This is a fund whose performance on a year-to-year basis does not look impressive, but it still has a solid long-term record of beating both the category and the benchmark. Tata Long Term Equity Fund's one-, three- and five-year returns place it comfortably ahead of the ELSS category. Also to be noted is the fund's CAGR of nearly 21 per cent over its nineteen-year life since launch, a track record not to be ignored. This fund follows a growth- at-a-reasonable-price approach to select its stocks. It buys businesses with compounding characteristics, strong growth potential, good capital efficiency and those run by competent management teams. At the same time the fund does take opportunistic exposure to special situations.

The fund's five-year return of 16.2 per cent puts it in the top ten. Usually 3 percentage points ahead of its category, the fund has shot ahead in the last one year. But its year-to-year returns, relative to the category, have been somewhat erratic. In the last ten years, for instance, the fund has lagged behind its category on seven occasions. This probably has to do with its large-cap leanings.

Historically the fund has maintained 75-80 per cent of its portfolio in large-cap stocks, with mid caps making up the rest. But in the last couple of years, as the bull market got underway, large caps have been trimmed to 55-60 per cent, with rising small-cap exposure. This is at odds with most of its peers.

Overall, it's a good fund to own if you're looking for the ability to consistently beat benchmarks without much fireworks.