BSLAMC launches commodity-centric fund

Kolkata, Sep 22 (UNI) Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd (BSLAMC) today announced the launch of its first commodity-centric fund christened ''Birla Sun Life Commodity Equities Fund (BSLCEF)'' which opened for subscription from September 15.

BSLAMC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anil Kumar told newspersons here that the investment objective of BSLAMC's open-ended commodity equities fund was to offer investors long-term capital growth by investing in securities of domestic and overseas commodity companies.

He explained that such firms were engaged in or focussing on the specified commodity business and overseas mutual fund schemes with similar investment opportunities.

The fund would be open for subscription till October 14.

Betting big on the new launch, Mr Kumar elaborated that in the given circumstances in global economy when supply-side constraints and explosive demand were creating upward pressure on commodity prices, commodity companies and commodity-focussed mutual funds were currently generating above par returns worldwide.

The New Fund Offer (NFO) is priced at Rs 10 per unit plus applicable entry load. The minimum application amounts under the retail and institutional plans are Rs 5,000 and Rs five crore respectively. Investments over and above the minimum application amount will be in multiples of Re one during the NFO period.

Investors could enjoy the benefits of diversification by investing in Global Precious Metals Plan (benchmarked against Dow Jones Precious Metals Index), Global Agri Plan (benchmarked against S &P Global Agribusiness Index) and Global Multi Commodity Plan (benchmarked against MSCI World Index), according to the CEO.

Currently, BSLAMC has an average assets under management (AUM) of Rs 38,184 crore and an investor base of over 21,00,000.

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