With the stock market touching new peaks, value funds suit investors who look to pick stocks with strong fundamentals at cheaper valuations. Tata Equity P/E fund is a good fit.
The scheme has a mandate to invest at least 70 per cent in companies whose rolling PE (price-to-earnings ratio) is lower than that of the Sensex.
The fund’s portfolio PE stands at 23.8 times, as against the Sensex’s 32.9 times. It has a flexi-cap profile.
Considering the run-up in large-caps, allocation to mid- and small-cap stocks has moved up to 28 per cent now, from lower levels earlier. The fund rightly latched on to IT and pharma as defensive bets earlier this year. It is now leaning towards banking and financials after a lull. Over 5 and 10-year periods, the scheme sports returns on par with, or better than, the broader S&P BSE 500 index by 1-2 percentage points.