Franklin India Taxshield scheme seeks medium to long term growth of capital, with income tax rebate. The scheme invests in equities and there is an exposure to PSU Bonds and debentures and Money Market instruments.

 

Funds in the ELSS category usually like to shuffle their market-cap weights quite a lot depending on market conditions. But this fund is determinedly large-cap-oriented in a category crowded with multi-cap funds. Consistency of returns and an ability to contain downside have helped it retain four- to five-star ratings for much of the last eight years. The fund's year-to-year returns don't always beat its more aggressive peers, but its performance adds up to very handsome returns over the long term.

Franklin India Taxshield Fund allocates a minimum 60 per cent of its portfolio to large caps, it has pegged up this exposure even higher, to 80 per cent in the last one year. Mid and small caps now make up less than 20 per cent of the portfolio, shielding the fund from any meltdown in this segment of the market. The fund also avoids momentum stocks and sticks to bottom-up fundamentals-based investing. Though this fund is from a growth-style fund house, it tends to be quite valuation-conscious. It doesn't take cash calls and remains fully invested through cycles.

Outpacing the benchmark in 12 of the last 15 years, this fund has proved more adept at containing losses in bear markets. It tends to be rather sober in bull years and trailed peers in 2006-07, 2009 and 2012. The last two years, however, have seen the fund widen its outperformance vis-a-vis the benchmark and the category. The fund's current large-cap tilt suggests that it would be quite well placed to handle any market correction.

 Go for it if you like a less bumpy ride in choppy markets.