Prudential ICICI introduces a new equity fund

Mumbai, Nov 8: Prudential ICICI Management Company today announced the introduction of an open-ended new equity fund 'Prudential ICICI Equity and Derivative Fund.' Briefing the media about the fund here, the Chief Investment Officer of the company Nilesh Shah said the fund, which opened today and will close on December seven, is targeted to all the conservative investors of RBI Relief Bonds and who were having fixed deposits in any bank. ''We want to give you such products that will give you absolute returns,'' he claimed.

The new fund offers two plans namely income optimizer (IOP) and wealth optimizer (WOP). The Managing Director of the company Pankaj Razdan said ''While IOP promises stable accruals, low volatility, tax-free returns and anytime liquidity; the WOP is an equity with a hedge, equipped with low volatility and has a conservative approach.'' Both the offers are biased towards absolute return, he claimed.

Mr Shah said ''We have assumed the role of a lender and hence rather than doing investment in equity, we're putting the money in derivatives. Replying to a media query, he said ''Our ongoing Blended Plan (an arbitrage fund) was doing quite well since it was launched a year and quarter ago.''

UNI