Chola Equity Scheme To Be Dubbed Tech Fund

Cholamandalam Cazenove Mutual Fund is to reposition its equity scheme Chola Freedom Growth as a technology fund, and will hence be called Chola Freedom Technology.

Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, Cholamandalam Cazenove AMC's new CEO, informed that the fund's NAV has shown a 45 per cent growth in the last 60 days.

"Given the market situation and our belief that technology will be a driver of growth in the future in key industries, Chola Freedom Growth is being repositioned as a technology fund," says Chaturvedi.

As required by law, the company is now in the process of informing its subscribers of the change in orientation of the fund, besides giving them an option to exit if they so desire.

 

The restructuring exercise and the formal name change of the scheme is to take effect from March 6, 2000.

Given the fund's impressive performance in the recent past, Chaturvedi holds out the promise of a `hefty dividend' in the near future to prospective investors who wish to stay on.

As for the bond funds, Cholamandalam has the country's only AAA rated income fund (funds from the scheme are invested solely in bonds that get a AAA rating from Crisil) and this rating has been maintained since its inception in March 1997.

Funds invested in Chola Triple Ace, has returned 30.87 per cent, 18.76 per cent and 15.35 per cent in the last one, three and six months (on an annualised basis), respectively.

Thus, despite its inherent `high safety' tag, returns for investors in the scheme have been attractive going against the conventional `low-risk-low-returns' theory, says Chaturvedi.

Three years from now, "We would like to be among the top five players in the industry," he said.

Repositioning apart, the AMC also realises that, at present, it does not have a `complete product basket'. With just one equity and two bond funds, there is an urgent need to have schemes that will appeal to a cross section of investors, Chaturvedi explains.