Skip to main content

Sundaram Select Small Cap Fund

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms

Small cap stocks are the companies which fall at the bottom of the hierarchy of market capitalisation pyramid. These are the companies which are not as established as the large cap ones. But such companies tend to have the highest growth potential. They are often less researched and hence, are more often than not, available at a discount to the market valuation. Investment in these companies can be highly rewarding over a longer term only, as these companies need considerable time to grow in size. However, these companies often show fluctuations in profits and at times struggle to sustain when the going gets tougher. For this reason, investment in small caps is considered risky but it could be rewarding too.

Sundaram Select Small Cap Fund (SSSCF) is one such close-ended fund from the stable of Sundaram Mutual Fund, which follows a growth style of investing. Being launched in February 2007 the fund has completed a little over 4 ½ years now.

The fund's primary investment objective is "to generate consistent long-term returns by investing predominantly in equity / equity related instruments of companies that can be termed as smallcaps."

SSSCF follows a mandate of investing 65% - 100% of its assets in equity and equity related securities of small companies, while not refraining from investing upto 35% exposure in companies other than small caps. Also having a defensive consideration the scheme may also invest upto 35% of its assets in debt and money market instruments to manage its liquidity requirements.

Over the past one year SSSCF's has held a dominant exposure to small and mid-caps ranging from 49% - 97%. But ascertaining the recent volatility in the Indian equity markets steered by global and domestic economic worries, the fund has gradually taken exposure in the large cap space since August 2011 (ranging from 10% - 22%) thus preferring to be defensive. Also since July 2011 the fund has preferred to take aggressive cash calls (ranging from 3% - 40%) citing the volatility in the small and mid-cap domain.

 

Equity Portfolio

Holdings

June 2011

July 2011

Aug 2011

Sept 2011

Oct 2011

Wabco India Ltd.

9.8

11.6

12.0

12.4

13.1

Rallis India Ltd.

6.1

6.3

7.0

7.3

6.3

Bata India Ltd.

8.0

7.4

6.8

4.5

4.9

Magma Fincorp Ltd

5.0

4.9

5.4

5.0

4.4

Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

-

-

2.0

3.0

4.4

Indian Bank

-

-

-

3.6

4.0

Bharti Airtel Ltd.

-

-

1.9

2.7

3.8

Sundaram-Clayton Ltd.

3.6

3.6

3.5

3.5

3.7

Time Technoplast Ltd.

3.8

3.6

3.8

3.6

3.5

Mcleod Russel India Ltd.

4.8

4.7

4.4

3.5

3.5

 

As far the portfolio is concerned, SSSCF's latest portfolio constitutes of both 'A' and 'B' group stocks, but 'A' group ones hold a dominance (constituting 59% of its total equity portfolio). In the top-10 holdings, stocks such as Hindustan Unilever Ltd. and Indian Bank Ltd. (which are the 'A' group ones), have been new entrants in the fund's portfolio is the last one year, as the fund has preferred adopting a gradual defensive stance in the present volatility of the Indian equity markets. Similar defensive approach has also been observed in the SSSCF's "other than top-10 holdings", where it has added large cap stocks such as Hero MotoCorp Ltd., ITC Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., HDFC Ltd., State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda in the last one year. However the fund has refrained from churning aggressively as revealed by its petite portfolio turnover ratio of 0.71 times.



Being benchmarked to the BSE Small Cap Index, SSSCF holds 22 stocks in its latest portfolio (i.e. as On October 31, 2011), where the top-10 stocks and top-5 sectors constitute 51.6% and 43.2% respectively of its total portfolio. It is noteworthy that while undertaking its stock picking activity SSSCF follows a bottom-up approach, and takes exposure across sectors.

 

How SSSCF has fared vis-à-vis its peers

Scheme Name

6-Mth (%)

1-Yr (%)

3-Yr (%)

5-Yr (%)

Std. Dev. (%)

Sharpe Ratio

DSPBR Small & Mid Cap-Reg(G)

-12.2

-18.8

36.3

8.0

8.64

0.28

Sundaram Select Small Cap(G)

-6.9

-18.2

33.7

-

9.71

0.23

ING C.U.B(G)

-17.2

-23.1

31.4

5.0

9.38

0.21

Birla SL Small & Midcap(G)

-8.0

-19.5

31.1

-

9.01

0.23

Franklin India Smaller Cos(G)

-15.0

-21.8

29.8

2.2

9.12

0.21

Reliance Small Cap(G)

-15.4

-18.0

-

-

4.79

-0.32

BSE SMALLCAP

-26.3

-39.1

22.9

-1.8

7.94

0.17

 

The table above reveals that, so far the performance of SSSCF has been quite luring. Over a 3-Yr time frame, the fund has clocked a return of 33.7% CAGR, thereby outperforming its benchmark by a substantial margin.

However when assessed on the volatility front, SSSCF has exposed its investor to highest risk (as revealed by its Standard Deviation of 9.71%). While this is the trait of a small cap funds, the risk adjusted returns (as reveled by the Sharp Ratio of 0.23) are quite middling considering the risk involved, thus making it a high risk-average return investment proposition in the category.

 

Fund Manager Profile

Name of the Fund Manager

Mr. Satish Ramanathan

Total Work Experience

Over 16 years

Managing the fund since

Sep-07

Qualifications

B.Tech, MBA, CFA

As seen above while Sundaram Small Cap Fund's returns are quite luring, the same have been clocked by exposing its investors to very high risk. Moreover for the risk exposure, the risk-adjusted returns generated by the fund are middling thus making it a high risk- average return investment proposition in the category.

While the fund is taking a gradual exposure in the large cap segment as a defensive strategy during the present volatility of the Indian equity markets, it may not be able to keep pace with the present luring returns generated by the fund. Hence given the above we think that whenever an exit window is available for this close-ended fund, existing investors should exit from the fund.

Investing in small cap stocks is always risky as they are often illiquid and tend to fall more during the market downtrend. Investing in a fund focusing on the small cap space is subject to all these risks and hence instead of concentrating only on the absolute returns; other attributes of these funds should also be analysed carefully before investing in them.

Happy Investing!!

We can help. Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write back to us at PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

--------------------------------------------

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Transact Mutual Fund Online

 

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms

 

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds:
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
    2. Large and Midcap Funds
      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
    3. Mid and SmallCap Funds
      1. Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund
      2. DSP BlackRock Small & Midcap Fund
      3. Sundaram Select Midcap
      4. IDFC Premier Equity Fund
    4. Small and MicroCap Funds
      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund
    5. Sector Funds
      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
    6. Gold Mutual Funds
      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund

 

Popular posts from this blog

Am you Required to E-file Tax Return?

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   Am I Required to 'E-file' My Return? Yes, under the law you are required to e-file your return if your income for the year is Rs. 500,000 or more. Even if you are not required to e-file your return, it is advisable to do so for the following benefits: i) E-filing is environment friendly. ii) E-filing ensures certain validations before the return is filed. Therefore, e-returns are more accurate than the paper returns. iii) E-returns are processed faster than the paper returns. iv) E-filing can be done from the comfort of home/office and you do not have to stand in queue to e-file. v) E-returns can be accessed anytime from the tax department's e-filing portal. For further information contact Prajna Capit...

IDFC - Long term infrastructure bonds - Tranche 2

IDFC - Long term infrastructure bonds What are infrastructure bonds? In 2010, the government introduced a new section 80CCF under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (" Income Tax Act ") to provide for income tax deductions for subscription to long-term infrastructure bonds and pursuant to that the Central Board of Direct Taxes passed Notification No. 48/2010/F.No.149/84/2010-SO(TPL) dated July 9, 2010. These long term infrastructure bonds offer an additional window of tax deduction of investments up to Rs. 20,000 for the financial year 2010-11. This deduction is over and above the Rs 1 lakh deduction available under sections 80C, 80CCC and 80CCD read with section 80CCE of the Income Tax Act. Infrastructure bonds help in intermediating the retail investor's savings into infrastructure sector directly. Long term infrastructure Bonds by IDFC IDFC issued an earlier tranche of these long term infrastructure bonds on November 12, 2010. This is the second public issue of long-te...

Section 80CCD

Top SIP Funds Online   Income tax deduction under section 80CCD Under Income Tax, TaxPayers have the benefit of claiming several deductions. Out of the deduction avenues, Section 80CCD provides t axpayer deductions against investments made in specific sector s. Under Section 80CCD, an assessee is eligible to claim deductions against the contributions made to the National Pension Scheme or Atal Pension Yojana. Contributions made by an employer to National Pension Scheme are also eligible for deductions under the provisions of Section 80 CCD. In this article, we will take a look at the primary features of this section, the terms and conditions for claiming deductions, the eligibility to claim such deductions, and some of the commonly asked questions in this regard. There are two parts of Section 80CCD. Subsection 1 of this section refers to tax deductions for all assesses who are central government or state government employees, or self-employed or employed by any other employers. In...

ULIP Review: ProGrowth Super II

  If you are interested in a death cover that's just big enough, HDFC SL ProGrowth Super II is something worth a try. The beauty is it has something for everybody — you name the risk profile, the category is right up there. But do a SWOT analysis of the basket, and the gloss fades     HDFC SL ProGrowth Super II is a type-II unit-linked insurance plan ( ULIP ). Launched in September 2010, this is a small ticket-size scheme with multiple rider options and adequate death cover. It offers five investment options (funds) — one in each category of large-cap equity, mid-cap equity, balanced, debt and money market fund. COST STRUCTURE: ProGrowth Super II is reasonably priced, with the premium allocation charge lower than most others in the category. However, the scheme's mortality charge is almost 60% that of LIC mortality table for those investing early in life. This charge reduces with age. BENEFITS: Investors can choose a sum assured between 10-40 times the annualised premium...

EPFO can pay 8.5% interest in 2009-10

THE Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation can comfortably offer 8.5% interest rate to its 4.41 crore depositors during 2009-10 and still record a surplus contrary to Rs 139-crore losses suffered by it for giving the same benefit during the current fiscal. The issue of return to the depositors would be discussed at a meeting of the ‘finance and investment committee’ (FIC) on Thursday, agenda for which lists that maintaining an 8.5% interest could still give the fund a surplus of Rs 6.4 crore on the investment made by the fund. If EPFO maintains the interest rate of 8.5% on PF deposits, there will be a surplus of Rs 6.4 crore at an estimated income of Rs 12,994 crore in 2009-10. In case the interest is raised to 8.75%, the fund would suffer a loss of Rs 366.77 crore and the deficit would be still higher at Rs 739.94 crore if the rate of interest is fixed at 9%. FIC gives recommendations on financial matters to the apex EPFO body Central Board of Trustees (CBT), which takes the final ...
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