Kotak Mahindra Launches Kotak Banking & Financial Services Fund

Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company (KMAMC) notified the launch of Kotak Banking and Financial Services Fund, an open-ended equity scheme investing in the Banking and Financial Services sectors, on Monday. 

According to the company’s official statement, the scheme will be available for public subscription with a minimum investment amount of Rs 5,000 from Monday itself, 6 February to 20 February 2023, in multiples of Re.1 for purchase and Re 0.01 for switches during the NFO period.

The company underlines the investment objective of this sectoral fund as the long-term capital appreciation from a portfolio that is invested predominantly in equity and equity-related securities of companies engaged in the banking and financial services sector.

Addressing the new scheme, Shibani Sircar Kurian, Senior EVP, Fund Manager and Head of Equity Research at Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund said, "We are happy to provide this fund to our Indian customers. The BFSI sector in the country has a long way to go, considering the under-penetration as compared to the global averages."

She added that there is only 7 per cent of the Indian population to the mutual fund folio in comparison to the 23 per cent globally. While life insurance is only 3 per cent in premium proportion to GDP vis a vis 10 per cent of the top 5 countries, non-life insurance penetration is less than 1 per cent in comparison to the 4 per cent globally.

The other key features of funds include segment diversification opportunities such as bank investments and non-banks, insurance, broking, asset management, and fintech. 

The fund would also provide investment opportunities across all market caps and sub-sectors in the banking and financial services space.