ING Latin America Equity Fund NFO Review

There is a new Mutual Fund coming to the Indian Mutual Funds Markets. It’s from ING Investment Management and is named as ING Latin America Equity Fund.

What is the ING Latin America Equity Fund all about?
There is nothing new in this fund except for the following:
1. ING Latin America Equity Fund will focus on Latin American companies and their investments.
2. ING Latin America Equity Fund is a fund of fund (what is a fund of funds), not just a plain vanilla stock based mutual fund.
3. Though one of its unique features is that this will be the first mutual fund or fund of funds in India which will focus of Latin American Markets.

Where will ING Latin America Equity Fund invest the money of investors?
The ING Latin America Equity Fund will primarily invest in ING’s existing Luxembourg domiciled fund thereby seeking to provide an Indian investor long-term capital appreciation & exposure to countries which are amongst the fastest growing economies in the emerging market space. The Luxembourg Fund will try to achieve this by investing primarily in stocks of companies based out of Latin American countries or stocks of companies deriving a majority of their revenues from Latin American economies.

Why this ING Latin America Equity Fund has chosed Latin America as a so called “Investment Destination”?
Latin American Countries include Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, etc. As per the details in the advertisements, Latin America has experienced a profound transformation over the past few decades. The Latin American economies are becoming increasingly attractive with more stability in its macroeconomic environment and a greater pragmatism in policy & institutional reform. Strong economic growth, reduction in external indebtedness and export dynamism has led to an increased interest in local equity markets from domestic and foreign investors alike.
Thus, Latin America does indeed offer the possibility of discovering opportunities in places you least expect.

What are the risks in ING Latin America Equity Fund?
Now I don’t know how far the above claim is true and will it be able to continue to sustain in the future as well. All these facts are based on past records and it’s the investors who will have to take the risk. Moreover, this is an indirect investment, because it is investing in another foreign fund which will thereby invest in the stocks of the Latin American countries and companies. Forex risk is there, and so is the dependency on the performance of the Luxembourg Fund.

What are the NFO dates opening dates for the ING Latin America Equity Fund?
The ING Latin America Equity Fund will open on date 19th June 2008 and close on date 10th July 2008.

What is the investment pattern for ING Latin America Equity Fund?
Asset Allocation will be done as follows in the ING Latin America Equity Fund: 65%-100% in ING (L) Invest Latin America Fund, 0%-20% in Money Market Instruments including reverse repo and 0%-35% in Other overseas mutual fund schemes.

Load Structure: What are the entry load and exit load for ING Latin America Equity Fund?
Load structure for applications received during NFO and on-going sales:
For investments below Rs.5 Cr - Entry Load : 2.5%, CDSC : 1% if redeemed within 180 days from the date of investments (date of allotment if invested during the NFO).
For investments of Rs.5 cr and above: Entry Load: Nil, CDSC : Nil,
Systematic Investment Plans SIP is available during New Fund Offer periods as well as on going sales.
The load structure for SIP would be same as mentioned above.

Where can I get more information on ING Latin America Equity Fund? Interested investors may call ING investment management toll free number 1800 220042.

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