'Concentrate on balance sheet health, rather than profits'

The fund managers of Smart Portfolios’ Season 4 generally remained on the sidelines during the past week, with few transactions to their credit. The uncertainty of the markets reflected on the fund managers’ net worth.

For the week, Rikesh Parikh’s net worth stands at Rs 9,59,000, down 4.1 per cent; Mehraboon Irani’s net worth is valued at Rs 8,23,000, down 17.7 per cent; Ashish Mittal’s net worth is at Rs 9,25,000, down 7.5 per cent; Alex Mathews’ net worth is at Rs 9,85,000, down 1.5 per cent and Ajay Parmar’s totals Rs 9,82,000, down 1.8 per cent.

RIKESH PARIKH
VP (equity strategies),
Motilal Oswal Securities
“I have used the correction in markets to increase allocation in stocks in which I’d previously invested.

Had increased investments in stocks like Bharti, Coal India, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries and Dena Bank and have taken partial exits on a rise.

With monthly inflation showing signs of softening, we expect the Reserve Bank of India to pause rate increases and draw a road map for reduction in the bank rate. Have been overweight on the banking sector and expect some momentum to build up after the RBI policy announcement.”

RIKESH PARIKH VP (equity Strategies), Motilal Oswal  Securities
Top Holdings	Cost price (Rs)	Current price (Rs)	Value (Rs lakh)
Mcleod Russel India	234.20	189.50	0.43
Dena Bank	76.10	61.10	0.37
Coal India	339.94	311.65	0.31
State Bank of India	1783.97	1736.80	0.26
Deepak Fertilizers	166.16	129.30	0.26
Total investments			2.64
Cash			6.95
Net worth			9.59

Parikh carried out a single buy-side transaction during the week, involving Mcleod Russel. His current top holdings include Mcleod Russel India, Dena Bank, Coal India, SBI and Deepak Fertilizers & Petrochemicals Corporation.

 

MEHRABOON IRANI
Principal and head (private client group),
Nirmal Bang Securities
“As far as stocks go, investors should concentrate on health of balance sheets, rather than profits of firms. Therefore, names like Pfizer, MRF and VST Industries are in the portfolio, debt-free and with decent cash in their books, coupled with a decent business and track record.”

Irani remained mildly active during the week, having carried out a total of five transactions during the period under review.

MEHRABOON IRANI Principal & Head (Private Client Group), Nirmal Bang Securicies
Top Holdings	Cost price (Rs)	Current price (Rs)	Value (Rs lakh)
Idea Cellular	93.57	85.20	0.85
Bharti Airtel	382.52	336.65	0.76
Ranbaxy Laboratories	462.76	383.95	0.65
Delta Corp	97.91	64.90	0.62
Godrej Industries	201.82	198.85	0.60
Total investments			7.86
Cash			0.37
Net worth			8.23

He purchased Steel Authority of India and exited from Hindalco Industries. His top holdings are Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Delta Corp and Godrej Industries.

 

ASHISH MITTAL
Fund Manager (PMS), Centrum Wealth
“While we remain optimistic about continued fall in the inflation rate and possible reversal of the interest rate cycle, we are disappointed with developments on economic reforms.

Considering the recent setback to the process, we have become cautious on domestic equity markets in the short term. Hence, we are holding existing investments and have deferred any major use of existing cash in the portfolio. However, we continue buying only select deep-value stocks, as we maintain our optimistic view on long-term investment bets.”

ASHISH MITTAL Fund Manager (PMS), Centrum Wealth
Top Holdings	Cost price (Rs)	Current price (Rs)	Value (Rs  lakh)
MRF	6816.10	7042.80	0.70
Balmer Lawrie & Company	618.48	514.50	0.67
Karur Vysya Bank	372.59	366.95	0.62
Bharat Electronics	1582.70	1493.80	0.60
EID Parry (India)	242.43	199.50	0.56
Total investments			8.21
Cash			1.04
Net worth			9.25

Mittal remained on the sidelines during the week. His top holdings are MRF, Balmer Lawrie & Co, Karur Vysya Bank, Bharat Electronics and EID Parry.

 

ALEX MATHEWS
Head (technical and derivatives research),
Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services
Mathews made two buy-side transactions during the period under review. He bought Bharat Petroleum and Indiabulls Real Estate. His top holdings are Indiabulls Real Estate, Tata Coffee, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Financial Services and Ranbaxy Laboratories.

ALEX MATHEWS
Head (Technical & Derivatives Research), Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services