About ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund (AMC) and its flagship product, ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund!
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund is the second-largest asset management company in India. With over Rs 5.8 Lakh crores of AUM, the AMC is among the most trusted names in the mutual fund space. The AMC offers products across asset classes.
Let us discuss the flagship product – ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund.
About ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund
Investment Objective
The scheme aims to generate long-term capital appreciation and current income by investing in a portfolio that invests in equities and related securities and fixed-income and money market securities.
Investment Strategy – The scheme’s equity exposure would range between 65% and 80%, and debt exposure would be maintained between 20%-35%
Equity:
The scheme shall use a blend of top-down and bottom-up approaches for stock selection. The scheme shall remain sector-agnostic in its investment approach. The scheme may also take derivatives exposure for portfolio hedging or any other permitted strategy to minimize downside risk. The net equity exposure includes foreign equity and units of equity mutual fund.
Debt:
The scheme intends to tactically allocate to longer duration fixed income securities with credit rating AA and above, which offer reasonable accrual. The scheme also invests in fixed-income securities issued by the government, quasi-government agencies, and corporate and multilateral agencies.
Portfolio Composition
The equity exposure is widely in the large-cap, which comprises 86.48%, and midcap and small-caps comprise 12.28% and 1.24%, respectively.
Note: Data as of 30th November 2023
Source: Value Research
Top 5 Holdings for ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund
| Name | Sector | Weightage % |
| NTPC Ltd. | Energy | 7.43 |
| ICICI Bank | Financial | 7.01 |
| Bharti Airtel Ltd. | Communication | 6.00 |
| Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. | Energy | 4.18 |
| Maruti Suzuki India | Automobile | 3.92 |
Note: Data as of 30th November 2023.
Source: Value Research
Performance of the Fund
ICICI Prudential Equity and Debt Fund has performed consistently throughout its existence. It has outperformed both the benchmark and the category in all time horizons.
| Particular | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | 7 Year | 10 Year |
| ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund | 24.98 | 26.12 | 19.34 | 17.38 | 18.26 |
| Hybrid: Aggressive Hybrid | 19.26 | 16.99 | 14.51 | 14.17 | 14.80 |
Note: Performance of direct plan; Data as on 20th December 2023.
Source: icicipruamc.com
Fund Managers for ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund
Equity:
Mr. Sankaran Naren has 34 years of experience in this field. He has been managing this fund since Dec.2015 and other 12 funds in total.
Mr Mittul Kalawadia has 18 years of experience and has been managing this fund since Dec. 2020, with 4 other funds in total.
Debt:
Mr. Manish Banthia has 20 years of experience and has been managing this fund since Sep.2013, with 23 other funds in total.
Mr. Nikhil Kabra has 10 years of experience and has been managing this fund since Dec.2020, with 6 other funds in total.
Ms. Sri Sharma has 7 years of experience and has been managing this fund since April 2021 and the other 7 funds in total.
Who Should Invest?
The fund is suitable for investors
- who seek diversification across debt and equity to benefit from accrual income as well as long-term wealth-creation solutions.
- who wish to participate in the growth story of the equity markets with a portion of their portfolio invested in fixed-income securities could consider this fund.
Ideal Time Horizon
- One should look at investing for a minimum of 3 years or more.
- Investment through a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) may help in tackling the volatility of the broader equity market.
Conclusion
ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund is an aggressive hybrid scheme investing in equity and equity-related instruments with a small allocation towards debt. This scheme has outperformed the benchmark and the category average over all the periods of 1/3/5/7/10 years. Also, the scheme has delivered risk-adjusted returns better than the category average with slightly higher volatility. It has generated an alpha of 12.60% vis-à-vis the category average of 3.96% over the three years. Therefore, investors who wish to have exposure to both equity and debt by going aggressively can consider this scheme.
Disclaimer: This is not recommendation advice. All information in this blog is for educational purposes only.
