Franklin India Bluechip mutual fund review: Not a strong long-term profile; should you stay invested?

ET Wealth collaborates with Value Research to analyse top mutual funds. We examine the key fundamentals of the fund, its portfolio and performance to help you make an informed investment decision.

BASIC FACTS
DATE OF LAUNCH
12 JANUARY 1993
CATEGORY

EQUITY
TYPE
LARGE CAP
AUM*
Rs.6,495 Crore
BENCHMARK
NIFTY 100 TOTAL
RETURN INDEX

WHAT IT COSTS
NAV**
GROWTH OPTION
Rs.699.10
IDCW
Rs.43.09
MINIMUM INVESTMENT
Rs.5,000
MINIMUM SIP AMOUNT
Rs.500
EXPENSE RATIO*** (%)
1.90
EXIT LOAD
1% for redemption
within 365 days

*AS ON 31 DECEMBER 2022
**AS ON 24 JANUARY 2023
***AS ON 31 DECEMBER 2022

FUND MANAGER
VENKATESH SANJEEVI / ANAND RADHAKRISHNAN
1 YEAR, 5 MONTHS / 15 YEARS, 8 MONTHS

Recent portfolio changes
New Entrants: Hindalco Industries, PB Fintech, Tata Steel, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company
Increasing allocation: Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company, Delhivery, Larsen & Toubro, Motherson Sumi Wiring India, Mphasis, Reliance Industries, Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Steel

Should you buy?
This fund has seen some changes in investing approach over the past few years, sparked by changes in lead fund manager. While the previous fund manager had shifted the fund to a more aggressive, benchmark agnostic style, the new fund manager takes a moderate, benchmark-aware stance.

The value-conscious approach underpinning the AMC’s equity philosophy continues. However, the portfolio size, which had been pruned earlier, has now expanded again. This has toned down the outsized positions in the portfolio’s top bets. While the fund made a strong comeback in 2021, it slipped again in 2022, lagging the index sharply. This leaves its long term return profile weak, needing a lot of catch-up with index and peers.

(Source: Value Research)