HSBC and Lotus have filed for identical offerings

Mutual funds have turned into commodities. We have often documented how funds are copying each other’s ideas. Now two fund houses -- HSBC and Lotus -- are launching schemes that are mirror images of one another. The schemes are called HSBC Tax Saver Equity Fund and Lotus India Tax Plan. Both the schemes have the investment objective of generating long-term capital growth from a diversified portfolio of equity and equity-related securities. The schemes would invest 80%-100% of their assets in equity instruments and up to 20% in money market instruments. Both the funds have the option of investing 50% of the net assets in derivative instruments. The schemes are called tax saving schemes because investors in them are entitled to deductions of the amount invested in units of the schemes, subject to a maximum of Rs100,000 under section 80C(2)(xiii) of the Income Tax Act. The only minor difference between the two schemes is the benchmark against which their performance would be measured. Lotus India Tax Plan would be benchmarked against BSE100 while HSBC Tax Saver Equity Fund would be benchmarked against BSE200.