Standard Chartered MF launches tax saver fund

Mumbai: Standard Chartered Mutual Fund (SCMF) has launched a ts closes-ended tax saver fund, The Standard Chartered Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund. This is the sixth equity offering from Standard Chartered AMC. This ten-year close-ended fund does not attract an entry load during the NFO, though a charge maybe levied as a percentage of NAV at time of exiting from the scheme.

The fund is open for subscription till 23 February, 2007, and will invest in equity and equity-related instruments.

With a minimum subscription of Rs500 and in multiples of Rs10, the new fund will help investors avail of tax benefits and also seek to generate long-term capital growth from a diversified portfolio of predominantly equity and equity related securities. The scheme will invest in well-managed growth companies that are available at a reasonable value and offer a high return growth potential.

According to Naval Bir Kumar, managing director, Standard Chartered Mutual Fund, "While most investors get into the traditional instruments for tax saving in the rush of getting their investments in order, they ignore the fact that some of them attract taxes on interest or maturity. The totally tax free nature of The Standard Chartered Tax Saver (ELSS) fund along with the potential for higher returns over fixed income instruments makes it a wise tax saving option."

Standard Chartered Mutual Fund manages assets over Rs10,000 crores and over 200,000 investor accounts.