This fund had quite a slow beginning. It didn’t put in a noteworthy performance

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in its first three years, but has showed commendable consistency in the past three years. It has delivered more than the category average in bull runs and shed less than the category in bear phases. The fund plays it safe, and does well.

It is an open-end scheme, with a mandate to invest between 65-75 per cent in equity and the rest in debt. The fund has followed this mandate at most times. The fund’s manager, Apoorva Shah, likes to have a diversified portfolio in terms of both stocks and sectors. Last year, the equity portfolio had an average of 73 stocks, but the allocation to the top five holdings was below the category average. The manager does like to invest heavily in mid- and small-cap stocks. There have been times when large-caps have accounted for less than half of the equity portfolio.

Shah plays it safer on the debt side. He sticks to high quality and low maturity papers, investing primarily in floating rate papers and government bonds. He refrains from investing in debentures and commercial papers. This approach allows the fund manager to balance the credit as well as interest rate risk.

Apoorva Shah is a commerce graduate, and an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad. He joined DSP Black Rock Mutual Fund in 2006, having previously worked in the Global Private Client and Institutional Equity Sales Division of DSP Merrill Lynch. He has more than 18 years of experience in banking and investments.

A safe fund, this one won’t give you headline-grabbing returns, but it won’t give you go through earth-shattering downfalls either.