Baroda Pioneer Growth Fund

Baroda Pioneer Growth Fund is appropriate for investors, who want an exposure to largecap stocks with a time horizon of more than one year, said Arnav Pandya. "This Fund is also suitable for those who want a lower risk in their investments by following a steady investment strategy," he added.

Baroda Pioneer Growth Fund

Nature: Equity oriented open ended
Assets under management: Rs 70 crore at the end of September 2011
Inception: September 2003
Fund Manager: Dipak Acharya

Analysis

• The fund had a massive 15% exposure to cash and cash equivalents at the end of February 2009 as the fund manager preferred to play safe ahead of the general elections in the country. Among the sectors banks, software and petroleum products had the highest exposure. In terms of the individual holdings Reliance Industries, Infosys, ONGC, Bharti Airtel and SBI were in the top position and the fund had adopted an aggressive approach with the top two holdings having an exposure of 10 and 8% respectively. The fund was outperforming its benchmark the Sensex since inception.

• At the end of August 2009 the cash was deployed but otherwise the fund managed to maintain its specific investment approach. In terms of the sectors banks, software and petroleum product continued to be the top 3 ones and Reliance Ind and Infosys remained the top 2 individual holdings.  HDFC, ONGC and Bank of India were the other top holdings. The fund continued to outperform over all time periods.

• The fund now had a new benchmark in the form of the CNX 100 index and it continued to repose faith in banks with over 20% of the portfolio invested in this sector. The aggressive approach of the fund continued and it had the highest exposure to Reliance Industries followed by Infosys, ICICI Bank, L&T and ITC. The fund remained an outperformer over all time periods.

• Six months later the fund still had the highest exposure to banks though petroleum products had displaced software from the second spot. Other sectors that had a significant exposure included auto and construction. Reliance Industries was the top holding though ICICI Bank had displaced Infosys from the second spot. The fund had a turnover ratio of 0.66 and it was now an underperformer over the one year time period though it continued to outperform over the longer time periods.

• The fund returned to its old position with banks, software and petroleum products being the top three sectors followed by ferrous metals and construction. Reliance Industries and Infosys were the top two holdings followed by ICICI Bank, L&T and HDFC. The fund continued its strong outperformance over the long term but was still an underperformer over the one year period.

• The fund had toned down its aggressive approach by the end of August 2011 and its top holdings had just a 5-6% exposure. In addition there was a 9% holding in cash and cash equivalents. While the top 3 sectors maintained their position from six months ago, finance and pharma were the other top sector holdings. Reliance continued to be the top individual holding followed by ICICI Bank and Infosys. The fund however saw its turnover ratio climb to nearly 1 and it was still an underperformer over the one year time period.

• This fund is meant for investors who want an exposure to large cap stocks with a time horizon of more than one year. It is also suitable for those who want a lower risk in their investments by following a steady investment strategy.