StanChart MF to focus on equity funds

Standard Chartered Mutual Fund (SCMF) will focus more on launching equity funds in future as the company has six debt funds.

Addressing mediapersons on the launch of Classic Equity Fund "� the first equity fund from the stable of SCMF, Naval Bir Kumar, managing director of SCMF, said that there was a fund in the offing for which the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had given its approval.

"We plan to launch the fund shortly", he said. Kumar, however, said that the next equity fund will hit the markets only in 2006.

Classic Equity Fund is an unrestricted, diversified fund that will aim to deliver consistent returns. The new fund will open on June 27 and close on July 14. The units will be priced at Rs 10 each during the new fund offer.

Kumar said that the Classic Equity Fund is an appropriate fund to capture the Indian equity story and is ideally suited to become a core part of the portfolio due to its unrestricted style.

By not committing to any particular sector or theme, we will ensure that it keeps generating consistent returns over a long period of time, he said.

The minimum investment limit is Rs 5,000 and the systematic investment plan (SIP) limit is Rs 500.