UTI Mutual Fund, Bank of India MF launch new equity schemes; NFOs close on September 11

UTI Mutual Fund and Bank of India Mutual Fund have launched new equity schemes with different investment approaches, giving investors passive exposure to sector leaders as well as an actively managed value-oriented strategy. The NFOs for the schemes are currently open and will close on September 11, 2026.

UTI MF launches two passive equity schemes

UTI Mutual Fund has launched the UTI BSE India Sector Leaders Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) and UTI BSE India Sector Leaders Index Fund. The NFOs for both schemes opened on August 31 and will close on September 11.

Both funds will seek to replicate or track the BSE India Sector Leaders Total Return Index (TRI), subject to tracking error. The underlying index is designed to provide exposure to companies identified as sector leaders from the BSE 500 universe.

The portfolio will span sectors such as financial services, information technology, telecommunications and oil and gas, among others. The investment strategy is rules-based, with portfolio constituents and their allocation determined by the index methodology rather than through active stock selection by the fund manager.

ETF and index fund differ in structure and minimum investment

The UTI BSE India Sector Leaders ETF is an open-ended exchange-traded scheme whose units can be bought and sold on the stock exchange after listing. The minimum investment during the NFO is ₹5,000, followed by investments in multiples of ₹1.

The UTI BSE India Sector Leaders Index Fund will be offered as a mutual fund with Regular and Direct Plans and only a Growth option. Its minimum initial investment during the NFO is ₹1,000, with subsequent investments also starting at ₹1,000.

Neither scheme carries an entry load or exit load, according to the fund house. Sharwan Kumar Goyal will manage the funds, with Ayush Jain and Lokesh Kulthia serving as assistant fund managers.

Bank of India MF launches value fund

Meanwhile, Bank of India Mutual Fund has launched the Bank of India Value Fund, an open-ended equity scheme following a value investment strategy. The NFO opened on August 28, 2026 and will close on September 11.

The fund will predominantly invest in equity and equity-related instruments, with 80%-100% of total assets allocated to such investments. It will remain sector agnostic and invest across market capitalisations, focusing on businesses with intrinsic value and unrecognised growth potential.

Fund uses ‘Rate of Change’ to identify value

The fund’s investment approach centres on Rate of Change (ROCh)—measuring acceleration in demand, orders, output or pricing and assessing how this translates into revenue, margins and return on capital employed (ROCE).

Its investment thesis comprises four stages: Stimulus, Rate of Change, P&L Transmission and ROCE Inflexion. The portfolio construction process uses a five-filter approach covering opportunity identification, testing the investment thesis against pre-set triggers, position sizing, harvesting positions as the rate of change decays and reallocating the released weight into the next opportunity.

The fund is expected to hold 50-80 companies and will diversify across market capitalisations and sectors.

Bank of India Value Fund to target long-term investors

Benchmarked against the Nifty 500 TRI, the fund will be managed by Nav Bhardwaj. The minimum investment is ₹5,000, with additional investments permitted in multiples of ₹1.

The scheme will be available under Regular and Direct Plans, with Growth and IDCW options. It is positioned for investors seeking long-term capital appreciation through a value investment strategy, with an investment horizon of five years and above.