Birla SL Equity Fund sells banking, engg; buys oil

Birla SL Equity Fund sells banking, engg; buys oil

Birla Sun Life Equity Fund has slashed its exposure to banking, engineering, real estate and telecom. However, it increased its exposure to oil & gas and metal space. (View - What is Birla Sun Life Equity Fund buying / selling?)

In the banking pack it freshly introduced Central Bank of India and Indiabulls Securities. However, it also sold HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India and 2.08 lakh shares of Oriental Bank of Commerce.

In the engineering space, it sold Siemens and Bharat Bijlee. In real estate sector, it exited Ansal Properties & Infrastructure and in Food & Beverages pack it sold United Spirits.

In cemnet and construction sector, it sold Mahindra Lifespace Developers and IVRCL Infrastructure and Projects.

In telecom pack, it sold 3.21 lakh share sof Reliance Communications and bought 1.61 lakh shares of Bharti Airtel. Among utilities, it sold 6.42 lakh shares of GVK Power & Infrastructure.

In the oil & gas sector, it bought Reliance Industries, GAIL India and Aban Offshore. In metal space it introduced Welspun Gujarat Stahl Roh.

Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and UB Holdings were the top stocks held by the scheme in May. Banking (15.71%), Cement (9.64%) and Oil & Gas (9.54%) were the top invested sectors in the scheme's portfolio. (Check out - Top stocks held by Birla Sun Life Equity Fund).

The cash exposure of the scheme has increased from 16.86% to 19.13%. The total assets managed by the scheme were of Rs 1237.85 crore as on May 31, 2008.

Over the last one-year, Birla Sun Life Equity Fund has yielded 4.2% returns as against 10.14% yielded by its benchmark BSE 200 as on June 16, 2008