Skip to main content

Mutual Fund Review: Fidelity Equity Fund

Launched in May 2005, Fidelity Equity Fund is a well diversified equity fund investing in stocks across market capitalisation and sectors. The fund, which is managed by Sandeep Kothari and Subramanian Balakrishnan, invests across large, mid and small cap stocks without any investment style bias. The asset under management of the fund stood at 3,273-crore as on October. Fidelity Equity fund has been Crisil Fund Rank 1 for the last two quarters in the Diversified Equity category

Impressive performance

The fund has been delivering impressive returns since its launch. The fund's compounded annualised returns since its inception have been 26 per cent till December 16, as compared to its benchmark's (BSE 200's) 21 per cent return during the same period. Over a five-year period, the fund returned 21 per cent, clearly outperforming the BSE 200 and peers, which returned 16 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively. Over the past one year, the fund benefited from the recent rally in stock-prices and delivered a CAGR of 28 per cent vis-à-vis 17 per cent by the BSE 200 and 20 per cent by its peers.

While `1,000 invested in the fund at inception would have grown to `3,706 as on December 16, a similar sum invested in the benchmark index and peer group would have grown to 2,848 and `2,941, respectively.

Investment approach

The fund's objective allows freedom to invest regardless of sector, market capitalisation or investment style. Thus, the fund manager can invest in large cap, mid cap or small cap stocks with growth or value styles. The fund's average exposure to Crisil defined large cap stocks over the last three years has been 76 per cent, while the balance exposure has been in small and mid cap stocks.

The fund follows a bottomup stock picking investment approach (prefers to focus on individual stocks rather than a top-down approach). The fund's performance during the market downturn and upturn proves testimonial to its bottom-up stock picking approach. When the markets started to decline from their historic highs in the beginning of 2008, Fidelity Equity fund fell by 35 per cent as compared to a 41 per cent fall in the BSE 200 from January 2008 till April 2009. When the markets started to recover from May 2009, Fidelity Equity fund gained 54 per cent as compared to a rise of 45 per cent by the BSE 200. Thus, the fund's ability to gain more in a market rally and bleed less in a market downturn stands out.

Portfolio analysis

Active cash calls: The fund has remained well invested in equities with an average exposure of 94 per cent over the last three years. The fund manager has taken active cash calls during the bear run starting May 2008 until April 2009 by maintaining an average cash exposure of 10 per cent during this period. Post this phase, the fund manager gradually lowered the cash exposure, bringing it to as low as 0.6 per cent in November 2009. Lately, the fund maintained 3.7 per cent as cash in its October portfolio.

Diversification: The fund held an average of 64 stocks in its portfolio over the past three years, thus representing a well diversified portfolio in terms of number of stocks. At the sector level, banking has been the most favoured sector with an 18 per cent exposure followed by pharma, IT and refineries constituting the next largest sector exposures (close to 7 per cent each) over the last three years.

Risk: The fund has been able to generate superior returns by maintaining a low volatility in its returns vis-à-vis peers and the benchmark index. The fund bears a relatively lower risk owing to its large cap tilt and hence provides more cushion to investors during times of market volatility.

 

Popular posts from this blog

What is Electronic Clearing Service (ECS)?

  As the name suggests, it's an electronic process through which money can be transferred from one bank account to another. According to RBI, this mode is usually used for regular payments and receipts, like distribution of dividend, interest, salary, pension etc. This mode is also used for collection of bills for telephone, electricity, water, various types of taxes, payment of EMIs , investments in mutual funds , payment of insurance premium etc. There are two types of ECS , like most other banking transactions, ECS credit and ECS debit. An ECS credit is used by a bank account holder , usually a large company or an institution for services like payment of dividend, in terest, salary, pension etc. If your mutual fund pays you dividend to your bank account, of all probability it is being paid through ECS credit.ECS debit, on the other hand, is used when a company or an institution is getting money from a large number of people. For example if you are investing in a mutual fund sc...

WEALTH TAX

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 WEALTH TAX   WHAT CONSTITUTES WEALTH? For wealth tax purposes, "wealth" means property , urban land, car, jewellery , yacht, boat, aircraft and cash in hand in excess of Rs 50,000. CAUTION POINT | Do not think you will have an easy escape from wealth tax by transferring your `wealth' without consideration to your spouse or minor child. Such assets will also be considered as your wealth. HOW TO DETERMINE YOUR TAXABLE WEALTH Add the taxable value of the above assets (computed as per the detailed rules for valuation) owned by you as on March 31 (for FY 2014-15, it will be March 31, 2015). In case you sold your car during the year, it will not be taxable wealth. Deduct loans if any obtained by you to acquire any of the taxable assets from the value of gross tax out for at least 300 days in a...

Equity Savings Fund

Invest Equity Savings Fund Online   The best part about these funds is that they are subject to equity fund taxation and at the same time are structured like MIP like funds . This new category, equity savings funds , offer a little of everything. They allocate money to equities & equity related instruments, and fixed income. They aim to generate returns by diversification. Such funds invest in fixed income and arbitrage to protect the investors from short term volatility and equity for capital gains. The best part of these funds is that they are subject to equity fund taxation and at the same time are structured like MIP funds.   MIP funds however are subject to debt fund taxation. Investors Equity savings funds are suitable for the following: First time investors who seek partial exposure to equity with less volatility and greater stability Investors seeking moderate capital appreciation with relatively lower risk Those wh...

How to Pick Top Performing Mutual Fund Schemes

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   How to Pick Performing Schemes  Funds that continue to stay in the top grade of performance over longer periods are the ones to bet on, advise investment experts   The mutual fund performance charts of the past few months make for an impressive reading. Funds across all categories boast of stellar returns. Sample this: The mid and small cap category has averaged 77 percent return over the past 12 months, with the best fund delivering a staggering 120 percent. The tax-saving funds also average an impressive 51 percent, including a fund which has soared 92 percent. Many of the table-toppers are funds of proven quality and track record. However, there are also schemes that are not that well-known. Some of these have rarely made it to the performance charts in the past, yet, of late, they bo...

8% Government of India Bonds quick guide

For those seeking comfort in safety of returns, the Government of India issued 8% savings bond once again comes to the fore. First launched in 2003, these bonds are issued by the government with a maturity of 6 years. The bonds are available at all times with specified distributors through whom you can apply to invest in them. Here is a quick guide to what the bond offers and its features to ascertain to check for suitability. What are Government of India bonds Government of India bonds are like any other government bonds with specified rate of interest. The rate is fixed at 8% per annum paid half yearly, or you can opt for cumulative payment of interest at the end of the tenure. You can buy these bonds from State Bank of India and its associates, other nationalized banks and some private sector banks such as HDFC Bank Ltd and ICICI Bank Ltd, among others. The bonds can be bought from the offices of Stock Holding Corporation of India as well. They are available in physical form onl...
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