MUMBAI, July 10: Birla Mutual Fund has decided to refocus its investment strategy for Birla Advantage Fund and Birla Income Fund. This was intimated to unitholders in its latest quarterly report.

In the case of the Advantage Fund, the focus will be on reducing the number of scrips in the portfolio while increasing the size of the remaining ones. The scheme had focussed on long-term performers in the belief that these will lead to superior returns over the period. The fund has invested in nearly 60 stocks, earning a gross income of Rs 9.78 crore for the year ended March 1997. However, it posted a net loss of Rs 7.17 crore after charging expenses and losses of Rs 12.43 crore and unrealised depreciation of Rs 4.53 crore. The net asset value of the fund is currently Rs 12.13.

In the Income Plus scheme, the focus will be on short-and medium-term debt papers as the direction of long-term interest rates is not yet completely clear. Further, the fund also does not want to lock its monies in long-term instruments at the current low rates. The managers are said to be working on improving the liquidity of the portfolio in order to ensure faster response to emerging opportunities and threats.

An addition of Rs 102 crore has been made to the scheme in the first quarter of this year. The scheme has yielded a return of 15.80 per cent for the quarter ended March 1997, earning a gross income of Rs 19.52 crore for the year ended March 1997. Income Plus generated a net income of Rs 16.58 crore after charging expenses and losses of Rs 2.89 crore. Of this, Rs 2.33 crore has been allocated to the dividend plan A, while Rs 14.34 crore has been allocated to the growth plan B. The NAV of Income Plus' plan A is Rs 9.95 and that of plan B, Rs 12.54.

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