A consistent player

FUND PICK: Birla MIP

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, 2005	Value (Cr)	Net Assets (%)
ICICI Bank (bonds)	28.72	6.31
Bhel	25.92	5.69
IDBI	25.87	5.68
ICICI Bank (securitised debt)	25.72	5.65
UTI Bank	20.04	4.4
SBI	17.33	3.81
ILFS	16.86	3.7
Citicorp Finance	15.1	3.32
Neyveli Lignite	10.45	2.29
Rural Electrification Corp	10.05	2.21
Oscar Investments	10.01	2.2
Citifinancial Consumer Finance	9.99	2.19
Citibank NA	9.99	2.19
Kotak Mahindra Bank	9.98	2.19
Power Finance Corp	9.94	2.18
Gujarat Ambuja Cements	8.98	1.97
Nuclear Power Corp	7.77	1.71

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 month	1 year
MIP	1.08	7.5
Debt - short term	0.53	4.96
Floating rate	0.46	4.94
Liquid funds	0.44	4.65
Gilt - short term	0.39	2.9
Debt - medium term	0.53	1.93
Income funds	0.46	0.77
Gilt - long term	0.58	-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 month	1 year
DSP ML Floating Rate Fund	0.48	5.29
Birla Floating Rate Fund - LTP	0.47	5.19
UTI Floating Rate Fund - STP	0.48	5.14
Grindlays FRF - STP - Plan C - Super I P	0.46	5.09
Deutsche FRF	0.46	5.08
Kotak Floater - ST	0.45	5.07
Templeton Floating Rate Income Fund - ST	0.48	5.05
Birla Floating Rate Fund - STP	0.46	5.04
Tata FRF - ST	0.45	5.02
Prudential ICICI FRF - Plan B	0.44	5.01
LIC MF Floating Rate Fund	0.47	4.99
HDFC FRIF - STF	0.44	4.98

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