Keeping it simple

To each his own. Star fund managers, as you'll discover leafing through these pages, pull in different directions. They have their own distinctive investment philosophies but, hey, still end up winners. Meet Prashant Jain, the 42-yearold Chief Investment Officer with HDFC Mutual Fund. Jain keeps it simple and adheres to the golden rules of investing. Stocks can be volatile over the short term, but over the long term reward investors in quality companies. Do due diligence before your asset allocation and, yes, never try to time the market.

Jain, who did not want to be interviewed for this profile, has been managing the HDFC Top 200 Fund since January 2002, and along the way the fund has given an annualised return of 36.8 per cent which is far superior to the 22 per cent annualised return delivered by the BSE Sensex. His motto: Invest in good quality businesses, remain diversified and keep away from richly-valued investments to the extent feasible.

Jain, then, has targeted only the blue chips, kept a hawk's eye on valuations and, most importantly, has ensured a well-diversified portfolio. Earlier, single sectors could account for nearly 40 per cent of the corpus, but in the last three years no sector has been allowed to cross the 25 per cent threshold. Individual stocks, too, never stack up to more than 10 per cent.

Jain certainly has the right pedigree, with a B. Tech. from IIT Kanpur and a PGDM from IIM Bangalore and a total experience of 19 years in funds management. He started his career at SBI Mutual Fund, moved to Zurich Asset Management in 1993 and finally ended up with HDFC Mutual in June 2003 (after HDFC Mutual Fund acquired Zurich).

Jain himself believes that disciplined investing and learning from past mistakes has been a big contributor to his success. But his colleagues swear by his innate talent for spotting good bargains in the market well before the herd.

WINNER: Prashant Jain

FUND: HDFC Top 200

FUND TYPE: Equity/ Large Cap and Mid Cap

FUND MANAGER SINCE: January 2002

3-YEAR ANNUALISED RETURNS: 17.38%

INVESTING PHILOSOPHY: The quality of the business is critical, it should be sustainable, have growth and competitive advantages

GURUS: Warren Buffett, John Bogle

RUNNER-UP 1 : Harsha Upadhyaya, UTI Opportunities

RUNNER-UP 2 : Nimesh Chandan, Canara Robeco Equity Diversified