Fidelity's Novel Investor Education Initiative - The Rs.33, 990* Tax Advantage Contest

Fidelity today announced the "Rs.33,990* Tax Advantage Contest" taking a novel route to raising awareness about the ELSS category of funds as a tax-saving tool. In what is possibly a first from a financial services firm / mutual fund, the contest, requires participants to answer four questions about ELSS after reading the information provided in the entry form and to say why ELSS is a good idea.

Speaking about Fidelity's latest investor education initiative, Ashu Suyash, Managing Director and Country Head, Fidelity Fund Management, said, "Our aim in running this contest is to increase awareness of the ELSS category of funds which provide an excellent means for saving tax while contributing to investors' financial goals by creating wealth. Equities as an asset class outperform all other asset classes in the longer term. And so, as wealth builders, ELSS funds score over all other tax saving related investment avenues without sacrificing tax efficiency. The contest is an innovative way to draw attention to the ELSS category in a simple yet exciting and interactive manner.
"Given the low penetration of mutual funds in India, investor education has a significant role to play in bringing in increasing numbers of investors into the mutual fund fold. In achieving this, distributors, in particular, are key given their larger footprint and their role as financial advisers," she added.
Fidelity's distributors are an integral part of the contest and entry forms will not only be available with them but completed entry forms can also be returned to them. In addition, entry forms will be available through newspaper advertisements and can also be mailed to a specified P.O. Box address. Participants who prefer the mobile route can enter by simply logging on to www.fidelityanywhere.co.in on their GPRS-enabled mobile phones. Or, use the web route by logging on to www.fidelity.co.in
The contest will run from February 7 - 21, 2008. The first prize is a Honda city car and other prizes include 180cc Bajaj Avenger DTS-i Cruisers, Nokia Nseries mobile phones and iPod Shuffles.
Fidelity Fund Management Private Limited is the Indian arm of Fidelity International Limited, one of the world's leading global investment management companies with operations in 23 countries. Fidelity International provides mutual funds, retirement services, including defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes, and specialist institutional mandates to individual and institutional investors outside the Americas. In 2006 alone, Fidelity won 2771 awards for investment excellence - an outcome of consistently following its philosophy of 'bottom-up' stock picking that focuses on the core strengths of a company based on first-hand, 360-degree research. Fidelity International along with its US affiliate, Fidelity Management and Research Co., actively covers 95%2 of the world market capitalization through its unrivalled research network of over 7003 investment professionals. Central to Fidelity's success is a pioneering spirit, a commitment to innovation that sets new industry standards and an unmatched investment in research, talent, technology and investor education.