A golden year for Indian MF investors

The calendar year 2005 has turned out to be the golden year for the Indian mutual fund investors. The 99 mutual funds schemes have paid hard cash to their investors in the form of dividends against 75 schemes in calendar year 2004.

Thirty-five schemes are back in the dividend list in 2005, while 17 mutual fund schemes that paid dividends in 2004, have not announced any dividend as of yet.

Mutual funds were generous at paying dividend in five schemes. In percentage terms, they paid - Sahara Tax Gain (300 per cent), Principal Resurgent India Equity (235 per cent), Birla MNC Fund (125 per cent), Birla Advantage fund and UTI Master Value Fund (100 per cent each) - thereby topping the table with hefty dividends.

State Bank of India Magnum Sector Umbrella, (72 per cent), Deutsche Alpha Equity Fund, Birla Sunlife Frontline Equity Fund and Reliance Banking Fund (70 per cent each), were other schemes that paid hefty dividends in 2005.

Twenty mutual fund schemes declared dividend between 50 and 80 per cent, of which Reliance Vision, Reliance Growth and Sundaram Tax Saver, paid 80 per cent each. Thirty-eight schemes, paid dividend between 25 and 50 per cent, while 25 others, paid dividend between 10 and 21 per cent.

Thirty-five schemes that paid dividend this year include, mid cap funds, banking funds, growth funds, opportunity funds, dividend-yield funds and sector allocation funds. With the midcap stocks ruling the stock markets in 2005, four of them - Sahara Midcap, HSBC Midcap, ING Vysya Midcap and Kotak Midcap, which were launched in 2004 - paid dividend this year itself.

The other sectoral funds such as UTI Thematic Basic Industries (32 per cent), SBI Magnum Sector Umbrella (72 per cent), JM Healthcare (10 per cent), Reliance Pharma (10 per cent) and Tata Infrastructure (4.50 per cent) were the sectoral funds that paid dividend in 2005.

Among the mutual funds that have declared dividends in 2005, UTI Mutual fund tops the list, with 16 equity-oriented mutual fund schemes declaring dividend in 2005. UTI Master Value, declared dividend of 100 per cent, while UTI Dynamic Equity Plan, UTI Growth & Value Fund - Semi Annual Dividend, UTI Growth Sector Fund - Petro - UTI Masterplus Unit Scheme 91 and UTI MNC Fund, each paid a dividend of 50 per cent.

Seven funds each from the Birla Sunlife Mutual Funds and Reliance Mutual Fund, four each from Cholamandalam Mutual Fund, Kotak Mutual Fund, LIC Mutual Fund, Principal Mutual Fund, Tata Mutual Fund and ING Vysya, eight from Franklin Templeton, six each from the Prudential ICICI and Sundaram Mutual Fund, were also part of dividend paying funds.