This fund does throw up the occasional pleasant and unpleasant surprise. It found itself amongst the top five twice; once in 2005 and the other instance in 2011. After an impressive 2008, the next year was the worst in its performance history. It lost 5 per cent (category average: -0.32%).

This was mainly due to a terrible first quarter when the average maturity of the fund was high and yields took an upturn. In recent times, the fund is seen to more actively manage its maturity bets. On the other side of the coin, it is penalized when the bets do not turn out as per expectations. But other than the occasional surprise, it is fairly consistent in its performance which does not deviate too far from the category average and has a long term track record to back it up. The fund maintains a high quality portfolio with majority of the investments into debentures and government securities. The expense ratio has seen a rise from 1.40 per cent in September 2008.