One of these two funds holds 24.16% of its money in banks. The other holds zero. Both are classified as "value" funds.
That single contrast is the most useful starting point. The category name implies a shared method. In practice, DSP Value Fund and ICICI Prudential Value Fund are built on different rules, different geographies, and different ideas of what "value" even means.
The Basics
The age gap is the first thing worth taking seriously. ICICI Pru has lived through the 2008 crash, the 2013 taper tantrum, the 2018 NBFC crisis, and the 2020 pandemic. DSP launched in December 2020 and has effectively only seen one market environment.
Two definitions of "value" for Both Funds
ICICI Pru is the textbook approach. It buys stocks trading below intrinsic value, measured through earnings, book value, and cash flow, and goes wherever the signal points, including sectors the market is avoiding. This is why financials make up a third of the portfolio. By traditional metrics, Indian banks have looked cheap for years.
DSP is the more unusual fund. A quantitative screen looks for "quality businesses at a reasonable price," but two hard rules sit on top: no banks or lenders, ever, and roughly 17% of the portfolio invested outside India. Neither rule is standard for an Indian value fund. Both are deliberate bets.
The architecture differs too
| Allocation | DSP | ICICI Pru |
| Equity (total) | 73.1% | 93.73% |
| Indian | 55.9% | 93.73% |
| Global | 17.2% | 0% |
| Debt | 18.1% | ~5.1% |
DSP is, in practice, a hybrid fund with a value tilt. ICICI Pru is a fully invested equity fund. Every ₹100 in DSP is roughly ₹73 of equity risk; the same ₹100 in ICICI Pru is closer to ₹94.
What each fund actually holds
DSP's Indian book is defensive, pharma at 6.1% led by Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy's and Cipla; autos at 5.5% led by Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and Maruti; smaller weights in Oil India, BPCL, Oberoi Realty and LT Foods. No private banks, no NBFCs, no insurance.
The global book is openly tech-led, SK Hynix 1.7%, Amazon 1.3%, NVIDIA 1.3%, Microsoft 1.2%, plus two global equity feeder funds and Chinese battery maker CATL. This is not what Indian value investing usually looks like.
ICICI Pru is the classical Indian value portfolio. Its top five, HDFC Bank 9.18%, ICICI Bank 8.44%, Infosys 6.12%, ITC 5.30%, Reliance 5.10%, together make up about 34% of the fund. Banks alone are 24.16%, IT is 10.88%, FMCG 8.38%, Insurance 6.05%.
Portfolio overlap between the two funds is only about 23%, concentrated in pharma and autos. Outside those sectors, the funds barely meet.
Returns
| Period | DSP | ICICI Pru | BSE 500 TRI |
| YTD | 0.20% | -7.36% | -4.49% |
| 1Y | 15.37% | 2.21% | 3.38% |
| 3Y | 19.93% | 18.34% | 14.98% |
| 5Y | 15.77% | 18.68% | 13.91% |
| 10Y | 16.17% | 14.65% |
The 1-year gap looks dramatic but is largely structural, not skill-based. Banks underperformed; DSP holds none. The same rule will work in reverse when financials lead the next rally. Over five and ten years, ICICI Pru's record is the stronger one, and the only complete one.
Risk-adjusted returns
| Metric (5Y) | DSP | ICICI Pru |
| Beta | 0.65 | 0.80 |
| Sharpe Ratio | 1.17 | 0.91 |
| Sortino Ratio | 1.66 | 1.22 |
| Upside Capture | 84 | 94 |
| Downside Capture | 59 | 58 |
DSP looks steadier on most measures, but part of that steadiness comes from the 27% non-equity allocation doing what non-equity allocations do. ICICI Pru captures more of the upside (94 vs 84), which is what a fully invested equity fund is expected to do.
Things to keep in mind
- Value funds typically need a 7+ year horizon. Short stretches of underperformance are part of the design.
- DSP's "no banks" rule is a high-conviction bet. It has helped recently. It will not always.
- DSP has a ~5.5-year record. One cycle is not a cycle.
- The 17.2% global slice adds currency risk and exposure to US and China cycles.
- ICICI Pru's ₹55,852 Cr AUM limits how nimbly it can act on smaller value names.
- 23% overlap means the two funds are not substitutes, but they are also not the diversification an investor might assume.
The Bottom line
ICICI Prudential Value Fund is a classical Indian value fund, financials-heavy, fully invested, with a 21-year record. DSP Value Fund is a quality-tilted hybrid with significant global exposure, dressed in the value label. Both are defensible portfolios. Neither is what the category name alone suggests. The right choice depends on which set of structural bets matches a specific goal and horizon, not which recent number is louder.