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Business News/ Mutual Funds / News/  Axis Mutual Fund adding battered auto stocks to its portfolio
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Axis Mutual Fund adding battered auto stocks to its portfolio

Axis Long Term Equity Fund offered a return of 20% over the past year
  • More bullish now than six months back, says Jinesh Gopani, head of equity for Axis Asset Management
  • Axis Long Term Equity Fund added shares of Maruti Suzuki, Eicher Motors and Motherson Sumi Systems to its portfolioPremium
    Axis Long Term Equity Fund added shares of Maruti Suzuki, Eicher Motors and Motherson Sumi Systems to its portfolio

    Axis Mutual Fund is looking at one of India’s most beaten-down sectors -- the auto industry -- to help keep it in the top ranks of the nation’s asset managers. The investor is slowly increasing exposure to select companies as it sees “some signs" of demand revival with a better-than-expected monsoon and lower corporate tax rates supporting sentiment.

    “We are adding auto to our portfolio," Jinesh Gopani, head of equity for Axis Asset Management Co., overseeing about 57,000 crore ($8 billion) of assets, said in an interview on Friday. “In another two years, the sector could come back."

    The S&P BSE Auto Index has declined 14% so far this year. That’s the second-worst performance among 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. Passenger car sales plunged 33% in September from a year earlier, down for an 11th consecutive month, industry data showed earlier this month.

    Axis prides itself on investing for the longer term, and its biggest fund, Axis Long Term Equity Fund, offered a return of 20% over the past year, beating 92 percentile of its peers. Over five years, the returns are 14%, higher than 96 percentile.

    The fund, with assets of 20,400 crore under management, added shares in the nation’s largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Eicher Motors Ltd. and auto component maker Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd., data compiled by Bloomberg show.

    “The idea is to pick leaders in large, mid and small caps from each sector and just be with them over their business cycle," Gopani said. “We don’t want to be a rock star in one year and a pop star in another."

    Excerpts from the interview:

    Sectors like financials, auto and consumption are classic GDP multiplier stories

    “If private capex picks up in next 12-18 months, capital goods sector will provide opportunities for earnings growth"

    “We are seeing too much flux in mid, small cap sectors. With system clean up on, it is not wise to diversify beyond a point as one doesn’t know who gets hit where"

    Holding on to sector leaders has helped performance; these companies have performed despite the slowdown in economic growth

    More bullish now than six months back; expect demand to start picking up from December as economic growth is near bottom

    This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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    Published: 22 Oct 2019, 12:56 PM IST
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