Give its schemes the go-by. There are many other fund houses with a long track record to pick from

Moneylife Digital Team

It looks like mutual fund (MF) investors are spoilt for choice, with more and more players springing up. An addition to the already crammed space of MF players is Union KBC, a joint venture between Union Bank of India and the Belgian KBC Asset Management Group, where Union Bank has a 51% stake and the other 49% is owned by KBC. Union KBC is launching a liquid fund scheme and equity scheme. From the second year, it may make a foray into offshore funds.

Union KBC Equity Fund, an open-ended equity scheme would allocate 75-100% of asset in equity and equity-related instruments, including equity-linked derivatives with medium- to high-risk profile. It would further invest up to 25% of assets in debt and money market instruments with low- to medium-risk profile. The fund will be benchmarked against the BSE 100 Index.

Union KBC Equity Fund will be managed by Ashish Ranawade, chief investment officer. Mr Ranawade was with Unit Trust of India (UTI) from April 2006 to July 2010 as head of PMS with the responsibility for portfolio performance and business strategy. Between September 2005 and April 2006, he was with ING Investment Management as head of PMS. From June 1994 to September 2005 he was with UTI in various capacities as fund manager, analyst and head of PMS. 

Should you invest in Union KBC’s schemes? Already confused investors will now be more confused, trying to choose from the array of products, which are similar in nature. Figuring out the best for them might be a task! And choosing an altogether new fund house is one of the biggest risks, as you don’t have any past performance to compare. Fund manager Mr Ranawade may be experienced, but two of the fund houses that he has worked for are not exactly known for a great investment record.

Thus, for any investor, taking a decision to invest in this fund is not very difficult—there are better and well-proven options available.