The Indo Asia Fund is a fund that allows investors the opportunity to invest in India and other Asian countries like Japan, China, Korea, etc. The fund is good for long term investments and creation of wealth. It offers investors the option to start investing with as little as Rs. 5,000 along with other perks like systematic investment plans, systematic withdrawals and 0 entry loads. It also provides investors with the tax benefits of an equity fund.
Type or nature of fund
This is an open-ended diversified equity fund.
Investment objective
The objective of this fund is to provide investors with the opportunity to create wealth over a long term along with the opportunity of investing in markets of developing and developed economies of Asia.
Fund information
| Inception date | 18 October 2007 |
| CRISIL rank | This product has not been rated by CRISIL |
| Plans | Regular and Direct |
| Options | Growth and Dividend |
| Schemes |
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| Entry load | Nil however if the investment is done through distributors then the invest will have to pay the distributor a commission. |
| Exit load | 1% if the amount being redeemed or switched has been invested for less than 1 year. |
| Minimum investment |
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| SIP |
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| Product label |
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| Benchmark |
CNX Nifty CNX Nifty or Nifty is the NSE’s benchmark for equity markets. It is computed based on the free floating capitalisation methodology and covers 22 sectors in India. |
| SWP | The minimum amount that can be withdrawn through an SWP is Rs. 500. The amount can be increased in multiples of Re. 1. |
| STP | The minimum amount that can be transferred through an STP is Rs. 1,000 and it can be done for a maximum of 10 years. |
| Redemption | The minimum amount that can be withdrawn is Rs. 500. |
Fund manager(s)
Sankaran Naren (Indian investments)
- Education: BTech from IIT Madras and PGDM from IIM Calcutta
- Past experience:
- Chief Investment Officer, ICICI Prudential AMC Ltd.
- Co-Head – Equities, ICICI Prudential AMC Ltd.
- Head of Research, Refco Sify Securities India Pvt. Ltd.
- Director & COO, HDFC Securities Ltd.
- Vice President, HDFC Securities Ltd
- Other funds managed
- ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
- ICICI Prudential Top 100 Fund
- ICICI Prudential Value Fund – Series 1
- ICICI Prudential Value Fund – Series 2
- ICICI Prudential Value Fund – Series 3
- ICICI Prudential Equity Income Fund
Atul Patel (Indian investments)
- Education: B.Com, CA and GRAD. CWA
- Past experience:
- 3 years of experience with ICICI Prudential AMC in Performance Analytics, Equity Dealing and Investment Research
- Other funds managed
- ICICI Prudential Value Fund – Series 2
- ICICI Prudential Value Fund – Series 5
- ICICI Prudential Equity Savings Fund – Series 1
- ICICI Prudential Growth Fund – Series 1
- ICICI Prudential Growth Fund – Series 7
Investment philosophy or strategy
The investment philosophy followed by this fund is to invest anywhere between 65% and 100% in the Indian markets and about 0% to 35% in the Asian markets. The investments in the Asian markets are done through IOF Asian Equity Fund and, between Indian and Asian markets, seeks to take advantage of developing economies.
Portfolio (As of December 31, 2014)
| Company/Sector | Investment |
IOF Asian Equity Fund
|
23.88% |
Banks
|
23.48% |
Finance
|
10.27% |
Pharmaceuticals
|
10.90% |
Software
|
6.55% |
Transportation
|
5.00% |
Cement
|
3.31% |
Industrial Products
|
3.01% |
Hotels
|
2.86% |
| Short Term Debt and other current assets | 2.61% |
Risk measures
| Sharpe ratio | 1.34 |
| Alpha | |
| Portfolio beta | 1.03 |
| Std deviation | 11.74% (annual) |
Performance
| AUM | Rs. 146.53 crores (As of December 31, 2014) |
| NAV (As of December 31, 2014) |
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| Expense ratio |
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Returns
| 2013-2014 (Absolute Returns) | 2012-2013 (Absolute Returns) | 2011-2012 (Absolute Returns) | Compound Annual Growth Rate (Since Inception) | |
| Scheme | 50.64% | 8.80% | 26.01% | 10.04% |
| NIFTY | 31.39% | 6.76% | 27.70% | 6.25% |
| NAV (in Rs.) | 13.23 | 12.16 | 9.65 | - |
The plan has performed fairly well. A good way to put that in perspective would be to see the growth since inception. If Rs. 10,000 had been invested in this fund at the time of inception, its current value according to the scheme would be Rs. 19, 930. Its value according to Nifty would be Rs. 15,478.79 (assuming that the NAV is Rs. 10).
Expert view of the fund
This is a scheme that is meant for those who are ok with moderately high risks and are looking to create wealth through a long term investment. As of december of 2014 investments in the Asian markets stood at 23% while the remainder was invested in the Indian equity markets. Though the did not outperform the benchmark between 2011 and 2013, in 2014 it did outperform the benchmark by a good margin.
How to apply
There are two ways in which investments in this fund can be made. The first is the online method where both new and existing investors can register on the ICICI Prudential website. Investments through the site can be made in lump sums or SIPs.
The second way of invest is through offline methods like approaching ICICI Prudential offices. The representatives at these branches can help investors fulfill formalities like filling up the forms and providing supporting documents. The payments for both methods of investment can be done through cheques, demand drafts, NEFT/RTGS transfers and debit cards.
