Popularity and performance have gone hand in hand for Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96, one of the veterans of the tax planning category. With the fund delivering a 12 per cent CAGR in the last ten years, 3 percentage points higher than its category, its asset size has vaulted from R20 crore to nudge R2000 crore (R1928 crore as of end January 2016).

Earlier known as Alliance Tax Relief 96, this fund had a great run in the initial years. However, it turned out to be a moderate performer for a long intervening period - sporting a 3 star for many years, before showing promise again in the last two years. The fund has climbed from a 3-star to a 4-star rating in the last 12 months.

The fund follows a multi-cap strategy with a 55-60 per cent largecap exposure and the rest in small and midcaps. It has tilted more towards the mid-cap pack than other ELSS peers and avoids cash calls. The strategy is bottom up and uses a 360 degree view of a company, in order to invest in compelling businesses without any size bias.

The fund's year by year record since 1998 shows a few bad patches, when it struggled to outdo both benchmarks and peers. The fund has lost more value than its benchmark in the recent bear markets with its returns slipping behind the benchmark both in 2008 and 2011. These were also years in which it underperformed the category. But it has also demonstrated the ability to play bounce backs from bear markets to the hilt, by outdoing both the index and peers by big margins.

The fund has delivered sharply higher returns than the category in the big bull years of 1999, 2003, 2007, 2009 as well as the recent spell in 2014 and 2015. It needs to mention that the fund suffered a lot of fund manager shuffle in its initial years until 2006. After the ownership transfer to Birla Sun Life, the management team has remained very stable with Ajay Garg at the helm from 2006. The fund is currently placing its bets on domestic consumption themes- both rural and urban and is playing an upturn in the economy.

Overall, a fund which has been vulnerable to setbacks in market falls, but picks up strongly where it left off in bull markets.