The past year (August 2012-August 2013) has been very tricky for the Indian markets given the macro scene which showed no signs of improvement coupled with the rapid depreciation in the rupee. Over the same time, gross domestic product (GDP) estimates were revised downwards and earnings' downgrades became a norm. Adding to these woes, was a comment from Fed about the immediate likelihood of the US Fed beginning to taper of the $85-billion per month quantitative easing (QE) that has been on since September 2012. However, there were stocks which moved either ways sharply on news based information.
Globally, Asian markets had a rough time on worries about China's sluggish growth. US markets saw mixed data points dictating market moves. It is in this environment, the six participants of Smart Portfolio had to struggle it out to log in maximum gains and beat the S&P CNX 500 (benchmark index for Smart Portfolio) which moved up by 3.4 per cent during the period under review.
Of the six participants, only Shardul Kulkarni of Angel Broking and Taher Badshah of Motilal Oswal AMC managed to beat the benchmark index with gains of 27 per cent and five per cent, respectively.
SHARDUL KULKARNI
Head, Technical Research, Angel Broking
Kulkarni was very active in the first half where he made significant gains which insulated him from the subsequent fall in portfolio value as the season progressed. There were hardly a few weeks where his net gains were less than 15 per cent.
Also, he was the only participant to sell-off his entire portfolio at the start of 2013, with credible gains as he turned bearish on the markets. His most profitable buys were Lanco Infratech, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Jindal Steel & Power, United Breweries and Tata Chemical, Autoline Industries and Astrazeneca Pharma India.
He outperformed the benchmark S&P CNX 500 by a whopping 27 per cent with investments valued at Rs 12.75 lakh.
TAHER BADSHAH
Senior VP and co-head equities, Motilal Oswal AMC- PMS
Badshah portfolio was in the green for most of the season as some of his picks like Punjab National Bank, United Spirits, IRB Infrastructure Developers, HDFC and HDFC Bank supported his portfolio with stellar returns.
However, investments in MCX, Escorts, Infosys, DLF and Tech Mahindra made him see red, capping his gains.
His portfolio gained 5.32 per cent to end at Rs 10.53 lakh.
NAVEEN FERNANDES
Fund Manager, Centrum Wealth
Fernandes was very selective with his picks and some of it earned handsome gains. ITC, Balmer Lawrie & Company, DLF, Reliance Capital, Axis Bank and United Breweries were the ones which helped his portfolio gain.
However, the losses made in banks like ICICI Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Karur Vysya Bank and City Union Bank along with Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation erased almost all the gains. Fernandes rounded off the season with a 2.6 per cent gain at Rs 10.26 lakh.
SACHIN SHAH
Fund Manager,Emkay Investment Managers
Shah actively churned his portfolio through the season but as the markets corrected almost all his picks witnessed massive value erosion. IDFC, PTC India, Mahindra & Mahindra and Oil India proved to be very pricey picks and weighed on his portfolio.
He logged in a marginal gain of 1.2 per cent and his portfolio had a value of Rs 10.12 lakh.
A K PRABHAKAR
Senior VP (Equity Research), Anand Rathi Financial Services
Prabhakar closed the Season with a loss of 9.5 per cent at Rs 9.04 lakh.
Even though his portfolio remained immune to market fall in the first half, some of his picks ran into trouble in the last leg and in turn weighed heavily on his portfolio.
YES Bank, Havells India and LIC Housing Finance were some of the picks where he had to book heavy losses.
KISHOR OSTWAL
CMD, CNI Research
Ostwal actively managed his portfolio in the first half but was almost inactive in the second half. Because of this, his portfolio took a severe beating since March 2013 as many of his picks grossly underperformed.
Ostwal's portfolio value dropped by nearly 17 per cent to end the season at Rs 8.32 lakh.
Note: We are pleased to announce the launch of Smart Portfolios Season 6. The new season will feature new fund managers, new rules and a common goal: To beat the benchmark. For Smart Portfolios, visit www.smartinvestor.in/sp
