Skip to main content

ICICI Prudential Equity Fund – Volatility Advantage

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

 

ICICI Prudential Volatility Advantage Fund

ICICI Pru Equity – Volatility Advantage (earlier called ICICI Pru Equity & Derivatives Fund – Volatility Advantage Plan or ICICI Pru VAP) has adeptly managed the volatile markets of the last 3 years to deliver compounded annual returns of 10.6%, better than the balanced fund category average of 6% as well as benchmark Crisil Balanced index' return of 6.6%.

Its performance has pushed it to the spotlight in recent quarters. What exactly is this fund's strategy and how different is it from balanced funds? Read on:

The fund and suitability


ICICI Pru Equity Volatility Advantage is classified as an equity-oriented balanced fund in most online portals. Yes, it seeks to hold at least 65% in equities like most other balanced funds and the rest in debt. Only, its equities need not be only cash positions. The fund will have the flexibility to hedge its equity positions with derivatives and also take on derivative positions in the index.

Simply put, the fund uses derivative hedging strategies in its equity holding. This makes it one notch less risky than normal balanced funds, especially in volatile/down markets.

But that also means that in sudden rallying markets, the fund's hedged positions, if any, may place a cap on the returns it can manage. The fund is therefore suitable for investors who are looking for returns higher than debt-oriented funds (such as MIPs) and wish to take risks lower than balanced equity funds.

The key positive about this fund is its ability to reduce risks even while being classified as an equity fund for tax purposes. That means, you can have nil capital gains tax in the fund if held for more than a year, while assuming risks that are a few notches higher than regular debt-oriented funds.

Performance


ICICI Pru Equity Volatility Advantage has an excellent track record of beating its benchmark almost all the times on a rolling one-year return basis for the last 3 years. However, over a longer period of 5 years, the fund beat its benchmark a less impressive 72% of the times.


This was because it took a good bit of hit in 2008. Its higher cash equity position at the beginning of the year did cause some damage. But it managed the market fall in 2011 much better, falling by 8.7% even as the benchmark fell by over 14%.

That said, in sharp rallying markets, a defensive position can cap returns. In 2009 for instance, the fund delivered a good 10 percentage points lower than balanced fund category-average return suggesting that its hedging strategy worked against it. But in markets such as 2012, when rallies were more predictable, the fund changed tack with ease and managed returns superior to the category.

It may be fair to position this fund between debt-oriented funds such as MIPs and balanced funds in terms of its risk-return profile.

Portfolio


ICICI Pru Equity Volatility Advantage has a portfolio of equities biased towards large-cap stocks. Net of the 3.6% exposure to derivatives, the fund held about two thirds in equities and rest in debt as of April 2013.

The fund's debt portfolio, unlike its sister fund ICICI Pru Balanced, is skewed towards short-to-medium -term maturity instruments. For instance, as of April, its debt portfolio sported an average maturity of 0.9 years compared with the Balanced fund's maturity of 5.98 years. Even while it did increase portfolio maturity compared with its holding at the beginning of 2013, it evidently preferred to keep its risks at bay by holding to shorter maturity buckets.

The fund is managed by Manish Gunwani and Manish Banthia. The fund was launched in end 2006 and was renamed twice.

Happy Investing!!

We can help. Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write back to us at PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

---------------------------------------------

Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds ( ELSS Mutual Funds ) to upto Rs 1 lakh and Save tax under Section 80C.

Invest Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

These links can be used to Purchase Mutual Funds Online that are regular also (Investment, non-tax saving)

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Applications

These Application Forms can be used for buying regular mutual funds also

Some of the best Tax Saving Mutual Funds available ( ELSS Mutual Funds )

  1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan Invest Online
  2. HDFC TaxSaver Invest Online
  3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund Invest Online
  4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund Invest Online
  5. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief '96 Invest Online
  6. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund Invest Online
  7. SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 1993 Invest Online
  8. Sundaram Tax Saver Invest Online
  9. Edelweiss ELSS Invest Online

------------------

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
    2. Large and Midcap Funds Invest Online
      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
    1. Mid and SmallCap Funds Invest Online
      1. Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund
      2. DSP BlackRock Small & Midcap Fund
      3. Sundaram Select Midcap
      4. IDFC Premier Equity Fund
    1. Small and MicroCap Funds Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund
    1. Sector Funds Invest Online
      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
    1. Tax Saver MutualFunds Invest Online
      1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan
      2. HDFC Taxsaver
      3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund
      4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund
    2. Gold Mutual Funds Invest Online
      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund

Popular posts from this blog

Surrender ULPPs

  ICICI Pru LifeTime and ICICI Pru Lifestage are Unit Linked Pension Plans. Such insurance linked retirement plans are neither good investments nor do they offer sufficient insurance cover. As you can see, these have turned out to be bad deals. In the Lifetime plan, the fund value is not even equal to the total premiums that you have paid and in the Lifestage plan your return is just about 6% which is quite low. The mortality charges are as per your age which is why they have increased. Moreover, once these plans matures, you will have to compulsorily opt for annuity (regular income) and the annuity rates are generally modest. Assuming these plans mature in the next one year, it will be wise to surrender the plan now and curb your future commitments.   Before you choose to buy a term plan, you have to consider a few points. You need to insure yourself, only during the time you are working and your family is financially dependent on you. At the age of 59, not all insurance companies w...
Read more

ICICI Pru Constant Maturity Gilt dividend

Invest ICICI Prudential Constant Maturity Gilt Fund Online ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund   has announced dividend under the following schemes: Scheme Dividend ( R /unit) ICICI Pru Constant Maturity Gilt-DQ 0.26543239 ICICI Pru Constant Maturity Gilt Direct-DQ 0.27171609 ICICI Pru Q Interval Plan I-D 0.10617296 ICICI Pru Q Interval Plan I Direct-D 0.10703967 ICICI Pru Q Interval Plan I Ret-D 0.10617296             The record date has been fixed as June 13, 2016.   ----------------------------------------------- Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Mutual Funds Top 10 Tax Saver Mutual Funds to invest in India for 2016 Best 10 ELSS Mutual Funds in india for 2016 1. BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund 2. Axis Tax Saver Fund 3. Franklin India TaxShield 4. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund 5. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund 6. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96 7. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund 8. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) ...
Read more

NPS Investment Choice for Safe Investors

Invest NPS Online       Whether they invested through SIPs or put in a lump sum amount, risk-averse individ uals have earned the highest returns. These are investors who stayed away from stocks and divided their NPS corpus between G class gilt funds and C class corporate debt funds. On average, gilt funds have given 9.75% annualised returns while corporate debt funds have churned out more than 11% in the past five years. As a result, the average return for ultra-safe investors in the past five years is in double digits. Even in the short term, ultrasafe investors have been the biggest gainers among NPS investors. Will the good times continue? The gilt funds of NPS are holding long-term bonds with an average maturity of over 19 years and a modified duration of about 9 years.These funds have done well because interest rate cuts have pushed down bond yields. But experts say this trend will not stay forever. NPS is a long-term investment and the bonds are predominantly held to matu...
Read more

Buy Health Insurance Plan even if you are covered with my Employer

Buy Health Insurance Plan Online Yes, getting a private insurance cover now, which extends beyond your retirement age, is recommended There are a few reasons why buying a health insurance plan may make sense even though you get medical insurance from your employer. Here are the points you need to think about. Firstly, your employer's insurance coverage will only protect you as long as you are employed with the company. The policy will terminate when you quit the job or when you retire. Post retirement is perhaps the phase when one needs it the most but you won't have it then. Moreover, buying a new insurance policy after the age of 50 means that there will be no coverage for pre-existing diseases.   Lastly, health insurance policy you get from your employer may or may not cover your dependants. ------------------------------ ----------------- Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Mutual Funds Top 10 Tax Saver M...
Read more

SBI MAGNUM MIDCAP ONLINE

Invest SBI MAGNUM MIDCAP ONLINE   SBI MAGNUM MIDCAP fund didn't fare well in its initial years but, in recent years, has steadily improved its performance under the capable hands of its current fund manager. Although investing predominantly in mid-cap stocks, the average market capitalisation of its portfolio is lower than other category peers.   Although the stock selection approach is mostly bottom-up , the fund manager doesn't shy away from taking bold sector bets , as is reflected in its large exposure to the healthcare sector. She is equally adept at handling performance across market cycles--the fund has captured more of the upside during market upticks and contained the downside during downturns in a better manner than its peers.   Given its superior risk-reward equation, the fund is a worthy pick in its category.     ----------------------------------------------- Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing EL...
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now