Skip to main content

Mutual Fund Review: HDFC Prudence

This good offering has kept up its torrid pace. Despite being a balanced offering, the fund has outperformed the Sensex and Nifty in 13 years (out of 16) of its existence.


With returns that match that of an all-equity diversified fund, it's not surprising that the fund is managing the highest assets in its category. As on March 2011, the fund had Rs 5,808 crore under its management, equivalent to almost half of the category assets.

 

The returns delivered by the fund are a result of its aggressive equity allocation. With the equity exposure of HDFC Prudence being capped at 75 per cent, it largely remains close to the upper limit and has averaged around 74 per cent since January 2007. It has gone up to a maximum of 76 per cent and has never gone below 71 per cent.

 

The aggression even extends to the composition of the portfolio in terms of market cap allocation. Although recently it has increased exposure to large-cap stocks to around half of fund's assets, it historically has been largely tilted towards mid- and small-cap stocks since 2004. Even during the market meltdown of 2008, its average mid- and small-cap stock allocation was a bold three fourth of its equity portfolio.

 

Jain has no problem moving against the herd, as reflected in his sector selection and even in his stock picks. In 2007, when other fund managers were betting on Real Estate and Energy, he preferred casting his bets elsewhere. In 2007, exposure to Autos stood at around 8 per cent while allocation to Energy was lowered to around 3 per cent by December. BSE Auto delivered 3 per cent while BSE Oil & Gas and BSE Power delivered 115.25 per cent and 122 per cent, respectively.

 

Naturally, he was punished for it. But in 2008, he managed to curtail the fund's fall to the average and bounced back with a vengeance in 2009.


Currently, there are 15 stocks in which less than 10 other funds are invested in. Eleven of these stocks have been in the fund's portfolio for at least two years; Savita Oil Technologies (since 2005) being a case in point. On the flip side, some of the picks popular with its peers are conspicuously absent here. For instance, it was only in February 2011 that the fund added Reliance Industries to its portfolio while prior to that it had invested in it for a brief period (3 months) in January 2009.

 

On the debt side, the fund largely invests in debentures of the Financial Services sector. It also invests in GOI Securities and the allocation to it has recently risen to around 11 per cent. Though the fund sports a diversified equity portfolio of 80 stocks with none having an allocation of more than 5 per cent, it is still an aggressive offering.
 

Popular posts from this blog

Debt Mutual Fund Dividends are Taxable

DDT is deducted when a non-equity fund declares dividends. Equity and balanced fund dividends are tax-free The AMC is correct to deduct the dividend distribution tax (DDT) as it is mandated by tax laws. DDT in mutual funds is deducted every time a non-equity fund declares dividends. Equity fund and balanced fund dividends are tax-free . It is possible that you have invested in a non-equity fund for the first time or have received the dividend under a non-equity fund for the first time. That is why this is the first occasion when you have come across DDT.   The rate at which non-equity schemes deduct DDT has also gone up after the July 2014 budget. This is due to a change in calculation methodology. Earlier, if the fund has to declare a dividend of R 100, it used to make a provision for R 128.3, paying R 28.3 to the taxman and distributing the balance to the investor. This allowed the investor to bear less tax since the effective tax rate was 22.07 per ce...

Franklin India High Growth Companies Fund

Franklin India High Growth Companies Fund Online One of the key developments that the Street is keenly waiting for is a cut in interest rates by Reserve Bank of India . With demand rising gradually, a rate cut is expected to boost earnings growth for companies. In such a situation, schemes which invest in high growth companies are best suited, especially when seen from a long-term perspective. One such scheme is Franklin India High Growth Companies Fund. Fund managers Anand Radhakrishnan, Roshi Jain and Srikesh Nair strictly follow valuation parameters when it comes to choosing stocks.Valuation parameters, such as enterprise value, price-to-earnings growth ratio, forward price-to-sales ratio and discounted earnings per share, play a critical role in selecting companies for investments. Taking into account these parameters, the fund managers invest in companies which are poised for high growth in their respective sectors. This approach has been in favour of the scheme and it has perform...

Atal Pension Yojana contribution Tax Benefit for spouse

Contributions to Atal Pension Yojana (APY) are eligible for the same tax benefits as the NPS. This means that the contributions can be claimed under Section 80CCD (1B). The current limit for Section 80CCD (1B) is   Rs   50,000, over and above the   Rs   1.5 lakh limit under Section 80C. Section 80 CCD (1) is a different one, meant to cover employers' contribution towards NPS . You cannot get tax benefit by investing in the name of your spouse under Section 80 CCD . ------------------------------ ----------------- Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Mutual Funds Top 10 Tax Saver Mutual Funds to invest in India for 2016 Best 10 ELSS Mutual Funds in India for 2016 1. BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund 2. Axis Tax Saver Fund 3. Religare Tax Plan 4. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund 5. Franklin India TaxShield 6. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund 7. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund 8. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96 9. ...

Avoid NFOs

  Don't get taken in by the flurry of new fund offers. You will be better off sticking to the tried and tested schemes.   For the past one year, to cash in on the bull run in equities, mutual fund houses have gone on a new fund offer (NFO) overdrive. But experts are unanimous in their advice: avoid NFOs . While past performance is not an indicator of how a fund will fare in the future, it does tell the investor how skilful the fund manager is. This crucial information is missing in an NFO. Not only is there no track record to judge an NFO by, many NFOs are similar to funds that already exist. If the new fund is similar to existing funds, you are better off investing in the latter. Around 67% of the new launches in 2014 were closed-end products. Investing in the NFO of a closed-end fund is doubly risky. In case the fund's performance is lacklustre, a closed-end fund does not allow you to exit. Even though closed-end funds are listed on the stock...

Mutual Fund Exit Load Changes

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Buy Gold Mutual Funds Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300 Mutual Fund Exit Load Changes AMCs don't communicate about any change in exit load directly with investors, but do update on their website   The exit load applicable to your investments is the load which existed at the time when you invested in the particular fund. Any subsequent changes in the exit load will not be applicable to your investments.   However, Asset Management Companies ( AMCs ) periodically publish addendums in the newspapers, which state any change in exit loads of specific schemes managed by them. Such changes are also posted on their websites. However, a direct communication to an investor is not made, considering the costs involved in doing so. In their own interests, investors should not only track the performance of the funds they i...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now