IL&FS and Orix to launch a US$100mn pan-Asia fund
Mumbai: The Mumbai-based IL&FS and Orix Corporation of Japan have signed a joint venture agreement for the launch of a US$100mn Pan-Asia Project Development Fund. Y. Miyauchi, chairman and CEO of Orix and Ravi Parthasarathy, chairman and managing director of IL&FS, signed the joint venture agreement in Tokyo. The Union finance minister P. Chidambaram was present on the occasion.

Orix is an integrated financial services group based in Tokyo.

IL&FS and Orix have each committed US$10mn to the fund, which will finance the development of infrastructure projects in principal Asian markets such as Indonesia, The Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and others, including India, said a release.

Speaking on the occasion, Anup Thakur, economic minister, Embassy of India in Japan, said: "We are very pleased with this initiative which is a true bilateral partnership between Indian and Japanese corporations. It is our expectation that a host of infrastructure initiatives with attendant project exports from the two countries could result from this effort."

The fund accords recognition to the fact that with strong economic growth in India, local companies are now successfully demonstrating capabilities in developing infrastructure projects in Asia. Due to the inherent cost advantages and technical competencies, Indian companies are increasingly gaining a strong foothold in the Asian infrastructure arena vis-à-vis their western counterparts. Similarly, Japanese companies have proprietary high-end technologies and hence a natural framework emerges for a mutually beneficial Indo-Japanese partnership.

IL&FS Asian Infrastructure Managers Ltd will be the investment manager of the fund. It is a joint venture company set up by IL&FS Investment Managers Ltd, the private equity investment arm of IL&FS, and Orix.
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Franklin Templeton suspends sales in Prima Fund for six months
Kolkata: Franklin Templeton Investments has decided to suspend fresh sales in Franklin India Prima Fund (FIPF), a diversified fund that invests chiefly in mid and small cap stocks. The suspension, effective February 4, will be in force for six months.

A press release issued by the company says that there has been "considerable inflows" into FIPF over the last few years. The fund size, which stood at Rs633 crore at the end of 2003, has grown in size to Rs2,226 crore in December 2005.

The fund managers now feel that given its size, it would be prudent to cap fresh inflows until there is a certainty about the stability and liquidity levels in the mid and small cap segments, the release said.

The release also said that closing the fund, which has provided 58.3 per cent over the past year, would enable Franklin Templeton to protect the interests of existing unit holders. However, Franklin Templeton's would continue to maintain its views on the long-term potential of mid and small cap companies.

The closure period may be extended or reduced in future. Systematic investment/transfer plans, dividend transfer plan and Fund of Funds investments will remain effective. Units to investors registered under the dividend re-investment plan will be issued.

FIPF, launched in December 1993, currently has an investor base of over 1.67 lakh, and has provided 26.66 per cent returns since inception.
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Chola MF launches its Contra Fund
Chennai: Launching the Chola Contra Fund in Chennai on Thursday, Cholamandalam AMC Ltd. chief executive Sashi Krishnan opined that there was huge potential in identifying contrarian stocks, which could benefit investors handsomely in the medium to the long-term.

"Contrarian investing focusses on investing in fundamentally sound companies that are overlooked by the market and are waiting for their value to be discovered.

With equity markets at all time highs, contrarian investing will help investors to diversify and create wealth over medium to long term, Chola Contra fund will take advantage of these contrarian investment opportunities," he said.

Irrespective of the market condition, contrarian funds were found less risky, for which opportunities existed across markets, sectors and stocks, he added.

The Chola Contra Fund opened for subscription on January 17.
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