The ICICI Prudential Commodities Fund was launched in October 2019. In the last one year itself, this fund has given 172 per cent returns.
In today’s time, the popularity of Mutual Fund has increased. Investors in big cities as well as small cities are giving preference to mutual funds while doing financial planning. Mutual funds are a good option for those who do not invest directly in stocks. Here the risks are less as compared to the stock market. Mutual funds have also got better returns. The ICICI Prudential Commodities Fund (IPCF) has given 170 per cent returns in 18 months. In this, 1 lakh was increased to 2.70 lakh rupees in one and a half year.
Let us know that ICICI Prudential Commodities Fund was launched in October 2019. The IPCF fund has given huge profits in a year and a half. According to data from Value Research, this fund has given 172 per cent returns in the last one year alone.
What is the scheme?
The ICICI Prudential Commodities Fund is a thematic fund that invests in commodity stocks. Currently, there are four such funds. The scheme invests in stocks of paper, cement and cement products, metals (eg ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals, minerals and mining), chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides segments. A portion is also invested in other commodity related sectors including oil and gas. According to the fund, it invests at least 80 percent of the corpus in commodity sectors. Shankaran Naren and Lilit Kumar manage the fund.
How did IPCF perform better?
Money is made in thematic funds when the sector they invest in performs well. But their real success comes when the fund managers identify the right time to buy the shares. IPCF was launched when the metal sector cycle was down. At this time more than 40 percent of the portfolio was invested in metal stocks.
In March 2020, when the market fell sharply after the global COVID-19 pandemic was declared, the fund manager bought more metal stocks and invested about 60 per cent of the scheme’s funds in the sector.
Metal shares gave big returns
In a year, Hindalco Industries has given 180 per cent, Jindal Steel and Power 365 per cent, Vedanta 187 per cent and Steel Authority of India 275 per cent. The metal sector has emerged as the top performer in 2020 due to sharp improvement in demand after being weak for a long time in 2018 and 2019.
