This fund is great if you don’t want to be too crushed when the market dives. It won’t give you an exciting ride when the bulls are rallying, but its excellent downside protection capabilities have resulted in a competitive track record.
Take a look at the returns during the market rallies of 2007 and 2009. This fund delivered slightly lower than the category average. But in 2008 it was the third least hit fund in the category. In 2011 too it managed to find itself at the top of the ladder.
The fund manager claims to adhere to a bottom-up approach and looks for companies whose current market price, in his opinion, does not reflect future growth prospects. “We choose companies that have identifiable drivers of future earnings growth and that present, in our opinion, the best trade-off between earnings growth potential, business and financial risk, and valuation. We also consider such factors as the company’s financial strength, management’s expertise, the company’s growth potential within the industry, and the industry’s growth potential,” says Radhakrishnan.
The result of his analysis seems to favour large-cap companies. Exposure to large caps has averaged around 70 per cent since launch while it has not gone above 10 per cent in small caps in its entire history of around 11 years. According to Radhakrishnan, “The fund follows a diversified strategy with respect to industry as well as market capitalization. We don’t look at the market cap of a stock before investing. The fund has not hesitated to pick up mid- or small-cap ideas where it perceives favourable long-term potential.”
Don’t expect this fund to chase sectors which are the flavour of the season. In 2007 it remained underweight in Oil & Gas and Power, the top performing sectors. In 2009, allocation to Auto averaged just 3 per cent, a year in which the BSE Auto performed extremely well. To add to it, allocation to FMCG dropped to below 10 per cent - BSE FMCG delivered the lowest among sector indices that year.
What you will find here is a large-cap oriented, quality portfolio where the fund manager refrains from strong cash calls. The portfolio appears more concentrated than its peers but is not more aggressive. The fund doesn’t deviate much from the average in terms of performance and is among the least volatile funds in its category. Its ability to stem the downside is its trump card. And that makes it stand out in the long run.
This article was originally published on February 02, 2012.
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