5 New Funds Enter VR Ratings

Value Research Fund Ratings (risk-adjusted rating) identifies the best funds in the Indian mutual fund universe, giving investors a superlative platform to launch their mutual fund investment voyage, saving both effort and time.

The fund rating is a convenient composite measure of both risk and returns. It is purely quantitative and there is no subjective component to the rating system. Each category must have a minimum of 10 funds for it to be rated. A fund with less than Rs 5 crore of average assets under management (AAUM) over the past six months will not be eligible for rating.

New Ratings

Altogether five funds entered the Value Research Ratings family for the first time. Fidelity Flexi Gilt (Gilt: Medium & Long-term), ICICI Prudential Income Opportunities Retail (Debt: Medium-term), Reliance Gilt Securities Retail (Gilt: Medium & Long-term), Reliance Gilt Securities Inst PF (Gilt: Medium & Long-term) and Reliance Gilt Securities Inst (Gilt: Medium & Long-term) got rated for the first time. ICICI Prudential Income Opportunities Retail straightaway jumped into the 5-star category while the others managed a 3-star rating in February. 

However, two more funds, Escorts Tax Plan (Equity: Tax Planning) and Birla Sun Life Asset Allocation Moderate (Hybrid: Equity-oriented) got rated for the first time since 2008. They had exited the VR ratings family as they had not been able to meet the eligibility criteria. While the former managed a 2-star rating, the latter jumped into the elite category straightaway to garner a 4-star rating. Altogether 183 funds found themselves in the elite category (4-5-star) in February. 

Upgrades

There were 32 funds which got upgraded by one notch in February. Six out of them jumped into the 5-star category. 485 funds did not witness any change in their ratings. 

Upgrades Funds    Feb-10    Jan-10    Change UTI CRTS 81   5   4   1 Birla Sun Life GSF Long-term   5   4   1 Canara Robeco MIP   5   4   1 Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Plan A   5   4   1 L&T MIP   5   4   1 Tata Equity PE   5   4   1 Fortis Overnight Reg   5   4   1 Franklin India Bluechip   4   3   1 LICMF Bond   4   3   1 Magnum Gilt Short-term   4   3   1

Downgrades

Altogether 39 funds got downgraded by one notch in February. However, apart from that, there were no major downgrades.

Downgrades Funds    Feb-10    Jan-10    Change HDFC Cash Mgmt Savings   4   5   -1 Templeton India GSF Long-term   4   5   -1 ICICI Prudential Long-term Reg   4   5   -1 UTI Monthly Income Scheme   4   5   -1 HDFC MIP Long-term   4   5   -1 Sundaram BNP Paribas S.M.I.L.E. Reg   4   5   -1 HDFC Multiple Yield Plan 2005   4   5   -1 Sahara Infrastructure Fixed Pricing   4   5   -1 Magnum Balanced   3   4   -1 ING Income   3   4   -1

Fund House Round Up

HDFC Mutual Fund house pipped Birla Sun Life AMC in February as far as maximum number of its funds finding a slot in the elite category. 16 of its 34 rated funds received 4-5-star rating while 15 each of Birla Sun Life and ICICI Prudential fund house received similar ratings. The biggest fund house in the industry, Reliance MF, however, found 11 out of 24 of its rated funds getting into the elite category. 

At the other end of the spectrum, both of Quantum AMC's rated funds were received a 4-5 stars categorisation. Last month however, it was Sahara MF whose seven out of eight rated funds received the 4-5-star status. In February however, only six out of eight rated funds of Sahara MF were in the 4-5 star category followed by Canara Robeco whose 10 out of 16 rated funds received a 4-5 star categorisation. 

When it comes to the total number of funds rated by Value Research belonging to one single fund house then Birla Sun Life and ICICI Prudential continued to hold the top rung. In February 42 funds of Birla Sun Life were rated while 40 funds of ICICI Prudential fund house received a VR rating. 

How They Stack Up Fund House    *    **    ***    ****    *****    Total Birla Sun Life   3   7   17   11   4   42 ICICI Prudential   1   13   11   9   6   40 Franklin Templeton   2   6   20   10   1   39 UTI Mutual Fund     8   16   8   5   37 HDFC     6   12   14   2   34 SBI   6   12   6   7   1   32 Tata   1   10   11   6   2   30 Reliance   1     12   6   5   24 Kotak Mahindra   2   5   8   6     21 Principal     8   10   2   1   21 IDFC   3   3   10   3   1   20 DSPBR   3   3   6   4   3   19 J M   7   2   3   2   4   18 Sundaram BNP Paribas     7   6   4   1   18 ING   1   5   10   1   1   18 HSBC   7   4   6   1     18 LIC   6   5   1   3   2   17 Canara Robeco     1   5   5   5   16 Deutsche     3   7   3   1   14 L&T   4   2   4   3   1   14 Fortis   4   1     4   4   13 Fidelity   1   2   4   3     10 Religare     2   4   2   1   9 Sahara       2   3   3   8 AIG Global Inv     2   4   1     7 Benchmark     1   1   1   2   5 Bharti AXA   1   4         5 Escorts   1   2       1   4 Taurus   1   1   1   1     4 Quantum         1   1   2 Baroda Pioneer     1     1     2 JPMorgan   1           1 Morgan Stanley     1         1