Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund launches Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund

Chandigarh: Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (a significant non-bank financial services’ conglomerate), and investment manager to Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (ABSLMF) announced today the launch of Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund, an open-ended equity scheme following the special situations theme. Every economy, industry or business faces unique developments and challenges at various points in time. These events result in what can be called exceptional market scenarios or special situations, and those companies and businesses that navigate and thrive through these are the special opportunities that the market offers. In a way special opportunities is an evergreen theme because it is always part of the market. These events usually coincide with a significant dislocation in price of these stocks, creating special investing opportunities. They are usually available at lower valuations than their fair value which provides good margin of safety. Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund looks to spotting these very opportunities and will be managed by Senior Fund Manager Anil Shah who brings with him nearly three decades of experience in equity research and investments. The fund management team also includes Chanchal Khandelwal and Vinod Bhat.
 
Events like change in management, business restructuring, merger & acquisitions, Government policy change, regulatory changes, disruption due to a new entrant, macro-economic changes, regulatory changes, geo-political developments, global events etc., can create these special opportunities of investment. It is a wide range of possibilities and the Fund is well positioned to play these themes and special opportunities emerging in recent times from things like Atmanirbhar Bharat, Covid led Disruptions, massive Digital Adoption, Government’s Disinvestment plans, Changes in Lifestyle and Consumption patterns, solid Technology upgrade, and others.
 
Commenting on the new fund, A. Balasubramanian, MD & CEO, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited said: “Markets have a way of offering special opportunities to stock pickers. Sometimes it will favour growth companies and sometimes value companies. In times of uncertainty, even the good companies get impacted due to some reason or the other. Money managers have to look at the hidden value that can be unlocked from these companies in times ahead. These opportunities backed by good managements enhance the probability of success of these companies. An avid stock picker will be on the lookout for these kind of potential opportunities. This fund will be run by a team that has immense experience in identifying and investing in such opportunities and have a track record of identifying trends early on. We are already in a special situation market due the unprecedented nature of the times we are in. We believe that the time is just right to benefit from many special opportunities that exist today in terms of new emerging trends, existing businesses adapting and evolving, and a big consolidation in many industries that is underway”.
 
The fund will seek to have a focused portfolio through bottom-up approach of stock selection based on the size of opportunity, prospects of future growth and scalability, potential of growth in return on equity, and margin of safety. The portfolio will be sector and market cap agnostic. The fund can also invest upto 25% of the corpus in international opportunities pertaining to special situations.
 
“In addition there is abundant liquidity which is favourable for equity markets, make this the perfect time to look for these opportunities and come into this fund with an investment horizon of five years or more”, adds Balasubramanian.