The stocks from FMCG, pharma and IT have lead the rally on the bourses. While these defensive sectors are now the market favourites, the declaration of encouraging third-quarter results has added to the bullsih fervour at these counters. Putting money in stocks from these sectors wil not alone buoy the NAV. The fund manager has to recognise stocks with the potential to generate high returns in the future and at the same time, exit from counters where returns have plateaued.

There are 31 open-end equity funds from 19 AMCs. K-30 from Kotak Mahindra has turned up a sterling performance in less than a month since the fund was able to pick up stocks at attractive valuations withthe market around 3000-level. While Birla Advantage holds around 40 per cent in pharma stocks, KPIT is a sectoral fund with 100 per cent investments in IT companies. K-30's investments have an assortment of the three sectors of IT, FMCG and pharma.