After giving a lacklustre performance for the past several years, Axis Bluechip Fund has managed to reverse the trend and it is back in the reckoning. The scheme, which invests primarily in large caps, has beaten its peers in the past year by a wide margin. It has given close to 20% returns in a year, while its peers have generated returns in the range of 7-12%.

There are a few reasons why the scheme has done well. First, the scheme's fund manager Shreyash Devalkar, who joined the fund house in November 2016, focused on quality and growth companies which was in sync with the flavour of the markets. The factors he kept in mind while selecting companies included high return on equity (RoE), revenue and margin growth, and market penetration. Three sectors met these criteria: retail-focused banks, auto and auto-ancillaries, and consumption. Recently, Devalkar also enhanced exposure to quality companies such as Maruti Suzuki, Eicher Motors and Larsen & Toubro.