When the market went into a tailspin last month, the funds that faced the brunt were the ones fully invested in equity. But recently, they stood vindicated.
Between October 29 and November 7, the market rebounded to some extent. The Sensex, which closed at 9044 (October 29), rose to 9964 (November 7). And it was the funds that were almost fully invested that gained the most.
From the diversified equity category, JM Basic, which had nearly 96% invested in equity as on October 31, 2008, emerged as the best performer with a return of nearly 19%. It was followed by JM Core 11 Series 1 and JM Contra, both delivering returns above 18%. JM Multi Strategy and JM Small & Mid-Cap Regular delivered returns above 14%.
Clearly the funds that benefited the most were from the JM Mutual Fund stable. Amongst other fund houses, DBS Chola Opportunities and Taurus Infrastructure also posted returns of around 14%.
On the other hand, funds which were piling up on cash have clearly missed out this opportunity. Funds like Escorts Growth, Sahara Infrastructure Fixed Pricing, Sahara Wealth Plus Fixed Pricing and Reliance Vision which had around 35% to 40% in cash (October 31, 2008) didn't see a significant upsurge in their NAV. These funds posted returns in the range of 5% to 8% during the same period.
