturing growth,” said Anand Vardarajan, business head at Tata Asset Management.
 

The infrastructure and manufacturing index funds have a multicap framework, wherein the allocation is fixed across largecap, midcap, and smallcap companies in the proportion of 50:30:20.

The two indices were launched by the NSE on Monday along with Nifty Tata Group 25 per cent Cap and Nifty MidSmall Healthcare.
 

With passive investing gaining traction in recent years, fund houses are looking to offer new sets of schemes in this space through index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The passive route also allows greater flexibility to MFs to create innovative products. In March, fund houses filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for three passive funds.