Table of Contents
HDFC Balanced Fund and HDFC Prudence Fund both belong to the same Fund house, HDFC Mutual Fund. Both the schemes belong to hybrid category equity oriented schemes. These schemes invest their corpus in both equity as well as debt instruments. However, since they are equity-based schemes under balanced category; they invest more in equity instruments as compared to fixed Income instruments. Though both the funds belong to the same fund house, however; they exhibit different characteristics with respect to AUM, their current NAV, returns, and many other related parameters. So, let us understand the differences between HDFC Balanced Fund and HDFC Prudence Fund through this article.
HDFC Balanced Fund, which is now merged with HDFC Hybrid Equity Fund, is a part of HDFC Mutual Fund under Balanced Fund category. It is an open-ended balanced fund scheme that was launched on September 11, 2000. The objective of the scheme is to generate long-term Capital appreciation along with current income by Investing in a mix of equity and debt instruments. The scheme is suitable for investors who are looking out for long-term capital growth along with current income. HDFC Balanced Fund uses CRISIL Balanced Fund Index along with Nifty 50 Index to construct its Portfolio.
As on January 31, 2018, the top constituents forming part of the HDFC Balanced Fund’s portfolio include HDFC Bank Limited, Infosys Limited, ICICI Bank Limited, Axis Bank Limited, and Tata Steel Limited.
The scheme invests around 40% - 60% of its accumulated fund money in equity instruments while the rest in debt instruments.
HDFC Prudence Fund, now merged with HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund, is also a part of HDFC Mutual Fund and was launched on February 01, 1994. It is an open-ended scheme whose investment objective is to periodic returns along with capital appreciation by investing in a proper mix of equity and debt instruments. This scheme based on its in-line objective invests around 40-75% of its corpus in equity instruments and the remaining funds in Fixed Income instruments. HDFC Prudence Fund is suitable for investors looking out for periodic income combined with a capital appreciation and preventing capital erosion over long-term.
As on January 31, 2018, some of the top 10 constituents of HDFC Prudence Fund’s portfolio include State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro Limited, NTPC Limited, and Vedanta Limited.
Though both the funds belong to the same fund house and same category yet; there exists a difference between them with respect to AUM, current NAV, Fincash Ratings and much more. These differences are divided into four sections, namely, Basics Section, Performance Section, Yearly Performance Section, and Other Details Section. So, let us understand the differences between both the funds based on these sections.
The various comparable parameters in case of basics section are Scheme Category, Fincash Ratings, Current NAV, AUM, expense ratio, and many more. To begin with the Scheme Category, it can be said that both the schemes belong to the same category that is, Hybrid Balanced – Equity.
In Fincash Ratings, we can say that HDFC Balanced Fund is rated as 5-Star, while HDFC Prudence Fund is rated as 3-Star.
The table given below summarizes the elements of this section.
Parameters Basics NAV Net Assets (Cr) Launch Date Rating Category Sub Cat. Category Rank Risk Expense Ratio Sharpe Ratio Information Ratio Alpha Ratio Benchmark Exit Load HDFC Hybrid Equity Fund
Growth
Fund Details ₹118.829 ↑ 0.40 (0.33 %) ₹23,851 on 30 Apr 25 6 Apr 05 ☆☆ Hybrid Hybrid Equity 57 Moderately High 1.7 0.12 0 0 Not Available 0-1 Years (1%),1 Years and above(NIL) HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund
Growth
Fund Details ₹518.674 ↑ 2.74 (0.53 %) ₹97,461 on 30 Apr 25 11 Sep 00 ☆☆☆☆ Hybrid Dynamic Allocation 23 Moderately High 1.43 0.08 0 0 Not Available 0-1 Years (1%),1 Years and above(NIL)
This section compares the CAGR or Compounded Annual Growth Rate for both the schemes at various time periods. Some of the time periods for which the performance is compared are 1 Month Returns, 6 Month Returns, 1 Year Returns and Returns Since Inception. On a hindsight, we can say that there is not much difference on the returns generated by both the schemes. In certain time periods, the returns generated by HDFC Balanced Fund is higher while in other HDFC Prudence Fund leads the race. The table given below shows the CAGR performance of both the schemes.
Parameters Performance 1 Month 3 Month 6 Month 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year Since launch HDFC Hybrid Equity Fund
Growth
Fund Details 3.4% 10.2% 1.6% 9.5% 15.6% 20% 15.3% HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund
Growth
Fund Details 3.6% 8.9% 1.6% 9.1% 22% 25.1% 18.3%
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Yearly performance between both the schemes compares the absolute returns generated by each scheme for a particular year. In case of yearly performance, there is not much difference between the returns generated between both the schemes. The summary of yearly performance section is tabulated as follows.
Parameters Yearly Performance 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 HDFC Hybrid Equity Fund
Growth
Fund Details 12.9% 17.7% 8.9% 25.7% 13.4% HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund
Growth
Fund Details 16.7% 31.3% 18.8% 26.4% 7.6%
This is the last section of comparing funds. The comparable parameters that form part of Other Details Section include Minimum SIP and Lumpsum Investment. Being a part of the same fund house, the Minimum SIP and Lumpsum Investment for both HDFC Balanced Fund and HDFC Prudence Fund are the same. Here, the Minimum SIP investment is INR 500 while the lumpsum investment is INR 5,000.
Mr. Rakesh Vyas and Mr. Prashant Jain are the fund managers for HDFC Balanced Fund scheme.
Mr. Rakesh Vyas and Mr. Prashant Jain together are the fund managers of HDFC Prudence Fund.
The table given below summarizes the other details section.
Parameters Other Details Min SIP Investment Min Investment Fund Manager HDFC Hybrid Equity Fund
Growth
Fund Details ₹300 ₹5,000 Chirag Setalvad - 18.18 Yr. HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund
Growth
Fund Details ₹300 ₹5,000 Anil Bamboli - 2.84 Yr.
HDFC Hybrid Equity Fund
Growth
Fund Details Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.
Date Value 31 May 20 ₹10,000 31 May 21 ₹15,747 31 May 22 ₹16,798 31 May 23 ₹19,557 31 May 24 ₹23,475 31 May 25 ₹25,779 HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund
Growth
Fund Details Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.
Date Value 31 May 20 ₹10,000 31 May 21 ₹15,820 31 May 22 ₹17,858 31 May 23 ₹21,199 31 May 24 ₹29,873 31 May 25 ₹32,071
HDFC Hybrid Equity Fund
Growth
Fund Details Asset Allocation
Asset Class Value Cash 1.04% Equity 70.42% Debt 28.54% Equity Sector Allocation
Sector Value Financial Services 25.47% Industrials 8.23% Technology 8.19% Consumer Defensive 6.76% Energy 6.27% Communication Services 4.83% Health Care 4.46% Consumer Cyclical 3.28% Utility 1.53% Real Estate 0.79% Basic Materials 0.61% Debt Sector Allocation
Sector Value Corporate 14.85% Government 13.09% Cash Equivalent 1.64% Credit Quality
Rating Value AA 8.23% AAA 89.67% Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio
Name Holding Value Quantity ICICI Bank Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 30 Nov 10 | ICICIBANK9% ₹2,083 Cr 14,600,000 HDFC Bank Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Aug 13 | HDFCBANK8% ₹1,817 Cr 9,440,000 Bharti Airtel Ltd (Communication Services)
Equity, Since 31 May 12 | BHARTIARTL5% ₹1,119 Cr 6,000,000 Reliance Industries Ltd (Energy)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 18 | RELIANCE4% ₹1,033 Cr 7,350,000 State Bank of India (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Oct 11 | SBIN4% ₹884 Cr 11,208,071 Infosys Ltd (Technology)
Equity, Since 31 Jan 03 | INFY3% ₹803 Cr 5,351,604 ITC Ltd (Consumer Defensive)
Equity, Since 31 May 15 | ITC3% ₹797 Cr 18,714,400 Larsen & Toubro Ltd (Industrials)
Equity, Since 30 Nov 11 | LT3% ₹747 Cr 2,237,093 7.34% Govt Stock 2064
Sovereign Bonds | -3% ₹643 Cr 60,000,000 Axis Bank Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 30 Apr 15 | 5322152% ₹595 Cr 5,025,000 HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund
Growth
Fund Details Asset Allocation
Asset Class Value Cash 10.27% Equity 61.81% Debt 27.92% Equity Sector Allocation
Sector Value Financial Services 22.69% Industrials 7.95% Energy 7.53% Technology 6.17% Consumer Cyclical 5.56% Utility 4.74% Health Care 4.53% Communication Services 3.15% Consumer Defensive 2.83% Basic Materials 1.93% Real Estate 1.47% Debt Sector Allocation
Sector Value Corporate 14.46% Government 13.02% Cash Equivalent 10.71% Credit Quality
Rating Value AA 0.94% AAA 97.49% Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio
Name Holding Value Quantity HDFC Bank Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 22 | HDFCBANK6% ₹5,372 Cr 27,904,351 ICICI Bank Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Oct 09 | ICICIBANK4% ₹3,953 Cr 27,699,224 Reliance Industries Ltd (Energy)
Equity, Since 31 Dec 21 | RELIANCE4% ₹3,465 Cr 24,664,288 Infosys Ltd (Technology)
Equity, Since 31 Oct 09 | INFY3% ₹3,023 Cr 20,151,803
↑ 561,715 State Bank of India (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 May 07 | SBIN3% ₹2,760 Cr 35,000,000
↓ -3,406,500 Bharti Airtel Ltd (Communication Services)
Equity, Since 31 Aug 20 | BHARTIARTL3% ₹2,700 Cr 14,479,354 NTPC Ltd (Utilities)
Equity, Since 31 Aug 16 | 5325553% ₹2,494 Cr 70,337,915 7.18% Govt Stock 2033
Sovereign Bonds | -2% ₹2,406 Cr 228,533,300 Axis Bank Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Aug 17 | 5322152% ₹2,350 Cr 19,827,457 Larsen & Toubro Ltd (Industrials)
Equity, Since 30 Jun 12 | LT2% ₹2,220 Cr 6,645,683
Thus, from the above pointers, it can be said that both the schemes are different in case of various parameters though they belong to the same category and fund house. Therefore, individuals should always do a detailed study about a scheme before investing in it. They should check whether the fund’s objective is in-line with their objective. If required, people can consult a financial advisor for advice. This will ensure that their investment is safe and it paves way for wealth creation.