Bangladesh Fund's public subscription in 2 weeks
The much-awaited public subscription of Tk 5,000-crore Bangladesh Fund will start in two weeks, the leading sponsor of the open-ended mutual fund said yesterday.“We have set October 2 as the probable opening day,” said Md Fayekuzzaman, managing director of Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, the leading sponsor of the fund.
The seven other sponsors are Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, Rupali Bank, Bangladesh Development Bank, Sadharan Bima Corporation and Jibon Bima Corporation.
The raised fund from individuals and institutions will be invested mainly in the secondary stockmarket.
The public subscription will be for Tk 3,500 crore, as Tk 1,500 crore has been contributed by the sponsors.
The sponsor portion of the fund is being invested in the stockmarket as per regulatory requirement since the fund was formed in March to support the market after the price debacle in January.
Fayekuzzaman said they will organsie a roadshow on the fund in other countries where the majority non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) live in. “The NRBs prefer financial instruments to sending hard cash back home,” he said.
The open-ended mutual fund, a professionally managed collective investment scheme with unlimited lifetime and size, was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 4.
The fund manager pools money from many sponsors or investors through its selling agents and invests it in stocks, bonds and short-term money market instruments, and pays out dividends to the unit holders annually.