Equity Mutual Fund Portfolio
This is the equity mutual fund portfolio I proposed moving toward as an equity investor based in India. It was originally published in November 2020; the analysis below is a historical snapshot, not a description of current fund holdings or tax rules.
The five-fund allocation
| Fund | Allocation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Motilal Oswal S&P 500 Index Fund | 30% | Core |
| HDFC Nifty 50 Index Fund | 20% | Core |
| UTI Nifty Next 50 Index Fund | 10% | Core |
| ICICI Prudential Nasdaq 100 Index Fund | 20% | Satellite |
| Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund | 20% | Satellite |
Core: 60% · Satellite: 40%. Four passive index funds account for 80% of the portfolio; the active flexi-cap fund accounts for 20%.
Number of funds
Five mutual funds are manageable, with investments spread across several AMCs and no individual fund receiving more than 30% of the target allocation. The original post also considered combining Nifty 50 and Nifty Next 50 exposure in a single Nifty 100 fund to reduce the fund count to four.
Geographical distribution
The original look-through analysis estimated approximately 56% international equities and 44% Indian equities , including overseas exposure inside the flexi-cap fund. This is a historical estimate and will change as holdings change. The original post also discussed the tax treatment prevailing at that time; tax rules should be checked afresh before implementation.
Active versus passive
Index funds provide low-cost market exposure but can be concentrated in their largest constituents. The 20% active flexi-cap allocation was intended to provide some balance, while introducing fund-manager risk and higher costs.
Sector allocation (original snapshot)
Historical sector classification and weights as presented in the November 2020 analysis, not current exposure.
| Sector | Portfolio weight |
|---|---|
| Technology | 24.69% |
| Financials | 16.91% |
| Services | 9.53% |
| Consumer Durables | 9.17% |
| FMCG | 7.85% |
| Healthcare | 7.10% |
| Energy | 5.68% |
| Automobiles | 4.42% |
| Communication | 3.03% |
| Sector | Portfolio weight |
|---|---|
| Construction | 2.41% |
| Engineering | 2.27% |
| Chemicals | 1.97% |
| Metals | 1.41% |
| Diversified | 1.38% |
| Insurance | 1.37% |
| Textiles | 0.27% |
| Others | 0.55% |
Look-through equity holdings (original snapshot)
The following holdings are a historical look-through of the underlying mutual funds, not today's portfolio weights.
US technology holdings
Five companies are shown across six share-class rows because Alphabet Class A and Class C were reported separately.
| Company | Portfolio weight |
|---|---|
| Facebook / Meta | 2.66% |
| Apple | 4.02% |
| Amazon | 4.09% |
| Microsoft | 5.06% |
| Alphabet — Class A | 3.08% |
| Alphabet — Class C | 1.42% |
Indian large-cap holdings
HDFC Bank and the former HDFC Ltd. were separately listed in 2020 and are shown as separate rows.
| Company | Portfolio weight |
|---|---|
| ITC | 2.26% |
| HDFC Bank | 2.20% |
| HDFC (then separately listed) | 1.32% |
| Reliance Industries | 2.17% |
| ICICI Bank | 1.99% |
| Bajaj Holdings & Investment | 1.90% |
Next ten companies
| Company | Portfolio weight |
|---|---|
| Infosys | 1.65% |
| HCL Technologies | 1.44% |
| Tesla | 1.42% |
| Axis Bank | 1.21% |
| Indian Energy Exchange | 1.20% |
| NVIDIA | 1.15% |
| Hero MotoCorp | 1.10% |
| TCS | 1.04% |
| Power Grid Corporation | 0.79% |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank | 0.78% |
The original analysis estimated that roughly 44% of portfolio exposure came from the leading holdings above; the remaining 56% was spread across approximately 622 companies through the underlying funds.
All holdings and sector figures are from the original 2020 snapshot. Group totals are reproduced as reported; small differences can arise from rounding or original calculations.
Influences and acknowledgements
The original post credited portfolio construction ideas from Swapnil Kendhe , including the case for index funds, and referenced Freefincal's PlumbLine fund selections. The allocation was adapted to the author's preferences and risk profile at that time.
Explore Freefincal ↗ for related educational material.