It is evident that equity investments offer higher returns but also possess higher risks, while on the other hand, the debt instruments offer lower returns but have more stability and regularity. As every investor is different, balancing their risk appetite with the desired return is a crucial task. Having said that, there is a segment of mutual funds, known as Balanced Funds, which has the best of both worlds to offer the investors a better return without taking a humungous risk. One such balanced fund is Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Direct – Growth. 

This article will be around Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund – Direct Plan-Growth, where we will talk about the performance, risks, objectives and lot of other aspects of this fund which as an investor you should know before investing in it. 

Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Direct-Growth Fund Management and Objectives

Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Direct-Growth invests in the equity and equity-related instruments as well as debt and money market instruments, as well as in cash and cash equivalents. The objective of this fund is to wealth creation over long-term and income generation as well.  

Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Direct Plan-Growth is managed by – 

• Ennette Fernandes: She has been associated with Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund since 12 July 2024. She has been working with Philip Capital (India) and Tata Asset Management before joining Canara Robeco. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management. 

• Shridatta Bhandwaldar: He has also been managing the fund since 12 July 2024, that is, since the inception of the fund. He holds a Bachelor’s in Engineering (Mechanical) and then went for MMS in Finance. He has a long experience in equity analysis and fund management. Before joining Canara Robeco, he was associated with SBI Pension Funds, Heritage India Advisory, Motilal Oswal Securities, and MF Global Securities. 

• Suman Prasad: She has also been associated with the fund since the beginning in July 2024. She has been associated with Canara Robeco since 1996, a long stint. She is a Bachelors in Science, along with a PGDMS. 

Excited about investing in the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund? Open a free Demat account today!

How Does the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Work?

To understand how the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund works, you need to understand how the asset classes work. So, equity is more volatile, offers higher returns, while debt instruments offer stable returns, which help in income generation, while equities help in long-term capital appreciation. So, when you put these together, they can help in diversification of the portfolio and help in risk mitigation, and that is how this fund works. 

While the equity portion of the fund helps in generating higher returns for capital accumulation, the debt instruments try to offer income source and more stability to the fund.  

However, in a balanced fund, the main aspect is the dynamic asset allocation. So when the market is rising, the fund manager can allocate more into equity assets while during a market slowdown and higher volatility, they shift the assets towards debt instruments more to secure the investments. 

Performance and Returns (As of 25 April 2025) 

Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Direct-Growth has been a very new fund now even a year old, so, it is not possible to understand its long-term performance. As of now we can understand how it performed during the past six months, and compare it with the category average. 

Time Frame	Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Direct-Growth (%)	Category Average
6 Month	-0.70	0.08
3 Month	2.88	2.34
1 Month	1.73	1.53
1 Day	-0.99	-0.76
YTD	-0.79	-0.48

So, as it can be understood that the fund has been bit more volatile than the category average in both returns and risk aspect. 

Investment Allocation (As of 31 March 2025)

The Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Growth has 68.71% of its assets invested in equity and equity-related instruments, 25.96% in debt instruments, and 11.3% in cash and cash equivalents. 

Market cap-wise asset allocation 

• Large Cap – 52.28%
• Mid-cap – 5.09%
• Small-cap – 11.35%

Debt Instruments 

• AAA Rating – 14.34%
• Sovereign Bonds – 7.9%

As of 31 March 2025, the fund had an average market cap of ₹198092 crore, and it spans

across 68 stocks, where the top 10 stocks make up 33.98% of its assets. 

Sectoral Allocation 

The fund invests across sectors, offering a well-diversified portfolio. Here are the top five sectors as of 31 March 2025 – 

Sectors	Allocation (%)
Financial Services	20.19
Industrials	8.13
Technology	7.67
Consumer Discretionary	6.43
Energy & Utilities	6.25

Stock-wise Allocation 

The top five stocks of the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund include – 

Stocks	Assets (%)
ICICI Bank	4.51
HDFC Bank	3.80
Reliance Industries	3.58
Bharti Airtel	2.81
L&T	2.52

Key Metrics 

As of 31 March 2025, the fund had an expense ratio of 0.77%, which is bit higher than the category average of 0.72%.

Fund Details	Information
AUM (Assets Under Management)	₹1436 Crore as of 31 March 2025
Category	Hybrid Fund, open-ended
Fund Manager	Ennette Fernandes, Shridatta Bhandwaldar, Suman Prasad
Exit Load	1% for Redemption within 365 days on units redeemed of more than 12%
Entry Load	Nil
Minimum Investment	₹5000 (Lump sum)₹1000 (SIP)
Benchmark	Crisil Hybrid 50+50 Moderate Index

The Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund NAV as of 25 April 2025 stood at ₹10. 

Risk and Performance of the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund 

This fund is classified as a ‘Very High Risk’ fund, which indicates that the fund has the potential for higher returns, but there will be high volatility as well. However, as this fund is not even a year old, accurately assessing its risk quotients is not possible at this moment. So, we have analyzed the category risk quotients to have some idea. 

1. Standard Deviation (Std Dev% %): It shows how much the returns vary from the average returns generated by the funds themselves. The higher this number, the more it fluctuates.

The Standard deviation for the balanced fund category is 8.54%.

2. Beta: This ratio indicates the volatility of the fund’s performance, compared to similar funds in the market. The lower the Beta, the more predictable the returns are, and vice versa. It helps in comparing funds. 

The category average is 0.76%. 

3. Sharpe Ratio: This ratio indicates the return you get for the risk you’re taking. A higher number means better risk-adjusted returns.

The category average is 0.68%.

4. Sortino Ratio: It is similar to Sharpe but only looks at downside risk (the risk of losing money).

The category average is 1.17%.  

5. Alpha: It measures the extra return the fund gives above the market’s average return.

The category average is 1.71%. 

 Taxation for Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund 

If you’re investing in the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund, here’s how your returns will be taxed:

1. Short-Term Gains – If you sell the fund units within 1 year of the date of investment, a 20% tax will be levied on the entire return generated during the period. 
2. Long-Term Gains – If you sell the fund units after one year, any profit generated over and above ₹ 1.25 lakh will be taxable at a 12.5% rate. The same rate will be applicable for any investment tenure above 1 year. 

So, the longer you hold your investments, the better returns you can expect and the less the effect of taxes!

3. Taxes on Dividends – Dividends earned, if any, will be taxable in the hands of investors as per their tax slabs. If the dividend income surpasses Rs. 10000 in a financial year, then the fund house will deduct 10% TDS before disbursing the dividend into the account of the investor. 

Minimum Investment and Lock-in Period

The minimum investment amount in the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund is ₹5000 for lump sum and SIP, which is ₹1000. There is no lock-in period for the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Direct-Growth.

How to Invest in Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Direct?

You can invest in the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund – Direct Growth plan with Shoonya. 

Shoonya offers a free Demat account,  Zero brokerage trading, advanced trading tools, 100+ technical indicators, and much more!

Investing in Lump Sum Mutual Funds through the Shoonya Web Platform

Here’s a quick guide on how to invest in lump sum mutual funds through the Shoonya web platform:

1. First, you must log in to your Shoonya account at https://trade.shoonya.com. From the “Orders” section, click on “MF order.”
2. Search for the fund you wish to invest in; in this case, the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund – Direct Growth plan.
3. Choose “Fresh” for a new investment and enter the amount you want to invest.
4. You can complete your purchase by clicking the “Purchase” button.
5. You will receive a payment link on your registered email. Use the link to make the payment.

After payment, your mutual fund units will be allotted to your Demat account within T+2 days.

Note: You can only make the payment using the bank account registered with your Demat account.

Setting Up an SIP for Mutual Funds

If you prefer a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) for Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Direct Plan-Growth plan, you must follow these steps:

1. First, you need to log in to your Shoonya account at https://trade.shoonya.com. Go to “Orders” and click on “XSIP.”
2. Find the mutual fund for which you want to set up an SIP. In this case, the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund – Direct Growth plan.
3. If this is your first SIP with Shoonya, you need to create a Mandate ID. 

For that, you must enter the mandate amount and the validity date (until you want to keep your SIP active).

4. You must submit the details, and you’ll receive a Mandate authentication link via email. Approval generally takes 24 hours.

Once your Mandate is approved, you can follow these steps to set up your SIP:

1. Go to “XSIP,” enter the SIP amount, and select “Fresh” as the transaction type.
2. Choose the date when the SIP will be debited directly from your registered bank.
3. The approved Mandate ID will auto-reflect.
4. Choose “Monthly” for monthly debits and specify the number of installments (e.g., 24 installments for a 2-year SIP).

If you do not want to forget your SIPs and invest systematically, the SIP method can be most suitable for you. 

Why Invest in the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund?

The reasons for investing in the Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Direct-Growth can be the fund’s – 

• Long-term capital accumulation – wealth building
• Income generation 
• Stability in returns 
• Well-diversified portfolio helps mitigate risks

Suitability of this Fund| Who Should Invest?

The Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Direct is suitable for investors who:

• Are conservative investors 
• Looking for long-term capital appreciation 
• Can stay invested for at least five years 

Conclusion

Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund is one of the newest in the industry; however, with its current performance, it can be said that the fund is here to stay, as it is already offering category-average beating returns, but also when markets are volatile, it is declining more than the category average too. Moreover, the risks are yet to be assessed, and thus investing in this fund seems a bit risky as of now. To add it to your portfolio, you need to asses all the aspects of the fund. 

Canara Robeco Balanced Advantage Fund Direct Plan-Growth | FAQs

Source: ValueResearch

______________________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer: Investments in the securities market are subject to market risks; read all the related documents carefully before investing.