It will also launch two new open ended schemes, the 'Money Market Mutual Fund' and the 'Regular Income Fund'. Canbank Mutual Fund's popular close-ended scheme Can Star was recently battered by heavy redemption.

In an exclusive interview with The Financial Express, Canbank Investment Services Ltd's chief general manager RK Madhukar said that as part of its agenda for Vision-2005, the company is planning to launch two debt-oriented open-ended schemes -- the 'Money Market Mutual Fund' and the 'Regular Income Scheme'. A draft prospectus of the Money Market Mutual Fund scheme has already been filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and is under consideration, he said. Under this scheme, the company will invest in various money market instruments likes gilts and other government securities. The Regular Income Fund scheme is also in the preliminary stages, Mr Madhukar said. Under this scheme, four options, namely the monthly income, the quarterly income option, the yearly income option and the cumulative option will be offered to investors.

He said that the company has prepared a plan to achieve its objective of a three-fold increase in total asset base from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 3,000 crore by the end 2005. The plan aims to restructure the company's entire operations including marketing and research & development (R&D). A major thrust will be on upgrading technology. The company plans to recruit highly skilled professionals from these fields and put in place a proper risk management system.

As a part of its expansion programme, Can bank Mutual will also open four new branches to tap prospective investors from urban areas. At present, it has a network of 14 branches across the country. Out of its 15 existing schemes, eight are open-ended and the rest are close-ended

Meanwhile, the company has to fork out Rs 830 crore for the redemption of its popular scheme -- CanStar. Under this scheme, approximately 40,000 investors were paid Rs 40 against the face value of Rs 10 per unit.