Four New Funds Bag 5-Star Rating

Value Research Fund Ratings (risk-adjusted rating) identifies the best funds in the Indian mutual fund universe, giving investors a superlative platform to launch their mutual fund investment voyage, saving both effort and time. Value Research Fund Rating is a convenient composite measure of both returns and risk. It is purely quantitative and there is no subjective component to the rating system. Each category must have a minimum of 10 funds for it to be rated. A fund with less than Rs 5 crore of average assets under management (AAUM) over the past six months will not be eligible for rating. New Ratings: Altogether, 18 new funds entered the VR ratings family in November. This included 10 funds in the Debt Short-term Institutional category that got rated for the first time while Floating Rate Long-term category was excluded from the rating family. Apart from this four funds moved out of the rating mechanism. Among the newly rated funds, four funds bagged a 5-star rating. One fund from the category of Debt Short-term Institutional - Templeton India Short-Term Income Inst - jumped directly to the elite category of 5-star funds. Another fund which bagged 5-star rating in the first month of being rated was Sahara Infrastructure Fixed Pricing, which is categorized as equity diversified. The other two funds were LICMF Floating Rate ST and ICICI Prudential Flexible Income Premium.   There were two other funds from equity diversified which entered the rating family in November. While DSPBR Small and Mid Cap Reg were rated for the first time, LIC MF Sensex Advantage entered the rating mechanism again after it got excluded on the non-fulfillment of the rating criteria in July, 2009. There were three other such funds that made a comeback into the rating family. Of these, two funds got a 4-star rating - SBI Short Horizon Debt Short Term (Inst) and JM Short-Term Institutional. Upgrades: 22 funds got upgraded in November by one notch. Apart from the newly rated funds, five more funds entered the 5-star category while seven funds reached the 4-star rating status.   Upgrades Fund Name   Nov-09   Oct-09   Change Reliance Growth   5   4   1 Principal MIP Plus   5   4   1 Templeton India Equity Income   5   4   1 DSPBR Balanced   5   4   1 Nifty Junior BeES   5   4   1 Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Focus Reg   4   3   1 Magnum COMMA   4   3   1 Reliance NRI Equity   4   3   1 Reliance Medium Term   4   3   1 Kotak Contra   4   3   1 ICICI Prudential Discovery   4   3   1 Fortis Overnight Reg   4   3   1 Magnum Children's Benefit Plan   3   2   1 Religare Liquid Inst   3   2   1 Reliance Tax Saver   3   2   1 FT India MIP   3   2   1 Templeton India TMA Liquid   3   2   1 DSPBR Bond Ret   3   2   1 Birla Sun Life Tax Plan   3   2   1 Birla Sun Life Top 100   3   2   1 ING Midcap   2   1   1 HDFC Cash Mgmt Call   2   1   1     Downgrades: 23 funds lost their earlier ratings and were downgraded by one or two notches in November. One of the biggest losers was the Tata Dividend Yield Fund. Part of the equity diversified category, it was the lone fund that was downgraded by two notches to a 3-star rating, from its earlier 5-star rating.   Downgrades Fund Name   Nov-09   Oct-09   Change Tata Dividend Yield   3   5   -2 UTI Floating Rate ST Reg   4   5   -1 Principal Child Benefit   4   5   -1 Principal Large Cap   4   5   -1 ICICI Prudential Index Retail   4   5   -1 Canara Robeco Infrastructure   4   5   -1 UTI Treasury Advantage Inst   3   4   -1 Magnum Equity   3   4   -1 Quantum Liquid   3   4   -1 IDFC Dynamic Bond Plan A   3   4   -1

This article was originally published on December 04, 2009.