A very steady performer in the multi-cap category, DSP BlackRock Opportunities Fund has retained a three-star rating almost all the time for the last 13 years, climbing to four stars in the last one year.

DSP BlackRock Opportunities Fund is a flexi-cap fund with no pre-defined market capitalisation limits. However, the fund has had a bias towards large caps. In recent times, the fund has maintained a 70 per cent plus large-cap exposure, with mid-cap stocks at about 20 per cent. It is overweight on large caps relative to the category.

DSP BlackRock Opportunities Fund doesn't like to cling to the 'growth' or 'value' styles. Key parameters looked at while identifying an investible stock are the growth potential of the business, confidence on predictability of business variables, return on equity, management quality and stock valuation (relative to the stock's history and peers).

DSP BlackRock Opportunities Fund contains risks through a maximum portfolio weight of 10 per cent in a stock and has a cap of 7.5 per cent on its cash levels.

After a short blip in 2012, this fund has pulled up its socks to deliver significant outperformance in the last five years. Its three- and five-year returns are 6-7 percentage points ahead of the benchmark returns and 3-4 percentage points more than the category returns. Looking back, the performance shows that the fund has contained losses well relative to its benchmark in the bear years of 2008 and 2011. But it has trailed the index in a few bull years such as 2007 and 2012. This could be indicative of its conservative approach to valuations.

DSP BlackRock Opportunities Fund is A predictable performer in the multi-cap category.