The Hindu Business Line : Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund

Closed end funds are back in vogue once again with fund-houses lining up quite a few launches. Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund is among the first closed-end funds to have been launched over the past couple of years. The fund defines “Smaller companies” as those with a market capitalisation below that of the hundredth stock in the S&P CNX500 index and may or may not form part of the index. Here’s a look at how the fund shuffled its portfolio for the three-month period ended May 2007:

Holdings in auto ancillaries delivered mixed results. MICO moved up substantially on back of an open offer and the stock was held with no change in holdings. The fund pruned holdings in Exide Industries and Rico Auto Industries. A few banking stocks were added afresh, accounting for an 8 per cent exposure. Centurion Bank, HDFC Bank and UTI Bank were the key stocks in the sector.

The cement/products sector moved out of the portfolio with Everest Industries, Mysore Cement and Prism Cement exiting. Mahindra Gesco Developers moved out, while Gammon India and Simplex Infrastructure were increased. The fund appears to have reposed faith in consumer non-durables, as seen by the rising weight of this sector. Marico Industries was added, while exposure to Trent was enhanced. Hindustan Unilever was the lone stock to move out of the portfolio in the FMCG space.

Elecon Engineering, Kalpataru Power Transmission and Bharat Bijlee were added afresh. The stock of Alfa Laval India, Esab and Voltas moved out completely. Cummins and Kirloskar Brothers were retained without any change in holdings.

In media/entertainment, holdings in Television Eighteen moved up steeply, while New Delhi Television was the new entrant. Deccan Chronicle, which had a great run over the past year, moved out of the portfolio.

The pharma sector underwent a minor rejig. The fund sold Aventis Pharma completely. Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Ipca Laboratories were the new entrants, while Cadila was retained without any change in holdings. Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Infosystems and the recently listed Firstsource Solutions saw pared exposures, while Polaris and Indiainfo.com were also trimmed.

Suresh Parthasarathy

More Stories on : Mutual Funds | Mutual Funds | Portfolio Moves

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