Nippon India Arbitrage Fund Vs ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund

Updated on April 29, 2026 , 1233 views

Nippon India Arbitrage Fund (Formerly known as Reliance Arbitrage Fund)and ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund both belong to the arbitrage category of Hybrid Fund. Arbitrage funds are a type of Mutual Funds that leverage on the price differences of different markets to earn profits. Arbitrage Funds are named after the arbitrage strategy that they use. The returns of these funds are dependent on the Volatility of the invested asset on the Market. They make use of the market inefficiencies to generate returns for their investors. Though both Reliance/Nippon India Arbitrage Fund Vs ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund belong to the same category there differ in some parameters like AUM, NAV, performances, etc. So, to make a better investment decision, let's have a look at both the schemes in a detailed manner.

Nippon India Arbitrage Fund (Formerly Reliance Arbitrage Fund)

Important Information: From October 2019, Reliance Mutual Fund has been renamed as Nippon India Mutual Fund. Nippon Life has acquired majority (75%) stakes in Reliance Nippon Asset Management (RNAM). The company will continue to run its operations without any change in structure and management.

Nippon India Arbitrage Advantage Fund was launched in the year 2010. The fund seeks to generate Income by taking advantage of the arbitrage opportunities that potentially exists between cash and derivative market. As the fund also invests in debt and money market securities, it profits from regular income.

Some of the top holdings of Reliance/Nippon Arbitrage Fund as on 30th June 2018 are Cash Offset For Derivatives, HDFC Bank Ltd, Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd, Axis Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd. etc.

ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund

ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund was launched in the year 2006. The aim of the fund is to generate low volatility returns by using arbitrage and other derivative strategies in equity markets and investments in short-term debt Portfolio.

Some of the top holdings of the fund as on 30th June 2018 are Cash Offset For Derivatives, Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd, Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited, etc.

Nippon India Arbitrage Fund Vs ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund

Both Nippon India Arbitrage Fund Vs ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund belong to the same category of arbitrage fund. However, there are numerous differences between them. So, let us analyze the differences between both the schemes on the Basis of four sections given below.

Basics Section

Being the first section, it compares parameters such as current NAV, AUM, scheme category, Fincash Rating, and many more. With respect the sub category, both the scheme belong to Arbitrage Category

Based on Fincash Rating, it can be said that both the funds are rated as 4-Star.

The summary of the basics section is tabulated as follows.

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

Nippon India Arbitrage Fund Growth Fund Details
₹27.8038 ↓ -0.02 (-0.06 %)
₹15,788 on 31 Mar 26
14 Oct 10
☆☆☆☆
Hybrid
Arbitrage
3
Moderately Low
1.07
0.62
0
0
Not Available
0-1 Months (0.25%),1 Months and above(NIL)

ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund Growth Fund Details
₹35.9739 ↓ -0.02 (-0.07 %)
₹31,342 on 31 Mar 26
30 Dec 06
☆☆☆☆
Hybrid
Arbitrage
4
Moderate
0.9
1.23
0
0
Not Available
0-1 Months (0.25%),1 Months and above(NIL)

Performance Section

Compounded Annual Growth Rate or CAGR returns is the comparable parameter forming part of the basics section. The CAGR returns are compared at different time intervals such as 1 Month Return, 6 Month Return, 3 Year Return, and Return since Inception. The comparison of performance section shows that Reliance Arbitrage Fund has performed better than ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund. The table given below summarizes the comparison of the performance section.

Parameters
Performance	1 Month
	3 Month
	6 Month
	1 Year
	3 Year
	5 Year
	Since launch

Nippon India Arbitrage Fund Growth Fund Details
0.4%
1.3%
3%
5.7%
6.8%
5.9%
6.8%

ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund Growth Fund Details
0.4%
1.3%
3%
5.8%
6.9%
6%
6.8%

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Yearly Performance Section

The comparison of the absolute returns for a particular year earned by both the schemes is done in the yearly performance section. The comparison of absolute returns states that both the funds have n performed closely. The table given below shows the summary comparison of the absolute returns section.

Parameters
Yearly Performance	2025
	2024
	2023
	2022
	2021

Nippon India Arbitrage Fund Growth Fund Details
6.2%
7.5%
7%
4.2%
3.8%

ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund Growth Fund Details
6.5%
7.6%
7.1%
4.2%
3.9%

Other Details Section

Being the last section in the comparison, it includes parameters such as minimum SIP investment and minimum lumpsum investment. The minimum lump sum investment for both the schemes is same, that is, INR 5,000. However, the minimum SIP investment is different for both the schemes. The SIP amount in case of ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund is INR 1,000 and of Reliance Arbitrage Fund is INR 100.

ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund is jointly managed by Kayzad Eghlim and Manish Banthia.

The fund is currently managed jointly by Payal Kaipunjal and Kinjal Desai.

The summary comparison of the other details section is tabulated as follows.

Parameters
Other Details	Min SIP Investment
Other Details	Min Investment
Fund Manager

Nippon India Arbitrage Fund Growth Fund Details
₹100
₹5,000
Kinjal Desai - 7.85 Yr.

ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund Growth Fund Details
₹1,000
₹5,000
Nikhil Kabra - 5.26 Yr.

Growth of 10k Investments over the years

Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.

Nippon India Arbitrage Fund Growth Fund Details

Date	Value
30 Apr 21	₹10,000
30 Apr 22	₹10,384
30 Apr 23	₹10,917
30 Apr 24	₹11,746
30 Apr 25	₹12,579
30 Apr 26	₹13,295

Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.

ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund Growth Fund Details

Date	Value
30 Apr 21	₹10,000
30 Apr 22	₹10,378
30 Apr 23	₹10,928
30 Apr 24	₹11,761
30 Apr 25	₹12,627
30 Apr 26	₹13,365

Detailed Portfolio Comparison

Asset Allocation

Nippon India Arbitrage Fund Growth Fund Details

Asset Class	Value
Equity	121.12%
Debt	9.86%
Other	0.07%

Equity Sector Allocation

Sector	Value
Financial Services	24.93%
Basic Materials	10.91%
Consumer Cyclical	7.65%
Industrials	6.85%
Health Care	5.09%
Communication Services	4.64%
Consumer Defensive	4.47%
Energy	3.71%
Technology	2.93%
Real Estate	2.17%
Utility	1.49%

Debt Sector Allocation

Sector	Value
Corporate	14.28%
Government	2.41%
Securitized	0.05%

Credit Quality

Rating	Value
AA	31.86%
AAA	68.14%

Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio

Name	Holding	Value	Quantity
Nippon India Money Market Dir Gr Investment Fund \| -	14%	₹2,223 Cr	5,053,325
Nippon India U/ST Duration Dir Gr Investment Fund \| -	6%	₹983 Cr	2,108,547
HDFC Bank Ltd (Financial Services) Equity, Since 31 Jan 23 \| HDFCBANK	5%	₹757 Cr	10,343,300 ↑ 977,900
Nippon India Liquid Dir Gr Investment Fund \| -	5%	₹721 Cr	1,068,476 ↑ 594,151
Hdfc Bank Limited_28/04/2026 Derivatives, Since 28 Feb 26 \| -	4%	₹696 Cr	9,463,850 ↑ 9,340,650
Future on ICICI Bank Ltd Derivatives, Since 31 Mar 26 \| -	3%	₹530 Cr	4,368,000 ↑ 166,600
ICICI Bank Ltd (Financial Services) Equity, Since 31 Oct 24 \| ICICIBANK	3%	₹527 Cr	4,368,000 ↑ 166,600
Future on Reliance Industries Ltd Derivatives, Since 31 Mar 26 \| -	3%	₹407 Cr	3,010,500 ↓ -444,500
Reliance Industries Ltd (Energy) Equity, Since 31 Dec 17 \| RELIANCE	3%	₹405 Cr	3,010,500 ↓ -444,500
Future on Bharti Airtel Ltd Derivatives, Since 31 Mar 26 \| -	2%	₹358 Cr	2,000,225 ↓ -282,625

Asset Allocation

ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund Growth Fund Details

Asset Class	Value
Cash	95.43%
Debt	4.81%
Other	0.05%

Equity Sector Allocation

Sector	Value
Financial Services	24.44%
Communication Services	7.92%
Basic Materials	6.31%
Consumer Cyclical	5.74%
Health Care	5.64%
Industrials	5.11%
Consumer Defensive	3.62%
Energy	2.14%
Utility	1.95%
Real Estate	1.25%
Technology	0.94%

Debt Sector Allocation

Sector	Value
Cash Equivalent	78.9%
Corporate	19.27%
Government	2.08%

Credit Quality

Rating	Value
AAA	100%

Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio

Name	Holding	Value	Quantity
ICICI Pru Money Market Dir Gr Investment Fund \| -	16%	₹5,143 Cr	127,933,512
Future on HDFC Bank Ltd Derivatives \| -	5%	-₹1,712 Cr	23,261,700 ↑ 3,463,350
Future on Bharti Airtel Ltd Derivatives \| -	5%	-₹1,703 Cr	9,498,575 ↑ 1,444,475
HDFC Bank Ltd (Financial Services) Equity, Since 30 Nov 21 \| HDFCBANK	5%	₹1,702 Cr	23,261,700 ↑ 3,463,350
Bharti Airtel Ltd (Communication Services) Equity, Since 31 Dec 23 \| BHARTIARTL	5%	₹1,693 Cr	9,498,575 ↑ 4,009,475
Future on Vodafone Idea Ltd Derivatives \| -	2%	-₹747 Cr	870,922,875 ↓ -123,008,475
Vodafone Idea Ltd (Communication Services) Equity, Since 30 Sep 23 \| 532822	2%	₹743 Cr	870,922,875 ↓ -123,008,475
Union Bank of India Domestic Bonds \| -	2%	₹658 Cr	14,000 ↑ 14,000
Future on State Bank of India Derivatives \| -	2%	-₹637 Cr	6,469,500 ↑ 5,487,750
State Bank of India (Financial Services) Equity, Since 31 Jan 23 \| SBIN	2%	₹634 Cr	6,469,500 ↑ 5,487,750

As a result, from the above-mentioned pointers, it can be said that both the schemes differ on account of numerous parameters. Therefore, individuals should pay extra caution before Investing in any of the schemes. They should check whether the scheme matches their investment objective or not and understand its modalities completely. This will help them to achieve their goals on time along with ensuring their investment is safe.