``Being a non-assured return product, getting investors into the scheme was a slightly difficult task but we have managed to come close to our target. As the product is an open-ended one, the performance of the fund will later pull investors into the scheme,'' said the managing director of SBI Mutual Fund, Naimatullah.

The scheme had raked in Rs 10 crore till November 4 with the remaining Rs 20 crore coming on the last day of the closing of the initial subscription. ``Institutional investors usually come in at the last moment as we do not pay any interest on the funds lying with us, before we invest,'' said an official at SBI mutual fund.

The Liquibond is a non-assured return income fund with returns eligible for indexation benefits and low capital gains tax. The schemeoffers exemption from capital gains tax under Sec 54EA & EB with a minimum investment of Rs 2000. Income funds giving an assured return have been having a field day in terms of mobilisations with equity products failing to deliver expected returns, said a fund manger at the AMC.

According to data collated by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), the total amount of money garnered by income schemes, both existing and new, is pegged at Rs 3,441 crore during the period April-June, 1998.

Of this, the amount cornered by new income schemes is at Rs 1,190 crore and by existing schemes at Rs 2,251 crore during the same period. The existing income schemes saw an influx of funds into the open-ended category at Rs 2,251 crore.

During the same period, the open-ended income schemes faced redemptions of Rs 1,883 crore with the close-ended income schemes facing repurchases of Rs 53 crore and the assured return products faced redemption of Rs 22 crore. The total outflow in the income fund category was at Rs1,958 crore. The income schemes thus actually saw an inflow of Rs 1,483 crore.

As compared to this, the equity products, especially the pure growth schemes, actually saw an outflow of Rs 80 crore during the same period. The amount of sales in the new growth schemes in the period April-June 1998 was at Rs 435 crore and the amount garnered by the existing growth schemes was at Rs 75 crore.