The Hindu Business Line : UTI Petro Fund: Cash-rich

The fund has maintained a high level of cash, which accounted for 41 per cent of assets of about Rs 225 crore, from January 2004. Even as the book-building process got underway, about a third of its assets were still in cash or cash equivalents.

Key changes: The fund has, however, not been on a passive mode in February. It has stepped up its holdings in 13 out of the 18 stocks in its portfolio.

The downtrend in the stock price of Indrprastha Gas has been used to add to the exposures in the stock. There is also the possibility that the fund may have sold at higher levels, when the stock spurted on listing to about Rs 200 before profit-booking set in, and re-entered at lower levels towards the end of February.

In a host of mid-cap oil sector companies, holdings have been ramped up. The likes of Chennai Petroleum, Kochi Refineries, Bongaigaon Refineries and IBP figure prominently in this list.

The fund bas also stepped up exposures to two private sector mid-cap plays: Hindustan Oil Exploration and Indo Rama Synthetics.

Exposures in the large-cap stocks of the portfolio - Reliance Industries, ONGC, Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum, IPCL and Indian Oil - have also been raised.

That the fund has picked up IBP, IPCL and ONGC from the secondary market even as their offers for sale were imminent is indicative of its confidence in the value offered by these stocks. The acquisition may also have been driven by the decline in their prices in the homestretch to disinvestment.

Top five holdings: Reliance Industries, Indian Oil, ONGC, HPCL and BPCL.

Fund facts: UTI Petro Fund was launched in August 1999. The minimum amount is Rs 5,000. The entry load is 2 per cent. There is no exit load. The fund manager is Mr Sanjay Sinha.

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UTI Petro Fund: BUY

PruICICI Power: Invest in a phased manner

Principal Global Opportunities Fund: Unattractive

Birla Dividend Yield Plus: Hold

UTI Petro Fund: Cash-rich