A R Prabhu, Chief Executive, GIC Asset Management Company Ltd. said the scheme has declared a dividend of 10 per cent within just 3 months of allotment, giving investors an annualised return of 40 per cent. The NAV of the scheme as on August 26, 1999 is a healthy Rs 11.91 post-dividend.

The initial offer of GIC D'MAT was open from March 26, 1999 to April 24, 1999. Units of the scheme were allotted on May 29, 1999. The record date for the dividend has been fixed as August 27, 1999.

GICMF also offers another unique way to invest in this scheme viz. by exchange of select scrips for GIC D'MAT units. The fund will announce the list of scrips being accepted for exchange during any given month on the first of that month. These select scrips held either in physical or electronic form will be acceptedonly on the first 7 days of every month. The list would change every month dependong on the market and the investment manager's decision.

The fund will pay conversion price related to the full market value for the scrips being surrendered unlike the stock exchange counters which give only a discounted price. The fund will also accept odd lots of select scrips which again will receive full market value.

The conversion price of a scrip will be the simple average of the closing prices of the scrip on BSE on all working days of the preceding calender week. The conversion price would be announced along with the scrip list in the beginning of every month. If the first 7 days of the month falls over 2 weeks, there will be different conversion prices for each weekl.

An existing unitholder will be able to sell his units to the fund on an ongoing basis. Repurchase will be for a minimum of 100 units or a value of Rs 1000, as the case may be. Repurchase will be at NAV. The NAV of the scheme will be announceddaily.

The scheme will invest in high quality, select scrips of fundamentally sound companies. It is virtually an index fund which aims to provide long-term capital appreciation to investors. Sensex and Nifty scrips cover a major portion of the scheme's portfolio. Also the investor can get benefits of speedier demat trading even if he does not regularly deal in stocks and shares.

Apart from the other scheme benefits related to growth, liquidity and convenience, the scheme also offers tax benefits to investors. Dividends declared by the scheme are tax-free. Investments in the scheme are eligible for tax exemption on long-term capital gains under Sec 54 EA & Sec 54 EB of the Income Tax Act, subject to a lock-in of 3 and 7 years respectively.

NAVs for the open-ended schemes of GIC Mutual Fund registered impressive gains for the period beginning June 29, 1999 and ending August 26, 1999. While GIC Growth Plus II showed a 42.56 per cent growth, GIC Fortune '94 appreciated by 24.73 per cent during this period,as against an appreciation of 16.18 per cent in the BSE Sensex and 17.72 per cent in the S&P CNX 50 during the same period.