Helios Flexi Cap Fund is bold and beautiful, guns 10 per cent alpha in first year

It's not every day that a flexi-cap fund delivers 10 per cent alpha in its first year. Helios Flexi Cap Fund, which completes its first year in November , is only the 12th such fund to do so.

That's not the only feather in Helios Flexi Cap Fund's cap.

For starters, the fund invested 100 per cent of its investors' money in the market at a time when many other funds sat on cash due to concerns over market valuations.

Secondly, despite boldly deploying all the money in a seemingly expensive market, Helios Flexi Cap Fund fell just 3.1 per cent in October, compared to the overall market tumbling more than double that, at 6.5 per cent. For those confused as to what's so remarkable about this, here's a cricketing analogy: Helios swung its bat to a century on a seaming and swinging pitch, whereas the cautious market's defensive shot was nicked to the slips.

Bold as Helios

Helios also did some out-of-the-box thinking. It invested 15-20 per cent of its assets in companies that were held by less than 20 diversified equity schemes.

Even now, Helios has a fifth of the money in 20 such unusual stocks.

And boy, have they delivered?

Six such stocks held since inception have contributed to 80 per cent of the alpha. These Super Six stocks have played an integral role in Helios Flexi Cap Fund delivering 42.3 per cent in its first 12 months, against the overall market's 31.7 per cent growth during the same time.

Beginner's luck curse?

Helios Flexi Cap Fund has clearly had a memorable first 12 months.

That said, it has just completed its first year. Since one swallow doesn't make a summer, we suggest allowing the fund to undergo the market grind for at least two more years before we can at least quantitatively rate them.

Until then, we can only wait and watch this fund's journey.

Also read : Multi-asset funds are the second-most popular choice today. Should you invest?