SBI MF to launch two more ETFs by the end of the fiscal

Mumbai: SBI Mutual Fund (SBI MF) on November 19 said it plans to launch two more exchange-traded funds (ETF) to ramp up its bouquet of such offerings by the end of the fiscal, for which regulatory approvals are already in place.

SBI MF is the sixth largest fund house in the country and two of its ETFs already have a presence in the market. "We already have two ETFs now -- one gold and the other in Sensex. We already have funds amounting to Rs 1,000 crore in ETF now. However, it is a very small amount when compared to our existing assets under management of Rs 75,000 crore. So we sought SEBI's nod to launch more ETFs," SBI MF's Executive Director and Chief Marketing Officer D P Singh said.

He said that the company already has SEBI's approval for two new ETFs whose launch has been planned by the end of the current fiscal. While one of the proposed ETFs is a banking index one, the other would be a BSE-100 based fund. The timing for launch would depend on the marketing condition, he said.

Citing the reason behind launching two ETFs in the current fiscal, Singh said "ETF has huge scope as it's not only cost-effective but also a tax-efficient vehicle for investors".

On November 18, SBI MF launched its SBI Equity Opportunities Fund - Series II, which is a 36-months close-ended equity scheme. It has a total of 44 products, including 20 products under the equity category, including its recently launched SBI Long-Term Advantage Fund which would be open until February next year.

"We are looking at mobilising Rs 200 crore through the scheme which provides Income Tax benefits to investors under Section 80 C of the I-T Act," Singh said. "We also have SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme which is a three-year open-ended fund which enables investors to get a tax benefit from the first year of investment itself," he said.