Chennai, Apr 8: All the growth funds of Kothari Pioneer Mutual Fund (KPMF) continued to outperform the market. The quarter ended March 31, 1999 saw KPMF taking a conscious effort to reduce their exposure in the IT sector in their non-sector specific funds.For the quarter, KPMF's Bluechip Fund registered a gain of 49.22 per cent as against the 22.40 per cent gain registered by the BSE Sensex in the corresponding period. IT sector continued to be the main stay for this fund with as much as 37.60 per cent invested in stock such as Satyam Computer, NIIT, BFL Software, Infosys, etc. The fund is looking at trimming its exposure in the sector due to the run-up in prices.
Other major sectoral investments include health care (19.79 per cent) and FMCG (12.06 per cent). The fund proposes to hold on to scrips such as HPCL, BPCL, BHEL and MTNL despite their underperformance due to their sound fundamentals and good value at current levels.
Prima Fund, which invests in mid and small cap shares, registered a growth of47.07 per cent as against 24.50 per cent growth posted by S&P CNX 500 during the period January-March.
The fund has reduced its exposure in the infotech sector to 24.88 per cent and has also booked profits in Abbot Labs taking advantage of high prices.Prima Plus which invests in large and mid cap shares has registered a growth of 11.96 per cent compared to S&P CNX 500. The fund has substantially increased its exposure to Punjab Tractors while reducing its exposure in IT and Pharma stocks. Pidilite Industries is the latest addition to the portfolio.
Infotech Fund has posted a 68.04 per cent growth in the last three months. The fund continues to stay invested in strong IT companies and the addition during the quarter was KPIT systems.
Treasury Management Fund has shown a growth of 8.10 per cent, thanks to the higher call rates in March on account of advance tax while the Money Market Account posted a 9.06 per cent growth.
Income Builder Account registered a growth of around 12.25 per cent both for thegrowth and dividend schemes while Pension Plan showed a growth of about 14.7 per cent for both the schemes.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.