Birla Sun Life AMC adjudged the best by “The Asset” Magazine

Mumbai, September 2, 2009: Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company (BSLAMC) has been named the “Asset Management Company of the year – India” by yet another international publication based out of Hong Kong, “The Asset” magazine. The award is a part of the Triple A Investment Performance Awards 2009, which recognizes institutions and individuals who have made significant contribution to the development of the industry across Asia.

As per The Asset, “BSLAMC is admired for providing a wide array of mutual fund products that are highly popular and relatively safe for investors, the group also delivers in terms of performance. While other mutual fund management companies were consolidating their operations during the award period, the group invested strongly to reach out and service more customers. In the last 18 months it has nearly doubled its distributor base and increased its branch network by 47%”.

Earlier this month, The Asset magazine has named Birla Sun Life Equity Linked FMP “The Best Local Currency Structured Product–India”. The Asset magazine is a part of The Asset Publishing and Research Ltd., a Hong Kong based integrated multi-media company serving the elite community of leading corporate and financial decision makers in Asia.

In May 2009, BSLAMC became the only AMC from India to win the best “Onshore Fund House – India” at Asian Investor Investment performance Awards 2009 in Hong Kong.

In March 2009, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company won the CNBC TV 18 CRISIL “Mutual Fund House of the Year” twice in a row, the only fund house in India to have done so.

The strong growth momentum and demonstrative fund performance registered by BSLAMC have also been recognized by many institutions of international repute like ICRA, Lipper and Value Research.

Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company: Established in 1994, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company (BSLAMC) is a joint venture between Aditya Birla Group, a well known and trusted name globally amongst Indian conglomerates and Sun Life Financial Inc, leading international financial services organization from Canada. BSLAMC is amongst the top 5 asset management companies in India with an average asset under management of Rs 57,331 crores as on July 31, 2009. An impressive mix of reach through 115 branches, full range of product offerings across equity, debt, balanced & structured asset classes and strong investment performance has helped the Company enjoy trust of over 2.2 Million investors. Known for its consistent performance, BSLAMC has received recognition from various institutes of international repute like the CRISIL, Asian investor Magazine, ICRA and Lipper. It is the only fund house in India to have won the coveted “Mutual Fund House of the Year” from CNBC TV 18 Crisil twice in a row.

About Aditya Birla Group : A US $29.2 billion corporation, the Aditya Birla Group is in the league of Fortune 500 worldwide. It is anchored by an extraordinary force of 100,000 employees, belonging to 25 different nationalities. The group operates in 25 countries across six continents – truly India’s first multinational corporation. Aditya Birla Group through Aditya Birla Financial Services Group (ABFSG), has a strong presence across various financial services verticals that include life insurance, fund management, distribution & wealth management, securities based lending, insurance broking, private equity and retail broking. In FY 2008-09, the consolidated revenues of ABFSG from these businesses crossed Rs. 4763 crores, registering a growth rate of 36%.

About Sun Life Financial Inc.: Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of protection and wealth accumulation products and services. Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide. As of December 31, 2008, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of $381 billion globally.

Birla Sun Life Mid Cap Plan A

It started off as a middle-of-the-road performer and began to take on the competition since 2006.

 Savvy sector selection is probably the reason for the above average returns. Betting heavily on engineering and services proved fruitful in 2006. In 2007, it capitalised on the rally in Metals, Financial and Engineering, And, in 2008, it fled to FMCG and Healthcare. Now the fund manager is focusing on Construction, Capital Goods, Power and Cement.

The portfolio is churned quite frequently with nearly 40 per cent of the stock making an appearance for less than six months. Stock that have been held for long durations like Thermax (69 months), Marico (56 months) and Voltas (47 months) have not consistently been around.

 Nevertheless, this fund can’t be called aggressive. In fact, it avoids concentrated bets. Since 2005, no sector has breached the 20 per cent mark (though this is quite a high limit), but no single stock has crossed an allocation of 6 per cent. “In the mid-cap space, liquidity could be an issue so we try to limit individual stock exposure to 5 percent. As for sector allocations, in order to maintain diversification, we ensure that we are not too divergent from the benchmark,” says Mahesh Patil, Co-head, Equity. Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund.

 As a result, you can often find the portfolio packed with stocks, sometimes as high as 65. “That could be also a result of portfolio transition,” says Patil. “Whenever one shifts between themes (say defensive to growth), it takes time to offload stocks hence during the transition phase the number rise.”

What’s interesting is the fund manager’s flexibility. At the end of 2008, he was heavily into debt. Which he totally offloaded early 2009 to significantly move into cash. Just before this year’s rally, his large-cap allocation stood at 25 per cent in February (that is the maximum limit his fund has on large-caps) to drop to 1 per cent in just two months.

During market rallies, this fund does make its mark. Yet, during downturns, it will not dramatically stray from the category average. But its appeal lies in the fact that over the long run, it rewards its investors. In the 3-year and 5-year periods as of July 31, 2009, the fund returned 19 per cent (category average: 9%), and 30 per cent (category average: 24%), respectively.

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund launches Internet based SIP

Mumbai, June 15, 2009: Birla Sun Life Mutual fund has launched iSIP or internet based SIP, a unique and convenient mode of transaction. This facility will enable investors to start their SIP investments online.

iSIP will provide multitude of benefits to investors – being faster, more convenient and providing paper less management of SIPs. Investors investing through financial planners can quickly and conveniently act upon the advise of their advisors. Investors can make purchases, renew their SIP and also have the option to cancel it online. The service is currently available through Citibank, ING Vysya Bank, State Bank of India, SBBJ, and 5 other banks. Going forward more banks would be added by BSLMF.

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has effectively leveraged technology platforms through its “Anytime Anywhere” initiative to provide its customers enhanced service experience.

“There has been increased interest among investor to invest through the Systematic Investment route. We have witnessed a 250 % jump in the total number of SIPs registered with Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund in the previous financial year. This year, we want to reach out to even more SIP investors. “Mr. Anil Kumar, CEO, Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund said.

He continued, “We now offer our investors the facility to track their investments through Online Portfolio Management service on internet, through Interactive Voice Response system on Toll free number and through Mobile Investment Manager on mobile. All these services are secure, user friendly and more importantly available 24 * 7. The endeavor is to provide full range of convenient service solutions to our investors.”

The success of these initiatives can be gauged by the fact that the online transactions on the Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund website grew by over 350% in the previous financial year.

 Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Established in 1994, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company (BSLAMC) is a joint venture between Aditya Birla Group, a well known and trusted name globally amongst Indian conglomerates and Sun Life Financial Inc, leading international financial services organization from Canada. BSLAMC is amongst the top 5 asset management companies in India with an average asset under management of Rs 47096 crores as on March 31, 2009 and a market share of 9.5%. An impressive mix of reach through 116 branches, full range of product offerings across equity, debt, balanced & structured asset classes and strong investment performance has helped the Company enjoy trust of over 2.15 Million investors. Known for its consistent performance, BSLAMC, has received recognition from various institutes of international repute like the CRISIL, Asian investor Magazine, ICRA and Lipper. It is the only fund house in India to have won the coveted “Mutual Fund House of the Year” from CNBC TV 18 Crisil twice in a row.

About Aditya Birla Group A US $29.2 billion corporation, the Aditya Birla Group is in the league of Fortune 500 worldwide. It is anchored by an extraordinary force of 100,000 employees, belonging to 25 different nationalities. The group operates in 25 countries across six continents – truly India’s first multinational corporation. Aditya Birla Group through Aditya Birla Financial Services Group (ABFSG), has a strong presence across various financial services verticals that include life insurance, fund management, distribution & wealth management, securities based lending, insurance broking, private equity and retail broking. In FY 2008-09, the consolidated revenues of ABFSG from these businesses crossed Rs. 4763 crs, registering a growth rate of 36%.

 About Sun Life Financial Inc. Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of protection and wealth accumulation products and services. Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide. As of December 31, 2008, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of $381 billion globally.

BEATING THE ODDS

Having performed in line with its beta during favourable market conditions, Birla Sunlife Frontline Equity Fund eventually stood out by proving its ability to beat the hurdles in the downturn

 LAUNCHED in August 2002, Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity is second in line to another equity diversified scheme from the same fund house — Birla Sun Life Equity Fund, but only in terms of year of launch and size. Managing assets worth Rs 481 crore (its highest till date), Frontline Equity has overtaken its gigantic sibling — which is nearly double its size at Rs 793 crore — in terms of performance. While both the funds are being managed by the same fund manager, Frontline Equity has indeed taken the frontline in the Birla Sun Life basket.

PERFORMANCE:

This fund started off as an average performer. But surprisingly, it has done a big turnaround in the past one year when the markets have been in mess. It was interesting to see a fund, which was performing almost on par with the indices until 2007, outperform them with good margins in 2008. The fund’s returns of – 48% against -52% of the Sensex and the Nifty and -55% (on an average) of the others in the equity diversified category has given it an edge over many others in that year.

   While the fund has managed to perform in line with its beta in favourable market conditions, it ability to protect its returns in a downturn has come as a bit of a surprise. It has a high beta of 0.89 which implies that for a gain of every rupee in the indices, the fund’s portfolio will return Re 0.89 and vice-versa. However, in the past one year, while the major indices — the Sensex and the Nifty — declined by about -13% and -12% respectively, trailing returns of Frontline Equity stood at just about -4%. High cash calls can be construed as one of the reasons for the fund’s brisk risk management.

   The fund’s improved performance was also reflected in its ranking in the ET Quarterly MF Tracker where it rose in the rankings. From being a consistent average performer (Silver) till June 2008, it was upgraded to Gold in September 2008 and ultimately to Platinum by the end of the calendar year. It has also managed to retain its Platinum grade for the consecutive quarter ended March 2009.

PORTFOLIO:

Benchmarked to BSE 200, Frontline Equity is a large cap-oriented fund with very little exposure to mid-caps and negligible exposure to small-cap stocks. While the fund has always had a large-cap bias, it has drastically shrunk its exposure to mid-caps since February 2008. While this strategy has saved the fund from the perils that have hit the mid-caps in the past year-and-a-half, it may need reconsideration in the current market scenario which, according to experts, is likely to favour mid-caps.

   The fund had been sitting on excess cash till March 2009, which was brought down last month. From an average of about 8%, the fund had increased its cash levels of more than 20% since March 2008. However, with the revival in the equity markets, the fund has once started to deploy cash, though not aggressively, and was sitting on 16% cash by the end of April 2009. 

   Frontline Equity has always had a bias towards the banking and finance sector and its current exposure to this sector alone stands at about 18%. However, energy currently occupies the highest share in the portfolio — about 24% — and within this space, the fund has shown an inclination towards power generation, transmission and equipment, whose share has nearly doubled from about 5% till March 2009 to more than 10% in April 2009.

   The fund holds about 40-50 stocks, on an average, which makes it reasonably diversified. However, its top 10 holdings alone account for 44% of the total equity holding, with banks accounting for almost one-fourth of this pie.

OUR VIEW:

In an era where the funds are racing to beat the indices by huge margins, the fund has done only fairly well by generating returns almost at par with the indices. However, the unique selling point of this fund has emerged in the past one year by the manner in which it has managed to mitigate its risk in the downturn — a feat achieved by very few funds. But with the tide turning again, it would be interesting to watch how fund manager Mahesh Patil manages to take this fund through the next level.

Birla Sun Life 95 Fund

Firmly Rooted

With its diversified stock allocation and its preference for the defensive sectors, this fund is well poised to perform well even during conditions of extreme dips in the market

Balanced Funds are always a good bet as they offers investors the best of both the worlds i.e. equity and debt. And based on the market views and conditions, fund managers can shift between these assets.

‘This then is the type of flexibility that seems to have helped Birla Sun Life 95 Fund So that it has been able to not only restrict its losses during the downfall but has been able to not only restrict its losses during the downfall but has also managed to post a decent performance on a consistent basis over the long-term period. During any of the market rallied, the diversified equity funds, due to their higher portfolio tilt towards equity, are better poised to outperform those in the balanced funds category. Conservative investors looking to earn decent returns over debt funds can therefore invest in this one.

Over the last three months, the fund has reduced its allocation towards debt and has simultaneously increased its allocation towards equity on account of the attractive valuation. And for the month ended march 2009, the fund’s equity portion contributed up to 70.11 per cent of the portfolio, while the remaining 29.89 percent was through debt. The debt portfolio includes low risk-bearing highly rated bonds and sovereign papers (government bonds). Recently it has increased the duration of the portfolio, expecting a fall in the interest rates and this has also helped the fund’s performance.

At the same time, the fund’s top three sectors – consumer non-durables, pharma and agrochemicals – that contributed 26.06 per cent of the portfolio are all defensive. Further, for the 38 stocks portfolio, the top ten holdings’ contribution was 38.55 per cent. However, the fund takes aggressive market-cap allocation calls and has more than 45 per cent invested in the small-cap and mid-cap stocks. Such diversified stock allocation and defensive sectoral allocation, along with the debt portfolio will help the fund to reduce the losses in a bearish marker. Also, such market-cap allocation will help the fund to perform well in the bullish period too.

Since November 2007, the fund is being managed by A Balasubramaniam and it has managed to outperform the category with huge margins. At Birla Sun Life, Balasubramaniam manages five equity, two balanced, and four income schemes. And most of these funds have managed to outperform their category returns over the long-run. This fund, during the one and three-year period, has managed to outperform the category by 570 and 489 basis points. And since its launch in 1995, the fund has managed to give decent returns of 22.82 per cent to its investors. Such a performance signifies the consistency of this fund’s performance.

“In case of equity, even though emphasis is primarily on picking high growth companies trading at reasonable valuation, we also invest in stock having moderate growth prospects with defensive business characteristics that provide downside protection,” Balasubramaniam informs. Considering the fund’s asset allocation strategy and performance, risk-averse investors can take exposure to this fund.

Funds NAV as well as returns are as on 27/04/2009

Source : Dalal Street Investment Journal

Birla Sun Life AMC adjudged the best onshore fund house in India by Asian Investor Magazine

Mumbai, May 5, 2009: Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co. (BSLAMC) was adjudged the best “India onshore fund house” at the Asian Investor 2009 Investment Performance Awards. This propels BSLAMC in the crème de la crème of asset management companies across Asia. BSLAMC is the only AMC from India to have won the award in this category for the financial year 2008 -09.

 

Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company ended the previous financial year with average domestic assets under management of Rs 47,096 Cr for March 2009. BSLAMC grew by 31% year-on-year even while the overall industry registered a downfall of 7% in the average AUM in the past financial year. BSLAMC is also the fastest growing among the top 5 fund house with a market share of 9.5% as on March 31, 2009 as against 6.7% in March 31, 2008.

Anil Kumar, CEO Birla Sun Life AMC, said, “It’s a privilege for us to have won this award, which is a testimony to our performance being recognized by not just the domestic , but also the international agencies. Birla Sun Life is one of the most trusted names in the industry – a trust earned through consistent investment performance, attributable to an experienced, stable, strong investment and in-house research team. These combined with our strong fund management processes tested over high and low market cycles enable us to outperform investor expectations.”

The recognition comes on the back of Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company winning the CNBC TV 18 CRISIL “Mutual Fund House of the Year” twice in a row, the only fund house to have done so. It also won “The Debt Fund House of the Year” at the same award ceremony. The strong growth momentum and demonstrative fund performance registered by BSLAMC in 2008 have also been recognized by many institutions of international repute like ICRA, Lipper and Value Research. It bagged ‘Star Fund house of the year’ award in the Debt category at the ICRA Mutual Fund Awards 2009. In February 2009, BSLAMC bagged the “Best Group in Mixed Assets Category” by Lipper. Across equity and debt categories, it bagged 8 ICRA and 3 Lipper awards and 3 CNBC TV18 CRISIL awards. Fourteen schemes of BSLAMC had 4 and 5-star rating by Value Research in February 2009.

About BSLMF: Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd. offers a range of comprehensive investment options, which includes diversified and sector specific equity schemes, hybrid funds and a wide range of debt and treasury products. Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group, a US $ 28 billion corporation and Sun Life Financial, a leading international financial services player. It is a part of The Aditya Birla Financial Services Group which has a strong presence across various financial services verticals that include fund management, distribution and wealth management, security based lending, insurance broking, private equity and life insurance. The consolidated revenues from these businesses crossed the US 1 billion dollar mark, in 2007-08.

For details on awards: www.asianinvestor.net
AUM Source: AMFI India

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund creates history – Awarded ‘Mutual Fund House of the Year’ second time in a row

Mumbai, April 1, 2009: Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has bagged the most coveted and respected industry award – CNBC TV 18 Crisil – ‘Mutual Fund House of the Year’ award for the second successive year. Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has created history in the Indian mutual fund industry by bagging this prestigious award twice in succession for the years 2007 and 2008, demonstrating its clear focus on fund performance and product innovation.

 

Additionally, for the year 2008, Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund also received Debt Fund House of year award. Three of the funds also won the best fund award in their respective categories –

• Birla Sun Life Income Fund
• Birla Sun Life Short Term Fund – Retail
• Birla Sun Life Gilt Plus – Regular plan

 

The award is given on the basis of consistency of fund house’s performance across various scheme categories in the four quarterly CRISIL CPR rankings released during the calendar year. The individual CRISIL CPR ranks for their schemes are aggregated on a weighted average basis to arrive at the final ranks for fund houses.

 

Mr. Anil Kumar, CEO, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co., received the award in the presence of Mr. M.S. Sahoo, Mr. R K Nair and Mr. A.P. Kurien at a glittering function held on March 31, 2009. Mr. Anil Kumar said, “Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has become the fastest growing fund house in India due to its strong heritage and track record of consistent performance across equity and debt asset classes. We are proud of having earned the unique distinction of being the only Mutual Fund house to have won the most coveted CNBC TV18 Crisil award for the second time in a row.”

 

Over the past one year the Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, one of the India’s top 5 mutual fund houses, has registered impressive growth across parameters viz. Average AUM, distributor base, or customer base. Since January 2008, the AAUM has grown 40%, distributor base has doubled to over 26,000 and number of branches to 109. It has also doubled its customer folio base to 21.5 lakh.

 

Owing to strong growth momentum and demonstrative fund performance registered by Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund in 2008, it has been recognized by many institutions of international repute like ICRA, Lipper and Value Research. To name a few –

 

• ‘Star Fund house of the year’ award in the Debt category at the ICRA Mutual Fund Awards 2009.
• ‘Best Group in Mixed Assets Category’ Lipper Awards 2009.
• Across scheme categories, it bagged 8 ICRA and 3 Lipper awards.
• Four schemes of Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund had 5-star and 10 schemes had 4-star ratings by Value Research in February 2009. 

About Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company

 

Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd. offers a range of comprehensive investment options, which includes diversified and sector specific equity schemes, hybrid funds and a wide range of debt and treasury products. Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group, a US $28 billion corporation and Sun Life, a leading international financial services player. It is a part of The Aditya Birla Financial Services Group which has a strong presence across various financial services verticals that include fund management, distribution and wealth management, security based lending, insurance broking, private equity and life insurance. The consolidated revenues from these businesses of ABFSG crossed the US 1 billion dollar mark, in 2007-08.

 

 

For more information:

 

Nishant Gehlot – nishantgehlot@birlasunlife.com 9920231650

Ashish Samal – ashish.samal@adfactorspr.com 9619107877

 

Scheme Award:

 

CNBC TV18 – CRISIL Mutual Fund of the Year Award for 2008

Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company (Category – Mutual Fund House of the Year)

 

 

Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company won the CNBC TV18 – CRISIL Mutual Fund of the Year Award in the Category – Mutual Fund House of the Year. In total 27 fund houses were eligible for the award universe. Fund Houses winning at least two awards for their schemes in the category level awards for 2008 were considered for the award. The award is based on consistency of fund house’s performance across various scheme categories in the four quarterly CRISIL CPR rankings released during the calendar year 2008. The individual CRISIL CPR ranks for their schemes were aggregated on a weighted average basis to arrive at the final ranks for fund houses. A detailed methodology of the CRISIL CPR is available at www.crisil.com. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

 

Rankings and Award Source: CRISIL FundServices, CRISIL Ltd.

 

ICRA awards : Ranking Source & Publisher: ICRA Online Limited

 

For details on Value Research rating please refer www.valueresearchonline.com

 

Lipper Awards: Ranking source: Lipper – A Reuter Co. www.lipperweb.com

Birla Sunlife Equity Fund: Invest

K. Venkatasubramanian

Investors can buy the units of Birla Sunlife Equity Fund (Birla Equity), considering its long-term return track record and ability to contain downsides reasonably. On a one-, three- and five-year basis, the fund has managed to outperform its benchmark BSE-200.

Birla Equity’s compounded annual return over a five-year period stands at 16 per cent, placing it among the top quartile of diversified equity funds. The fund adopts a flexi-cap approach to stock selection for generating higher returns during market upswings. However, from having a blend of large and mid-cap stocks in the past, the fund has, in recent months, a portfolio comprising mainly large-cap stocks.

The fund may be suitable for investors who can assimilate high volatility in returns. The SIP (systematic investment plan) route may be more suited for those more averse to volatile movements in their NAVs.

Performance and strategy: Birla Equity has a track record of over 10 years (it was called Allianz Equity Fund before being taken over by Birla Mutual Fund in 2005). The fund invests in stocks across market capitalisation to benefit from market conditions. From having a portfolio where over 35 per cent comprised mid-cap stocks (less than Rs 5,000 crore market capitalisation) in 2007 and 2008, the fund now has little over 10 per cent invested in such stocks. With the market volatility that currently prevails, a large-cap exposure may be well advised, as such stocks might provide better revenue and earnings visibility compared to smaller companies. Such stocks may be the first to turn around in a market recovery.

The cash position in the portfolio has also been hiked substantially. From over 10 per cent in cash a year ago, this has gone up to 25 per cent now. During periods of market downturn such as the extended one in 2008, and during periods of volatility in 2004 and 2007, the fund has managed to contain downsides better than its benchmark. In the boom period in 2007 and 2006, it managed to deliver top-of-the-line returns.

Portfolio: The number of stocks in the fund’s portfolio has been trimmed down considerably over the past year. From 55 stocks a year ago, Birla Equity sports a more compact 41 stocks in its portfolio currently.

Source : The Hindu Business Line

Just 5 Questions

Ajay Argal, Co-Head, Equity Investment, Birla Sun Life

 

 

How are hedge funds seen behaving in the current environment?

 

Cash levels would be raised on hedge funds in anticipation of future redemption as the global economic scenario worsens.

 

Should investors wait for valuation to get more attractive?

 

Valuations are attractive even now. Investors should not get into the market with a view of a few months. A horizon of 3-5 years is would be advised.

 

What sectors look good for that timeframe?

 

Infrastructure, oil and gas and IT are likely to be good long-term bets.

 

How are elections likely to affecting the market?

 

There is likely to be some nervousness, which might be reflected in the market gyration, any sharp correction, such as the one seen in the previous elections, might present good buying opportunities for the long-term investor.

 

Do you see the volatility abating anytime soon?

 

We can expect the volatility to continue for another 3-6 months.

 

Source: DNA Money

Sectors to Back in the Year Ahead

A. Balasubramanian, CIO, Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund

We like companies/sectors catering to domestic demand specifically those geared towards rural consumers or interest rate sensitives. Therefore, we like consumer staples and telecom companies which will benefit as the large consumption potential of rural India plays out.

The sectors that we favour also include banks and autos (particularly passenger vehicles) as key cyclical picks. In addition, in the infrastructure space power generation companies and related equipment manufacturers look attractive given the ongoing government supported capex in the sector.

As independent themes we also prefer private sector upstream oil & gas companies on account of their attractive exploration potential. PSU oil companies are also likely to stand out should the government’s intent to allow their product pricing to become more flexible materialize. We are less inclined towards export oriented or commodity businesses as they are likely to witness pressure due to global headwinds.