This fund is among the oldest mutual fund schemes, having been launched on 31st March, 1993 and has given a compounded annual return of 16.66% since then. It was converted into an open ended scheme in November 1999. It has beaten its category and benchmark in the last 6 years out of 8. In the last year, which has been a difficult one for equity, it has trailed its category by 1.8% though it is ahead of its benchmark by 3.8%. Over the last 3 years the fund has handsomely outperformed its benchmark by a healthy 7.3% but even that has not been enough to keep up with the average peer in its category, where it trails by 0.25%. The fund is managed by Mr Jayesh Shroff, who has been in charge since October 2007. The AUM of the fund was moderate at Rs 4405 crores as at the end of January 2016, leaving the fund manager with adequate flexibility in stock picking. He follows the growth style of management with a definite bias towards large cap stocks. The large caps make up 68% and the mid and small caps now comprise about 32% of the equity portfolio that currently consists of 44 stocks, with the top 10 holdings having about 44%. It has a negligible cash holding. The turnover ratio of the fund is a low 7%. The fund has a standard deviation of 14.9, a Sharpe ratio of 0.59, a Sortino ratio of 1.07 and a good alpha of 7 though the beta is 1.02. However, the expense ratio of 2.26% is on the higher side given its large cap nature. The fund has been a middle of the road performer and is not likely to give any unpleasant surprises. So if you have any holdings in this fund you can continue to stick with it, but if you are planning any fresh investments it would be advisable to go for any of the better alternatives available.
This fund is one of the best and most consistent performers in the large cap fund category. It was launched in August 2002 and has given a superb compounded annual return of almost 23% in this period, a great achievement by any standards, with its value multiplying by about than 15.5 times in 13 years. It has hardly ever failed to beat its benchmark. The fund does particularly well during market downturns such as the one in 2008. In the last year also, which has been a difficult one for equity, it has been ahead of its category by 3.6% and is ahead of its benchmark by 3.2%. Over the last 3 years the fund has outperformed its benchmark by a healthy 5.5% and its category by a similar amount, at 5.2%. The fund is managed by Mr Mahesh Patil, who has been in charge for a decade now, since November 2005. However, the AUM of the fund was high at Rs 10,290 crores as at the end of November, 2015, leaving the fund manager with moderate flexibility in stock picking. He follows a blend of the value and growth styles of management with the bias being towards large cap stocks. The large caps make up 89.2% and the mid and small caps now comprise about 10.8% of the equity portfolio that currently consists of 72 stocks, with the top 10 holdings having about 38%. It has a negligible cash holding. The turnover ratio of the fund is a moderate 37%. The fund has a standard deviation of 14.2, a Sharpe ratio of 0.75, a Sortino ratio of 1.4 and a good alpha of 6.34 though the beta is 1.02. However, the expense ratio of 2.16% is on the higher side given its large cap nature. The fund manager is adept at tactical plays and with his impressive stock picking skills, the fund is a compelling buy. However, his focus on beating the benchmark may at times prevent the fund from profiting from sector specific outperformance.
HDFC Balanced Fund is one of the best performers in the equity oriented hybrid fund category. It was launched in September 2000 and has given a compounded annual return of over 17% in this period, a great achievement by any standards for what is not a pure equity fund. The fund does particularly well during bull runs, giving returns comparable to many equity funds, though it has done a fair job of protecting the downside during corrections. It usually keeps over 70% invested in equity, even during bear markets. Over the last 3 years the fund has outperformed its benchmark by a healthy 9.2% and its category by an impressive 4.1%. The fund is managed by Mr Chirag Setalvad, who has been in charge for long as 8.5 years, since April 2007. The AUM of the fund was a moderate Rs 4417 crores as at the end of August, 2015, giving the fund manager considerable flexibility in stock picking. He follows a growth style of management tilted towards large cap stocks, and in the debt portion he looks for high credit quality bonds which are sensitive to interest rate movements. The large caps make up 62% and the mid and small caps now comprise about 35% of the equity portfolio that currently consists of 56 stocks, with the top 10 holdings having about 36%. It has a fair cash holding of 7%. The turnover ratio of the fund is quite low at 19%, showing that the portfolio is rarely changed by the fund manager. The fund has a Sharpe ratio of 1.25, a Sortino ratio of 2.45 and a very good alpha of 9.08 coupled with a low beta of 0.88. However, the expense ratio of 2.07% is on the higher side given its low turnover. Although the fund has slipped in performance over the past year, it remains a good bet for investors who wish to allocate some of their portfolio to a balanced fund.
UTI Equity is one of the oldest and best equity funds in the large cap category. With a 23 year history from its launch in May 1992, it has done better than both its benchmark and its category. A lot of its performance has come in the last decade. It is more diversified than its peers, which enables it to limit the downside well. Over the last 5 years the fund has outperformed its benchmark by a healthy 6.3% and its category by an impressive 4.75%. The returns it has given since launch are an impressive 12.55%, considering compounding over a long period of 23 years. The AUM of the fund was a moderate Rs 4351 crores as at the end of August, 2015, giving the fund manager considerable flexibility in stock picking. The fund is managed by Mr Anoop Bhaskar, who has been in charge for long as 8.5 years, since April 2007. He follows a blended style of management, looking at both growth and value opportunities, with the focus being on large caps. The mid and small caps now comprise about 21% of the portfolio that currently consists of 78 stocks, with the top 10 holdings having about 35%. It has a modest cash holding of 6.5%. The turnover ratio of the fund is low at 33%, showing that the portfolio is rarely changed by the fund manager. The fund has a Sharpe ratio of 1.02, a Sortino ratio of 1.90 and a good alpha of 6.63 coupled with a beta of 0.93. The fund’s expense ratio of 2.20%. Given its vintage and consistent outperformance there is a lot of promise in the fund and an investor would be well advised to consider allocating some of his portfolio in it.
This fund is one of the best large and mid cap mutual funds, with very good performance over the last 5 years. It has reduced its exposure to small cap stocks to below 5% over the last year, thereby reducing the overall risk in the portfolio. Over the last year the fund has outperformed its benchmark by a whopping 12% and its category by an impressive 3.5%. From its launch in April 2008 it has grown over thrice in value, corresponding to a good annualised return of nearly 20%. The AUM of the fund was a modest Rs 1180 crores as at the end of June, 2015, giving the fund manager considerable flexibility in stock picking. He tries to buy reasonably priced quality stocks, neither buying good stocks at a high price, nor risking low quality cheap scrips. The fund is managed by Mr Sumit Agrawal, who has been in charge for an year from August 2014. He follows a growth style of management with the focus being on large caps. The mid and small caps now comprise about 31% of the portfolio that currently consists of 59 stocks, with the top 10 holdings having about 42%. It aims to be fully invested and hardly keeps any cash holding. The turnover ratio of the fund is low at 28%, showing that the portfolio is rarely changed by the fund manager. The fund has a Sharpe ratio of 1.30, a Sortino ratio of 2.53 and a very good alpha of 8.69 coupled with a beta of 0.97. The fund is proof that high performing schemes can be found even in the smaller mutual fund houses, and that smaller does not have to mean second rung. Given the outperformance there is a lot of promise in the fund and an investor can consider allocating some of his portfolio in it.
This fund was earlier with Fidelity and was acquired by L&T on 26th Nov, 2012 when Fidelity ceased operations in India. As such it has continued practices such as bottom-up stock picking and diversifying across a large number of scrips. This also enables the fund to take care of risk effectively. Over the last year the fund has outperformed its benchmark by a whopping 10% and its category by 1.5%. From its launch in April 2005 it has grown almost six fold in value, corresponding to a good annualised return of 19%. The AUM of the fund was Rs 3,000 crores as at the end of March, 2015, giving the fund manager flexibility in stock picking. With a bottom-up philosophy there is no sectoral or size constraint that the fund manager has to keep in mind. The fund is managed by Mr Abhijeet Dakshikar, who has been in charge for 2 years from June 2013. He follows a growth style of management with the focus being on large caps. The mid and small caps now comprise about 29% of the portfolio that currently consists of 62 stocks, with the top 10 holdings having about 38%. It aims to keep a low cash holding, which is currently about 4.5%. The turnover ratio of the fund is moderate at 63%, showing that the portfolio is not churned too frequently by the fund manager. The fund has a Sharpe ratio of 1.21, a Sortino ratio of 2.14 and a good alpha of 5.37 coupled with a beta of 0.96. The fund has had a good performance over the long term and the short term, though it has had a phase of modest performance in between. Given the current outperformance there is promise in the fund and an investor can consider allocating some of his portfolio to this fund.
This is a young fund with an impressive record. When the benchmark fell 27% in 2011, the fund lost less than 20%. From its launch in April 2008 it has more than tripled in value, corresponding to a good annualised return of 17.7%. In spite of this the AUM of the fund was a modest Rs 1,000 crores as at the end of March, 2015, leaving the fund manager with a lot of flexibility. This comparatively modest size for a large and midcap fund leaves a lot of room for continued high performance from this fund. The fund has a new fund manager in Mr Sumit Agrawal, who has been in charge for just 8 months from August 2014. He follows a growth style of management with the focus being on large caps, but the fund has a slightly higher exposure to mid-cap and small-cap stocks than others in its category. These now comprise about 33% of the portfolio that currently consists of 55 stocks, with the top 10 holdings having about 40%. It usually keeps a low cash holding, which is currently less than 1%. It has outperformed its category average by about 4% and its benchmark by more than 8% in a 5 year period. The turnover ratio of the fund is moderate at 44%, showing that the portfolio is not churned too frequently by the fund manager. The fund has a Sharpe ratio of 1.23, a Sortino ratio of 2.3 and a healthy alpha of 8.11 coupled with a beta of 0.94. The fund thus has all the right numbers to interest any investor. But given the comparatively short record of this fund, it might be a good idea to begin investing in the fund with modest exposure only, as it has not so far lived through a complete market cycle.
This is a very good fund for those who are averse to loss. It has been good at protecting the downside in difficult times, but does not do particularly well in bull phases. From its launch in September 1994 it has grown more than 44-fold, corresponding to an impressive annualised return of 20.3%. In spite of this the AUM of the fund was just about Rs 3,900 crores as at the end of February, 2015. This comparatively modest size for a large and midcap fund leaves a lot of room for continued high performance from this fund. The fund has been managed by Mr R Janakiraman since February 2011. He follows a growth style of management with the focus on large caps, but the fund has a higher exposure to mid-cap stocks than most others in its category. These now comprise about 29% of the portfolio that currently consists of 61 stocks, with the top 10 holdings having about 38%. It usually keeps a low cash holding of about 4 to 5%. It has outperformed its category average by over 3.5% and its benchmark by more than 7% in a 5 year period. The turnover ratio of the fund is moderate at 33%, showing that the portfolio is not churned frequently by the fund manager. The fund has a Sharpe ratio of 1.26, a Sortino ratio of 2.2 and a healthy alpha of 8.6. And all this with a low beta of just 0.89. So this fund has all the characteristics to be part of any investor’s holding. But given the past record, it is suitable only for those investors who have a long term view and can invest for at least one market cycle.
This is one of the best performing ELSS funds and has been in the top quartile consistently over the last 5 years. In fact over a 3 to 5 year period it is the top rated fund. From its launch in December 2009 it has grown more than three-fold, corresponding to an annualised return of over 24%. No wonder that the AUM of the fund has swelled to over Rs 4,000 crores in just 5 years as at the end of January, 2015. The fund has been managed by Mr Jinesh Gopani since April 2011. He follows a growth style of management with the focus now shifting towards small and mid-cap stocks. These now comprise about 40% of the portfolio that currently consists of just 39 stocks, with the top 10 holdings having about 50%. It has a low cash holding at present of about 2%. It has outperformed its category average by over 9% over a 3-5 year period. The turnover ratio of the fund is high at 90%, showing that the portfolio is managed actively by the fund manager. The fund has a Sharpe ratio of 1.8, a Sortino ratio of 3.1 and a very healthy alpha of 14.8. And all this with a low beta of just 0.9 From the tax planning point of view, it is almost an automatic choice to have in one’s portfolio. But given the high presence of smaller stocks, it is suitable only for those investors who are not averse to volatility.