Fund Pick: Edelweiss Aggressive Hybrid stays ahead of hybrid peers

The fund aims to provide capital growth and current income through a portfolio invested predominantly in equities, with the balance in debt and money market securities

Edelweiss Aggressive Hybrid Fund, launched in August 2009, ranked in the top 30th percentile of the aggressive hybrid fund category in the Crisil Mutual Fund Ranking (CMFR) for three consecutive quarters through December 2024.

 

The fund’s month-end assets under management rose from ₹143 crore in December 2021 to ₹2,363 crore in December 2024, growing at an annualised pace of 155 per cent, compared with the category average of 15 per cent.

 

Bhavesh Jain, Bharat Lahoti, Rahul Dedhia, and Pranavi Kulkarni have been managing the fund since October 2015, October 2021, July 2024, and August 2024, respectively.

 

The fund seeks capital growth and regular income through a portfolio primarily invested in equities, with the remainder in debt and money market instruments.

 

 

Trailing returns

 

The fund outperformed the benchmark (Crisil Hybrid 35+65 — Aggressive Index) over the past one-, two-, three-, five-, seven-, and 10-year trailing periods. It also delivered better returns than its peers (as ranked in the aggressive hybrid fund category in the December 2024 CMFR) across the same time frames.

 

An investment of ₹10,000 in the fund on April 9, 2015, would have grown to ₹28,584 by April 9, 2025, delivering an annualised return of 11.06 per cent. The same investment in the category and benchmark would have grown to ₹26,586 (10.26 per cent annualised) and ₹28,321 (10.96 per cent), respectively.

 

A systematic investment plan (SIP) is a disciplined way to invest in mutual funds through fixed, regular contributions. A monthly SIP of ₹10,000 over the past 10 years, totalling ₹12 lakh, would have grown to ₹24.26 lakh (13.63 per cent annualised return), compared with ₹22.36 lakh (12.09 per cent) in the benchmark, as of April 9, 2025.

 

Portfolio analysis

 

Over the past three years, the fund’s asset mix averaged 70.99 per cent in equity, 24.74 per cent in debt, and 4.27 per cent in other instruments.

 

Its equity portfolio was spread across small, mid, and largecap stocks, with a clear preference for largecaps. Allocation to largecaps averaged 53.26 per cent, while midcaps and smallcaps accounted for 11.64 per cent and 6.08 per cent, respectively. By contrast, the category averages for large, mid, and smallcaps were 50.46 per cent, 13.12 per cent, and 9.58 per cent.

 

The portfolio spanned 24 sectors. Financial services had the highest average allocation at 22.14 per cent, followed by information technology (6.89 per cent), automotive and auto components (6.13 per cent), healthcare (6.01 per cent), and oil, gas and consumable fuels (5.48 per cent).

 

The fund’s debt holdings were largely in sovereign securities, with an average allocation to government papers at 9.11 per cent. Exposure to AAA/A1+ rated securities averaged 6.14 per cent, and the fund had no exposure to sub-AAA-rated papers.