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A multilayered strategy, an aggressive investment style, a portfolio that stabilised not long ago, and execution that has scope for improvement warrant a longer period to review this strategy. Hence, we reassign a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Neutral to SBI Large & Midcap. When Saurabh Pant took over of this fund in September 2016, it was his first foray into managing a diversified equity fund, having previously run a sector fund. Also, it was not the best of the times as the fund was going through a rough phase. Five years into its management, Pant has been able to stabilise the portfolio and deliver competitive performance. Pant is supported by a strong and stable equity investment team consisting of seasoned managers like R. Srinivasan (CIO-equities) and Sohini Andani. The analyst team is also well-resourced and experienced. The fund house witnessed the exit of CIO Navneet Munot in November 2020, who joined HDFC Mutual Fund as CEO. Munot is an experienced investment professional and used to play a strong supervisory role at SBI. His exit is a big loss for the fund house. However, so far, there has not been a noticeable material impact on the management of individual funds. The presence of Srinivasan at the helm of the investment function is a big positive, and the team works well around him. Pant has his own investment style that is distinct in more than one way. He plies a multilayered and fluid investment approach, the only restriction being the category mandate of having 35% each in large- and mid-cap stocks. He applies different approaches for constructing the large- and mid-cap portions of the portfolio. The investment style is also on the aggressive side. Within the mandate, investments are made in an unbiased fashion across market segments. For instance, since 2018, the portfolio has higher-than-average exposure in mid- and small-cap stocks. Although benchmark-conscious, Pant does not shy away from having sector and stock deviations to the maximum permissible limit from the benchmark index. The strategy has several elements that are manager-centric; therefore, its success would depend on Pant's execution on a consistent basis. So far, execution has been mixed. Such strategies and investment approach typically have a longer gestation period before a conviction is built on them.
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