Frequently Asked Questions

As of September 2022, L&T Investment Management (LTIM) was the 14th largest asset management company in India¹ based on the quarterly average asset under management data (Source: www.amfiindia.com) and it has quarterly average assets under management (QAAUM) of INR 71,703 Cr (~US$8.89 billion)* and around 22 Lac customers as of September 2022. The Proposed acquisition will help HSBC as follows:

• LTIM offers 29 open ended funds (16 equity and 13 fixed income). Upon completion of the deal, our stable of funds will be enhanced by fund categories that we don’t currently offer. Almost all SEBI categorized funds will now be available from our platform
• LTIM has a large distribution network, encompassing access to leading banks, regional distributors, 55,000 mutual fund distributors (MFDs), as well as established digital platforms
• It is present across 55 locations throughout India, enabling HSBC to serve more customers and distributors across the country

¹ Source: Association of Mutual Funds in India (Average AUM as of September, 2022
*Considering the rate as INR 81.5522/dollar on September 30, 2022.

The entire process of transfer of mutual fund schemes of L&T Mutual Fund to HSBC Mutual Fund including the following activities is known as "Transaction”:

1. Change in the sponsorship, trusteeship, management and administration of the schemes of L&T Mutual Fund (“L&T MF Schemes”) whereby HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private Limited (HSCI) will become the sponsor of the L&T MF Schemes, HSBC Trustees will become the trustee of the L&T MF Schemes and HSBC Asset Management (India) Private Limited’ (HSBC AMC) will have the rights to manage, operate and administer the L&T MF Schemes, amongst other changes related to L&T MF Schemes (including the changes to the fundamental attributes to L&T MF Schemes), which will be considered to be an integral part of the HSBC Mutual Fund;
2. merger / consolidation of identified L&T MF Schemes with identified schemes of HSBC Mutual Fund (“HSBC MF Schemes”) or vice-versa; and
3. the acquisition of the entire share capital of L&T Investment Management Limited by HSBC AMC and its nominees from L&T Finance Holdings Limited (LTFHL) and its nominees.
   Please note that in order to effect this transaction, the Trust Deed of the HSBC Mutual Fund is being modified and the details of the same has been provided to the unitholders via a separate communication.

The Effective Date of Transaction will be announced by way of a public notice.

On the effective date the following activities will be undertaken:

1. The schemes of ‘L&T MF' will be transferred to 'HSBC MF' and will be under the management of 'HSBC AMC’
2. As part of the acquisition, the following changes will be made to the schemes of HSBC MF and L&T MF:
   • Some of the identified HSBC MF and L&T MF schemes will undergo changes in fundamental attributes of the schemes
   • Some of the identified L&T MF schemes will merge with identified HSBC MF schemes and vice versa
   • Some of the identified schemes of both Mutual Funds will undergo changes in their names
   • HSBC Tax Saver Equity Fund will be closed for subscription. Unitholders will be allowed to redeem their investments as per the current terms and conditions. On the other hand, L&T Tax Advantage Fund will continue as “HSBC ELSS Fund”
3. HSBC Trustees will assume the trusteeship of the L&T MF Schemes from the L&T Trustee
4. The shareholding of L&T AMC will be transferred from the L&T Sponsor and it’s nominees to HSBC AMC and it’s nominees
5. L&T AMC will cease to act as the asset management company of L&T Mutual Fund

Please click here for details of schemes undergoing merger. Additionally, a communication will be sent to unitholders providing details of the scheme merger along with details of the allocation of units under various plan/options within the surviving scheme.

Yes, the units from the transferor schemes will be transferred into the surviving/Transferee schemes on the date of the Transaction even if all the unit holders in the folio are not KYC compliant/do not have the PAN registered. However, for any subsequent financial / non-financial transaction, all unit holders in the folio need to mandatorily comply with the current KRA-KYC/PAN requirements.

Units will continue to be under HSBC Tax Saver Equity Fund and Unitholders will not be able to redeem/switch-out their investments till the mandatory lock-in period of 3 years is completed.

The Face Value of the surviving scheme will be retained post the merger of schemes.

The current RTA for HSBC Asset Management (India) Private Limited i.e – Computer Age Management Service Pvt Ltd will continue to be the RTA post the effective date

Citibank N.A., the current Fund Accountant and Custodian for HSBC Asset Management (India) Private Limited will continue post the effective date

There will be no change in the folio number and the same folio number held with HSBC Mutual Fund and L & T Mutual Fund shall continue post the effective date as well. Please note that effective 26 Jun 2022, the folio numbers for investors with HSBC Mutual Funds have been changed to an 8-digit folio number by pre-fixing 1 followed by ‘0’ / ‘0’s to make it 8 digits (excluding check digits). The following examples illustrate the changes done:

Example 1

Old Folio No – 12345/88

New Folio No – 10012345/88

Example 2

Old Folio No – 1234/99

New Folio No – 10001234/99

The relevant unitholders who do not consent to the changes to Fundamental attributes/merger of the schemes are provided an option to exit their investment from the Scheme at the prevailing NAV without any exit load, for a period of at least 30 (thirty) days from 21 October 2022 to 21 November 2022 (both days inclusive), if they do not wish to be invested in the Scheme. However, for investments made post close of business hours on the date of publication of the notice regarding the acquisition (by new or existing investors), there will be no waiver of exit load. The NAV applicable, for the Relevant Unitholders who choose to exercise the Exit Option would be based on the date/time of receipt of redemption/switch request during business hours on a business day. For details, please refer to the individual letters/emails sent to you. Please note that NO ACTION is required by investors who choose to stay invested the schemes beyond the Effective date.

In order to give effect to the Proposed Transaction, the trust deed dated February 7, 2002 constituting HSBC Mutual Fund and appointing the HSBC Trustees (“HSBC Trust Deed”) will have to be amended to authorize the HSBC Trustees to transfer the schemes of L&T Mutual Fund to the HSBC Mutual Fund, merge such schemes with the existing schemes of the HSBC Mutual Fund or vice-versa, such that they form part of HSBC Mutual Fund, and authorize the HSBC Trustees to assume trusteeship of such schemes and also undertake certain other amendments necessary for operational convenience.

As per the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, consent of the unitholders of the schemes of the HSBC Mutual Fund would be required to amend the HSBC Trust Deed. Consent of the unit holders of the HSBC Mutual Fund whose names appear in the Register of Unit holders as at the close of business hours on the date of publication of the notice (regarding the acquisition) will be sought.

Please note that in case a Unitholder does not give his/her approval/consent in the manner and within the time frame specified in the communication sent in this regard, it shall be deemed that the Unitholder has consented to the amendments to the HSBC Trust Deed and the same would stand approved and be binding on the Unitholders of the HSBC Mutual Fund.

No action is required from the investor / unit holder if they do not have any objection to the said transaction

All existing unit holders of HSBC Mutual Fund schemes which are undergoing merger or having changes to their fundamental attributes (except for unitholders of HSBC Tax Saver Equity Fund where the mandatory lock-in period of 3 years is not completed) as on the date of publication of the notice (regarding the acquisition) are eligible for the said option to exit. Relevant communication has been sent to all such unitholders via email to all whose email ID is registered and a physical communication has been sent where email ID is not registered in our records as on the date of publication of the notice.

Exit option period is for a period of at least 30 (thirty) days from 21 October 2022 to 21 November 2022 (both days inclusive, unto 3.00PM on 21 November 2022). The relevant unitholders who do not agree to the proposed merger are given an option to exit without any exit load during the exit period.

Unit holders who do not exercise their exit option on or before the applicable cut-off time for the exit option period would be deemed to have consented to the proposed transaction. In case of merger of the identified L&T MF and HSBC MF schemes, the transferor schemes will cease to exist and the unit holders of transferor schemes as at the close of business hours on the Effective date, will be allotted units equivalent to the value of their units in the transferor scheme under the corresponding specified option of the respective transferee/Surviving Schemes as per the last applicable NAV.

All eligible Investors who undertake partial redemption of their investments during the exit option period will not be charged any exit load for their redemption/withdrawal request if the redemption has been received during the exit option period. Please note, the exit load will be applicable on redemption/switch of units towards the investments made post the date of publication of the notice (regarding the acquisition).

It may be noted that the redemption/switch transactions will be processed only if all the unit holders in the folio (including guardian and POA holders) have provided their PAN, FATCA declaration, are KYC compliant and also meet other mandatory requirements. Please also note that units need to be free from lien/pledge.

Investor can use the following Digital transaction options or contact their registered Mutual Fund Distributor for any assistance in this regard:

• HSBC Online transaction Portal
• CAMS online transaction platforms
• MF Utilities India Pvt. Ltd.
• MFCentral
• Stock Exchange Platform
• Distributor (Channel) Platforms

For units held in dematerialized mode, the redemption/switch request will have to be submitted to the respective Depository Participant as per the scheme cut-off time on or before the last day of exit option period.

Yes, the change will reflect in their client account with the DP as the DP will be intimated about the changes.

As part of the merger, folio of common investor of both Mutual Funds will not be consolidated and the folios in HSBC MF and L & T MF will continue to exist separately. An investor may submit a request for consolidation of his folios at any of the AMC branches or CAMS investor service centres post the effective date for such an action. Alternatively, online request can be placed from MF Central (www.mfcentral.com).

Kindly note that consolidation of folios will be processed if all the parameters are same across the folios (such as name of the unitholder and joint holders in same order, address, mode of holding, tax status, bank details, nominee, dividend option in case the folio is under dividend scheme).

• For investments made on or before the date of publication of the notice (regarding the acquisition), and redeemed/switched during the Exit Option Period, exit load will not be applicable
• For investments made post close of business hours on the date of publication of the notice regarding the acquisition, by new / existing investors, exit load will be charged as applicable

All provisions under the “surviving scheme” will apply to the units allotted from the transferor scheme to the transferee scheme including exit load. However, the period of holding for the purpose of exit load will be calculated from the initial date of allotment of units in the Transferor Scheme.

STT, if any, on all redemption/switch out of units exercised during the Exit Option Period, shall be borne by the respective AMCs.

The redemption proceeds will be paid out to the investors / unit holders as per the timelines mentioned in the respective scheme information document.

Investors / unit holders may claim the unclaimed amount by updating the bank mandates for changes, if any, in the folio and submit a redemption request at any of the Investor Service Center of HSBC AMC/RTA. The unclaimed amount will be paid from HSBC MF post the effective date. Investors can visit the AMC website to know the details of their unclaimed amounts.

Please note, prior to the effective date, such redemption requests will need to be submitted at the respective AMC or CAMS service centres.

Post the effective date of the Transaction, Investor / unit holder can approach the Investor Service Centre of HSBC Mutual Fund / RTA branches for getting the unpaid warrants revalidated. For updated details of investor service centers please visit the “Contact Us” section of our Website.

Investors need not submit the Form 15G/H for Financial Year 2021-2022 again to HSBC MF if the same was already provided to L & T MF.

Yes. There may be a tax liability if investors/unit holders exit from schemes which leads to capital gains or loss. For further clarifications, we would advise you to consult your tax advisors.

If the units so purchased are part of a merging scheme, the same will undergo scheme merger procedure and investors will receive units in surviving scheme. In case the units purchased are part of schemes which are non-merging, there will be no change in the units held by the investor.

Exit Option will not be available to those Unitholders who have pledged/encumbered their units and on which HSBC Mutual Fund or L&T Mutual Fund has marked a pledge/lien unless the release of pledge/encumbrance is obtained prior to the expiry of the Exit Option Period and communicated to the respective AMC / Registrar’s branches before applying for redemption/switch.

The units will be allotted in the Surviving schemes and the pledge / lien shall continue to be marked in the surviving scheme. The lien will be marked on units which are equivalent to the amount on which lien was marked in the Transferor scheme.

There will be no impact of scheme merger on capital gains, as the Transaction is not considered as transfer of capital asset as per Income Tax Act. Further, for any redemption/switch-out post-merger, the cost value shall be considered as per the corresponding purchase made in the transferor scheme, while computing capital gains. For further clarifications, we would advise you to consult your tax advisors.

The ISIN of the surviving plan/option will continue post the merger. In case new plan/options are introduced in the surviving scheme, for such cases, a new ISIN code will be applicable.

Applicable TDS will be deducted for the redemptions/ switches processed during the exit window.

From Effective date, HSBC AMC shall not accept any transactions requests (other than non-financial transactions and redemptions requests) from US/Canada investors of L&T Mutual Fund. Please note that there shall be no restriction for such categories of unitholders from redeeming their investments.

IDCW sweep will continue. If either of source or target scheme is merged then the IDCW transfer from or to, as the case may be, will happen from/into the surviving scheme. Please note that in case of IDCW Transfer from HSBC Flexi Debt Fund to HSBC corporate bond fund or vice versa, the same will cease to exist due to both the schemes merging into HSBC Dynamic Bond Fund as per the scheme merger plan.

Investors / unit holders can submit the financial and non- financial transaction request within the aforesaid period. The same can be submitted to the respective AMC’s or RTA Online Transaction Portals or physical request can be submitted at the nearest Investor Service Centres of respective AMC’s/RTA

All such pending non-financial requests will be processed post the Effective Date and a confirmation for the same shall be sent to you by HSBC MF.

All financial requests submitted to L&T MF prior to the merger date will be processed by L&T MF in the applicable scheme of L&T MF at the applicable NAV as per regulatory guidelines. In case, either the application or the funds are received post regulatory cut-off time on the effective date, the same will be processed post-merger in the surviving scheme by HSBC MF.

You can submit the request at the designated L&T AMC/RTA Investor Service Centres (the details of which are available on their website) till the Effective Date.

All systematic registrations which are active as on the Effective Date of the Transaction will continue. In case of schemes merger, future systematic transactions will be triggered in the surviving schemes.
In case of STP, if either of the source or target scheme is merged, then the transfer from or to, (as the case may be) will happen from/into the surviving scheme.
Please note that in case of STP from HSBC Flexi Debt Fund to HSBC corporate bond fund or vice versa, the same will cease to exist due to both the schemes merging into HSBC Dynamic Bond Fund as per the scheme merger plan.

Please note the following with respect to HSBC Tax Saver Equity Fund:

• From “Effective Date”, Subscriptions/switch-in including SIPs/STP-in registered in HSBC Tax Saver Equity Fund shall be suspended for inflows. However, investors are entitled to redeem or switch out from HSBC Tax Saver Equity Fund subject to the completion of applicable 3 years lock in period for respective units
• Unitholders with SIP/STP-in currently registered in HSBC Tax Saver Equity are being given an option to direct the future instalments to HSBC ELSS Fund (An open ended ELSS with a statutory lock in of 3 years and tax benefit) post the “Effective Date”
• In order to get the units allotted under HSBC ELSS Fund against the SIPs/STP-in registered under HSBC Tax Saver Equity, unitholders are advised to fill in the consent form provided here and submit the same at any HSBC AMC/CAMS Branches on or before the effective date.
• For those investors who submit the consent form by the above due date, future SIP/STP-in instalments falling on or after “Effective Date” shall be processed in HSBC ELSS Fund and the investor will continue to be eligible to claim tax deduction on the future instalments under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961. It may be noted that the future instalments shall not be processed if the unit holders have not completed PAN/KYC and other mandatory requirements
• For investors who do not provide their consent by the effective date, future SIP/STP-in instalments shall be discontinued w.e.f. the “Effective Date”. However, the units allotted up to the effective date in HSBC Tax Saver Equity will continue to remain invested in HSBC Tax Saver Equity
• Brief description of the scheme features of both the schemes are provided in the letter to unitholders

All your One Time Mandate or NACH registrations with L&T MF will continue to be valid even post the effective date. Further all your systematic registrations shall also continue to be active.

No, Investors who do not wish to continue their future investments/instalment in the respective schemes are required to provide a written request to HSBC MF and it will take 21 calendar days to process SIP Cancellation & 14 Calendar days for SWP/STP cancellations to be processed. Please note that the intervening instalments will continue to be processed.

There will be no change in the value of your investments on account of merger of schemes.
The Transferor Scheme will cease to exist post business hours on the Effective Date. The unitholders of the Transferor Scheme as at the close of business hours on this date will be allotted units, equivalent to the value of their units in the Transferor Scheme under the corresponding option of the Surviving Scheme at the NAV of this day. Please refer to the illustration below:

NAV of Transferor Scheme – Growth Option prior to merger (Rs. per unit)	a	20.00
Units held in Transferor Scheme prior to merger	b	100.00
Investment Value in Transferor Scheme prior to merger (c=a*b) (Rs.)	c	2,000.00
NAV of Transferee Scheme – Growth Option on the date of merger (Rs. per unit)	d	15.00
Number of units allotted in Transferee Scheme on the date of merger (e=c/d)	e	133.3333
Investment Value in Transferee Scheme – Growth, post-merger (f=d*e) (Rs.)	f	2,000.00

Please note that the aforesaid is only an illustration and the actual number of units to be allotted under the Surviving Scheme will be determined by the value of units held in the Transferor Scheme.

Post completion of the Transaction, a Statement of Account (SOA) will be sent to the registered email ID and a link will be sent to the registered mobile number of all the investors who hold units as on the Effective Date of the Transaction. Alternatively, investors / unit holders can request for the SOA using the following options:

• Call at our customer service number 1800 200 2434
• Email us at hsbcmf@camsonline.com
• Login to your HSBC Online transaction portal or Use our 24x7 Chatbot service – “ASKME” (invest.assetmanagement.hsbc.co.in)

With this merger, HSBC MF will have a stronger footprint across various locations. For updated list of investor service centers, please visit the “Contact Us” section of our Website post the effective date.

From the effective date, a redesigned version of the online transaction portal along with a mobile application will be made available to all the investors of both HSBC Mutual Fund and L&T Mutual Fund. The online transaction portal of L&T MF will cease to exist post the effective date.

Yes, post-merger, you can login to the HSBC Online transaction portal and you will have access to both HSBC MF and L & T MF folios.

Yes. The change in your holdings will be updated in your account held with the third party platforms / mobile applications as they will be intimated about the changes.

Investors / unit holders may contact their Mutual Fund Distributor / Financial Advisor / Relationship Manager or alternatively reach out to the nearest Investor Service Centres of respective AMCs. You may also call the respective AMCs on their customer service toll-free numbers, details of which are available on the websites.

As of September 2022, L&T Investment Management (LTIM) was the 14th largest asset management company in India¹ based on the quarterly average asset under management data (Source: www.amfiindia.com) and it has quarterly average assets under management (QAAUM) of INR 71,703 Cr (~US$8.89 billion)* and around 22 Lac customers as of September 2022. The Proposed acquisition will help HSBC as follows:

• LTIM offers 29 open ended funds (16 equity and 13 fixed income). Upon completion of the deal, our stable of funds will be enhanced by fund categories that we don’t currently offer. Almost all SEBI categorized funds will now be available from our platform
• LTIM has a large distribution network, encompassing access to leading banks, regional distributors, 55,000 mutual fund distributors (MFDs), as well as established digital platforms
• It is present across 55 locations throughout India, enabling HSBC to serve more customers and distributors across the country

¹ Source: Association of Mutual Funds in India (Average AUM as of September, 2022)
*1USD = INR 81.5522 (as on September 30, 2022)

The entire process of transfer of mutual fund schemes of L&T Mutual Fund to HSBC Mutual Fund including the following activities is known as "Transaction”:

• Change in the sponsorship, trusteeship, management and administration of the schemes of L&T Mutual Fund (“L&T MF Schemes”) whereby HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private Limited (HSCI) will become the sponsor of the L&T MF Schemes, HSBC Trustees will become the trustee of the L&T MF Schemes and HSBC Asset Management (India) Private Limited’ (HSBC AMC) will have the rights to manage, operate and administer the L&T MF Schemes, amongst other changes related to L&T MF Schemes (including the changes to the fundamental attributes to L&T MF Schemes), which will be considered to be an integral part of the HSBC Mutual Fund;
• merger / consolidation of identified L&T MF Schemes with identified schemes of HSBC Mutual Fund (“HSBC MF Schemes”) or vice-versa; and
• the acquisition of the entire share capital of L&T Investment Management Limited by HSBC AMC and its nominees from L&T Finance Holdings Limited (LTFHL) and its nominees

Please note that in order to effect this transaction, the Trust Deed of the Mutual Fund is being modified and the details of the same has been provided to the unitholders via a separate communication.

The Effective date of Transaction will be announced by way of a public notice

On the effective date the following activities will be undertaken:

1. The schemes of ‘L&T MF' will be transferred to 'HSBC MF' and will be under the management of 'HSBC AMC’
2. As part of the acquisition, the following changes will be made to the schemes of HSBC MF and L&T MF:
   • Some of the identified HSBC MF and L&T MF schemes will undergo changes in fundamental attributes of the schemes,
   • Some of the identified L&T MF schemes will merge with identified HSBC MF schemes and vice versa
   • Some of the identified schemes of both Mutual Funds will undergo changes in their names
   • HSBC Tax Saver Equity Fund will be closed for subscription. Unitholders will be allowed to redeem their investments as per the current terms and conditions. On the other hand, L&T Tax Advantage Fund will continue as “HSBC ELSS Fund”
3. HSBC Trustees will assume the trusteeship of the L&T MF Schemes from the L&T Trustee
4. The shareholding of L&T AMC will be transferred from the L&T Sponsor and it’s nominees to HSBC AMC and it’s nominees
5. L&T AMC will cease to act as the asset management company of L&T Mutual Fund

As a result of the acquisition, certain schemes of LTIM will be merged with HSBC Mutual Fund and vice-versa. Please click here for details of schemes undergoing merger.

LTIM will send a communication to all its distributors, informing the distributors about the assignment of their contracts with LTIM to HSBC AMC. Please note, that MFDs currently empaneled with LTIM are deemed to be empaneled with HSBC AMC on effective date unless the distributor does not agree to the assignment. You may contact your relationship manager for any queries in this regard.

GST/PAN details of HSBC Mutual Fund will not change.

Yes. Brokerage statements/ annexures dating prior to the date of this transaction will continue to be available as mail-back report under MFD login for a period of 3 months post the effective date.

Yes. The invoice for services rendered unto the effective date of transaction (acquisition) needs to be raised in name of HSBC MF.

MFDs will be able to download GST invoice (for the period prior to merger date) up to 3 months post the effective date.

You may contact your relationship manager or alternatively reach out to any of the nearest HSBC Mutual Fund branch, the details of which are available on the website; or you can call our customer service at 1800-200-2434 or 1800-258-2434 or +91-44-39923900 during office hours from Monday – Friday 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM and on Saturday from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST.

Scenarios where Investor have folios in both fund houses it will remain same with the investment amount as per the latest market value of the respective schemes and there will be no change in Folio or Investments i.e. HSBC Mutual Fund investment under the ‘X’ folio & L&T Mutual Fund investment under ‘Y’ Folio will continue as it was earlier to pre & post acquisition. In case Investors wishes to consolidate the folio, they will have to give the written request accordingly.

There will be no impact of scheme merger on capital gains, as the Transaction is not considered as transfer of capital asset as per Income Tax Act. Further, for any redemption/switch-out post-merger, the cost value shall be considered as per the corresponding purchase made in the transferor scheme, while computing capital gains. However, we would request all the investors/distributors to consult their tax advisor for more information/clarification.

Applicable TDS will be deducted for the redemptions/ switches processed during the exit window.

The ISIN of the surviving plan/option will continue post the merger. In case new plan/options are introduced in the surviving scheme, for such cases, a new ISIN code will be applicable.