Coimbatore : Axis Mutual Fund, one of the leading asset management companies in India announced the launch of Axis Equity ETFs FoF (An Open Ended Fund of Fund scheme predominantly investing in units of domestic equity ETFs). The new fund will be managed by Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager. The minimum application amount is INR 5,000 and investors can invest in multiples of INR 1, thereafter. The new fund will track the Nifty 500 TRI benchmark and endeavour to generate alpha by investing in domestic equity ETFs basis the fund manager’s top down investment view.

ETFs are one of the most popular vehicles of investing in passive strategies as they replicate the portfolio of the underlying index while trading in bite sized units on an exchange at market determined prices. In 3 years, equity ETFs’ AUM has increased to more than 3x. Yet, investors often find it difficult to choose the right ETF; which will help gain potential alpha while maintaining the necessary diversification.

Since different sectors and market segments perform differently at different times, Axis Equity ETFs FoF’s investment approach is specifically designed to allocate dynamically across market cap and sectoral/thematic passive strategies. This allows investors the benefit of risk diversification by allocating across multiple equity ETFs. Furthermore, the scheme will endeavour to invest and maintain domestic ETF exposure greater than 95% of net assets at all times. The resulting tax treatment will be that of equity mutual funds. In addition to exposure to all equity ETFs in the market, Axis Equity ETFs FoF removes the risk of security selection while aiming for minimal tracking error. Given the mutual fund structure, investors can look to invest through various systematic options like SIPs, STP’s & lumpsum investments.

Chandresh Nigam, MD & CEO, Axis AMC said, “Passive investing’s efficient low cost strategies that tracks a specific index as closely as possible while relying on the broader market wisdom, have been some of the major reasons for its increased importance amongst the investors. With the launch of the Axis Equity ETFs FoF, we are seamlessly integrating market cap management and sectoral/thematic management, thereby enabling active management of passive strategies. The new scheme’s approach aligns with our philosophy of ‘Responsible Investing’ and we believe, will be a notable addition to our portfolio of products.”

The NFO will be open for subscription on February 4, 2022 and close on February 18, 2022.

Sources: AMFI, Axis AMC Research data as on 31st December 2021 (Includes domestic Equity ETFs as recognized by AMFI)