OFFER DOCUMENT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PIONEER ITI GILT FUND

 

An open end dedicated gilt scheme investing exclusively in government securities

 

 

Issue of units at Rs.10 per unit for cash at par during the initial issue period

Subsequent sale of units on an ongoing basis to be at Net Asset Value

 

 

Initial issue opens on :

Initial issue closes on :

Sale/repurchase of units on an ongoing basis from

 

 

                        Asset Management Company      : Pioneer ITI AMC Ltd

                        Mutual Fund                              : Pioneer ITI Mutual Fund

 

 

The particulars of Pioneer ITI Gilt Fund have been prepared in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) Regulations 1996 as amended till date, and filed with SEBI and the units being offered for public subscription have not been approved or disapproved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India nor has the Securities and Exchange Board of India certified the accuracy or adequacy of the Offer Document.

 

The Offer Document sets forth concisely the information about the scheme that a prospective investor ought to know before investing. Please retain this Offer Document for future reference.

 

This Offer Document shall remain effective until a ‘material change’ (other than a change in fundamental attributes and within the purview of the Offer Document) occurs and thereafter the changes shall be filed with SEBI and circulated to the unitholders along with the quarterly/half-yearly reports.

 


Contents                                                                                                           Page No

 

I.               Definitions                                                                                                   3                 

II.             Highlights & risk factors                                                                                3                   

III.          Introduction                                                                                                 4

IV.          Constitution of the Mutual Fund                                                                    6

V.             Investment objectives and policies                                                    14      

VI.          Management of the Fund                                                                            19                  

VII.        How to invest                                                                                            22                  

VIII.     How to redeem                                                                                         27                  

IX.          Information about units of the scheme                                                         28

X.             Tax benefits                                                                                               33

XI.          Net Asset Value (NAV) and valuation of assets of the scheme                         34      

XII.        Expenses                                                                                                   36

XIII.     Associate Transactions                                                                                 39

XIV.     Condensed Financial Information                                                                 40

XV.        Investor rights and services                                                                          44

XVI.     Due diligence certificate                                                                               49


I DEFINITIONS

 

In this Offer Document, unless the context otherwise requires

 

1.       ‘Fund’ means Pioneer ITI Mutual Fund

2.       ‘AMC’ means Pioneer ITI AMC Ltd

3.       ‘Scheme’ means Pioneer ITI Gilt Fund offered through this Offer Document

4.       ‘Trustee’ means the Trustee company which holds the property of Pioneer ITI Mutual Fund in trust

5.       ‘SEBI’ means the Securities & Exchange Board of India

6.       ‘SEBI Regulations’ means Securities & Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) Regulations 1996 as applicable and amended from time to time including any circulars, directions or clarifications issued by SEBI or any Government authority

7.       'RBI' means the Reserve Bank of India

8.       Working day means any day other than : (a) Saturday and Sunday (b) a day on which capital/debt markets in Chennai/Mumbai are closed (c) a day on which sale and/or redemption of units are suspended by the Trustee and (d) a day on which the register of unitholders is closed.

 

II HIGHLIGHTS & RISK FACTORS

 

Highlights

·         Open end dedicated gilt scheme investing in government and government guaranteed securities

·         Eligible for investment by provident/pension/gratuity/superannuation funds and banks, financial institutions, bodies corporates, trusts and individual investors

·         Choice of Liquid Plan, Investment Plan and Specific Maturity Plan

-          Liquid Plan for shorter maturity investments - offers Monthly Dividend Option and Growth Option

-          Investment Plan for longer maturity investments - offers Quarterly Dividend Option and Growth Option

-          Specific Maturity Plan for fixed maturity options – offers short term (upto 6 months); medium term (upto 13 months) and long term (upto 25 months) options

·         Dividends tax-free in the hands of investors (the scheme will pay a distribution tax, presently @10% plus surcharge)

·         No load scheme

·         Tax benefits under Sec 48 and Sec 112 of the Income Tax Act, 1961

 

Risk Factors

¨       Mutual funds and securities investments are subject to market risks and there is no assurance or guarantee that the objective of the mutual fund will be achieved

¨       As with any investment in securities, the Net Asset Value (NAV) of the units issued under the scheme can go up or down depending on the factors and forces affecting the securities

¨       Past performance of the sponsors/the asset management company/mutual fund does not indicate the future performance of the scheme of the mutual fund

¨       Pioneer ITI Gilt Fund is the name of the scheme and does not in any manner indicate either the quality of the scheme or its future prospects and returns

¨       The sponsors, The Investment Trust of India Ltd and Pioneer which is part of the UniCredito group (one of Italy’s leading banking company) are not responsible or liable for any loss resulting from the operation of the scheme beyond the initial contribution made by The Investment Trust of India Ltd of an amount of Rs.50,000/- towards setting up of the mutual fund.

¨       There is no guarantee or assurance on the frequency or quantum of dividends although there is every intention to declare a dividend on a monthly or quarterly basis in the respective plans.


Special Considerations

¨       The performance of the scheme may be affected by changes in Government policies, general levels of interest rates and risk associated with trading volumes, liquidity and settlement systems in Government debt markets

¨       Engaging in securities lending is subject to risks related to fluctuations in the collateral value/settlement/liquidity/counter party.

¨       Investments in Government debt instruments are subject to interest rate risk. Interest rate risk results from changes in demand and supply for money and other macro economic factors and creates price changes in the value of the debt instruments. Consequently, the Net Asset Value of the plans under the scheme may be subject to fluctuation.

¨       The scheme may invest in non-publicly offered Government debt securities. This may expose the scheme to liquidity risks

¨       Derivatives are high risk, high return instruments as they may be highly leveraged. A small price movement in the underlying security could have a large impact on their value and may also result in a loss. Also, the market for derivative instruments is nascent in India. 

 

III INTRODUCTION

 

The Indian debt markets are one of the largest markets in Asia. Government and Public Sector enterprises are predominant borrowers in the market. While interest rates were regulated till a few years back, there has been a rapid deregulation and currently both the lending and deposit rates are market determined.

 

The debt markets are developing fast with the rapid introduction of new instruments including derivatives. Foreign Institutional Investors are also allowed to invest in Indian debt markets now. There has been a considerable increase in the trading volumes in the market with the daily trading volumes in the vicinity of Rs.2500 crores. The trading volumes are largely concentrated in the Government of India securities which contribute about 90% of the daily trades

 

The various instruments currently available for investments are :

 

 

Maturity

Current Yield

Liquidity

Central/State Government securities

Upto 1 year

1 year to 3 years

7.00% - 7.50%

7.25% - 8.00%

Very High

Very High

 

3 years to 7 years

7.75% - 8.50%

Very High

 

Above 7 years

8.25% - 10.00%

Very High

Call/Notice Money

-

6.75% - 7.00%

Very High

Repo

-

6.50%

Very High

 

The actual yields will however vary in line with general levels of interest rates and       debt/money market conditions prevailing from time to time.


Fixed income instruments usually carry two kinds of risks – default risk and interest rate risk. Default risk is one wherein the issuer of the debt defaults or fails to meet its obligation on the payment of interest or principal or both. Interest rate risk arises on account of changes in interest rate. For e.g the market value of fixed income instrument will go down in value if interest rates rise and vice versa. This would be a notional loss if such instrument is held upto maturity. However, if the holder sells the instruments before maturity, then there could be a loss on such investment on account of a rise in interest rate.

 

Government securities or Gilts, which are issued/guaranteed by the State/Central Government do not have any default risk as they have sovereign guarantee. Traditionally, only large institutions have been able to invest in gilts as investments in gilts require large sums of money. Pioneer ITI Gilt Fund has been designed to provide access to such securities to all categories of investors.

 

Pioneer ITI Gilt Fund (Gilt Fund) is an open end dedicated gilt scheme devised with the objective of generating regular returns by investing in securities issued/guaranteed  by the Central/State Government.

 

Investors have the option of investing in the Liquid Plan, Investment Plan and Specific Maturity Plan.

 

Liquid Plan

In normal circumstances, the average maturity of the securities in the plan will be less than 3 years. This is ideal for short term investments and offers a choice of Monthly Dividend Option (minimum investment Rs.25,000) and Growth Option (minimum investment Rs.5,000).

 
Investment Plan

In normal circumstances, the average maturity of the securities in the plan will be over 3 years. This is ideal for long term investments and offers a choice of Quarterly Dividend Option (minimum Rs.25,000) and Growth Option (minimum Rs.5,000).

However, in the interest of investors, these asset allocation/maturity profiles may be altered at the discretion of the AMC.

 

Specific Maturity Plan

 

Under the Specific Maturity Plan, investors have a choice of choosing from 3 sub plans of varying maturity periods; Short Term (upto 6 months); Medium Term (upto 13 months) and Long Term (upto 25 months). These plans with 3 different maturity periods have been provided to help investors reduce the ‘interest rate risk’ on the portfolio, matching with their chosen investment horizon.

 

Depending on the duration of investment, investors can choose the suitable sub plan – For e.g if an investor is investing for a period of say 6 months, the short term sub plans would be suitable, as it offers a lower interest rate risk compared to the other sub plans.

 

Investors have the choice of investing in the Growth Option and Dividend Option under each sub plan.

 

The fund/AMC reserves the right to extend the maturity period in the short term, medium term and long term sub-plans, after following the procedure outlined in the paragraph “Fundamental Attributes’.

 

Please note that there is no guarantee or assurance on the frequency or quantum of dividend payments, although there is every intention to declare a dividend on a monthly & quarterly basis in the respective plans.

 


IV CONSTITUTION OF THE MUTUAL FUND

 

A brief description of the objectives of the Mutual Fund

To mobilise savings and investments from the public and to manage them as per the SEBI Regulations.

 

Pioneer ITI Mutual Fund has been constituted as a Trust in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Trusts Act 1882 [2 of 1882] and is registered under the Indian Registration Act, 1908.

 

a. Sponsors

 

Pioneer ITI Mutual Fund is sponsored by the Pioneer Investment Management Inc. of The Pioneer Group, Inc., USA. and The Investment Trust of India Ltd.

 

Pioneer ITI is a joint venture between Pioneer, one of America’s oldest mutual funds and ITI, one of India’s established finance companies. Pioneer helped found the modern mutual fund industry in the US in 1928, and has operations in several countries across the globe. Pioneer has recently become part of the UniCredito Italiano Group - one of Italy’s largest banking companies with over USD 150 billion in assets and 3500 branches and formed a powerful global asset management company - Pioneer Global Asset Management, with a strong base in both the US and Europe and assets under management of over USD 100 billion (as on December 2000). The Investment Trust of India Ltd. was established in 1946 and is one of India’s well-known and highly regarded financial services companies.

 

A Trust has been formed pursuant to the Trust Deed which has been duly registered on July 29, 1993 under the provisions of the Indian Registration Act, 1908 and executed by the sponsors, and a corpus fund has been formed to be held upon by the Trustee.

 

Board of Directors - The Investment Trust of India Ltd

Mr. P.S. Balasubramaniam          Mr. A.L.Mudaliar

Mr. N.C. Singhal                        Mr. Sanjay Maloo

Mr. P.L. Maloo                          Mr. Dharmesh Doshi

 

Board of Directors - Pioneer Investment Management, Inc.

Mr. John F. Cogan, Jr                 Mr. David D. Tripple

 

Financial Performance - The Investment Trust of India Ltd

 

Details given relate to the preceding three financial years for which audited financials are available

(Rs in Lakhs - except 6, 7 & 8)

Financial Year                                                    2000-2001         1999-2000         1998-99                       

1. Turnover/ Total income                                 1976.61             3540.07             3866.02            

2. Profit after tax                                                (1124.46)           46.43                66.23               

3. Equity capital                                                 871.60               871.60               435.60              

4. Reserves                                                        1717.30             2839.76             2419.88            

5. Networth                                                      2586.90             3711.36             2855.48            

6. Earnings per share (Rs.)                                   N.A                  0.53*                 1.52                 

7. Book value per share (Rs.)                               29.68                42.58                65.55               

8. Percentage of Dividend (%)                             N.A                  5                      -                                  

* Basic

 


Financial Performance - Pioneer Investment Management, Inc. (USA)

Details given relate to the preceding three financial years for which audited financials are available.

 

(US Dollars in thousands- except 6, 7 and 8)

Financial Year                                        2000                             1999                             1998    

1. Turnover/ Total income                     39,697                           154,101                         166,405

2. Profit after tax                                    (30,491)                         30,467                           40,019  

3. Equity capital                                     10,49,872                      40,755                           40,755  

4. Reserves                                            (29,642)                         103,319                         172,622

5. Networth                                          10,20,230                      143,763                         213,214

6. Earnings per share                              N.A.                             15,241                           20,019  

7. Book value per share                          N.A.                             71,917                           106,660

8. Percentage of Dividend %                   N.A.                             -                                   0.80     

 

Financial Performance - UniCredito Italiano

In billions of Italian Lire - Except 6, 7, 8 and 9

Financial Year                                        2000                             1999                 1998

1. Total Income                                     31041.90                       24247.50           23543.00

2. Profit after Tax (net income)                2700.80                         2490.00             390.60

3. Share Capital                                      2512.10                         2488.10             2340.50

4. Other Reserves                                   14224.60                       12434.90           9779.10

5. Shareholders’ Equity                           16736.70                       14923.00           12119.60

6. Earnings Per Share (Lire)                     538                               497                   374

7. Book Value Per Share (Lire)                3331                             2999                 2523

8. Payout ratio                                       46.50%                         50.40%             30.80%

9. Dividend

Ordinary Share                                      250                               250                   115

Savings Share                                         265                               265                   130

 

Previous years figures have been regrouped/adjusted wherever necessary.

 

b. The Trustee

 

The rights and obligations of the Trustee shall be in accordance with Regulation 18 under Chapter III of SEBI [Mutual Funds] Regulations and include the following:

 

·         The Trustee is responsible for entering into an Investment  Management Agreement with the AMC by which the latter is entrusted with the task of floating and managing schemes of Pioneer ITI Mutual Fund

·         The Trustee shall hold the properties of the fund in the trust for the benefit of the fund’s investors

·         The Trustee shall be responsible for ensuring that the fund’s business is run in conformity with SEBI [Mutual Funds] Regulations, 1996

·         The Trustee shall be responsible for ensuring that the income due to the fund is received and properly accounted

·         The Trustee is responsible for appointing a custodian to hold the securities of the fund in safe custody

·         The Trustee is responsible for obtaining consent of the fund’s investors as per SEBI [Mutual Funds] Regulations, 1996

·         In carrying out his responsibilities, a Director of the Trustee Company shall maintain arm’s length relationship with other companies or institutions or financial intermediaries or any body corporate in which he may be interested

·         No Trustee shall participate in the meetings of the Trustee when any decisions for investments in which he may be interested are taken

·         Each Trustee shall furnish particulars of interest which he may have in any other company, or institution or financial intermediary or any corporate by virtue of his position as director, partner or with which he may be associated in any other capacity

·         The Trustee shall have the right to obtain from AMC such information as is considered necessary by the Trustee and shall review all reports and compliance procedures from the AMC.

·         The Trustee shall ensure that the AMC has been diligent in empanelling the brokers, in  monitoring securities transactions with brokers and avoiding undue concentration of business with any broker

·         The Trustee shall ensure that the AMC has not given any undue or unfair advantage to any associates or dealt with any of the associates of the AMC in any manner detrimental to the interest of the unitholders

·         The Trustee shall ensure that the transactions entered into by the AMC are in accordance with the SEBI Regulations and the scheme

·         The Trustee shall ensure that the AMC has been managing the scheme independently of other activities and have taken adequate steps to ensure that the interest of the investors of the scheme are not being compromised with those of any other scheme or of other activities of the AMC

·         Each Trustee shall file the details of his holdings in securities on a half-yearly basis with the trust

·         The Trustee shall take steps to ensure that the transactions of the mutual fund are in accordance with the Trust Deed

·