'Concentrate on balance sheet health, rather than profits'

Though eased, the inflation level remains adamantly high. As worries over the health of the economy mount, chances of the Reserve Bank of India relaxing rates in Friday's review have become bleaker. The markets have been reacting negatively to the inflation numbers and have also been taking cues from pessimistic global peers.

The fund managers of Smart Portfolios' Season 4 generally remained on the sidelines during the past week, with few transactions to their credit. The uncertainty of the markets reflected on the fund managers' net worth.

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For the week, Rikesh Parikh's net worth stands at Rs 9,59,000, down 4.1 per cent; Mehraboon Irani's net worth is valued at Rs 8,23,000, down 17.7 per cent; Ashish Mittal's net worth is at Rs 9,25,000, down 7.5 per cent; Alex Mathews' net worth is at Rs 9,85,000, down 1.5 per cent and Ajay Parmar's totals Rs 9,82,000, down 1.8 per cent.

RIKESH PARIKH
VP (equity strategies),
Motilal Oswal Securities
"I have used the correction in markets to increase allocation in stocks in which I'd previously invested.

Had increased investments in stocks like Bharti, Coal India, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries and Dena Bank and have taken partial exits on a rise.

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With monthly inflation showing signs of softening, we expect the Reserve Bank of India to pause rate increases and draw a road map for reduction in the bank rate. Have been overweight on the banking sector and expect some momentum to build up after the RBI policy announcement."

Parikh carried out a single buy-side transaction during the week, involving Mcleod Russel. His current top holdings include Mcleod Russel India, Dena Bank, Coal India, SBI and Deepak Fertilizers & Petrochemicals Corporation.

MEHRABOON IRANI
Principal and head (private client group),
Nirmal Bang Securities
"As far as stocks go, investors should concentrate on health of balance sheets, rather than profits of firms. Therefore, names like Pfizer, MRF and VST Industries are in the portfolio, debt-free and with decent cash in their books, coupled with a decent business and track record."

Irani remained mildly active during the week, having carried out a total of five transactions during the period under review.

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He purchased Steel Authority of India and exited from Hindalco Industries. His top holdings are Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Delta Corp and Godrej Industries.

ASHISH MITTAL
Fund Manager (PMS), Centrum Wealth
"While we remain optimistic about continued fall in the inflation rate and possible reversal of the interest rate cycle, we aree disappointed with developments on economic reforms.

Considering the recent setback to the process, we have become cautious on domestic equity markets in the short term. Hence, we are holding existing investments and have deferred any major use of existing cash in the portfolio. However, we continue buying only select deep-value stocks, as we maintain our optimistic view on long-term investment bets."

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Mittal remained on the sidelines during the week. His top holdings are MRF, Balmer Lawrie & Co, KA5V1BK2, Bharat Electronics and EID Parry.

ALEX MATHEWS
Head (technical and derivatives research),
Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services
Mathews made two buy-side transactions during the period under review. He bought Bharat Petroleum and Indiabulls Real Estate. His top holdings are Indiabulls Real Estate, Tata Coffee, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Financial Services and Ranbaxy Laboratories.

AJAY PARMAR
Co-head (investment banking),
Emkay Global
Parmar carried out five transactions in the past week, all on the sell-side. He exited from Shree Cement, Motherson Sumi Systems, Tata Motors, Sintex Industries and IVRCL. His top holdings include Gitanjali Gems, Suzlon Energy, Insecticides India, Hindustan Construction Company and Financial Technologies.