HDFC Retirement Savings Fund

HDFC Retirement Savings Fund, an open ended notified tax savings cum pension scheme with no assured returns, is a mutual fund vehicle targeting retirement corpus for an investor. The fund has three investment plans, namely:  The above plans differ in the varying degree of equity and debt allocation and are suited for investors of different age group and risk profiles. 

> Equity Plan: The net assets of the Investment Plan will be primarily invested in Equity and Equity related instruments. Under normal circumstances, the equity exposure is expected to be between 80% to 100%. The fund will follow a multi cap investment strategy with a focused approach to long term investing. 

> Hybrid Equity Plan: The net assets of the Investment Plan will be primarily invested in Equity and Equity related instruments. Under normal circumstances, the equity exposure is expected to be between 60% to 80%. The AMC will also invest the net assets of the Investment Plan in Debt/ Money market instruments with an objective of generating long term returns and maintaining risk under control. 

>  Hybrid Debt Plan: The net assets of the investment plan will be primarily invested in debt and money market instruments. Under normal circumstances, the exposure to debt and money market instruments is expected to be 70% to 95% and the equity exposure is expected to be between 5% to 30%. The investment plan will retain the flexibility to invest across all the debt and money market instruments of various maturities. 

• Life expectancy of Indians is on the rise, meaning longer retirement period, thereby bringing about a greater need for planning for a targeted retirement corpus.

• Joint families are increasingly giving way to nuclear families in India, resulting in decreased dependability on the next generation and increased need to be financially independent.

• India lacks a social security system that is available in developed countries like US. Indian need to plan on their own and early in order to have a comfortable retired life.

• As the income streams dry up post retirement, one need to make sure, well in advance, that there would be enough corpus to sustain the same standard of living post retirement, with a plan to tackle any unforeseen expenses.

• People tend to ignore inflation or at instances underestimate the detrimental effects of the same while planning for retirement. To illustrate, today monthly expenses of Rs.50,000 will grow to Rs.1,90,000 after 20 years at an assumption of 7% p.a. inflation.

• HDFC Retirement Savings Fund addresses the need of retirement planning.

• The benefits of investing in the fund is detailed below:

• Asset allocation is important as each asset class has a different return-risk-liquidity profile. HDFC Retirement Savings Fund offers three different plans to suit investors of different age group and risk profiles.

• Investments in the scheme qualify for benefits U/s 80 C of the Income-tax, 1961.

• Expertise of HDFC AMC with over 15 years of fund management experience.

• The needs for retirement planning are detailed below:
  The Scheme shall endeavour to generate a corpus to provide for Pension at your retirement age (60 years). 

The Central Government has specified HDFC Retirement Savings Fund as a Notified Pension Fund. The Scheme is approved by Central Board of Direct Taxes, Ministry of Finance under Section 80C(2)(xiv) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 vide Notification No. 91/2015/F. No. 178/21/2014-ITA-I dated December 08, 2015. The investments made in the Scheme will be eligible for tax benefit under Section 80C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for the assessment year 2016-17 and subsequent assessment years. 

Investments in this scheme will be eligible for tax benefits U/s 80C of the Income-tax Act, 1961. As per the provisions of section 80C of Income-tax Act, 1961, investments made by Individuals in the Investment Plan(s) offered under this Scheme will qualify for a deduction up to Rs.1.5 Lakh (along with other prescribed investments u/s 80C) from Gross Total Income, as the Scheme is a Notified Pension Fund approved by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Ministry of Finance. In addition, investments in the Equity plan & Hybrid - Equity Plan will be treated as investments in equity oriented funds and income earned at the time of redemption on these investments will be treated as long term capital gains which are exempt from income taxes. Any capital gains arising out of the Hybrid - Debt Plan at the time of redemption would be taxable as per the applicable tax rates and indexation benefits thereof. 

No. The switches between plans of the HDFC Retirement Savings Fund are not eligible for tax benefit under section 80 C.   

No, only the first unit holder can avail tax benefit under the scheme

The minimum initial investment (purchase/switch-in) is Rs.100 and any amount thereafter. For additional Purchase, the minimum amount would be Rs.100 and any amount thereafter.

Redemption / Switch-out request can be made, subject to completion of the lock-in period, for a minimum amount of Rs. 100 and multiples of 1.   Note: There will be no minimum redemption criterion for unit-based redemption

SIP offers investors two Plans viz. "Monthly Systematic Investment Plan (MSIP)" and "Quarterly Systematic Investment Plan (QSIP)". Minimum amount per SIP instalment is Rs.500 and in multiples of Rs.100 thereafter under MSIP and Rs.1,500 and in multiples of Rs.100 thereafter under QSIP.   

Following investors are eligible to invest in the fund, subject to investors having completed 18 years of age as on the date of investment. A copy of birth certificate, passport copy etc. evidencing date of birth of all Unit holder(s) should be mandatorily attached with the application. 

• Adult Resident Indian Individuals, either single or jointly (not exceeding three),

• Non - resident Indians (NRIs) / Persons of Indian Origin residing abroad (PIO) / Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) on repatriation basis or on non-repatriation basis.

• Such other Persons etc., as may be decided by the AMC from time to time, provided they are in conformity with SEBI (MF) Regulations.

• No, Minors are not be eligible to invest in the fund. 

No, sole proprietors would not be eligible to invest in the fund. 

 Yes, investments in any plan of the Scheme can be done jointly (not exceeding three unit-holders) with mode of holding as "Joint" or "Anyone or Survivor", subject to all holders having completed 18 years of age as on the date of investment.

 For allotments made before June 2, 2018, the Fund has a lock-in period of 5 years from the date of allotment of units, during which the units cannot be redeemed or switched out. 

For allotments made on or after June 2, 2018, the fund has a lock-in period of 5 years from the date of allotment of units, or till retirement age (i.e., the age of 60), whichever is earlier, during which the units cannot be redeemed or switched out. 

Upon completion of lock-in period, no exit load is charged by the Fund.

No, units purchased cannot be redeemed / switched out / assigned / transferred / pledged until completion of the lock-in period.

No. Exit Load is not applicable for switching between Investment Plans and Plans / Options within the Investment Plans, subject to completion of the lock-in period.   

After completion of initial lock-in period of 5 years the investor can switch between different plans of the fund without attracting any exit loads. However, the switch will be treated as redemption from tax perspective and shall be subject to Income-tax provisions as applicable on such redemption. This may result in capital gain/ capital loss to the investors, entailing tax consequences.   

No. There will not be any lock-in period on the units that are switched in to any of the plans within the fund.   

Yes, Equity Plan and Hybrid Equity Plan under the Fund will attract Securities Transaction Tax (STT) at applicable rates.   

The application forms (subscription / redemption / switches) filled up and duly signed by the applicants should be submitted at any one of the following official point of acceptance: For details, please visit the section "Contact Us" on our website. 

• Investor Services Centres (ISCs) of HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd.

• Offices of our Registrar and Transfer Agents M/s Computer Age Management Services (P) Limited (CAMS)

Yes. Date of birth details are mandatory on the application form for all the unit holders along with the proofs evidencing the same. The details on the proof should match with the details mentioned on the application form. In absence of the details/ proofs/ incorrect details/ mismatch of the same, the application form is liable to be rejected. 
Investors should note that the date of birth has to be mentioned on the form and a proof evidencing date of birth is required to be mandatorily attached along-with the application form in order to invest in any scheme of HDFC Retirement Savings Fund.   

Investor(s) can submit photocopy(ies) of any one of the following document as date of birth proof:

• Birth Certificate

• Passport

• School Leaving Certificate / Mark sheet issued by Higher Secondary Board

• Domicile Certificate

• PAN Card

• Please note that the above copy(ies) should be self-attested by the investor(s).

Investors can transact through the below modes as well:

•  HDFCMFOnline/HDFCMFMobile

•  MF Utility

• Channel Distributors

• Stock Exchange

• Other Electronic Mode

No, in case of valid applications received without indicating any choice of Investment Plan, the application shall be rejected. Further, in the event of a discrepancy between the Investment Plan/ Plan/Option mentioned in the Application Form by you and the Plan mentioned on the cheque/demand draft/ any other instrument accompanying the Application Form, then the application shall be rejected and amount will be refunded to you. 
For details regarding default plan (Direct / Regular Plan), kindly refer to KIM / SID uploaded on our website.

Yes. SIP facility is available under all the plans of the fund during the NFO and on an ongoing basis. Further, you have the option of topping up your monthly SIP with an additional sum depending on the respective needs and capabilities. Additionally, OTM (One Time Mandate) option is also available for registration of SIP.   

Other systematic transaction facilities available under the various Investment Plans of the scheme are Systematic Transfer Plan (STP), HDFC Flex Systematic Transfer Plan (Flex STP) and, Systematic Withdrawal Advantage Plan (SWAP) are available Unit holders of the Scheme may enrol under this facility subject to completion of lock-in period.   

You need to submit separate Auto Debit Mandates for investing in different Investment Plans within the Scheme.   

Presently, the Options for withdrawal of corpus available to the Unit holders are as follows:

• Lump sum OptionIn case, the Unit holder wishes to redeem the entire / part of the units accumulated (units outstanding to the credit of Unit holder's folio/beneficiary account), he can exercise the option by submitting a redemption request. The units would get redeemed at the applicable NAV without any exit load, after the investor attaining 60 years of age.

• Switch-OptionThe Unit holder can switch entire / part of units accumulated to any other Investment Plan within the scheme or else switch to any other open-ended schemes of HDFC Mutual Fund. He can exercise the option by submitting a switch request. Investors are requested to note that on exercise of switch-option the amount which is switched-out shall be treated as redemption and shall be subject to Income tax provisions as applicable on such redemption. For Income tax purposes, holding period shall be calculated from the date of investment in respective investment Plans and not the date of original investment in the Scheme.

• Systematic Withdrawal Advantage Plan (SWAP) OptionUnit holders who wish to receive a fixed amount monthly or at pre-specified intervals from the accumulated corpus can opt for this option. Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWAP) would enable regular income at periodic intervals of time. Here the Unit holder can avail of the fixed amount at the applicable NAV.

• Systematic Transfer Plan (STP):A Unit holder holding units in non-demat form may enroll for the STP and choose to Switch on a daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly basis from this Scheme to another Scheme of HDFC Mutual Fund, which is available for investment at that time. The provision of "Minimum Redemption Amount" of this Scheme and "Minimum Application Amount" of the designated Transferee Scheme(s) shall not be applicable to STP.

In the event of death of the single Unit holder or all Unit holder where the mode of holding is joint, the nominee or legal heir, (subject to production of requisite documentary evidence to the satisfaction of the AMC) as the case may be, shall be able to redeem the investment without any exit load.
In case of joint holdings, in the event of death of the first unit holder, the second holder becomes the first unit holder and the provisions regarding exit load shall be applied accordingly. 

Yes, applicants intending to hold units in dematerialized form will be required to have a beneficiary account with a Depository Participant (DP) of the NSDL/CDSL and will be required to mention in the application form DP's Name, DP ID No. and Beneficiary Account No. with the DP at the time of purchasing units. Please note that switch facility is not available for units held in Demat form. Further, in case of redemption, applications should be submitted to the respective Depository Participants.   

Investors opting for units in Demat form can submit their valid application for subscription only at any of the Official Points of Acceptance and not to the Depository Participant. For details, please visit the section "Contact Us" on our website

Yes. The conversion of units held in Physical form into Demat form or vice-versa should have to be submitted by you along with a Demat / Remat request Form to your respective Depository Participants.   

Yes, your application would be processed. However, a separate folio will be allotted to you for units held in Demat mode.   

HDFC Asset Management Company Limited (HDFC AMC) will calculate and disclose the first NAVs of the respective Plan(s) under the Investment Plan(s) of the Scheme within 5 Business Days from the allotment of units under its NFO. Subsequently, the NAVs will be calculated and disclosed at the close of every Business Day in the following manner:

• Published in atleast 2 daily Newspapers.

• Displayed on the website of the Mutual Fund. Please visit NAV and Dividend on our website.

• Displayed on the website of Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) (www.amfiindia.com)

• Displayed at the ISCs.