Date:29/10/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/10/29/stories/2005102900201700.htm

Back Birla MF begins integrating Alliance investors with its own

Nilanjan Dey

Kolkata , Oct. 28

BIRLA Mutual Fund has started to integrate investors of the erstwhile Alliance Capital with its own.

The fund house has written to each investor along with account statements and addenda to offer documents of the Alliance schemes.

The account statements detail the last five transactions effected by the investor concerned. It is accompanied by a set of frequently asked questions, which explain inter alia that the former Alliance funds will now be tagged as Birla Sun Life. Alliance '95 will therefore be Birla Sun Life '95 and so on.

The Birla MF note, signed by Mr S.V. Prasad, CEO, also features a host of facts— its assets under management, its approach to investment and the services it provides.

Investors have been asked to understand that there will be no change in the basic characteristics or the investment objectives of the newly-integrated products. The latter will be governed by their fundamental attributes outlined in the respective offer documents.

The erstwhile product add-ons have been re-named, it is pointed out. Alliance Capital's automatic investment plan is now being called systematic investment plan. A similar change has been made for automatic withdrawal. Post-dated cheques already issued under the acquired funds will remain valid.

Former Alliance investors have been further informed about the `privileged account service', which is positioned as a discretionary wealth management tool offered to high net-worth clients. The service aims to cater to various risk profiles, ranging from conservative to aggressive.

No merger of schemes for now

BIRLA MF has explicitly informed investors that there will be no mergers between its existing funds and the ones acquired from Alliance, not for the time being.

"We will presently maintain the distinct identity of all the acquired schemes," the fund house has said. The statement puts at rest speculation that such mergers may shortly take place between some of the comparable products.

These include the two equity linked savings schemes that are now under the Birla MF umbrella - Birla Sun Life Tax Relief '96 (formerly Alliance Capital Tax Relief '96) and Birla Equity Plan - as well as a few funds on the debt side. Hybrid products (Birla MIP and Birla Sun Life Monthly Income) are also quite similar in nature.