It was another positive week for investors as markets closed in positive terrain (for the eighth successive week) to breach the 12,000-point barrier. The BSE Sensex appreciated by 0.76% and closed the week at 12,010, while the S&P CNX Nifty ended at 3,479 points (up by 0.23%). The CNX Midcap posted a gain of 0.38% and closed at 4,522 points.
Leading open-ended diversified equity funds
| Diversified Equity Funds | NAV (Rs) | 1-Wk | 1-month | 6-month | 1-year | SD | SR |
| Chola Growth | 27.68 | 2.03% | 6.71% | 4.61% | 31.31% | 7.20% | 0.35% |
| Fidelity Equity | 17.76 | 1.73% | 5.61% | 4.02% | 32.22% | 10.06% | 0.34% |
| Birla India Gen Next | 13.61 | 1.72% | 7.17% | 1.49% | 25.32% | 10.48% | 0.18% |
| Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity | 43.66 | 1.58% | 5.77% | 11.46% | 42.31% | 7.02% | 0.42% |
| Deutsche Investment Opp. | 20.65 | 1.52% | 6.66% | 5.09% | 36.03% | 9.10% | 0.29% |
(The Sharpe Ratio is a measure of the returns offered by the fund vis-à-vis those offered by a risk-free instrument) (Standard deviation highlights the element of risk associated with the fund.)
Chola Growth (2.03%) emerged as the top performer in diversified equity funds segment. Fidelity Equity (1.73%) took the second position, closely followed by Birla India GenNext (1.72%).
Recently, the Personalfn Research Team interviewed Sanjay Sinha, Head of Equity at SBI Mutual Fund. Sinha gave his views on the equity markets, the economy and spoke at length about the investment philosophy followed at SBI Mutual Fund.
On being quizzed about the likely performance of mid cap stocks going forward, he said "as long as there is strong momentum of growth in the economy and we have corporate performance being significantly good, in my view there will be a lot of room for mid caps to shine".
Leading open-ended long-term debt funds
| Debt Funds | NAV (Rs) | 1-Wk | 1-month | 6-month | 1-year | SD | SR |
| Birla Income Plus | 29.77 | 0.15% | 0.71% | 3.24% | 4.53% | 0.35% | -0.64% |
| Birla Sun Life Income | 24.82 | 0.15% | 0.91% | 3.77% | 5.17% | 0.45% | -0.42% |
| Birla Dynamic Bond | 11.07 | 0.14% | 0.56% | 3.05% | 5.32% | 0.14% | -0.93% |
| Tata Income | 24.37 | 0.14% | 0.52% | 2.21% | 8.87% | 1.40% | -0.02% |
| PruICICI Flexible Income | 13.18 | 0.13% | 0.57% | 3.46% | 4.80% | 0.25% | -0.51% |
The 10-year 7.59% GOI yield closed at 7.83% (September 15, 2006), 13 basis points above the previous weekly close. Bond yields and prices are inversely related with rising yields translating into lower bond prices and net asset values (NAVs) for debt fund investors.
Funds from Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund dominated proceedings in the debt funds segment. Birla Income Plus (0.15%) and Birla Sun Life Income (0.15%) shared the top position followed by Birla Dynamic Bond (0.14%). Tata Income (0.14%) and PruICICI Flexible Income (0.13%) also featured in the list.
This week we profiled the OptiMix Dynamic Multi-Manager FoF Scheme NFO. The fund is a 3-year close-ended asset allocation scheme under the fund of funds category. It is mandated to invest upto 100% of its assets in equity funds with the option to shift the entire corpus to debt funds depending on market conditions.
Despite its unique proprietary process, the fund's expertise in the selection of underlying AMCs and schemes (in domestic markets) is yet to be tested over the long-term (3-5 years).
Leading open-ended balanced funds
| Balanced funds | NAV (Rs) | 1-Wk | 1-month | 1-year | 3-year | SD | SR |
| UTI Balanced | 52.03 | 1.23% | 5.07% | 25.01% | 29.51% | 4.92% | 0.30% |
| Birla Sun Life 95 | 155.92 | 1.00% | 3.91% | 21.73% | 34.89% | 5.93% | 0.35% |
| Birla Balance | 25.53 | 0.95% | 5.19% | 24.84% | 28.26% | 5.22% | 0.31% |
| JM Balanced | 20.57 | 0.88% | 3.06% | 32.03% | 28.94% | 6.61% | 0.31% |
| HDFC Balance | 29.49 | 0.87% | 3.94% | 22.78% | 29.56% | 5.43% | 0.31% |
UTI Balanced (1.23%) surfaced as the best performer in the balanced funds segment. Birla Sun Life 95 (1.00%) and Birla Balance (0.95%) came in at second and third positions respectively.
Investment opportunities continue to compete for a share of the investor's wallet. You have a leading private sector AMC (Asset Management Company) filing for the much-touted Gold ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund), a new AMC planning to launch its very first NFO in the market, some new funds (NFOs) that are still on offer and in the midst of all this, investors have to contend with looming tax-planning commitments.
In terms of priority, our vote goes for tax-planning. Often investors are so 'enamoured' by the steady supply of investment opportunities, that critical investments related to tax-planning get sidelined until it's too late. Our advice with a little over 6 months left for March 2007, first tie up your tax planning investments and then focus on other investment opportunities.
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