The fund is quite aptly named - BSL Frontline Equity Fund has been a frontline performer through good and bad markets - outpacing its benchmark each year over the last 5 years and almost every quarter over the medium term.

Fund Benchmark : BSE 200

Fund Strategy

Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund has an investment strategy wherein it endeavors to optimize diversification by having sectoral weightage in line with the BSE 200 index. The scheme is managed using 3 key principles:

Discipline - The scheme targets to maintain sector exposure within +/- 25% or absolute +/- 3%, whichever is higher, of the sectoral weight in the benchmark index i.e. BSE 200, in order to maintain diversification and avoid excessive concentration in a single sector.

Bottom up stock picking is the key to generating alpha. The Fund Manager carries out extensive research to select companies mainly on its individual merits that offer higher growth potential.

Profit booking at opportune moments, particularly for mid caps where we have rotated exposure within sectors from expensive stocks to cheaper stocks.

This is a diversified scheme with a bias for large cap stocks but not exclusively focused on them. We intend to take advantage of select mid cap opportunities from time to time.

Performance commentary

The key factor behind the remarkable consistency in long term & medium term performance has been Discipline, wherein it endeavors to optimize diversification by having sectoral weightage in line with the benchmark.

Factors behind the relatively choppy performance during the first quarter of 2011 largely account of following reasons :

• Event risk in stocks like Aban Offshore (Rig Collapse)
• We had been overweight on Industrial Capital Goods although it had led to underperformance in the recent past due to delays in execution.
• Under weight exposure on Consumer Sector, which performed well over last two quarters.

Sectoral and thematic preferences

• We continue to remain positive on Private Sector Banks.
• Preferential exposure towards Telecom, as we believe that most of concerns are already priced in, and we could see better numbers going forward.
• Sectoral outlook over Pharmaceuticals is positive.

Outlook

As the economy continues to face macro headwinds, we feel that while in the near term Market will be volatile, but overall outlook on the market remains positive. Though we have trimmed exposure to Midcaps over last six monmths, we may intend to buy stocks in this segment if scrips are available at better valuations, within the specified limits of exposure. The focus will be towards stock - specific bottom - up approach & generating alpha.