Tata Mutual Fund has filed an offer document with SEBI to launch Tata PSU Equity Fund, an open ended equity scheme. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate capital appreciation by investing predominantly (i.e. at least 65% of the Corpus) in equity /equity related instruments of public sector undertakings (PSUs).

This scheme is a Close Ended Income scheme. The new fund offer starts from 25th Feb 2010 to 8th March 2010.

Fidelity Mutual Fund has announced a dividend of 15% under the dividend plan of Fidelity India Special Situations Fund (open ended equity growth scheme) and a dividend of 10% has been declared under the dividend plan of Fidelity Equity Fund (open ended equity diversified scheme). The record date for dividend is March 2, 2010.

This scheme is a Close Ended Income scheme. The new fund offer starts from 24th Feb 2010 to 3rd March 2010.

Tata Mutual Fund has filed an offer document with SEBI to launch Tata Fixed Tenure Series 1-3, a 3 year close ended income fund. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate income and / or capital appreciation by investing predominantly in wide range of Debt and Money Market instruments that are maturing on or before the maturity of the respective scheme. To attain capital appreciation, the scheme will invest small portion in equity/ equity related instruments.

After launching gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds (MFs) are getting ready to launch schemes that would invest in not just gold, but also equity and debt, all in one. At present, there is only one scheme, UTI Wealth Builder Fund-Series II (UWB) that invests in equity and debt securities, in addition to gold. At least four fund houses have filed the draft offer documents of their schemes with the capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

IDFC Mutual Fund has filed an offer document with SEBI to launch IDFC Fixed Maturity Plan- Monthly Series 25, 26 & 27 and Bi Monthly Series 1, 2 & 3, a close ended income scheme. The investment objective of the scheme is to seek to generate income by investing in a portfolio of debt and money market instruments maturing before the maturity of the scheme.

Taurus Mutual Fund has announced a dividend of 20% under the dividend plan of Taurus Tax Shield (open end equity linked saving scheme). The record date for dividend is February 26, 2010. All investors registered under the dividend option of the scheme as on February 26, 2010 will receive this dividend.

IDFC Mutual Fund has announced that IDFC Premier Equity Fund shall not accept further subscriptions (other than by way of SIPs / STPs) at the end of business hours on February 26, 2010. With effect from February 26, 2010, the STP amount shall be reduced to Rs 10 lacs from Rs 25 lakh. IDFC Premier Equity Fund is an open ended equity scheme. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate long-term capital growth from an actively managed portfolio of predominantly equity and equity related instruments.

This scheme is a Close Ended Income scheme. The new fund offer starts from 24th Feb 2010 to 25th Feb 2010.

This scheme is a close ended Income scheme. The new fund offer starts from 22nd Feb 2010 to 3rd March 2010.

UTI Mutual Fund has declared bonus under its scheme, UTI Unit Linked Insurance Plan. The quantum of the bonus is decided in the ratio of 1:10 and the record date is set as 23rd February, 2010. UTI Unit Linked Insurance Plan is an open ended tax saving cum insurance scheme with investment objective of multiple benefits which combines the basic benefit of life insurance with good returns, tax benefits and accident insurance cover. The scheme is managed by Mr. Amandeep Chopra and is benchmarked against Crisil MIP Blended Index.

Axis Mutual Fund has launched a new fund named as Axis Triple Advantage Fund, an open ended hybrid fund. The scheme seeks to generate long term capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of equity and equity related instruments, fixed income instruments and gold Exchange Traded Funds.

HDFC Mutual Fund has declared dividend under its scheme, HDFC Capital Builder Fund (open ended growth scheme). The quantum of dividend decided for distribution is 22.50 per cent that is Rs 2.25 per unit on the face value of Rs. 10 per unit. The record date decided for distribution of dividend is 25th February, 2010.

Reliance Mutual Fund has announced the declaration of dividend on the face value of Rs 10 per unit under dividend option in retail & institutional plan of Reliance Interval Fund - Monthly Interval Fund - Series II (debt oriented interval scheme). The record date for dividend has been fixed as 26 February 2010. The quantum of dividend will be 100% of distributable surplus as on the record date.

An innocuous-looking paragraph in a circular issued by market regulator Sebi to intermediaries has put asset management companies (AMCs) in a quandary. The circular, which lists the requirements to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing, has mentioned that no threshold levels or category (class) of investors will exist for implementing know-your-customer (KYC) norms. Fund houses are interpreting this as a step taken by Sebi to tighten KYC norms for those investing less than Rs 50,000, which could also mean permanent account number (PAN) requirements. Until now (till date of the circular), MF investors having microsip (small ticket SIPs) investments of up to Rs 50,000 per financial year need not have PAN.