Five mutual funds that had record collections during their NFOs in 2021
This is turning out to be one of the best years for NFO (new fund offer) collections for the mutual fund industry. Collections have been the second highest in seven years. However, what makes this year stand out is the wide variety of funds that were launched. The focus was clearly on the low-cost passively-managed index and exchange traded funds (ETFs). There were several international funds as well as sector and theme-based schemes thrown into the mix. In the coming days, more thematic funds may get launched, as MFs have filed applications. These include offbeat themes such as funds focused on electric vehicles, semiconductors and blockchains.SBI Mutual Fund’s balanced advantage fund collected Rs 14,551 crore, which is the largest-ever amount for any new fund launch. The NFO benefitted from SBI’s 24,000 branches across the country. A well-managed balanced advantage fund would help investors deal with market volatility by increasing debt exposure when equity valuations turn expensive and vice-versa.ICICI Mutual Fund launched a flexicap scheme in June 2021. The fund collected Rs 9,808 crore, which was the highest-ever NFO collection for any open-end equity scheme. A flexicap scheme gives the fund manager the flexibility to allocate freely among large, mid and small-caps. This was a new category introduced by SEBI to allow mutual funds to reposition their multi-cap funds. ICICI MF continued with its existing multi-cap fund.NJ Mutual Fund, which is backed by country’s largest distributor, NJ Wealth, collected Rs 5,216 crore in its first NFO – NJ Balanced Advantage Fund. This is the highest collection for a maiden scheme launched by any fund house. NJ MF will be rolling out rule-based funds.
