Templeton India Growth Fund: A safe bet

The Templeton India Growth fund has made its debut in the list of best performing funds. It has lost the least in the past six months. Taurus Libra Taxshield has delivered higher returns than the top fund in any of the other categories in the past year.The DWS Tax Saving fund is underperforming its category average on six-month returns.

Midcap funds as a category, incurred almost double the losses as compared with index plans in the past year. Barring Reliance Growth and Sundaram Paribas Select, none of the Midcap funds has delivered notable returns in the threeyear period. Index funds based on the Nifty cornered most of the slots in the top funds.

The relatively newer funds in both the categories, equity-oriented and debt-oriented balanced funds, delivered positive returns.This was mainly because they were able to avoid the downturn in the financial markets. However, these funds are also less dependable due to a lack of reliable longterm track record.

The continued weakness in technology funds despite the weakening rupee and recent pull-back in the equity markets underlines the inherent risks associated with this sector.The Reliance Diversified Power fund has earned its investors enviable returns over the past three years.