Axis Triple Advantage Fund NFO- A Review

SEBI has recently questioned the Mutual Fund houses for their similar & repeated products offering but the introduction of new funds is not stopping. Another mutual fund house has decided to come out with its NFO or New Fund Offer. The Axis Mutual Fund House has launched its NFO or New Fund Offer called the Axis Triple Advantage Fund NFO
In this article, I will analyse how good is this Axis Triple Advantage Fund NFO, whether this Axis Triple Advantage Fund offers anything new or unique for the investors and whether the investors should invest in Axis Triple Advantage Fund .
Axis Triple Advantage Fund NFO: Review Analysis & Details
Let us begin with some basic details about Axis Triple Advantage Fund.

What are the NFO dates for Axis Triple Advantage Fund?
The NFO period for Axis Triple Advantage Fund will open on 30th June 2010 and will close on 27th July 2010. Though nothing is specified about the regular buying and redemption start date of this Mutual fund, it is expected that it will be around after a month from the close of NFO, as is the standard.

What is so unique about this Axis Triple Advantage Fund?
Investors should note that the investment principles of this fund are to seek long terms capital appreciation and hence, as per the fund information, the investors are expected to stay invested for long. Nevertheless, please note that this does not guarantee any returns.

Now the unique thing about this fund is that it is offering you a diversified investment opportunity, where your invested capital money will be split across into 3 and invested into the following in the mentioned proportion:

- Shares/Equity and related instruments - 30-40%
- Debt Instruments (Fixed Income Securities) - 30-40%
- Gold ETF's or Gold Exchange Traded Funds - 20-30%

So overall, this Axis Triple Advantage Fund seems to be offering a good mix of 3 variety of products. The proportion of allocation also seems to be good enough. However, I think the proportion of allocation might change at the sole discretion of the mutual fund managers.

During NFO, the units of this Fund will cost Rs 10 per unit.
Ideally speaking, this fund should be looked upon by the investors who want a mix of equity, debt and gold in their investment portfolio, but want to keep the headache off by doing it themselves and are ready to trust a fund manager to do that. This Axis Triple Advantage Fund will be good option for such investors. However, one thing to note is that just because there is a lot of diversification, it does not mean that food returns are guaranteed.
The risk part remains. What if you invest 10,000 in this fund? The fund managers buy equity worth 3500, debt worth 3500 and gold worth 3000. After 5 years, the returns from equity are down by 30%, returns from debt are up by 10%, and returns from gold are up by 15%. Equity portion will then stand at 2500, Debt at 3850 and Gold at 3450. Therefore, your net value will be 9,800 - i.e. less than your invested 10K.
Now the above is only an example to illustrate that just by investing in a diversified fund does not guarantee returns. In addition, the more different instruments one invests in, the more brokerage charges and commission is to be paid. That adds to the cost and reduces the profit and returns. Investors should keep these things in mind while making investments in any funds or any financial products.
Are there any alternatives to Axis Triple Advantage Fund?
Yes, Taurus Fund House has also come out with a similar product: Taurus MIP Advantage Fund NFO: However, there may exist other products.
Another option to consider is buying these different financial assets on your own. Then you will have to take the buy sell decisions and timing them will be your responsibility.

Mr. Chandresh Nigam and Mr. Ninad Deshpande will be the fund managers.
The Axis Triple Advantage Fund will be benchmarked to a composite S&P CNX Nifty, CRISIL Composite Bond Fund Index and INR Price of Gold
Minimum Investment:
Purchases: Rs. 5000/- and in multiple of Re. 1 thereafter.
SIP or Systematic Investment Plan is available. - No Info
No Tax Benefit is available in the Axis Triple Advantage Fund


Investment Options for Axis Triple Advantage Fund:
- Growth
- Dividend (Payout and Reinvestment)
The entry load for Axis Triple Advantage Fund is as follows:
Entry Load for Axis Triple Advantage Fund:
Zero Entry Load
Exit Load for Axis Triple Advantage Fund:
1% if the amount sought to be redeemed or switched out is invested up to 1 year from date of allocation.
Final Thoughts about the Axis Triple Advantage Fund?
This fund can be a good investment for investors willing to bet on the skills of the Axis Fund Managers and who believe that diversification can offer good returns as well as risk control.

Lord, bless us but invest not - Court denies deities right to open demat accounts Lord

The gods cannot play the stock markets.That’s the upshot of a verdict handed down today by Bombay High Court which threw out a petition seeking to open demat trading accounts in the names of Lord Ganesh — the popular god of wealth and prosperity — and four avatars of lesser deities.

The petition was moved by a Sangli-based private religious trust named Ganpati Panchayatam Sansthan. The other four deities are Chintamaneshwardev, Chintamaneshwaridevi, Suryanarayandev and Laxminarayandev.

The trust had contended that if the deities could be granted PAN cards — a key tax-filing requirement for the large assets that temples and trusts own in the name of the ruling deities — they could not be barred from trading on the bourses. A PAN card is a basic requirement for opening a demat account.

The National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) had rejected the private religious trust’s request to open demat accounts in the name of the deities, sparking the unusual case where the gods — or at least the mortals who manage their considerable assets — started showing an undue interest in playing the markets.

“Trading in shares on the stock markets requires certain skills and expertise and to expect this from deities would not be proper,” said Justice P.B. Majumdar and Rajendra Sawant while tossing out the petition that challenged NSDL’s refusal to open demat accounts in the names of the five deities.

The trust, which belongs to the Patwardhan family (the former royals from Sangli), had obtained PAN cards in the names of the deities in 2008. They reckoned that trading on the local stock markets — which saw the sensex yield 76 per cent returns in calendar year 2009 — would be a breeze for the gods.

The trust had applied for the five demat accounts in the names of the deities through a private bank.

In its petition, the trust maintained that verdicts handed down by the Supreme Court and several high courts had upheld the right of deities to own property.

Uday Varunjkar, the counsel for the trust, said that shares, debentures and mutual fund units were also regarded as property under income-tax laws and, therefore, the deities could not be barred from placing their celestial bets on stocks.

NSDL chose to rely on a legal quibble to fob off the Patwardhans and their pantheon of deities.

S. Ganesh, a senior officer of NSLD, filed an affidavit in court saying only deities of registered public trusts could acquire property.

He argued that the Sangli-based trust was a private religious trust that was not registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act. Therefore, it could not acquire property in the name of the deities.

The NSDL official said private trusts could own or acquire property, including shares and debentures, in the name of trustees but not in the name of gods.

It is not known whether the deity of any public trust has ever applied for a demat account to trade in shares.

To open a demat account, the prospective account holder needs to show proof of identity (passport, driving licence, ID card issued by a central or state government, membership of professional bodies or credit cards), proof of address, passport size photograph and a copy of the PAN card.

It is not known how many of these documents the trust was able to submit along with its application for opening demat accounts on behalf of the gods.

A couple of years ago, NSDL was sucked into a controversy when it was accused of conniving with several banks and unscrupulous people to open bogus accounts to help certain people corner share allotments arising from initial public offerings (IPOs).

The racket was unearthed in 2005 and had run unchecked for two years. Over 40,000 fake demat accounts had been opened by the banks and the two depositories — NSDL and Central Depository Services (India) Ltd.

Both depositories were indicted in two interim reports that were produced during former Sebi chairman M. Damodaran’s tenure. NSDL was cleared of all charges after C.B. Bhave took over as Sebi chairman.

source : The Telegraph,Kolkata. 17/07/2010