After an uneventful start, it began to get noticed in 2006, when Srinivas Rao Ravuri assumed charge. It then turned out to be acategory outperformer, barring a disappointing 2009.
Last year, Ravuris over-cautious stance made it a third-quartile category underperformer. The suddenness of the recovery caught him off guard. Despite the equity market starting an upward journey in March 2009, the fund did not lower exposure to defensive sectors and held on to cash up to July 2009. Typical to the fund house, he focused on companies that depended on domestic demand, with strong balance sheets.
He also avoided highly leveraged companies. His play-it-safe attitude backfired in 2009 but the current years year-to-date (YTD) returns show that he stands vindicated. In his search for good fundamentals, he often bets on sectors against the current tide. In 2006, his peers were neutral towards healthcare, while he increased allocation to it. Similarly, he pruned allocation to financial services, while increasing it to automobiles. In 2007, the fund was more into healthcare and basic engineering, while others chased metals. The pattern followed in 2008. Even some of his stock picks stand out for the lack of popularity when they first made an appearance in the portfolio. Such as C&C Constructions, Solar Industries, Ahmednagar Forgings, KNR Constructions, Emico Elecon (India) and Technocraft Industries India. Recently, he has been trimming exposure to midcaps and booked profits. On the whole, though its never had a smooth ride, its one of the better players in this category.
