Mumbai, Dec 23: The Unit Trust of India (UTI) has asked KPMG Peat Marwick to prepare a "vision statement" for it. The consultants, who were assigned with the task on Monday, have been given two months to prepare a report on the strategy to be adopted by the mutual fund in order to help it meet future challenges.

KPMG will suggest the steps that need to be taken to tone up various aspects of the mutual fund, including further technological upgradation, apart from making suggestions to strengthen the fund's marketing and distribution network.

"With an eye on the future we have decided to prepare a vision statement for the mutual fund. We have asked KPMG to prepare a strategy report for us," said UTI chairman GP Gupta.

"The report will look at where UTI goes from here and the ways in which it can get there. They have been asked to submit the report in two months. We may, at a later point of time, ask them to do a more detailed report which would go into more micro-level details of change in strategy," said a UTI source.

According to Gupta, UTI currently services 6 crore unit holders' accounts and the number is expected to only grow further as the mutual fund industry evolves. He spelt out the need for having an effective strategy to help fuel a fund's growth. Training agents and greater disclosure requirements are also needed.

"The industry has to set high investor service standards and also come out with more and more products to serve the needs of a large cross-section of investors," said Gupta.

UTI has, over the past year, undertaken several measures to tone up its investor service operations. It has electronically connected all its branches through V-Sats which enables faster flow of information.

This would in turn lead to an inter-branch transfer and instant repurchase. On the other hand, it has also decided to implement the world renowned enterprise resource planning (ERP) package to automate its accounting systems to enable daily declaration of the net asset values of its various schemes.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.