Reliance Growth - G

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: Reliance Growth Fund, which was positioned as a diversified equity scheme that invests in stocks of all market caps and takes a long-term view, has stuck to its philosophy till now. It entered the market in October 1995 as a seven-year close-ended equity scheme and was converted into an open-ended scheme in September 1999. This scheme has the largest corpus among all diversified funds. Due to its stellar performance over the years, it has become the favourite of investors.

On a year-to-year basis, the fund’s performance has been impressive in bullish phases, but it has not been very consistent. It figured among the top-performing equity funds in 2002, 2003 and 2004 — years when the market was buoyant. But during the bear markets of 2000 and 2001, it lagged behind its peers. More recently, the fund has become adept at coping with market downturns, as is evident from its performance since the beginning of this year. The fund has lost (-) 58.83 per cent since January this year whereas the BSE 100 has lost (-) 60.18 per cent. This has put the fund in the 65th position among 151 diversified equity funds. What is clear is that the fund is a reliable investment vehicle for the long-term investor: over the five-year horizon it ranks second among 60 diversified funds.

The fund follows an aggressive investment strategy that exploits the potential of momentum stocks. Fund manager Sunil Singhania, who has been at the helm since 2004, puts money predominantly in mid cap stocks with growth credentials, while not overlooking leading large cap stocks. Since the beginning of this year, he has started emphasising large-cap scrips. To counter the volatility in returns that could arise due to its mid-cap focus, the fund has a diversified portfolio. The fund has invested across a range of sectors (currently 20). It follows an investment approach that focuses on individual stocks. Compared to its peers, Reliance Growth’s portfolio is more diversified with the top three sectors and the top ten stocks contributing to a significantly lower level of the total portfolio value.