UTI MF introduces open ended Contra fund with low lying stocks

Kolkata, Mar 03 (UNI) UTI Mutual Fund, having a total asset under management of nearly Rs 28,000 crores through 57 products, brings in a new open-ended equity oriented scheme called the UTI Contra Fund for Indian investors.

Rolling out details of the new product, which is already open for subscription for a month since February 22, UTI AMC Chief Marketing Officer K Madhavkumar and its East India Chief T K Maji here today said the Contra Fund was aimed at providing long term capital gain and dividend distribution through calculated investment in listed companies and equity related instruments.

The scheme will reopen for continuous purchase and redemption from April 20 onwards, they said.

The investment policy of Contra Fund was based on insights from behavorial finance, Mr Madhavkumar said adding that it also offered an opportunity to benefit from the impact of non rational behaviour of some investors who focussed on stocks which were currently undervalued ignoring temptations from others.

Claiming that riding on the crest of a bullish Indian stock market situation, the Indian mutual fund business was also booming, Mr Maji said because of stong fundamentals UTI AMC's previous open ended product - the Leadership Fund - was also doing extremingly well and mopped up more than Rs 2,100 crores from about 3.7 million of UTI MF's about 7.2 million investors within the last two months.

He said among UTI AMC's total 57 products, including 31 equity related the Master Gain and the Leadership Fund and the Retirement Funds were doing excedingly well and became very popular among the investors. In fact during the last three years their annual growth was to the tune of 43 per cent, Mr Maji claimed.

About the salient features of Contra Fund which requires a minimum investment of Rs 5,000 with the provison of subsequent investment at the rate of Rs 1,000 and has no upper limit, Contra Fund Manager S Guha said it also offerred the dual option of growth and dividend payment with payout and reinvestment facilities.

The scheme also offers Systematic Investment Plan without any entry load, Mr Guha informed.

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