Equity markets are witnessing acute volatility right now. As if terrorist attacks in the US weren't enough, we also had terrorists taking shots at the Parliament House of all places. This has added to the uncertainty. So how does this affect the fund strategy of your fund manager. Use the Portfolio Analyser to help you ascertain that.
It's always a good thing to keep close tabs on what your fund manager is buying and selling. And this assumes even more importance in times as volatile as the current one. With political and economic turmoil becoming the order of the day, investors need to be more aware of what is happening around them and how their investments would fare against this backdrop. To simplify these and other issues, we regularly introduce tools that help investors in their decision-making process. The Portfolio Analyser is one such interactive tool.
By way of illustration, we have taken Birla Advantage Fund (BAF) to highlight how the fund manager's strategy has evolved over the past couple of years (see table below). A look at its portfolios in July 1999 to June 2000 reveals a heavy bias towards software stocks as was the case with most diversified equity funds in that period. In June 2000, the fund had as much as 43% in just two stocks Infosys (25.1%) and Visualsoft (18.4%) and over 50% if you include SSI (7.9%)
| COMPANY |
NOV 2001 |
JUN 2001 |
DEC 2000 |
JUN 2000 |
JUL 1999 |
| ARCHIES GREET. & GIFTS |
- |
- |
- |
- |
7.1% |
| BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES |
- |
- |
- |
- |
4.7% |
| CIPLA |
8.6% |
8.1% |
4.7% |
1.8% |
3.9% |
| DR. REDDY'S LABS |
8.4% |
6.8% |
- |
- |
- |
| GUJARAT GAS CO. |
- |
3.2% |
2.4% |
- |
- |
| HCL TECHNOLOGIES |
- |
3.6% |
- |
- |
- |
| HERO HONDA |
4.8% |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| HINDALCO |
3.6% |
4.1% |
- |
- |
- |
| HINDUSTAN LEVER |
- |
- |
- |
- |
7.6% |
| HUGHES SOFTWARE |
- |
- |
- |
3.5% |
- |
| I.T.C. |
4.6% |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| INDIAN SHAVING PROD. |
- |
- |
- |
- |
4.0% |
| INFOSYS TECH. |
7.3% |
6.9% |
12.1% |
25.1% |
20.3% |
| MOSER BAER (INDIA) LTD |
- |
3.3% |
- |
- |
- |
| NIIT |
- |
- |
5.2% |
- |
5.9% |
| PFIZER |
4.9% |
5.0% |
4.9% |
1.8% |
3.6% |
| PUNJAB TRACTORS |
- |
- |
- |
1.3% |
5.2% |
| RANBAXY LAB. |
4.4% |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| SATYAM COMPUTER SERV. |
4.8% |
- |
2.5% |
3.5% |
- |
| SSI |
- |
- |
4.8% |
7.9% |
- |
| SUBEX SYSTEMS |
- |
- |
- |
3.5% |
- |
| SUN PHARMA |
3.2% |
3.5% |
2.3% |
1.3% |
- |
| VISUALSOFT |
- |
- |
7.2% |
18.4% |
- |
| WIPRO |
- |
4.2% |
3.1% |
- |
- |
| ZEE TELEFILMS |
- |
- |
- |
- |
3.38% |
And much like its peers, software stocks beat a hasty retreat from the fund's portfolio soon after that, particularly Visualsoft, which disappeared altogether and Infosys now accounts for just 7.3% of net assets. Now, Birla Advantage Fund is mainly into pharma and old economy, just like other diversified equity funds. Even to a lay investor, what our tool the Portfolio Analyser has highlighted is the fund manager's strategy (or the lack of it) over the last couple of years. The investor has the flexibility to choose any 5 months of his choice to view portfolios and he can do this for all leading equity funds.
Visitors can do this with all other leading equity/sectoral funds to decide whether they want to remain with a particular fund or would like to migrate to another fund with a more intelligent fund management strategy
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