Fund managers underperform

For the first-time since the inception of Smart Portfolios on September 1, 2008, all our fund managers have under-performed last week when compared with the benchmark BSE 200 index.

For the week ended November 28, 2008, the benchmark index gained 1.3 per cent to 1,062. Among fund managers, the best performance came from Kashyap Pujara whose net worth saw an increase of 0.84 per cent on a week-on-week basis. Sadanand Shetty's net worth rose by 0.33 per cent, while Anand Agarwal's portfolio value declined by 0.80 per cent. Amar Ambani, however, preferred to stay on the sidelines.

However, overall, all our fund managers are quite ahead of the benchmark. The BSE 200 so far shows a negative return of 40.39 per cent whereas, our fund managers - Kasyap Pujara (-20.75 per cent), Anand Agarwal (-21.39 per cent) and Sadanand Shetty (-10.01 per cent) - have managed to limit their losses. Amar Ambani has a positive net worth of Rs 10.03 lakh.

Last week, the trading activity was even more subdued with just eight trades as against 20 odd trades in the week before. Off the eight trades, Anand Agarwal executed five trades, Sadanand Shetty two and Kashyap Pujara one.

Summary: Subdued week, muted action by fund managers. It seems, that all our fund managers are adopting a wait and watch approach and are waiting for the uncertainty to fizzle out.

RISING CASH LIMIT

Kashyap Pujara
Fund Manager
ENAM Direct

Despite being the best performer last week, Kashyap Pujara continues to show a negative return of 20.75 per cent on his portfolio. His only trade last week was to sell 50 shares of HDFC for a net return of 18.73 per cent. Of his portfolio, a little more than 20 per cent weightage is given to two stocks - Sterlite and Reliance.
 

RISING CASH LIMIT
Top Holdings	% of assets	Cost (Rs) Price	Current price (Rs)	Value (Rs lakh)
Sterlite	11.96%	410.13	236.95	0.95
Reliance Ind	7.14%	1640.73	1131.60	0.57
ICICI Bank	4.43%	521.55	351.40	0.35
Century Tex	3.35%	343.87	132.85	0.27
Grasim Ind	2.81%	1175.00	889.25	0.22
Total investments	32.16%	-	-	2.55
Cash	67.84%	-	-	5.38
Net worth	-	-	-	7.92
Returns (%)	-20.75	-	-	-

In addition to his five top holdings, he also holds Reliance Communications. All his holdings are deep in the red, with a minimum loss of 24.32 per cent in Grasim, and a maximum of 61.37 per cent in Century Textiles. Pujara has increased his cash limit and now holds around Rs 5.38 lakh in cash.

STATUS QUO

Amar Ambani
Vice President (Research)
India Infoline

Amar Ambani did not make any fresh investments as he maintained status quo and preferred to remain in cash throughout the week. He continues to hold Rs 10.03 lakh in cash, with a positive return of 0.34 per cent so far.

IN SELL MODE

Sadanand Shetty
Vice President
Kotak Securities

Sadanand Shetty continues to remain in sell mode with just two trades last week, both on the sell side, Sadanand pocketed a net gain of an average 7.5 per cent by selling 15 shares of Bharti Airtel.
 

IN SELL MODE
Top Holdings	% of assets	Cost (Rs) Price	Current price (Rs)	Value (Rs lakh)
Lupin	2.28%	685.14	585.35	0.20
Bharti Airtel	2.16%	552.31	671.05	0.19
SBI	1.81%	1193.85	1086.85	0.16
Jain Irrigation	1.56%	427.75	298.80	0.14
Sun Pharma	1.44%	1006.50	1080.20	0.13
Total investments	12.14%	-	-	1.09
Cash	87.86%	-	-	7.91
Net worth	-	-	-	9.00
Returns (%)	-10.01	-	-	-

His last buy trade was on November 4, 2008. His portfolio saw a marginal rise of 0.33 per cent last week as his net worth rose from Rs 8.97 lakh to Rs 9 lakh. He holds nearly 88 per cent in cash. His other holdings include - BHEL, ICICI Bank and Reliance. He is bearing maximum loss in Jain Irrigation and Reliance, while BHEL and Bharti Airtel are giving him good returns.

MARGINAL SLIP

Anand Agarwal
Vice President
Reliance Money

Off the five trades Anand Agarwal executed, three were on the buy side, with two on the sell side. First, he sold 30 shares of SBI and 600 shares of Suzlon Energy for a loss of 4.5 (Rs 1,590) per cent and 21.13 (Rs 7,170) per cent, respectively. Later, he bought 100 shares of Tata Steel, 50 shares of Axis Bank and 30 shares of SBI. He was the sole fund manager to see a negative return in net worth last week.
 

MARGINAL SLIP
Top Holdings	% of assets	Cost (Rs) Price	Current price (Rs)	Value (Rs lakh)
BHEL	10.39%	1310.75	1361.30	0.82
SBI	8.30%	1094.10	1086.85	0.65
Praj Ind	5.53%	60.27	57.95	0.44
Axis Bank	5.18%	409.18	406.85	0.41
Reliance Comm	4.97%	207.75	195.50	0.39
Total investments	52.47%	-	-	4.12
Cash	47.53%	-	-	3.74
Net worth	-	-	-	7.86
Returns (%)	-21.39	-	-	-

His portfolio value declined from Rs 7.94 lakh to Rs 7.86 lakh. His cash to investment ratio is close to 50 per cent, with Rs 3.74 lakh in cash. BHEL and SBI with 10.39 and 8.3 per cent weightage in his portfolio are his top holdings. Other than the five stocks mentioned in the table - he also holds Larsen & Toubro, Jaiprakash Associates, Jet Airways, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel and Suzlon Energy.