In fact, fiscal 1997-98 was also devoid of a single day slump in indices, as witnessed on March 31, 1997 when the Sensex nosedived by 300 points. This had a bearing on the NAVs of equity funds, which also dropped sharply.``The fall in the market on March 31 in 1997 had come as a bolt from the blue since there was no opportunity for funds to retrieve lost ground,'' says a fund manager.

``Compared to funds like Apple and Centurion, which have focussed on hot sectors likec IT, FMCG and pharma, UTI is still heavily invested in PSU and othersectors. Thus, its portfolio currently reflects `value' investing since sectors like aluminium is not being favoured by the investor,'' says a fund analyst.

For instance, the top ten holdings of Apple Goldshare include scrips of Infosys, Cipla, Satyam Computer and HLL. A look at Mastergrowth reveals that its portfolio includes PSU heavyweights like MTNL, VSNL, BPCL and HPCL.

During the year, the average appreciation for closed-end funds was 6.19 per cent, while the Sensex gained by 15.82 per cent and the National Index went up by 15.95 per cent.

The worst of the lot is Mastergrowth, which has given a negative return of 1.99 per cent in the last fiscal compared to a positive return of 13.27 per cent in the preceding year. On the other hand, there was a marked improvement in the performance of UGS 2000 which saw a 2.13 per cent fall in NAV against. For the second year in running, UGS 5000 has posted a negative return of 0.23 per cent. For 1996-97, the return was a negative 0.63 per cent. In the case ofMasterplus '91, although positive, returns have declined from 7.49 per cent to 2.10 per cent for 1997-98. Mastershare has also posted a negative return of 1.17 per cent compared to a 1.37 per cent fall in NAV for 1996-97.

The NAVs of these funds had touched their respective highs for 1997-98 during the August rally, when the Sensex had breached the 4,500 level. However, the 800-point appreciation in the Sensex during the last quarter of 1997-98 has failed to take UTI's NAVs to a similar level.

The only funds to post a negative return other than UTI are those from the Taurus stable - Genshare (-17.57 pc), Newshare (-5.33 pc) and Starshare (-14.39 pc), Indbank MF schemes - Ind Sagar (-2.97 pc) and Ind Navratna (-3.93 pc), Dhansamriddhi (-3.46 pc) and Magnum Multiplier (-4.68 pc).

On the other hand, the top gainers during the fiscal have been Apple Goldshare, with a NAV appreciation of 31.25 per cent, Centurion Quantum (return of 24.41 per cent) and Reliance Growth (24.27 per cent).