Page 15 - Banking Finance March 2025

MUTUAL FUND

will reopen for continuous sale and Tata Mutual Fund approves merger of quant fund
repurchase on March 18.
and flexi cap fund
The investment objective of the
scheme is to provide returns that, be- Tata Mutual Fund has approved the merger of Tata Quant Fund and Tata
fore expenses, correspond to the total Flexi Cap Fund with the quant fund being referred to as the transferor
returns of the securities as represented scheme and flexi cap fund referred to as the surviving scheme.
by the underlying index, subject to The record date for the merger is March 21, 2025. The fund house informed
tracking errors. about this change to the unitholders through a notice.

In accordance with Regulation 18(15A) of the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regula-
Amfi's 13-point proposal tions, 1996, the exit option of 30 days, at prevailing NAV, without exit load
to push MF investment will be given only to the unitholders of merging scheme i.e. Tata Quant Fund,
The Association of Mutual Funds in In- said the notice.
dia (AMFI) has presented a well-struc- The sale of units of the Tata Quant Fund (including switch-in & registration
tured 13-point proposal aimed at en- of systematic investment options) will stand suspended with effect from Feb-
hancing the mutual fund (MF) industry ruary 13, 2025.
and promoting investor participation.
These recommendations include a re-
12. Encouragement of ESG Invest- cording to a press release by the fund
quest for restoration of long-term in-
ments house.
dexation benefit for debt schemes.
13. Debt-linked savings scheme to ex- The fund house believes that the con-
1. Reintroduction of Long-Term Capi- pand India's corporate bond mar- centration of larger banks within the
tal Gains Indexation ket. Nifty Private Bank Index can be an
2. Request to restore the earlier tax advantage. Customers tend to trust
rates on Capital Gains DSP Mutual Fund launches and prefer larger banks more than
3. Amending the definition of Equity Nifty Private Bank Index other smaller peers. This facilitates
Oriented Funds to include Fund of higher credit growth, better access to
Funds investing in Equity Oriented Fund capital and economies of scale -
Funds DSP Mutual Fund has launched DSP Nifty thereby helping these banks sustain
4. All Mutual Funds allowed to launch Private Bank Index Fund, an open-ended and grow further.
pension-oriented schemes with scheme replicating/tracking the Nifty
Uniform Tax Treatment as NPS Private Bank Index aiming to provide in- IndusInd Holdings to raise
5. MF units be notified as 'Specified vestors with a focused approach to in- Rs. 800 crore for Invesco
Long-Term Assets' qualifying for vesting in the private banking sector.
exemption on LTCG The new fund offer or NFO for the DSP MF buy
6. Increase the threshold limit for Nifty Private Bank Index Fund is open IndusInd International Holdings (IIHL),
withholding tax on income distri- for subscription. The scheme will re- a Mauritius-based investment holding
bution by MF schemes open for continuous sale and repur- company promoted by the Hinduja
chase on March 10. Group, is in discussion with Standard
7. Relaxation to MF in case of deduc-
tion of TDS for inoperative PAN cases Investors can choose between lump- Chartered Bank and other credit funds
sum investments or systematic invest- to raise 800 crore for its acquisition of
8. Amendment to ELSS Rule 3A, al-
ment plans (SIPs) to align with their a 60% stake in Invesco Asset Manage-
lowing flexible investment amounts
financial goals. Investors who are bull- ment (India), according to people fa-
9. Exemption from Capital Gains Tax miliar with the matter. However, the
ish on the banking sector can invest in
for Switches between ELSS Schemes fundraising process hinges on regula-
this fund, whose concentrated ap-
10. Simplification of taxation for MF proach gets them exposure to the four tory approval the Securities and Ex-
11. Inclusion of AIFs in the tax exemp- largest private banks which comprise change Board of India (SEBI), which is
tion framework approximately 80% of the index, ac- steel pending.

14 | 2025 | MARCH | BANKING FINANCE