BENGALURU (TIP): Axis Mutual Fund, an asset management subsidiary of Axis Bank with assets under management worth Rs 31,789 crore as of September 2015, has launched the Axis Children’s Gift Fund Scheme.

The scheme, a first of its kind, is an open-ended balanced scheme where 60-65 per cent of funds would be appropriated towards equity and equity-linked instruments, while the remaining 35-40 per cent would be set aside towards fixed-income instruments.

The scheme aims to focus on long-term investment and endeavours to save for the child’s needs as he or she grows up. The investments can be made in the name of the minor only, but can be contributed by anyone.

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch here on Wednesday, Karan Datta, Chief Business Officer of Axis Mutual Funds, said: “What we have done in the scheme is the use of language that common people can relate to. As an asset management company, we tend to use lot of jargon at times, which people cannot relate to. Combining that with the features of the product, we have a good chance to succeed.” Speaking about the market opportunity of the scheme, he said: “We have close to 2,000 mutual fund schemes in India out of which only five to six are related to securing the future of the children. We also have a huge young population. In our recent research done by AC Nielson, we found out that 83 per cent of the people were most worried about the education of their children.

This leaves us with a huge market to cater to.” He also emphasised the need to plan for the future of children as education inflation leads all other types of inflation.
“The annual fee of IIMA has increased from close to Rs 5,000 in 1982 to Rs 18.6 lakh as of today,” he added. The New Fund Offer (NFO) for the scheme started on Wednesday, and closed on December 3.