Kothari Pioneer Mutual Fund (KPMF) has declared a 60 per cent tax-free dividend for unitholders of Kothari Pioneer Taxshield with May 24 as the record date.

The net asset value (NAVs) of the Taxshield series from Kothari Pioneer Mutual Fund (KPMF) have taken a beating in the recent market slide and in the space of six days have declined by 8 to 13 per cent. Taxshield '95, whose net asset value (NAV) was Rs 32.22 on April 26, was Rs 29.05 as on May 2. Similiarly, the net asset value (NAV) of Taxshield '96 has declined from Rs 28.18 to Rs 25.36, Taxshield '97 from Rs 37.72 to Rs 34.75, Taxshield '98 from Rs 37.85 to Rs 32.71 and Taxshield '99 from Rs 26.25 to Rs 23.65.

KP Taxshield scheme was launched in April last year and has since then appreciated by 261 per cent, while delivering a return of 204 per cent.Between March 7 and April 26, 2000, the NAV of the scheme declined by 16 per cent, which according to the fund, "compares very favourably to the market's decline and re-affirms Kothari Pioneer's ability to deliver consistent performance across market cycles." Its current NAV is around Rs 28.

Taxshield is open-ended and sixth in the series of equity linked savings scheme. The asset size of Taxshield is Rs 61 crore.