The same study ranked US listed Indian funds, the India Fund of Oppenhiemer at number two followed by the Morgan Stanley India Fund at number three and the Jardine Fleming India Fund at the seventh rank.

The net asset value (NAV) of India Growth Fund in rupee terms gained by 0.92 per cent as on October 28 compared to a 28 per cent drop in the BSE Sensitive Index. As on October 28 the fund has outperformed the BSE Sensex by 6.49 per cent on a monthly basis, 15.01 per cent on a quarterly basis and 21.59 per cent on a six-monthly basis.

The India Growth Fund is a close-ended fund launched by UTI in August 1988. Subsequent to the Asian crises which happened in April 1997 the fund changed its strategy and decided to increase its exposure in sectors which were perceived to beon the high growth path. The funds exposure to small and mid-cap stocks was reduced in favour of large cap and liquid stocks.

The number of stocks in the portfolio was reduced from 216 on January 1, 1997 to 168 as on October 28, 1998 and the share of top holdings in the portfolio was raised. The top-25 holdings of the portfolio account for 75.3 per cent of the portfolio in terms of market value compared to 62 per cent as in January 1997.

The top 50 holdings of the fund account for 91 per cent of the portfolio as on October 28 compared to 81.9 per cent in January 1997. The fund's top 100 holdings account for 99 per cent of the funds NAV.

During 1997 the fund's strategy of investment laid focus on sectors such as two-wheelers, fast moving consumer goods, information technology, pharmaceutical and health care. During the period between January 1, 1997 and October 28, 1998 the fund's exposure in pharmaceuticals and healthcare increased from 8.5 per cent of the market value to 18.6 per cent.

The fund'sexposure to the information technology sector increased from 1.3 per cent to 16.3 per cent and in food and agro products sector the exposure increased from 5.6 per cent to 8.7 per cent. During the same time the fund had also decided to reduce exposure in chemicals & fertilisers from 6.9 per cent to 4.7 per cent, metals from 6.6 per cent to 2.2 per cent, cement and construction from 3.8 per cent to 1.3 per cent, paper and packaging from 1.5 per cent to 0.6 per cent and textiles from 1.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent.

The top 20 holdings of the fund are ITC, Hindustan Lever Limited, Smithkline Beecham Consumer Healthcare, TVS Suzuki, NIIT, Satyam Computers, Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda, Punjab Tractors, Reliance Industries, Nestle, HPCL, MTNL, Vashisthi Detergents, DSQ Software, EIH, Novartis, Mahindra and Mahindra, CRISIL and Software Solutions.