Coal India, Time Techno, Power Grid top picks: HDFC MF

HDFC Mutual Fund increased its exposure in the metals & mining, information technology and manufacturing sectors, while slashed its coverage in banking & financial services, cement & construction and oil & gas sectors.

Coal India, Time Technoplast and Power Grid Corporation were the top buys, while NTPC, KCP and Crompton Greaves were the top sells.

A study of the HDFC Mutual Fund portfolio for the month of November 2010 showed that in the metals & mining space, the fund bought Tata Steel and introduced Coal India. In the information technology pack, it purchased Infosys Technologies, TCS and Wipro.

In the manufacturing segment, the fund bought Bharat Electronics, Time Technoplast and Sundram Fasteners, while it sold Indo Rama Synthetics.

The selling was seen in the banking & financial services, cement & construction and oil & gas sectors. In the banking & financial services sector, it sold SBI, Bank Of Baroda and LIC Housing Finance. However, it bought ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Allahabad Bank.

In the cement & construction space, the fund exited Ashoka Buildcon, IRB Infrastructure Developers and KCP. It also sold Sadbhav Engineering, Simplex Infrastructures and Nagarjuna Construction in the same space. But it purchased Jaiprakash Associates.

It sold BPCL, HPCL and ONGC in the oil & gas sector, while it bought Reliance Industries and Petronet LNG.

Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/mf-analysis/coal-india-time-techno-power-grid-top-picks-hdfc-mf_504190-1.html

Arresting downtrend, MFs' asset base up 3% in Nov

Things seem to be looking up for the mutual fund industry as it saw new inflow in November. The MF industry saw an inflow of Rs 18, 379 crore in November as against to a total outflow of Rs 5,742 crore in October.

The assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry have also shown an increase of about 3 per cent in November to Rs 6.65 lakh crore from Rs 6.46 lakh crore in October. However, fund mangers are still not in a celebratory mood. “We need to watch out for some more time. Redemptions have been decreasing from September to October, and now in November. Investors were into heavy profit-booking earlier and now it looks as if they are through with it,” said Mr Waqar Naqvi, CEO, Taurus Mutual Fund.

“It's too early for it to be called a trend of any sort, but its positive news,” he added.

Income funds

Income funds experienced an inflow of Rs 11,307 crore in November, as against an outflow of Rs 5,305 crore in October. The equity schemes saw an outflow of mere Rs 41 crore while they saw an outflow of Rs 2,869 crore during the previous month. In September, the figure stood at Rs 7,011 crore.

No trend reversal

Fund managers attribute this to the volatility the market has experienced in the month of November, especially post-Diwali.

They believe that this volatility is compelling investors into holding on to their investments. They may book profits if the market rises sharply. Lower equity redemptions for now cannot be seen as a trend, they said.

“Let's look at it this way; money will always look for returns. So, these lower redemptions for now cannot be looked at as a reversal in trend,” said Mr. Ravi Goplakrishnan, Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer – Equity, Pramerica Asset Managers.

“But, hopefully, this is an arrest on the downtrend that we are experiencing. However, we will have to wait till January or February, to get a clearer picture of the situation.”

Total sales of all schemes during the month touched Rs 7.77 lakh crore, while redemptions were Rs 7.59 lakh crore.

No equity schemes were launched this month, while during the previous month, two equity schemes were launched.

New launches include only those schemes hose allotment process has been completed.

Of the 44 schemes that came into the market this month, 42 were income schemes, one gold ETF by Axis mutual fund and one overseas fund by J P Morgan.

October 2010 saw 30 income schemes being launched into the market.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/12/09/stories/2010120953121000.htm