Fund of funds (FoFs), which invest in other domestic funds, received ₹8,647 crore of investor inflows in June, according to monthly data shared by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) recently. In the preceding month, FoFs saw net inflows of ₹5,829 crore. What has sparked this renewed interest? Here’s what experts say
Income plus arbitrage FoFs
Experts attribute the increase in inflows to the innovative products that are being launched in this category.
Several fund houses have launched income plus arbitrage FoFs, which invest in a combination of a debt fund and an arbitrage fund.
These FoF schemes put 65% of the portfolio in debt and the remaining 35% in arbitrage funds – the exact reverse of what pure arbitrage funds do (35% debt and 65% arbitrage). The idea behind income plus arbitrage FoF is to limit arbitrage exposure to 35% as debt investors may not be comfortable with arbitrage yields, which tend to move a lot more than debt yields.
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Due to the new tax rules, FoFs now have the benefit of a long-term capital gains tax rate, that is gains from FoFs held for more than 24 months will be treated as long-term capital gains and taxed at 12.5%. There is still one caveat, the FoFs’ underlying should not be more than 65% in debt funds, to avail the LTCG tax rate.
“We have seen several fund houses launching income plus arbitrage fund of funds. With the tax issue now resolved, mutual funds could launch more innovative products in this space,” said Rushabh Desai, founder of Rupee with Rushabh Investment Services.
Earlier, all FoFs — barring those investing over 90% in domestic equities — were considered as non-equity funds for tax purposes. This meant all gains from FoFs were to be taxed at investor’s slab rate.
More innovations
Fund houses are even filing for FoFs in other segments. For example, they have filed for a multi-asset fund of funds, wherein the FoF will invest in a mix of other funds; this could be debt funds, gold ETFs, silver ETFs, equity funds, etc.
One of the fund houses has also filed for a multi-factor FoF, which will invest in other factor-based exchange traded funds (ETFs), tracking various factors such as momentum, value, quality, low volatility and growth.
Another has filed for a fund of funds that will invest only in ETFs across asset classes — right from equities, gold, debt and even G-Sec ETFs.
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Should you invest?
New offerings within FoFs can take different forms, given the wide possibilities as these act as feeder funds. Some products can help you create a diversified portfolio, as FoFs can invest in different funds and ETFs. However, new innovations need not always be necessary for your portfolio if it is already well-diversified. So choose FoFs that can truly diversify your portfolio.
