One of the largest funds in the tax-saving category, SBI Magnum has been a middle- of-the-road fund in the long term but has delivered good one- and three- year performance. Over its eighteen- year record, it has held onto a three- star rating for much of the period. The fund has undergone a substantial shift in strategy in the last six-seven years. From a fund which bet big on mid- and small-cap stocks, SBI Magnum Taxgain has transformed into a large-cap-oriented ELSS fund. The fund focuses on the top 100 companies by market cap. Asset-rich companies available at attractive valuations and stable businesses with very good visibility on sustaining business momentum are the fund's key choices.

After a patchy start, this fund has delivered good returns over the last seven years mainly on the back of a switch in the strategy to a large-cap bias. One-year and three-year returns of 32.6 per cent and 27.6 per cent place it well ahead of its category. The fund has also beaten the benchmark and the category in six of the last eight years. Currently, the fund is overweight on private-sector banks/ NBFCs and underweight on public- sector banks. It is also underweight on metals, but bullish on capital goods. In the last five years, 65-70 per cent of the portfolio has been consistently allocated to large caps, more than the ELSS category in general.

Overall, this may not be a top choice in the ELSS category but a steady performer nevertheless.