This fund has the distinction of never falling below a four- to five-star rating in the last ten years. It has beaten both its benchmark and the category average in every one of these years. In the last year or so, the fund has invested 83 to 90 per cent of its portfolio in large caps, with a mid-cap allocation of 10-20 per cent. The mid-cap allocation is slightly ahead of that of its category. The fund is known to take correct tactical calls between market caps. It pegs sector weights to the BSE 200 index, only rarely selecting stocks outside the index.

On the basis of annualised three-, five- and seven-year returns, the fund has managed to beat its benchmark by 5 percentage points and category by 4 percentage points. Good performance has led to the asset size hitting nearly R12,000 crore in recent months, but given the large-cap tilt, this isn't a constraint to performance. A steady management team has led to continuity of style and market-cap bias. The fund can be counted upon for good participation in bull markets but is particularly adept at containing losses in down markets, be they 2008, 2011 or even the last one year. The large-cap tilt and the strong peg to benchmark have helped ensure that the fund contains declines very well during bear phases. The direct plan, which has been available for three years now, is 1.1 percentage points ahead of the regular plan on the basis of annualised returns.

This ia an easy winner over three different market cycles, backed by a stable management team, too.