ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan: An ideal fund in a portfolio

ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan is an open ended equity scheme with an investment objective to generate capital by investing in equity or equity related securities and for defensive consideration the scheme is permitted to invest in debt, money market instruments. As per Arnav Pandya's analysis, this fund has maintained a good track record and is apt for investors with conservative investment style.

Nature: Equity oriented Diversified open ended

Inception: October 2002

Assets under Management: Rs 4056 crore at the end of September 2012

Fund Manager: Sankaran Naren & Mittul Kalawadia

Analysis

• This fund manages its cash and equity holdings in order to earn capital appreciation for its investors. At the end of November 2010, Banks was the top sector in the portfolio with a share of 15 per cent. This was followed by Pharma and Software. The share of short term debt and other current assets was a massive 29 per cent in the portfolio. Reliance Industries was the top individual holding with a share of more than 7 per cent in the portfolio. Some of the other top holdings included Infosys, ICICI bank, BHEL, ONGC and Bharti. The fund had a portfolio turnover ratio of 1.6 times and it was an outperformer over its benchmark the S&P CNX Nifty over the one, three and five year time periods.
• Six months later, Banks remained the top sector and this was followed by software and Pharma. Reliance Industries continued to be the top holding in the portfolio followed by Infosys and ICICI Bank. From the auto space it was Tata Motors that found a space in the top 10 holdings list while there were also two Pharma companies in the list.  The funds portfolio turnover ratio dropped to 1.2 times and it was an outperformer over the one, three and five year time periods.
• At the end of November 2011, the fund had around 11 per cent of its portfolio in short term debt and current assets. Banks with 17 per cent exposure in the portfolio was the top sector but this was closely followed by software and Pharma.  Reliance Industries with nearly 10 per cent of the portfolio was the top individual holding followed by ICICI Bank, Infosys and Cipla. Standard Chartered Bank and Sterlite were a couple of other holdings in the top 10 list. The fund remained an outperformer over the one and three year time periods.
• Six months later it was software that was the top sector in the portfolio. This was followed by banks, Pharma and petroleum products. Infosys and Reliance Industries were the two stocks with an exposure of more than 10 per cent in the portfolio. Bharti, ICICI Bank, Wipro and Standard Chartered IDR were the other stocks with a high exposure. The exposure to short term debt and other current assets remained high at nearly 10 per cent of the portfolio.  The fund was an outperformer over the one and three year time periods.
• The portfolio turnover ratio of the fund went up slightly to nearly 1.4 times at the end of November 2012. Banks was once again the top sector with an exposure of 11 per cent followed by software and telecom services. Bharti Airtel was now the top holding just ahead of Infosys. Two banks remained in the top ten list and some other names here were United Phosphorus and Sterlite industries. The debt and current assets in the portfolio also went up to nearly 20 per cent of the portfolio. The fund remained an outperformer over the one and  three year time periods.
• Investors looking for a fund to take a position between equities and cash can consider this fund instead of doing this task on their own. The fund has been consistent which makes it useful for conservative investors who do not want to take much of a risk.