DSP Equity Savings Fund

One of the largest AMCs in India, DSP has been helping investors make sound investment decisions responsibly and unemotionally for over 25 years. DSP is backed by the DSP Group, an almost 160-year-old Indian financial giant.

The family behind DSP has been very influential in the growth and professionalization of capital markets and the money management business in India over the last one-and-a-half centuries 

Let us talk about the flagship product – DSP Equity Savings Fund. 

DSP Equity Savings Fund 

Investment objective

The investment objective of the Scheme is to generate income through investments in fixed-income securities and using arbitrage and other derivative Strategies.

The Scheme also intends to generate long-term capital appreciation by investing a portion of the Scheme’s assets in equity and equity-related instruments. 

Investment process  

DSP Equity Savings Fund invests in equity, arbitrage as well as debt instruments to aim to deliver relatively more predictable return outcomes.

The equity portion provides the ‘boost’, the debt portion tries to ‘shield’ the portfolio from corrections & arbitrage helps take advantage of tactical profit-booking opportunities. 

Portfolio composition 

The portfolio’s major exposure of more than 65% in large-cap followed by 10% in mid-cap. The top 5 sectors hold nearly 31% of the portfolio, with major exposure to the Banks and Power.

Top 5 Holdings 

Name	Sector	Weightage %
Housing Development & Finance Corporation Ltd.	Finance Institution	5.59
ICICI Bank Ltd.	Bank	3.89
Axis Bank Ltd.	Bank	3.40
Powergrid Infrastructure Investment Trust	Investment Trust	3.03
India Grid Trust	Investment Trust	2.60

Performance over 6 years

If you would have invested 10,000 at the inception of the fund, it would be now valued at Rs. 16,682. This fund has outperformed the benchmark in all time horizons.

The DSP Equity Savings Fund has given consistent returns and has outperformed the benchmark over the period of more than 6 years by generating a CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of 7.86% 

Fund managers 

• Abhishek Singh – Total work experience of 14 years. He joined DSP Investment Managers in January 2021 as Assistant Vice President in the Equity Team Abhishek has worked with Kotak Mahindra Group and Edelweiss in the past. 
• Kedar Karnik – Total work experience of 17 years. Kedar joined DSP Investment Managers from Axis Asset Management. 
• Jay Kothari – Vice President & Product Strategist -Jay has been with DSP Investment Managers since May 2005, and has been with the Investment function since January 2011. Jay joined the firm as a member of the Sales team (Banking) in May 2005. 

Who should invest in DSP Equity Savings Fund? 

Investors 

• Who value smooth equity investment journeys with relatively more predictable outcomes. 
• Accept that equity investing means exposure to risk and recognize market falls as good opportunities to invest even more. 

Why invest in DSP Equity Savings Fund? 

• This is a relatively lower-risk equity-oriented investment strategy compared to diversified or thematic equity funds. 
• Offers potentially better risk-adjusted returns compared to debt investments. 

Time horizon 

• One should look at investing and holding the investment for more than 1-3 years. 
• Investment through Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) may help in tackling the volatility of the broader equity market. 

Conclusion 

DSP Equity Savings Fund offers the potential to earn relatively better risk-adjusted returns compared to other debt instruments. It aims to deliver smoother, less fluctuating investment journeys.

One can invest in this using a Systematic Withdrawal plan (SWP) as this fund has debt exposure to help your portfolio with a regular income.