Basics in place

FUND PICK: Franklin FMCG Fund

Equity Holdings
(As on September 30, 2005)

Value
 (Rs cr)

Net assets (%)

ITC

4.51

13.31

Pidilite Industries

3.35

9.88

Tata Tea

2.73

8.06

Hindustan Lever

2.36

6.94

Nestle India

2.35

6.94

Marico

2.12

6.26

Britannia Industries

1.91

5.62

Tata Coffee

1.72

5.06

Goodlass Nerolac Paints

1.71

5.04

Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care

1.59

4.69

Asian Paints (India)

1.50

4.43

Godrej Consumer Products

1.50

4.41

J K Investo Trade (India)

1.25

3.67

Zee Telefilms

1.04

3.06

 For example in 2000, when FMCG stocks were out of favour, it managed the downside well. However, in favourable 2003 it failed to match the returns of peers. Greater emphasis on large-cap stocks let the fund down.  The situation is somewhat different now. The fund manager has adjusted his approach and started to invest in mid- and smaller companies liberally. The result has so far been encouraging. The fund has gained 42.77 per cent in the year to date as on October 31, 2005.

-Value Research

 

Returns in % as on November 2, 2005

Equity fund performances improved to an extent, thanks to the gains in equity markets last week.

While all fund categories continued be in the red as far as performance in the past month was concerned, it has shown an improvement compared to the previous week.

Over the past one-year period, their performances continued to be creditable, with FMCG funds again topping the charts. This category returned 76.16 per cent for the past year, followed by banking sector funds at 62.57 per cent and tax planning funds at 56.02 per cent.

Petroleum funds continued to be at the bottom, returning only 13.01 per cent for the past year. SBI Mutual Fund dominated the one-year table for diversified funds, with four of their funds in the top 5.
 

EQUITY FUNDS Average category returns (%)
	1 month	1 year
FMCG	-5.05	76.16
Banking	-11.72	62.57
Tax planning	-6.87	56.02
Diversified	-6.67	49.56
Auto	-5.56	46.62
Technology	-2.54	40.23
Index	-7.18	36.86
Pharma	-8.10	19.02
Petroleum	-6.76	13.01
LEADERS Diversified funds
	1 month	1 year
SBI Magnum Emg.Business	-8.62	92.46
SBI Magnum Global Fund	-7.26	87.30
SBI Magnum Multiplier	-6.91	85.32
SBI Magnum Sector	-4.86	85.04
Reliance Growth	-8.25	74.53
Prudential ICICI Discovery	-7.52	70.73
Franklin India Prima	-4.21	69.44
Prudential ICICI Emerging	-8.76	67.70
Birla SunLife Equity Fund	-7.77	66.41
Sundaram Select Midcap	-6.00	64.67
LAGGARDS Diversified funds
	1 month	1 year
PRINCIPAL Global Opp.	-0.14	13.36
LIC Equity Fund	-8.24	25.21
Deutsche Investment Opp.	-8.41	30.10
PRINCIPAL Dividend Yield	-5.45	31.67
Principal Resurgent India	-7.02	32.42
LIC MF Growth Fund	-6.63	32.83
UTI Master Growth	-6.80	33.73
UTI India Advantage Equity	-5.69	33.86
Deutsche Alpha Equity	-4.03	34.78
Birla India Opportunities	-3.00	35.84
Source: www.mutualfundsindia.com