ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund – Direct-Growth: Key Insights, Returns, Risks, and More

Within equity funds, according to market capitalization, there are three sub-categories – large cap, midcap, and small-cap. Now they have individual traits of their own. For instance, while large-cap funds offer moderate returns they also possess moderate to high risk, and as you move to the midcap, the returns can be higher, but you have to take higher risks, and that further magnifies with smallcap. So, to diversify your portfolio, investing across the market capitalization is necessary to mitigate risks and optimize profits. And what if a single fund offers this kind of diversification? Here comes ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund, which includes both the stability of large-cap stocks along the growth potential of midcaps. 

This article will revolve around the details of the ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund. You will be reading all the insights about this fund, starting from its returns, to the risk involved, different financial metrics you can evaluate from here, and more. 

Fund Management and Objectives

ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund – Direct-Growth is an equity fund that predominantly invests in equities and equity-related instruments. It analyses potential largecap and midcap companies and then invests to achieve long-term capital appreciation. This fund is well diversified as it invests across market cap. The fund has to invest at least 35% each in largecap and midcap companies as per SEBI and AMFI mandates. 

ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund – Direct-Growth has been managed by Ihab Dalwai since 1 June 2022. He is a Chartered Accountant by profession with years of experience. He has been associated with ICICI Prudential AMC for over 13 years, since April 2011. 

Excited about investing in the ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund? Open a free Demat account today!

How does the ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund Work?

The ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund brings in the best of both largecap companies and midcap companies while mitigating risks. The fund manager generally invests above 90% of the assets under management of this fund into equities and equity-related instruments. This builds a solid ground for reaping higher returns. 

As the mandate is to invest 35% each in both largecap and midcap, the remaining 30% of the assets the fund manager allocates to achieve better returns or to reduce risks. For instance, when the markets are sluggish, or volatile, the fund manager may shift more funds to the largecap companies’ stocks, while during a Bull Run, midcaps will excel, and thus shifting the assets more into midcap can be beneficial to reap higher returns. 

Performance and Returns (As of 9 Dec 2024)

Since its inception, ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund – Direct Growth has offered a return of 17.49%. This fund has been not only consistent with its returns but also managed the downside too well. Here are the returns it generated over different periods since launch – 

Time Frame	ICICI Pru Large & Midcap Fund Direct-Growth Return (%)	BSE Large Mid Cap TRI Return (%)	Category Average
10 Year Return	16.06	13.97	16.39
5 Year Return	25.10	19.17	23.69
3 Year Return	22.42	15.81	20.46
1 Year Return	29.45	23.64	32.99
6 Month	7.02	8.52	10.85
3 Month	-3.47	-1.40	0.83
YTD	26.10	19.16	28.76

As mentioned in the table above, you can see that the fund has outperformed the BSE Large Midcap index almost across all the timeframes. However, the fund is offering a bit lower return when compared to its peers. 

Investment Allocation (As of 30 Nov 2024)

The ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund Growth currently has 93.8% of its assets allocated into the equities and equity-related instruments, while, 4.93% is allocated into cash and cash equivalents, and just 1.27% is into debt. 

Market cap-wise asset allocation 

• Giant cap – 46.27%
• Large Cap – 22.09%
• Mid-cap – 31.56%
• Small cap – 3.68%

As of 30 Nov, the fund had an average market cap of ₹ 125118 crore and it span across 88 stocks.  However, the top 10 stocks of the fund, comprise 34.35% of its assets. 

Sectoral Allocation 

The top five sectors in this fund include – 

Sectors	Allocation (%)
Financial sector	23.45
Consumer discretionary	22.08
Materials	12.30
Industries	10.03
Consumer staples	7.24

Stock-wise Allocation 

Top five stocks of the icici prudential large & mid cap fund direct plan growth – 

Stock	Assets (%)
Maruti Suzuki	6.06
ICICI Bank	4.36
Bajaj Finserv	4.06
FSN E-Commerce	3.66
SBI Cards	3.11

Key Metrics 

As of 31 October 2024, the fund has an expense ratio of 0.81%, which is nominally higher than the category average of 0.72%.

Fund Details	Information
AUM (Assets Under Management)	₹17694 Crore as of 30 November 2024
Category	Equity Fund
Fund Managers	Ihab Dalwai
Exit Load	1% for redemption within 30 days
Entry Load	Nil
Minimum Investment	₹5000(Lump sum)₹ 100 (SIP)
Benchmark	Nifty Large Midcap 250 TRI

The ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund NAV as of 9 December 2024 stood at ₹1062.05. 

Risk and Performance of the ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap 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. 

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.

This fund has a standard deviation of 12.42% while the average standard deviation of the large Midcap funds is around 13.57%. This indicates that the ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund is less volatile than its peers and less volatile than BSE Large Midcap TRI, which has a Standard deviation of 13.19%. 

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

ICICI Prudential Large & Midcap Fund Direct Growth has a Sharpe ratio of 1.26% while the category average is 0.99% indicating, the fund has better risk-adjusted returns. 

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

The sortino ratio of ICICI Prudential Large & Midcap Fund Direct plan growth is 1.97 while that of the category is 1.65 on average, which again depicts better risk-adjusted gains and lower downside risks. 

4. 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. 

ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund has a lower beta than the peers’ average. The fund has 0.87% while that of the category is 0.95% indicating the fund is less volatile. 

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

The fund has almost an alpha which is double than its peers’ average. ICICI Prudential Large & Midcap Fund Direct Growth has 6.92 as Alpha while the category average is 3.94% indicating the extra return generating capabilities of the fund to be much higher than its peers do.  

Taxation for ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund 

If you’re investing in the ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap 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 lesser effect of taxes!

3. Taxes on Dividends – Dividends earned if any will be taxable at the hands of investors as per their tax slabs. If the dividend income surpasses Rs. 5000 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 ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund is ₹5000 for lump sum and SIP, it is ₹ 100. There is no lock-in period for the ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund Direct-Growth.

Invest in the ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund — SIP or lump sum at zero brokerage!

How to Invest in ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund Direct?

You can invest in the ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap 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 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 ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap 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 ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund Direct Plan-Growth plan, you must follow these steps:

1. First, you need to log in to your Shoonya account at 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 ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap 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 ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund?

The reasons for investing in the ICICI Prudential Large & Midcap Fund Direct-Growth can be the fund’s – 

• A well-diversified portfolio, which has both largecap stocks as well as midcap stocks striking a great balance between risk and returns
• Fund’s performance has been consistent over the years
• Fund has better risk-adjusted returns than most of its peers
• It has a very high alpha and lower beta compared to the category it belongs to
• It is taxed as an equity fund which offers tax benefits

Suitability of this Fund| Who Should Invest?

The ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund Direct is suitable for investors who:

• Are looking for higher returns and ready to take higher risk 
• Want to diversify their portfolio 
• Looking for long-term capital appreciation 

Conclusion

So, if are you interested in investing in this ICICI Prudential Large & Midcap Fund Direct-Growth, you need to analyze the above details thoroughly to gauge whether this fund is suitable for your investment portfolio or not. Make sure, you not only check the returns, but also the risks associated with the same to make wiser decisions. 

FAQs| ICICI Prudential Large and Midcap Fund Direct Plan-Growth

Source: MoneyControl

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