Birla Capital International AMC Ltd has set a target of Rs 3,000-crore corpus in the current financial year, 1999-2000, from mutual funds. The total corpus of the Birla Mutual Fund stood at Rs 1,400 crore as at March 31, 1999, and has already touched Rs 1,800 crore by June 18, 1999.
Plans have been drawn up to launch two more plans -- a balanced scheme and an equity fund -- by March 2000.
N K Sharma, senior vice-president and chief of business development, Birla Capital International, said, that the company proposes to achieve its target by providing on-line services to investors, increasing the number of distributors, as well as by revamping and enhancing the company's infrastructure facilities.
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"We hope to increase the Birla Mutual fund centres from the current 14 to 40, spread across the country," he added. Efforts are also on to increase the manpower strength by 20 per cent by March 2000. "Since business is expected to grow substantially in the near future, due to the current tax concessions announced in the Union budget 1999-2000, these investments will have to be incurred to cash in on the opportunities."
Besides launching two more funds, the AMC also plans to expand the number of distributors or individuals who would be trained to hardsell its products during the current year.
"We are not over-dependent on a particular distributor, be it foreign banks or brokers or professional distributors. Our policy is to sell through a select band of professionals to reach to the investors. Each and every distributor's strength is brought to the table to increase the mop-up from our mutual fund schemes," said Sharma.
According to the latest update from the Birla Mutual Fund, the net asset value of the Birla Advantage Fund stood at Rs 24.91, while that of Birla Taxplan'98 and Birla Taxplan stood at Rs 19 and Rs 9.61, respectively. Birla Advantage Fund, which is open-ended, invests in software stocks, fast moving consumer goods and pharmaceutical stocks.
The scheme's exposure in software stocks, including Infosys Technologies and NIIT, stood at 36 per cent, followed by its investment in fast moving consumer goods and in pharma stocks which stood at 28 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively, as on June 30.