- Navi Mutual Fund and Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund will launch blockchain and metaverse schemes soon.
- The two Indian Mutual Fund houses await SEBI’s approval for the launch.
- Industry experts are in two minds about these schemes.
India’s two mutual fund houses – Navi Mutual Fund and Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund – have filed separate exchange-traded funds (ETF) drafts to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to enable investors to make profits from companies that are invested in metaverse and blockchain, and virtual assets, respectively.
According to the Scheme Information Document (SID) statements submitted to SEBI’s website by The Navi Metaverse ETF Fund of Fund and Aditya Birla Sun Life Blockchain & Virtual Digital Assets ETFs Fund of Fund, the funds will be open-ended fund of fund schemes investing in the units of ETFs. The scheme will be focused on the global blockchain theme, including Virtual Digital Assets like crypto and NFTs. They are now awaiting SEBI’s approval for the launch.
Navi Metaverse ETF Fund of Fund and Aditya Birla Sun Life Blockchain & Virtual Digital Assets ETFs Fund of Fund are awaiting Sebi’s approval for launch.#MutualFunds https://t.co/3kVb4VGZdC— ET Mutual Funds (@ETMutualFunds) June 1, 2022
The document further stated the minimum application amount for Navi Metaverse ETF Fund of Fund would be Rs 500 (in multiples of Re 1). On the other hand, the minimum application amount for Aditya Birla Sun Life ETF during the new fund offer period would be Rs 100 (also in multiples of Re 1)
Keeping in mind that neither of the two schemes provides any assurance of the investment objective to be met, industry experts and advisors are in two minds about this adoption. Some believe that these schemes are keeping pace with the new trends and can be a good way of diversifying into newer spectrums. However, some still believe more regulations are required to maintain balance in the metaverse space.
With rumors of a ban on crypto being waved off by India’s Department of Economic Affairs, the industry around blockchain technology is stepping up. However, these two schemes are not the pioneers in this field. Last year, Invesco Mutual Fund had almost launched the Invesco India- Invesco CoinShares Global Blockchain ETF Fund of Funds. But the uncertainties around the rules on crypto investments in India struck the market and paused its launch.