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FUND PICK: Birla MIP

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SI Team Mumbai
Last Updated : Feb 06 2013 | 8:52 AM IST
Birla MIP delivers in good as well as bad times.
 
Birla MIP was launched in November 2000. The fund doesn't charges an entry load while it charges an exit load of 0.6 per cent for redemptions within 90 days and investments upto Rs 10 lakh.
 
The minimum initial investment should be Rs 5,000 and subsequent investments could be in multiples of Rs 1,000.
 
An enviable record of consistent performance has helped the fund - fourth-largest domestic MIP - to be ranked in the top half in the category.
 
A proactive approach to fund management has been the fund's hallmark. The fund manager has been quick to switch between the maturity profiles, as well as debt and equity, in accordance with the market conditions.
 
During 2001, the fund maintained an average exposure of 3.19 per cent to equities. High allocation to debt helped it steer comfortably through the turbulent equity markets.
 
As a result, it ranked third in the category of nine at that time. This performance was over-shadowed by exceptional returns that it delivered during 2002. The fund's performance during the year is remembered as the best since its inception.
 
A portfolio with an average maturity period of around three years during 2002 helped the fund make the most of the falling interest rates in the economy. As a result it managed category-beating returns of 15.36 per cent.
 
Since the start of 2003, when the tide turned favourable for the stock markets, the fund on an average increased its equity exposure to 12.51 per cent.
 
The fund underwent a rough patch in 2004 as a result of rising interest rates - the only year when it missed to match the average performance of the category. But that should not bother investors, considering the kind of performance that the fund has delivered at other times.
 
On the equities side, though the fund mostly sticks to large-caps, it is often aggressive with its sectoral bets. By the end of March, the top three sectors accounted for as much as 71.29 per cent of its equity portion.
 
State Bank of India, Bharti Tele Ventures and GlaxoSmithKline Pharma are among the favourite stocks of the fund. The fund has the ability to generate returns during good as well as bad times. 
 
Top holdings
As on April 30, 2005Value
(Cr)
Net
Assets
(%)
ICICI Bank (bonds)28.726.31
Bhel25.925.69
IDBI25.875.68
ICICI Bank (securitised debt)25.725.65
UTI Bank20.044.4
SBI17.333.81
ILFS16.863.7
Citicorp Finance15.13.32
Neyveli Lignite10.452.29
Rural Electrification Corp10.052.21
Oscar Investments10.012.2
Citifinancial Consumer Finance9.992.19
Citibank NA9.992.19
Kotak Mahindra Bank9.982.19
Power Finance Corp9.942.18
Gujarat Ambuja Cements8.981.97
Nuclear Power Corp7.771.71
 
The fund delivered negative returns only in seven months since its inception. But it never posted negative returns in consecutive months.

-Value Research

 

Returns in % as on May 26, 2005

Monthly income plans were the best performers among debt funds, giving a one-year return of 7.50 per cent.
 

Debt funds
(Average category returns)
 1 month1 year
MIP1.087.5
Debt - short term0.534.96
Floating rate0.464.94
Liquid funds0.444.65
Gilt - short term0.392.9
Debt - medium term0.531.93
Income funds0.460.77
Gilt - long term0.58-0.4

While the equity element in the portfolio boosted MIP returns, short-term debt funds (0.53 per cent) continued to rule the roost in pure debt category, followed by floating-rate funds.

Long-term gilt funds continued to be the worst among the whole lot. Returns were mostly in a range between 4.50 and 5.30 per cent among floating-rate funds. 
 

Floating-rate funds
 1 month1 year
DSP ML Floating Rate Fund0.485.29
Birla Floating Rate Fund - LTP0.475.19
UTI Floating Rate Fund - STP0.485.14
Grindlays FRF - STP - Plan C - Super I P0.465.09
Deutsche FRF0.465.08
Kotak Floater - ST0.455.07
Templeton Floating Rate Income Fund - ST0.485.05
Birla Floating Rate Fund - STP0.465.04
Tata FRF - ST0.455.02
Prudential ICICI FRF - Plan B0.445.01
LIC MF Floating Rate Fund0.474.99
HDFC FRIF - STF0.444.98

DSPML Floating-Rate Fund and Birla Floating-Rate Fund - Long Term were the best performers in the category.

 

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First Published: May 30 2005 | 12:00 AM IST

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