Fund Pick: ICICI Pru Value Fund delivers value, consistent high returns

ICICI Prudential Value Fund stayed in the top CMFR percentile through December 2025, delivering consistent long-term outperformance and strong AUM growth

ICICI Prudential Value Fund, which was launched in August 2004, featured in the top 30th percentile of the value/contra funds category of the Crisil Mutual Fund Ranking (CMFR) for four consecutive quarters through December 2025. The fund had Rs 61,271 crore in assets under management (AUM) at the end of December 2025, up more than 120 per cent from Rs 27,515 crore at the end of December 2022. Sankaran Naren and Dharmesh Kakkad have managed the fund since January 2021, and Masoomi Jhurmarvala since November 2024.

 

Its objective is to ensure long-term capital appreciation by investing in equities and related securities. 

Trailing returns

 

ICICI Prudential Value Fund has outperformed the benchmark (Nifty 500 TRI) over the one-, two-, three-, five-, seven- and 10-year trailing periods. It also outperformed its peers (funds ranked in the value/contra category of CMFR in December 2025) over the one-, two-, three-, five-, seven- and 10-year trailing periods.

 

A Rs 10,000 investment in the fund on August 16, 2004 would have increased to Rs 489,500 on February 26, 2026, at an annualised rate of 19.79 per cent. On the other hand, the same investment in the category and the benchmark would have grown to Rs 297,966 (17.06 per cent) and Rs 228,710 (15.64 per cent), respectively.

 

A systematic investment plan (SIP) is a disciplined way of investing in mutual funds, wherein a specific amount is invested at regular intervals.

 

A monthly SIP of Rs 10,000 in the fund over 10 years — Rs 12 lakh in total — would have grown to Rs 31.05 lakh (annualised return of 18.10 per cent). The same investment in the benchmark would have risen to Rs 26.11 lakh (14.88 per cent) as on February 26, 2026. Overall, the fund has outperformed the benchmark over the one-, three-, five-, seven- and 10-year SIP periods.

 

Portfolio analysis

 

The fund has increased its exposure to large-cap stocks in the past three years. Its allocation to largecap stocks averaged 75.63 per cent, while that to mid and smallcap stocks was 7.65 per cent and 5.23 per cent, respectively. In comparison, the category’s investments in largecap stocks stood at 56.43 per cent on average, followed by 14.59 per cent in midcaps and 21.66 per cent in smallcaps. The fund’s allocation to largecap stocks surpassed its peers.

 

The portfolio was diversified across 21 sectors. The highest average allocation was to financial services at 28.56 per cent, followed by oil, gas, consumable fuels (11.55 per cent), healthcare (10.05 per cent), information technology (8.50 per cent), automobile and auto components (6.93 per cent), and fast-moving consumer goods (5.51 per cent).

 

The fund’s overweight positions compared with its category in certain largecap stocks and high-return sectors, such as telecommunication (23.57 per cent) and healthcare (23.09 per cent), contributed to its performance in the past three years.

 

During the period under review, the fund took exposure to 156 stocks and held 26 consistently. Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation and ICICI Bank were the key contributing stocks to the portfolio.