The collections under MIP (IV) have been more than Rs 800 crore which closed for subscription earlier this month and under IISFUS (II) '98 the collections are Rs 600 crore, with the scheme being open till December 12.

"The fresh inflow into our assured return schemes is indicative of the trust people have in UTI. The amount of Rs 1,400 crore has come in through 1.7 lakh investors who have reteirated their faith in UTI," said UTI executive director Basudeb Sen.

"We will definitely see more inflow into IISFUS (II) as the closing date is still much far off and we hope to mobilise quite a bit through that," said Sen.

Earlier, UTI had stunned the market by mobilising Rs 900 crore through fresh sales in October which had been the most turbulent month in its recent history.Speaking to The Financial Express earlier Sen had said that of the Rs 900 crore, Rs 400 crore have come through sales in its flagship US-64 scheme and the remaning in all the other schemes.

In US-64, the trust had raised Rs 300 crore through fresh sales in the month of October 1997 and on this front too it has recorded a gain of 33 per cent which is commendable considering the negative publicity it had received in the recent past.

MIP (IV), which closed on November 11, is offering a rate of return of 12.5 per cent under the monthly income plan and on annualised basis a return of 13.25 per cent for the next five years. The return is assured by the development reserve fund of the trust in case of a shortfall.

UTI has so far launched four MIPs this calendar year with the same rate of return of 12.5 per cent on a monthly basis which translates into 13.25 per cent on an annualised basis. It had mobilised Rs 900 crore in the first two MIPs and a whopping Rs 1,400 crore in MIP (III) offering the samerate of return.

The fall in collections of MIP (IV) can be related to the US-64 scare due to which the retail investor has turned a little jittery leading to a resistance in the collections of MIP. The slight dent could also be traced to the launch of ICICI safety bonds offering the same rate of returns with tax benefits, said a fund manager.

The lesser inflow into MIP (IV) could also be due to the launch of IISFUS (II) 98 which offered higher rates of return at 14 per cent per annum. A number of institutional investors would prefer to go into this scheme than into MIP, said an analyst.

Meanwhile, the sales and redemptions at the counter of US-64 could not be found out as the officials were tight-lipped about it. "We want to concentrate on our other funds and schemes at present," said Sen.