Dip May Be Buying Opportunity

Kulkarni's experience in the mutual fund industry began with UTI Mutual Fund where he worked as a fund manager from April 1991 to June 2005. Following UTI, he worked in DWS and Tata AMC before joining HDFC Mutual Fund in November 2006. In his current profile, the fund manger looks after the much respected HDFC Tax Saver apart from several other funds. Kulkarni is a B.Tech from IIT (Mumbai) and has a PGDM from IIT (Bangalore).

Do you see a market crash in the near future?
Predicting the market is always difficult. After rising almost vertically since September 18, 2007, the market may consolidate a bit at these levels. But a big market crash is difficult to forsee. Fundamentals of the Indian economy remain strong and investment interest is so high that any decline in the market could be taken up as a huge buying opportunity by both, FIIs and domestic investors.

What is the strategic and tactical orientation of your fund?
Strategically, the fund is overweight on the engineering sector which will be a key beneficiary of the ongoing capex and investment in infrastructure in the country. The power / energy sector will also benefit from ongoing investments and the perennial deficit situation in the power sector. Tactically, cash levels in the fund are somewhat higher than usual at around 5 per cent to take advantage of stock specific corrections.

Which are your top sector preferences?
In this fund:
Engineering: 12.75 per cent
Energy: 12 per cent
Banking: 11.70 per cent