A conservative fund in the ELSS category, it has retained a consistent three- to four-star rating for the last six years amid challenging market conditions. It managed a climb in the rankings from three stars to four stars and then five stars in 2016.

DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund has outperformed its benchmark in eight out of nine years since launch and its peers in seven of those years. The fund isn't wedded to any particular style and follows a diversified approach to select stocks. Though multi-cap by mandate, the fund has been quite large-cap stock oriented in the last five years. The fund also takes tactical calls to capitalise on market trends and opportunities.

The fund's margin of outperformance relative to the category and benchmark has widened in the last one year to over 6 percentage points. On a three- and five-year basis, its annualised returns are over 7 percentage points and 3 percentage points ahead of the benchmark and category, respectively. It is creditable that this has been managed with a distinct large-cap tilt relative to the category.

The track record suggests that the fund has proved better at navigating bull runs and volatile phases in the market than bear phases. In 2008 and 2011, the fund lost slightly more than the category. It has delivered sizeable outperformance in 2012 and 2016.

However, as the fund has seen a change in manager in 2015 and also adopted a higher allocation to large-cap stocks, past performance may not be a great guide to the future.