Banking on long-term growth

July 25, 2008

Money Today—plexus Management new fund evaluation
ICICI Prudential Banking and Financial Services Fund

Fund facts

Offer open: Till 7 August 2008

Scheme type: Open-ended diversified equity fund

Minimum investment: Rs 5,000; unit price: Rs 10

Loads: Entry load: 2.25%

Exit load: 1% (before 6 months)

Options: Growth and dividend (payout and reinvestment)

Investor grievances: Anisha Iyer; Tel: (022) 24999777; E-mail: enquiry@icicipruamc.com

Fund stats

Objective: To enable long-term capital appreciation by investing predominantly in equity and equity- related securities of companies engaged in banking and financial services sector

Benchmark: BSE Bankex

Fund manager: Prashant Poddar

Asset allocation:

70-100% Securities of companies in banking and financial services
0-30% Debt and cash

Comparable existing schemes:

Fund Name: Sundaram BNP Paribas Select

NAV* (Rs): 10.09

Since inception(%): 0.89

Thematic Financial Services Opportunities
*NAV as on 10 July;. Source: NAVIndia

Fund prognosis

Idea distiller: Banking and financial sector has linkages to almost all sectors in the economy. Notwithstanding the recent lows, this sector has the potential to grow

Fund house report: ICICI Prudential AMC manages assets worth Rs 59,473 crore (as on 30 June) across 161 schemes

Returns profile: 4/5
Risk profile: 4/5

Scheme DNA:
Four fundamentals of the fund scheme
Unique Idea: Medium
Return Possibility: High
Risk: High
Operability/Complexity: High

Investor takeaways

Who should apply: Investors who have a high risk appetite and are willing to stay invested for the long term can look forward to a sure-shot growth

Comments: Currently, it might seem like a tough decision to invest in the banking and financial services sector, but it is rife with opportunities. Investors should be prepared for a long trudge, but growth is practically guaranteed.