Bangalore: To generate the returns provided by investment in physical gold in the domestic market, Religare Mutual Fund launched a new scheme named as Religare Gold Exchange Traded Fund. Gautam Kaul is appointed as the Fund Manager of the scheme. This open ended scheme will allocate 90 percent to 100 percent of assets in physical gold with medium risk profile, and 10 percent in debt and money market instruments with low to medium risk profile. The company has fixed the minimum application amount under the scheme is 5000 and in multiples of Re.1 thereafter. There is no any entry or exit load Currently, in all there are six gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offered by some mutual fund companies and a handful more is in the queue to launch one. Gold was the second most sought-after asset class after equity in 2009, as the metal was considered a hedge against the falling U.S. dollar. Though the U.S. dollar rebounded and may remain strong for a while, the popularity of gold is unlikely to decline in 2010, as investors see risks in withdrawal of stimulus by governments worldwide and monetary tightening by central banks.