The Hindu Business Line : Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Midcap

As mid-cap and small-cap stocks once again bear the brunt of market declines, we take a look at the portfolio moves of Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Midcap (Select Midcap) in recent months. Between November and January, the fund gradually enhanced its equity exposure from 70 per cent to 80 per cent.

The increase in equity exposure saw the addition of 15 new stocks to its portfolio, but the fund exited as many. Select Midcap's portfolio is tightly packed with 110 stocks, which sets it apart from other fund-houses, where larger funds have only 60 stocks in their portfolio.

The fund exited a number of small-cap stocks or stocks with a market capitalisation of less than Rs 1,000 crore. Such stocks include Aarti Industries, Kajaria Ceramics, Nahar Spinning, Nilkamal Plastics, Pricol and, long-time favourite, Satnam Overseas. However, the overall exposure to stocks with a market capitalisation of less than Rs 1,000 crore increased to about 19 per cent from 16 per cent earlier.

Fresh exposures were taken in a couple of stocks in the larger market capitalisation range of Rs 4,000 crore and above. The likes of Tata Power, Century Textiles, Punj Lloyd, Andhra Bank were added afresh.

Stocks in which it substantially enhanced exposures include Lakshmi Machine Works, Chambal Fertilisers, Micro Inks, Madhucon Projects, Ashapura Minechem and Royal Orchid Hotels. It pared exposures in GMDC, McLeod Russel, Subex Azure and Tech Mahindra.From a sector perspective, exposures to IT, metals and pharmaceuticals were enhanced.

The share of the info-tech sector of the overall portfolio rose to 9 per cent from 4 per cent earlier; it figures in the top three among sector holdings, replacing cement. The increase resulted from the addition of Polaris Software and Prithvi Information Systems. Polaris Software, among its top stock holdings, appreciated 70 per cent between November and January.

The fund also boosted its holdings in Megasoft, Moser Baer, NIIT Technologies and MphasiS BFL, among other tech stocks. In the metals sector, Usha Martin and Monnet Ispat were new additions. In the pharmaceutical sector, fresh exposures were taken in Panacea Biotech and Torrent Pharma.

Jaiprakash Associates continues to be its top holding. Exposure to the stock was, however, limited to 3 per cent of its overall asset base, which reflects the extent of the diversification.

The fund saw huge inflows during the period. Its asset base as of January 31 stood at a little more than Rs 2,000 crore, which placed it among the larger mid-cap funds by asset size. Select Midcap is managed by Mr Anoop Bhaskar.

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