This week the BSE Sensex scaled an all-time high of 9,071 points (up 1.22%), rallying by 109 points over the previous week.
The S&P CNX Nifty ended the week at 2,756 (up 2.14%) a 58-point appreciation. The CNX Mid Cap index closed at 3,929 points up 0.74% over the previous week.
Leading Diversified Equity Funds
| Diversified Equity Funds | NAV (Rs) | 1-Wk | 1-Mth | 1-Yr | 3-Yr | SD | SR |
| PRUICICI EMERGING S.T.A.R | 19.58 | 3.54% | 11.89% | 81.63% | - | 5.05% | 0.92% |
| MAGNUM GLOBAL | 21.45 | 3.42% | 11.95% | 87.77% | 81.54% | 7.88% | 0.57% |
| BIRLA INDIA OPP. | 38.38 | 3.39% | 13.02% | 47.28% | 45.62% | 5.78% | 0.30% |
| TATA SERVICE IND. | 14.00 | 3.13% | 14.08% | - | - | 4.82% | 0.81% |
| KOTAK CONTRA | 11.37 | 3.09% | 9.57% | - | - | 4.85% | 0.21% |
(The Sharpe Ratio is a measure of the returns offered by the fund vis-à-vis those offered by a risk-free instrument) (Standard deviation highlights the element of risk associated with the fund.)
Midcap funds were in the limelight as is evident from the strong showing of the leaders PruICICI Emerging Star (3.54%) and Magnum Global (3.42%). Leading large cap category leaders posted mixed performances; while HDFC Top 200 appreciated 2.88%, Sundaram Growth (1.64%), HSBC Equity (1.14%) and Franklin Bluechip (0.40%) put in a dismal show.
Close-ended funds have emerged as a rather interesting alternative to their open-ended counterparts. This is evident from the recent spate of close-ended NFOs (new fund offers).
Over the months we have seen some hybrid close-ended NFOs from Franklin Templeton and Sundaram Mutual Fund. With the recent launch of Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund the stage may well have been set for the emergence of close ended equity funds.
Leading Debt Funds
| Debt (LT) Funds | NAV (Rs) | 1-Wk | 1-Mth | 6-Mth | 1-Yr | SD | SR |
| KOTAK FLEXI DEBT G | 10.62 | 0.10% | 0.44% | 2.80% | - | 0.03% | -1.91% |
| KOTAK BOND DEP G | 17.58 | 0.08% | 0.41% | 1.95% | 4.83% | 0.14% | -0.97% |
| GRINDLAYS SUPER SAV MTP G | 10.97 | 0.08% | 0.28% | 2.30% | 5.04% | 0.40% | -0.73% |
| BIRLA DYNAMIC BOND G | 10.62 | 0.08% | 0.38% | 2.35% | 5.31% | 0.13% | -1.04% |
| GRINDLAYS DYNAMIC BOND G | 12.61 | 0.08% | 0.31% | 2.50% | 5.42% | 0.52% | -0.56% |
The yield on the 7.38% GOI paper remained steady at 7.10% over the week. Bond yields share an inverse relationship with bond prices. Steady bond yields usually reflect in the steady performance of long term debt funds.
Over the week, debt funds from Kotak Mutual and Grindlays Mutual dominated the rankings with two funds from each fund house featuring in the rankings.
Leading Balanced Funds
| Balanced Funds | NAV (Rs) | 1-Wk | 1-Mth | 1-Yr | 3-Yr | SD | SR |
| LIC BALANCE | 35.30 | 2.95% | 9.63% | 34.17% | 25.30% | 4.96% | 0.23% |
| SUNDARAM BALANCED | 25.10 | 1.69% | 7.43% | 27.94% | 34.49% | 4.17% | 0.28% |
| KOTAK BALANCE | 22.13 | 1.67% | 7.18% | 47.43% | 42.65% | 5.40% | 0.38% |
| UTI BALANCED FUND | 44.13 | 1.45% | 7.82% | 27.76% | 32.36% | 4.46% | 0.24% |
| JM BALANCED | 16.32 | 1.43% | 8.51% | 33.12% | 28.25% | 5.30% | 0.21% |
Strong performance by equity markets was bound to leave its impression on balanced fund performances. This is evident from the numbers. LIC Balance, a relatively lesser-known name surged ahead of the competition with 2.95% growth.
Sundaram Balanced, a conservatively managed balanced fund came in a distance second with a 1.69% appreciation. Category leaders HDFC Prudence (1.31%) and DSP ML Balanced (0.90%) put in reasonable performances given their equity allocations.
As markets clock record highs and fund houses keep churning out new fund offers (NFOs) to ride the hot infrastructure/capital goods, outsourcing and consumerism themes, tax-planning seems to have taken a backseat.
It is time for mutual fund investors to get more focused about finalising their investments in tax-saving funds before considering NFOs at this stage.
Remember you can invest in an NFO tomorrow (unless it's a close-ended one like Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund), but your tax-planning clock has already started ticking.
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