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ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
MUMBAI, JAN 2: The Unit Trust of India (UTI) has mobilised around Rs 9,000 crore in the first six months (H1) of the current fiscal (which ends on June 30, 1999). Despite the recent troubles at the mutual fund, it is confident of mopping up Rs 18,000 crore by June 1999, which is in fact higher than the Rs 17,000-crore target set for the year by the trust.
With the mobilisation of Rs 9,000 crore from July to December 1998, UTI had already met half of its target for the year. This means that UTI has mopped up Rs 2,285 crore in the past two months, during which period it had stopped revealing the mobilisation amount for some schemes, including US-64. The trust had mobilised close to Rs 6,715 crore till October.
The collection figures indicate that the UTI has managed to tide over the crisis which gripped the largest mutual fund last year. There was a huge redemption pressure on the US-64 scheme in August and September following the revelation that the corpus of the scheme was eroded by over Rs 3,000 croredue to the fall in share prices after the nuclear tests. However, UTI has not given the redemption figures in the last six months.
"With the finance minister hinting at covering foreign exchange risk for the millenium scheme, we hope to be able to garner $500 million (Rs 2,000 crore) through this scheme. We are on course for a mop up in excess of Rs 18,000 crore," said the official.
"We are putting the crisis behind us. From November-end onwards, redemptions in US-64 have come back to normal levels and we are now looking ahead," the official added.
The trust started its financial year with a record-breaking mobilisation of Rs 3,015 crore in its flagship scheme US-64. Subsequently, before the news of negative reserves of US-64 broke, UTI mobilised another record-breaking Rs 1,400 crore in its assured return scheme Monthly Income Plan (MIP) (III).
The monthly income plan (MIP) (IV) had mobilised Rs 800 crore, lower than the MIP (III) collections, as the news about the doubtful health of many of theschemes of UTI became known. UTI's institutional investors special fund unit scheme (IISFUS) (II) '98 mobilised another Rs 600 crore.
Earlier, in the first week of November, UTI had given out mobilisation figures for October '98 which was at Rs 900 crore. Of this, Rs 400 crore had come into US-64 and the remaining Rs 500 crore into UTI's other schemes like the UTI Bond Fund, Rajlakshmi and other schemes.
UTI is all set to launch its equity linked saving scheme in 1999, its millenium fund as well as the country's first gold fund. Plans to launch sector-specific schemes like the infrastructure sector and banking and technology fund as well as a Sensex-linked offshore fund were mooted in the beginning of the year.
UTI also plans to launch one more MIP and IISFUS before the end of June 1999. Restructuring of schemes like the Rajlakshmi and children gift growth scheme should bring in some money from the existing schemes.
UTI chairman PS Subramanyam is now looking at beefing up dealing room activity of theTrust. It also plans to bring in synergy with its broking outfit and has appointed general manager M Pushpangadan as the new managing director of its broking subsidiary UTI Securities. The trust has also kicked off an exercise to revamp the fund management activity of the mutual fund.
Pushpangadan had earlier been sent from UTI on deputation as head of the Over The Counter Exchange of India (OTCEI). The UTI Securities managing director position was vacant after MK Khanna quit and joined a foreign brokerage. The decision to hand over the fund management function of all the equity schemes to one executive director, MM Kapur is also a move in this direction. Earlier, while BG Daga was looking after the fund management function of all equity schemes.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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