Fund pick: Axis Bluechip Fund is a consistent large-cap outperformer

Launched in January 2010, Axis Bluechip Fund featured among the top 30 percentile of the large-cap category in CRISIL Mutual Fund Ranking (CMFR) during the past three quarters ended December 2019. Shreyash Devalkar has been managing the fund since November 2016. He has over 18 years of industry experience. During the past three years, assets under management (AUM) of the scheme increased over five times from Rs 1,943 crore in January 2017 to Rs 10,212 crore in December 2019.
 

The investment objective of the scheme is to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio predominantly consisting of equity and equity-related securities of large-cap companies.

Trailing returns

The fund has consistently outperformed the benchmark (Nifty 50 TRI) and its peers (funds ranked under the large-cap funds category in December 2019 CMFR) in all the trailing periods under analysis. An investment of Rs 10,000 in the fund on January 5, 2010 (inception of the fund), would have grown to Rs 33,150 on February 10, 2020, at an annualised rate of 12.59 per cent, compared with the category and the benchmark, which would have grown to Rs 26,083 (9.95 per cent per annum) and Rs 25,774 (9.82 per cent per annum), respectively.

Systematic investment plan (SIP) is a disciplined mode of investing offered by mutual funds through which one can invest a certain amount at regular intervals. A monthly investment of Rs 10,000 in the fund for 10 years, totalling Rs 12 lakh, would have grown to Rs 25.28 lakh (14.4 per cent annualised returns), compared with Rs 21.38 lakh (11.23 per cent annualised returns) in the benchmark, as of February 10, 2020.

Portfolio analysis

Axis Bluechip Fund is a large-cap equity fund with the mandate to invest predominantly in large-cap stocks. Being true to its name, the fund has maintained an average 83.05 per cent exposure to large-cap stocks during the past three years. It maintained an average of 10.66 per cent of the portfolio in cash and equivalents during this period. 

The portfolio was diversified across 25 sectors in the past three years. Banks had the highest average allocation of 25.14 per cent, followed by finance (14.13 per cent), consumer non-durables (10.07 per cent), software (7.76 per cent), and auto (6.91 per cent).
 

In the past three years, the fund took exposure to 72 stocks, of which it held five stocks consistently. HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Bajaj Finserv were the major contributors to fund performance during this period and also consistently held. Other key contributors included Bajaj Finance and Avenue Supermarts.

CRISIL RESEARCH