Canara Robeco plans to launch three to four MF schemes

KOLKATA: Canara Robeco, a joint venture between Canara Bank and Robeco Groep NV (Robeco) of The Netherlands, is looking to launch atleast three-to-four mutual fund schemes over the next one year.

The fund, which manages some Rs 8,000 crore of assets, plans to sequentially launch a mix of equity and debt schemes in coming months.

Speaking to mediapersons here in Kolkata on Wednesday, Canara Robeco head (equities) Anand Shah said: "We hope to launch a sustainable clean energy or a sustainable water fund from the stable of Sustainable Asset Management ��� a subsidiary of Robeco ��� subject to necessary approvals."

The fund intends to zero in on the scheme and after doing the necessary groundwork, intends to file the prospectus for the scheme with Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The first scheme could possibly be an equity fund and may have an exposure in sustainable renewable energy segment.

Mr Shah was in town to unveil Canara Robeco F.O.R.C.E. fund which aims to provide long term capital appreciation by primarily investing in equity and equity related securities of companies from finance, retail and entertainment sector.

Outlining future plans, Mr Shah said: "In fact, we are also toying with the idea of launching a large cap equity fund backed by quant capabilities of Robeco. Globally, a 'quant model' fund picks up securities on the basis of mathematical calculations which factors in the stocks valuation, its price momentum and changes in the earning estimates."

Meanwhile, Canara Robeco Asset Management Co rationalised its product basket by merging some of the existing MF
schemes. It merged Canara Robeco Balance Scheme with Canara Robeco Balance Scheme II and renamed it as Canara Robeco Balance. It also merged Canara Robeco Expo and Canara Robeco Fortune 94 with Canara Robeco Equity Diversified Scheme.

This apart, it has also churned the portfolio of some of its old schemes. From an infrastructure focus, the schemes now concentrate on consumption segment including sectors like telecom, banking, auto, pharma and cement. At present, Canara Robeco manages some 14 mutual fund schemes including six equity funds, two hybrid schemes and seven fixed income plans.