All about Kotak Emerging Equity Scheme

The investment objective of the scheme is to generate long-term capital appreciation from a portfolio of equity and equity related securities, by investing predominantly in mid and small cap companies.
*Source: Offer Document

Mid/small cap funds have undoubtedly emerged as the season's flavour and Kotak Emerging Equity Scheme (KEES) is yet another addition to this ever-burgeoning category. We had earlier witnessed a spate of mid cap fund new fund offers (NFOs) in the 2004-05 period. Similar schemes are being launched yet again; the only difference being that the present lot is largely of the close-ended variety. Seems like fund houses have finally woken up to the importance of close-ended funds and how they promote long-term investing, which should be treated as being pertinent in the context of equity investments. Perhaps the new guidelines initial issue expenses on close-ended NFOs have played a part in convincing fund houses about the importance of close-ended funds.

On the topic of mid/small cap companies, typically, such companies tend to be under-researched ones, thereby providing an investment opportunity that is yet to be identified by the market. Investments in such companies offer high growth potential and the opportunity to clock above-average returns over the long-term horizon.

On the flipside, since mid/small-sized companies are often under-researched, there is a fair chance that some reasons for "not investing" could be overlooked. As risk control measures and corporate governance tend to be neglected, the chance of manipulation in such companies is higher. Similarly, the possibility of stocks remaining illiquid even at the end of the investment horizon does exist; this in turn can be an unviable proposition for the fund manager.

On account of restricted cash inflows and outflows, the fund manager of a close-ended fund can adopt a "buy and hold" strategy and make investments from a long-term perspective. This can prove handy, since mid/small cap stocks can be very volatile investments over shorter time frames, however, they hold the potential to unlock value and deliver over longer time frames.

The mutual funds segment has funds like Franklin Prima (49.5% CAGR over 5-Yr) and Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Midcap (55.2% CAGR over 3-Yr) that invest in the mid/small cap segment. More importantly, these funds have proven track records over longer time frames to show for. In light of the same, we recommend that investors give KEES a miss and instead invest in the aforementioned funds.

The fund house will follow the definition provided by an independent mutual fund research house at the beginning of each calendar year quarter for determining the market capitalisation range. Presently, mid cap companies have been defined as those which have a market capitalisation between Rs 14.13 bn and 90.08 bn; small cap companies are defined as those with a market capitalisation below Rs 14.13 bn.

KEES will invest between 65%-100% of its assets in mid/small cap companies. Large cap companies can account for upto 35% of assets. The investment limit for debt and money market instruments has been pegged at 35% of assets. The mandate to invest in large cap companies and debt instruments can aid KEES from a diversification perspective, when stocks of the mid/small cap variety run into rough weather.

Mr. Nikunj Doshi (B.E. and M.M.S.) is an Equity Fund Manager with Kotak Asset Management Company (AMC). He has more than 15 years of experience in Corporate Planning, Equities Research and Fund Management. Prior to joining the Kotak Group, he was associated with organisations like Refco Sify Securities and Lloyds Finance, among others. Prior to joining the AMC, Mr. Doshi worked with Kotak Securities as a Portfolio Manager.

Given that KEES will predominantly invest in small/mid cap stocks, the fund's performance will be closely linked to that of the small/mid cap segment. We expect KEES to deliver in line with its positioning as a high risk-high return investment proposition.