Mastershare gave a dividend of 16 per cent for the year ended June 30, 1998. Since inception in 1986, the NAV of the fund has grown by a compounded annual rate of 23.2 per cent against a 14.9 per cent growth in the BSE National Index and 15.4 per cent in Sensex. Between July 1, 1997 and June 30, 1998, the fund has given a negative return of 24 per cent against a negative 25 per cent return by the Sensex -- down from 4339 on July 2, 1997 to 3230 on July 1, 1998.

During the year, the fund added scrips like Punjab Tractor and Ponds to its portfolio. In terms of marketvalue, consumer products has the highest weightage in Mastershare at 13.77 per cent, while diversified is a close second at 11.43 per cent. Other sectors in the top ten include automobile, telecom, oil/petroleum, fertilisers, pharmaceuticals, metal, engineering and petrochemicals. Curiously, software sector which has generated the maximum returns in the last one year, does not figure in the list of 16 sectors. 35 scrips account for 75 per cent of its portfolio as on August 25, 1998 and the top ten are ITC, HLL, MTNL, HPCL, VSNL, Bajaj Auto, Telco, Hindalco, Realince and BPCL. The top 35 have a fair sprinkling of pharma stocks like Ranbaxy, Novartis and Parke Davis, but do not have any software favourites like Infosys, Satyam and NIIT.

According to the fund manager, buoyant agricultural growth, lower taxes and higher disposable income will stimulate economic growth. Thus, companies whose performance is linked to economic cycles, will benefit.

Continuing with the restructuring exercise, the fund willcontinue to book profits where stocks are fully priced and increase exposure in companies from the pharma, FMCG and software sectors where there are good growth prospects and strong brands.