Union KBC Asset Allocation Fund-Moderate Plan Investors who do not want to separately plan their asset exposures to debt, equity and gold can go for this fund

FEATURES: It is an open-ended hybrid fund, and the moderate plan option will involve investments in three asset classes -equity, debt and gold.

The mutual fund is likely to offer conservative and aggressive plans under the same fund in the future.

ASSET ALLOCATION: The fund can invest 40-60 per cent in debt and money market securities, 20-40 per cent in equities, and 0-20 per cent in gold exchangetraded funds (ETFs). But, these allocation percentages, like for all open-ended funds, are not sacrosanct and can be deviated from for some time.

LIQUIDITY: The new fund offer (NFO) period will be open till June 18. Later, the scheme reopens for continuous purchase and redemption on July 2.

FOR WHOM: With a Rs 5,000 minimum investment condition, the NFO can be considered by all investors who do not want to separately plan their asset exposures to debt, equity and gold.

INVESTMENT PROFILE: INVESTMENT PROFILE. Debt exposure will exclude securitised debt. Equity exposure could include equity derivatives. Gold exposure would be in gold ETFs of other funds and will also include the AMC's own gold ETF if launched in the future. BENCHMARK: The fund will be benchmarked to a customised index, computed by Crisil Research, comprising 55 per cent of Crisil Composite Bond Fund Index, 30 per cent of Nifty, and 15 per cent of Crisil Gold Index.

CHARGES: If the fund's total asset under management is less than Rs 100 crore, investors will incur annual recurring charges up to a maximum of 2.25 per cent. An exit load of 0.5 per cent will be charged if redemption is made within six months of purchase.

Union KBC MF has only a one-year track record. Its offering includes a bond fund and an equity fund and, thus, the relevant portion of debt and equity exposure of Union KBC Asset Allocation Fund-Moderate Plan will involve tapping into the same investment expertise seen in those two funds. In one-year return analysis, based on June 14 net asset values (NAVs) in Capitaline NAV India database, Union KBC Equity Fund, a large-cap equity fund launched in May 2011, was ranked 29th among 52 funds. Union KBC Dynamic Bond Fund, launched in January, had a three-month return of 2.18 per cent, lower than category average of 2.43 per cent, but had one-month return of 1.06 per cent, higher than category average of 1 per cent. The mutual fund has no gold ETF offerings yet. Given all these, this fund may offer average returns in comparison with other asset allocation funds' moderate plans