The Lotus India AGILE Tax Fund is India's first ever Quant-based tax-saving fund. This means that the stocks selected by the fund would be solely on the basis of a mathematical model.
The primary objective of this fund is to generate capital appreciation by investing in a passive portfolio of stocks selected from the industry leaders. The portfolio of the scheme will constitute of stocks which qualify the following conditions.
• The market capitalisation of the stock chosen should not be less than the market capitalisation of the last stock of S&P CNX Nifty.
• The floating stock of the company should not be less than the least floating stock of S&P CNX Nifty.
• The stock should have a price history of at least 1 year before the date of investment.
• The industry represented by the stock should be present in the composition of S&P CNX Nifty
Of all the stocks that meet the above criteria, only the top 11 will be selected for investment. Thereafter, 9 per cent of the total corpus will be invested in each of these stocks and the remaining 1 per cent will be invested in debt and money market instruments.
Scheme Details
Issue Opens: November 15, 2007
Issue Closes: February 15, 2008
Fund Category: Equity Tax Planning
Type: Closed-end tax saving scheme
Initial Issue Expense: A maximum of 6% of the amount raised
Benchmark Index: S&P CNX Nifty
Minimum Investment: Rs. 500
Liquidity: After the lock-in period of 3 years from the date of allotment, the scheme will offer redemption or switch-out of units at monthly intervals at NAV based prices.
Performance History: Fund Manager
Nitish Sikand is the designated fund manager for the scheme. He has over 6 years of experience in treasury management, debt research and product development. Nitish started his career with Citicorp Maruti Finance Ltd. in 2000. Prior to joining Lotus India AMC in April 2007, he was working with ICICI Bank Limited where his primary responsibility was product development. Presently, he manages just one fund of the fund house: Lotus India AGILE Fund, which was recently launched in October 2007.
Performance History: Lotus India AMC
Lotus India AMC started its operation in the year 2006. Currently they are managing assets worth Rs. 7,094 crores. The Lotus India AGILE Tax Fund is the eighth equity offering by the fund house. The funds have a brief performance history in which they have not made a significant mark so far.
Opinion
India's first ever quant-based tax-saving fund, wherein the stocks selected by the fund will be entirely based on a mathematical model. There is absolutely no discretionary input from the fund manager. This model of portfolio management is a new concept in India. But its very design could mean that it could be a roaring success or a complete disaster. Investors should prefer any good open-end tax saving fund with a proven track record over this fund.
Ask Value Research 
New episodes every Friday 
New Process Alert 
Seems like you've uploaded a wrong QR code. Please upload the QR code downloaded from MF Central platform.
