Chola Freedom, the first umbrella fund has declared the holdings of its two portfolios, Chola Freedom Income (debt) and Chola Freedom Growth (equity).The Rs 1.52 crore income portfolio is invested in 14.50 per cent SAIL Bond (67.80 per cent of the debt portfolio) and balance in 14 per cent instrument from Ashok Leyland Finance.

The Rs 1.06 crore equity portfolio is invested in 16 stocks. The top holdings include HLL, Infosys, HPCL, Glaxo and MTNL. The latest NAV of Chola Freedom Income is Rs 10.39 ( May 28, 1998) and the NAV of Chola Freedom Growth is Rs 11.06. Chola Freedom Income carries an entry load of 0.5 per cent while Chola Freedom Growth carries a load of 1.5 per cent.

UTI launches small investor fund

The Unit Trust of India (UTI) has launched UTI-Small Investor Fund. This fund is designed for the benefit of people with small investible surpluses, who are often bypassed by financial intermediaries.

The fund was launched in association with SPARC(Society for Promotion of Area Resources Centres), an NGO which assists shelterless people in saving towards an acquisition of housing. Accordingly, the fund aimed at generating returns through investments in a debt portfolio with a high degree of safety. The initial offer will be opened from May 25 to July 8. The fund will reopen for sale and repurchases one month after the closure of the initial offer period at NAV prices.

Being an interval fund, after the initial offer, the fund will remain open for transactions on 5 working days in a month, starting from the 10th of every month. The minimum investment is Rs 1,000 and multiple of Rs 500 thereafter. Initially, the fund is operational only from the UTI branch office of Ghatkopar, Mumbai. This facility is likely to be subsequently extended to other branches of UTI.

12% dividend in DSP Bond

DSP Merrill Lynch Mutual Fund has declared a 12 per cent dividend on its bond scheme - DSP ML Bond Fund (dividend plan) - for the period April 15, 1997, toMarch 31, 1998. The net assets of the DSP Merrill Lynch Bond Fund have grown from Rs 82 crore during the initial offer to Rs 212 crore of March 1998, while the investor base has doubled. An open-ended income scheme with no entry or exit load, the bond fund seeks to generate an attractive return consistent with prudent risk, from a portfolio which substantially constitutes of high-quality debt securities.

Four schemes from IDBI MF

IDBI Mutual Fund plans to launch four new funds during the year. These include IDBI Pension I-nit '98, Mix and Map Init '98 ( an umbrella fund), an Index fund and a sector specific fund.

Alliance is planning to launch its open end equity fund early next month. The launch of an equity fund would complete the family of funds in the Alliance stable. The AMC already has an income plan, a balanced scheme, a tax saver and a quasi money market mutual fund. Kothari Pioneer is also planning to launch Kothari Optima, a closed-end balanced fund and an infotech sector fund, whichwill be open-end.