In my last column, we had commenced with a discussion on the category of Equity Linked Saving Scheme (ELSS). Let us now proceed to turn the spotlight on a few randomly selected funds from the segment. These include DSP ELSS Tax Saver Fund, ICICI Prudential ELSS Tax Saver, HSBC ELSS Tax Saver Fund, Franklin India ELSS Tax Saver Fund, and Kotak ELSS Tax Saver.
DSP ELSS Tax Saver Fund has an AUM of Rs 13,583 Crore. The current Asset allocation mix is nearly 73 percent in Large cap, 26 percent in Midcap and 1 percent in Small cap. Its top equity holdings are in the Banks, Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology and IT Software sectors.
The performance of this fund over the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year time periods are 28.55 percent, 20.94 percent and 19.38 percent respectively. ICICI Prudential ELSS Tax Saver has an AUM of Rs. 12,395 Crore. The current Asset allocation mix is nearly 76 percent in Large cap, 19 percent in Midcap and 5 percent in Small cap.
Its top equity holdings are in the Auto Mobiles, Banks and Beverages sectors. The performance of this fund over the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year time periods are 22.99 percent, 17.66 percent and 15.86 percent respectively.
HSBC ELSS Tax Saver Fund has an AUM of Rs. 3,557Crore. The current Asset allocation mix is nearly 73 percent in Large cap, 23 percent in Midcap and 4 percent in Small cap. Its top equity holdings are in the Banks, IT Software and Finance Software sectors. The performance of this fund over the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year time periods are 30.01 percent, 17.14 percent and 14.58 percent respectively.
Franklin India ELSS Tax Saver Fund has an AUM of Rs 5,962 Crore. The current Asset allocation mix is nearly 78 percent in Large cap, 18 percent in Midcap and 4 percent in Small cap. Its top equity holdings are in the Insurance, IT Software and Leisure Services sectors. The performance of this fund over the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year time periods are 32.11 percent, 22.11 percent and 17.23 percent respectively.
Kotak ELSS Tax Saver has an AUM of Rs 4,691 Crore. The current Asset allocation mix is nearly 75 percent in Large cap, 21 percent in Midcap and 4 percent in Small cap. Its top equity holdings are in the Banks, Construction and Auto Mobiles sectors. The performance of this fund over the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year time period are 22.18 percent, 19.47 percent and 17.77 percent respectively.
While past records do not in any way guarantee future performance, the discernible trend hitherto is that ELSS has comfortably out-performed its alternatives in the tax-saving space over the last half decade. To select the right ELSS that matches an investors specific requirement though, is best left to an expert.