DSPBR Top 100 Equity

The fund's inherently large cap tilt does not permit it to take part in the rally of smaller stocks. The smallest market capitalised company in the fund's portfolio (as on December 31, 2009) was of around Rs 12,000 crore while that of BSE 100 (benchmark) was around Rs 3,500 crore. Last year, despite mid caps rallying, this fund's average exposure to large caps was 85 per cent peaking at 91 per cent (October 2009). But it is this very feature that is essential to the character of the fund.

A quality portfolio is what you will get here. The fund manager does not get easily swayed by momentum stocks and has never gone overboard on sectors like Metals and Construction. The individual allocation to these has never crossed 10 per cent of the portfolio, even in 2007. That does not mean he is hesitant of taking aggressive sector bets and moving in and out of sectors when he sees opportunity, or the lack of it. The high turnover ratio bears this out.

The fund looks fairly compact averaging at 39 stocks (other schemes from this fund house are more diversified) over the past one year with the top 5 holdings accounting for close to 25 per cent. Although, allocation to a particular stock has exceeded 8 per cent occasionally, investors need not get concerned as the portfolio is high on liquidity and quality.

A large-cap bias, consistency of returns and good downside protection makes it a good pick.

This article was originally published on April 07, 2010.