Fund Pick: HDFC Focused 30 Fund stands tall, aiming for greater gains

The fund outperformed the benchmark (Nifty 500 TRI) in the past 6 months, as well as one-, two-, three-, five-, seven- and 10-year trailing periods

HDFC Focused 30 Fund, launched in September 2004, has featured in the top 10 percentile of the focused fund category of the CRISIL Mutual Fund Ranking (CMFR) for four consecutive quarters up to December 2024. The fund’s assets under management stood at ₹15,642 crore in December 2024, up from ₹979 crore in December 2021.

 

Roshi Jain has been managing the fund since January 2022. The fund aims to generate capital appreciation through a portfolio predominantly invested in equities and equity-related instruments of up to 30 companies.

 

Trailing returns

 

The fund outperformed the benchmark (Nifty 500 TRI) in the past six months, as well as in the one-, two-, three-, five-, seven-, and 10-year trailing periods. It also surpassed its peers (funds ranked under the focused fund category in the December 2024 CMFR) over the same periods.

 

A sum of ₹10,000 invested in the fund on February 27, 2015, would have grown to ₹34,304 on February 27, 2025, clocking an annualised return of 13.11 per cent. An investment of the same value in the category and benchmark would have increased to ₹30,635 (11.84 per cent annualised return) and ₹31,519 (12.15 per cent), respectively.

 

A systematic investment plan is a disciplined mode of investing in mutual funds, allowing one to invest a fixed amount at regular intervals. A monthly investment of ₹10,000 in the fund for the past 10 years, totalling ₹12 lakh, would have grown to ₹28.78 lakh (16.69 per cent annualised returns), compared with ₹25.32 lakh (14.3 per cent) in the benchmark as of February 27, 2025. 

 

Portfolio analysis

 

Over the past three years, the fund predominantly invested in largecap stocks, averaging 73.67 per cent of its allocation. Allocations to mid and smallcap stocks averaged 5.95 per cent and 7.33 per cent, respectively.

 

Non-equity assets accounted for the remaining 13.04 per cent. In comparison, the category average investments were 69.11 per cent in largecaps, 17 per cent in midcaps, and 8.98 per cent in smallcaps. The fund’s allocation to largecap stocks was higher than that of its peers.

 

The fund’s portfolio was diversified across 17 sectors. Financial services dominated, with an average allocation of 41.34 per cent, followed by automotive and auto components (17.07 per cent), healthcare (15.72 per cent), information technology (12.36 per cent), and capital goods (10.42 per cent).

 

During the period under review, the fund maintained an average exposure to 29 stocks. The key contributing stocks to the portfolio were Hindustan Aeronautics, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Prestige Estates Projects, and Bharti Airtel.