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(The Hindu Business Line 3rd April 2008) 31 out of 33 MFs reported declines in assets under management The asset base of the mutual fund industry fell 6.61 per cent in March 2008, according to the data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). ‘Pull-outs’ by corporates and banks, mark-to-market losses during the month and withdrawals by banks from debt funds drove down the collective assets under management, said industry experts. Thirty one of the 33 mutual fund houses reported declines in their assets under management (AUM), the exceptions being Birla Sun Life whose AUM rose 3.46 per cent and Mirae Asset Management which reported its AUM for the first time. The total mutual fund asset base declined by Rs 37,394.10 crore in March. The assets under management as of March-end stood at Rs 5,27,705.93 crore, against Rs 5,65,100.04 crore a month ago. The asset base had shown an increase of 3.17 per cent for the month of February, which was mainly on the back of Reliance ...

The Hindu Busienss Line HSBC Equity: Invest Investors seeking exposure to large-cap stocks can consider investing in HSBC Equity. The fund has built a strong track record over the last five years, when bulls have ruled the roost. HSBC Equity has delivered an annualised return of 55 per cent and figures in the top ten of fund rankings. Its performance in 2006 and 2007 has not been as impressive as peers DSPML Top 100 Equity and Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity. But the fund is a fairly consistent performer, having outperformed the Nifty in four out of five years and has a demonstrated ability to contain downside during market corrections. Investors can utilise market dips to add to their exposures in the fund. Suitability: HSBC Equity is a predominantly large-cap fund and tends to stick to its mandate more strictly than most diversified equity funds. Only about 15 per cent of its assets are invested in stocks with a market capitalisation of less than Rs 10,000 crore. HSBC Equity tends to...

MFs accumulate more large caps in January (The Hindu Business Line 15th Feb 2008)Mutual funds, which diluted their holdings in index heavyweights in favour of mid and small-cap stocks a few months ago, appear to be returning to large cap stocks. An analysis of the January portfolio (latest available) disclosed by mutual funds shows that more than half of the top 50 stocks were drawn from the large caps. Fund houses may have used the sharp meltdown in indices that began in mid-January to add to their holdings in frontline stocks. Recently listed Future Capital was accumulated by 115 schemes along with Reliance Petroleum, Tata Chemicals, Thermax, Sintex Industries and Cairn that moved into the top 50 slots. Seven stocks moved out of the top fifty between December and January and a new set moved in. Reliance Industries continues to be at top of the list. Taking the correction in their stride, fund houses added the stock to their portfolio. Stocks such as BGR Energy, Power Grid Corporation...

Investors prefer existing MF schemes than NFOs (Business Standard 30th June 2008) Investors may prefer to invest in the existing schemes of mutual fund houses instead of putting money into new fund offerings, after the Indian markets went into a tailspin following weak global cues and a situation of tight liquidity in India, feel most distributors. Eleven new fund offerings are currently open including AIG Infrastructure and Economic Reform Fund, HDFC Infrastructure Fund, Reliance Natural Resources Fund, ICICI Prudential Fusion, Lotus India Mid and Small Cap Fund and two from JM Mutual Fund’s stable, JM Core 11 fund and JM Tax Gain fund. Since several NFOs have opened as recently as last week, exact collection figures could not be obtained. Existing schemes have seen inflows rather than redemptions. “We have got fresh inflows in the last one week or so at least to the extent of our fortnightly average,” said a senior official from DSPML Mutual Fund. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benc...

Mutual funds defy notions, match stock market in decline (Live mint.com 23th Jan 2008)Belying notions that mutual funds, even the equity ones, are safer than the stock markets, the net asset values (NAVs) of around 300 equity-based mutual funds have fallen on an average by around 14% since 10 January (till the evening of Monday), comparable to the 15% fall in the Sensex, the benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, in the same period. The Sensex fell by almost 5% on Tuesday. NAVs of the mutual funds were expected later in the evening. Fund managers say excessive exposure to mid-cap, or stocks with medium market capitalization, is one reason for the sharp decline in NAVs. “Mutual funds have moved in line with the decline of the stock markets because most diversified funds have good exposure to mid-cap,” said Ajay Bagga, chief executive officer of Lotus India Asset Management Co. Pvt. Ltd. There was no real difference between the best- and worst-performing equity funds. The 20 wors...

MFs that bore the brunt of mkts mayhem (CNBC- TV18, Moneycontrol.com 22th Jan 2008)Most of the mutual funds, especially the five-star mutual funds that have done exceptionally well since their inception – they have fallen anywhere between 20-25%. Some of the better-known funds like the Reliance Growth Fund, DSP ML Tiger Fund, Kotak Opportunity Funds – they have all fallen. This could be an opportunity for traders who have missed the train.Some of the funds - like the Reliance NRI Equity Fund has fallen nearly 20%, Kotak Opportunity Fund, a good midcap-spotting fund with AUM are around Rs 450 crore has fallen around 19%, the DSP ML Tiger Fund which has grown from nearly Rs 200 crore AUM to nearly Rs 4700 crore AUM has fallen nearly 20% from its peak, Reliance Growth – it has done well in the last 5 years has fallen 20% too. Read complete article

Top 10 growth-oriented, open-ended mutual funds in 2007 Scheme NAV* (Rs) Returns (Per cent) Reliance Diversified Power Sector Fund 79.51 129.72 Taurus Discovery Stock 30.65 114.71 JM Basic Fund 38.09 113.71 Taurus Libra Taxshield 34.79 112.25 Standard Chartered Premier Equity Fund 25.56 108.16 ICICI Prudential Infrastructure Fund 34.65 99.2 Canara Robeco Infrastructure 26.30 97.45 Sundaram BNP Paribas Capex Opportunities Fund 32.77 96.73 Taurus The Starshare 77.08 96.18 Kotak Opportunities Fund 52.51 95.04 * As on Dec 13, 2007; Source: Rediff MoneyWiz

JM Financial Mutual Fund + JM Basic Fund - Growth (Annual Return 92.17%) Reliance Mutual Fund + Reliance Diversified Power Sector Fund - Dividend (Annual Return 82.57 %) Standard Chartered Mutual Fund + Standard Chartered Premier Equity Fund - Growth (Annual Return 82.55 %) Standard Chartered Mutual Fund + Standard Chartered Premier Equity Fund - Dividend (Annual Return 82.55 %) Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual Fund + Sundaram BNP Paribas Capex Opportunities Fund - Growth (Annual Return 77.31%) .. more