ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund Vs HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund

ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund and HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund both the schemes are open-ended balanced funds with more exposure in equity investments. Though these schemes belong to the same category of balanced funds yet they differ on account of various parameters. On a general note, balanced funds refer to the schemes whose corpus is invested in both equity as well as fixed Income instruments in a predetermined proportion. However, these schemes have a minimum of 65% of their corpus invested in equity instruments. Individuals seeking regular income along with Capital growth in the long-term can choose to invest in balanced funds. So, let us understand the differences between ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund and HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund.

ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund

ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund is an open-ended Balanced Fund scheme that was launched in the year 2006. This scheme is a part of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund. ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund is jointly managed by Mr. Sankaren Naren, Mr. Rajat Chandak, Mr. Ihab Dalwai, and Mr. Manish Banthia. Here, the first three individuals manage the equity investments while the last one looks after the Fixed Income investment. As on March 31, 2018, some of the top holdings of ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund included Eicher Motors Limited, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, Ambuja Cements Limited, and Godrej Properties Limited. The scheme aims to attain growth coupled with safety by Investing in a combination of equity and fixed income investments. ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund uses CRISIL Hybrid 35+65- Aggressive Index to construct its Portfolio.

HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund (Erstwhile HDFC Prudence Fund)

HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund was launched on February 01, 1994. HDFC Prudence Fund and HDFC Growth Fund merged to form HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund. This scheme is an open-ended balanced fund that is managed by HDFC Mutual Fund. The scheme aims to attain periodic returns along with growth in a long-time tenure. HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund tries to attain its objective by investing in a portfolio consisting of equity and fixed income instruments. HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund uses CRISIL Balanced Fund Index as its primary benchmark and Nifty 50 as its additional benchmark to construct its portfolio. HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund is jointly managed by Mr. Rakesh Vyas and Mr. Prashant Jain. As on March 31, 2018, some of the top holdings of HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund’s portfolio included NTPC Limited, Larsen & Toubro Limited, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Limited, and Tata Consultancy Services.

ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund Vs HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund

ICICI Prudential Balanced Fund and HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund differ from each other based on various parameters that are divided into four sections, namely, basics section, performance section, yearly performance section, and other details section. So, let’s compare and analyze the differences between both the schemes.

Basics Section

Current NAV, scheme category, and Fincash Rating are some of the comparable elements that form part of basics section. It is the first section in the comparison of both the schemes. To begin with the scheme category, it can be said that both the schemes belong to the same category, that is, Hybrid Balanced-Equity. With respect to Fincash Rating, it can be said that both *ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund and HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund are rated as 3-Star. The current NAV comparison shows that there is a difference between the NAV of both the schemes. As on April 20, 2018, the NAV of ICICI Mutual Fund’s scheme was approximately INR 33 and of HDFC Mutual Fund’s scheme was approximately INR 497. The summary comparison of the basics section is as shown in the table given below.

Performance Section

Compounded Annual Growth Rate or CAGR returns at different time intervals is compared in the performance section. It is the second section in the comparison of both the schemes. The different time intervals at which the performance is compared include 1 Month Return, 3 Month Return, 3 Year Return, and 5 Year Return. The comparison of performance section shows that for certain time intervals, the performance of HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund is better while at other time intervals, the performance of ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund is better. The summary comparison of the performance section is tabulated as follows.

Yearly Performance Section

It is the third section in the comparison of both the schemes. In this section, the Absolute Returns between both the schemes generated for a particular year is compared. The comparison of Yearly Performance section also reveals that for certain years, ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund has done better while for others, HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund has done better. The summary comparison of the yearly performance section is as shown in the table given below.

Other Details Section

AUM, minimum SIP and lumpsum investment are some of the comparable elements that form part of other details section. It is the last section in comparison of both the schemes. With respect to the AUM, we can say that there is a significant difference between both the schemes. As on March 31, 2018, the AUM of HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund was approximately INR 36,594 Crores while of ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund was approximately INR 26,050 Crores. Similarly, the minimum SIP investment in case of HDFC’s scheme is INR 500 while of ICICI’s scheme is INR 1,000. However, the lumpsum investment for both the schemes is constant, that is, INR 5,000. The table given below shows the summary comparison of other details section.

Growth of 10k Investments over the years