The Hindu Business Line : ONGC, Bharti top in Fidelity holdings

IF you have been waiting patiently for newcomer Fidelity Mutual Fund to announce its full portfolio, here's some relief in the shape of a statutory advertisement, featuring its un-audited half-yearly performance, released by the fund house.

The ad provides insights into Fidelity Equity Fund's holdings, which go a step beyond what the MF gave us the last time we checked - particulars of only its top few investments.

For the record, the portfolio comprises about 100 stocks, chosen from a cross-section of industries to ensure diversification across sectors. The first five holdings are ONGC, Bharti Tele, Financial Technologies, Zee Tele and Reliance Industries, in that order.

ONGC, which leads the pack, accounts for 4.94 per cent of the net assets. Some of the other big allocations are Bajaj Auto, HLL and Gail. Mind you, here we are talking about the portfolio as on September 30, 2005.

A diversified approach: A quick look at the latest inventory reveals that the fund manager concerned has tried to spread the assets over a good number of stocks. In fact, the notes to accounts that accompany the portfolio statement have made it clear that no company contributes to more than five per cent of the net assets.

The diversification is reflected partly in the fact that more than 50 stocks, including some well-known ones, have a relatively small contribution - less than 0.5 per cent.

Want a few examples? Check out the fund's holdings in Biocon (0.48 per cent), Marico (0.19 per cent), Shoppers' Stop (0.25 per cent) and Petronet LNG (0.22 per cent). There are many others.

Incidentally, the end-September list also features a modest 8.55 per cent exposure to fixed deposits, details of which are not provided in the statutory advertisement. There has been no investment in derivatives.

Changing portfolio composition: The latest statement is actually indicative of the changes that have taken place in the holding structure since June 30, the date to which the maiden top-10 announcement had pertained. Reliance Industries and State Bank of India were the top two holdings earlier, with 6.89 per cent and 5.04 per cent respectively.

All that has now changed, with RIL and SBI relegated to the fifth and ninth positions respectively, with 3.12 per cent and 2.4 per cent. As to what led the fund manager to demote them (and instead upgrade ONGC, Bharti and Financial Technologies) is an issue that Fidelity's fund management team may well wish to address separately.

Interestingly, Maruti Udyog, the ninth-largest holding as on June 30, has been consigned to the 22nd slot; and we will never know from which level has Financial Technologies come up from. Incidentally, the portfolio turnover ratio for the half-year is 0.26 times.

On a different note, now: Those who wish to extract the best out of Fidelity MF may check out the online facility that it provides in association with CAMS, its registrar and transfer agent. Investors can use it to view their details, register simple queries and print account statements. They will have to key in their folio numbers and the PIN that they should have requested for earlier.

Elsewhere in the market, fund houses are trying to push what they feel are investor-friendly measures.

Take, for instance, a simple tool like common folio. Now, an investor can have a separate account for each holding, while additional accounts can be opened for new investments. Multiple accounts are quite common. With this multiplicity in the background, fund houses are generally encouraging consolidation through common folios.

Feedback may be sent to nilanjan@thehindu.co.in

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
ONGC, Bharti top in Fidelity holdings

Southern Online Bio gets BSE trading nod

This 2-day week may set the short-term direction

10,000-mark achieved on Diwali eve!

Another weak week for Indian counters