20 years is a long period, and especially when you are part of a journey which is called the stock markets. If you were a part of this 20 year ride with BSL Tax Relief '96 Fund, currently managed by Mr. Ajay Garg, your experience would have been not only fulfilling but hugely rewarding too. The fund (Inception date: 29 March 1996) with a lock-in of 3 years, offers twin benefits of capital appreciation with additional benefits of taxation u/s 80C. It's time we reflect back over this 20 year period and acknowledge the feat achieved by the master of ELSS category.

The fund is declaring its yearly Dividend, an amount of Rs 6.5/U maintaining an yield of ~5.2% (RegDiv Plan), record date being 11^th March 2016. Following are few key features of this fund:

·         With an AUM of Rs 1,928 crores, BSL Tax Relief 96 Fund has helped building wealth, by delivering a phenomenal return of ~13% - 22% (Div option - CAGR as of 03 March 2016) in the last 3-5 years  vs 8.70% - 8.80% offered by PPF and 8.50% - 8.80% offered by NSC.

·         The ELSS category provides the benefit of realizing some potential gain during the lock-in period in the form of Dividend Payout. BSL Tax Relief '96 Fund has declared 15 dividends till date amounting to Rs. 241.25, as additional tax-free cash flow.

·         A monthly SIP of Rs 10,000 since inception has grown to around Rs 3.4 Crores for a principal investment of Rs 23.9 Lakhs delivering an annualized return of 22.7% vis-à-vis 12.5% by S&P BSE 200 (SIP Period – April'96 – Feb'16; Report as on 29 Feb 2016).

·         Please find a comparison of BSL Tax Relief 96 Fund vs other traditional tax saving instruments u/s 80 C:

All rates shown above have been compounded wherever applicable. *There is no upper limit on investments. However, investments of only upto Rs.1,50,000 per year are allowed to be claimed as deductions u/s 80C of Income Tax Act, 1961.