ACCORDING to a recent Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) order, mutual fund schemes (except exchange traded funds) must have at least 20 investors now. Also, no single investor can hold more than 25% of the fund's assets. Schemes launched on or after 12 December 2003 (the date of issue of circular), will get three months from the date of closure of the IPO, or the end of succeeding calendar quarter, whichever is earlier, to comply. The new fixed maturity plans and close-ended schemes will have to comply immediately after the close of IPO.

Existing schemes have been given till 31 December 2004 to conform to the new rules. But existing close-ended schemes and fixed maturity plans have been exempted. These conditions will have to be met every quarter and non-compliance will lead to closure of the scheme.

Currently, most schemes have large investors that hold more than 25%. If one of them pulls out his money, a fund may get into trouble as it may have to sell out in distress. And this may hurt the small investors. And big investors can still dominate mutual funds. For instance, a mutual fund scheme can still have two investors holding 25% each and at least 18 investors holding the other 50%.

TV Today, the high decibel network that owns Aaj Tak, announced its IPO on December 18. The book building for 14.5 million shares (face value: Rs 5 each) closes on December 27. Investors can bid in the Rs 80-95 band. At least 3.62 million shares will be allotted to retail investors on a proportional basis. This is the most high profile media IPO after the one by Television 18 in 1999. BAG Films, a relatively low-key offering, was another media IPO to hit the markets in September 2003.

TV Today earns substantial revenues from Aaj Tak and expects them to be the driving force in the foreseeable future. From a net loss of Rs 15.05 crore in 2000-01, it turned around to post a net profit of Rs 26 crore for 2002-03. But its market share on a weekly basis has come down from a dominant 54% in the last week of September 2002 to 41% in the last week of September 2003.