ICICI Prudential Pharma Healthcare and Diagnostics (P.H.D) Fund - Direct Plan - IDCW Option

ICICI Prudential Pharma Healthcare and Diagnostics (P.H.D) Fund - Direct Plan - IDCW Option holds up reasonably well within the Sectoral category, backed by a 4-star rating. Consistent 3-year performance combined with a strong rating makes this one of the more credible options in its space. TopFund's composite Health Score, which weighs rating, 3-year CAGR, expense ratio and fund size, puts it at 79/100.

Cost: At 1.33%, the expense ratio runs 27% above the Sectoral category average of 1.05%. That gap is worth weighing against the fund's actual performance versus cheaper peers before committing to a long SIP.

Risk-adjusted performance: Over the trailing 1-year period, the fund shows a negative Sharpe ratio of -0.43 — over the past year, returns haven't kept pace with the volatility involved, even before accounting for the risk-free rate. Separately, annualised volatility of 16.57% is fairly typical for actively managed equity funds.

Who should invest: This fund is best suited to investors whose goals and risk appetite align with a Equity fund. Given the Very High risk rating, this fund is not suited to short-term goals or investors who may need to exit within 2-3 years.