Birla Mutual Fund, the largest Indian private mutual fund with about Rs 3,700 crore of assets under management, yesterday announced the formal takeover of Apple Mutual Fund schemes.
The two schemes, Apple Midas Fund (with a corpus of Rs 80 crore) and Apple Platinum Share (with a corpus of Rs 22 crore) will be renamed as Birla MNC Fund and Birla IT Fund, respectively.
The takeover of the two schemes will add nearly a lakh investors to Birla Mutual Fund's investor base, almost doubling it in the process. Also, the number of funds managed by Birla Mutual will go up to 11, all open ended.
The Birla IT Fund will seek to invest in equity and equity-related instruments of companies engaged in a wide range of existing and emerging IT-related businesses. The Birla MNC Fund would invest in shares of multi-national companies.
Speaking on the occasion, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumaramangalam Birla said the mutual fund industry would be witnessing a consolidation process in the coming days through takeovers and mergers.
"I foresee a future where only the best ten will have an impact and be the industry drivers," he said.
Bharat Shah, chief investment officer, Birla Mutual Fund, was of the view that India is yet to fully capitalise on the opportunities provided by the software sector.
"Currently the size o
