Time right for new investors

Increased presence of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in the Indian market is boosting the confidence of fund managers who are betting big on the near 8 per cent growth rate.

"Over 700 FIIs are now in the market, which itself is an indication that the present growth rate story is here to stay," Jayashankar Madhavan, fund manager of Birla MF said here in connection with the launch of its new fund offer (NOF) "� Birla Top 100 Fund.

He said banking is going to be one of the key driving forces of the economy besides higher performance of sectors such as pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, software and infrastructure.

"For the economy to grow at 8 per cent rate, these sectors at least need to achieve a minimum of 15 per cent growth," he said while making a case for the 'Birla Top 100 Fund', where 65 per cent of its corpus will be invested in equity and equity-related securities of only top 100 companies, basing on their market capitalisation.

The fund will invest the remaining corpus in mid-cap companies where short-term advantages appear to be higher.

The present boom in economy will last for at least 3 years and entry at this point is a perfect timing for new investors, he said. The NOF is open till Sept 28, 2005.