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Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth vs ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund - Direct Plan - Growth
Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth and ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund are both in the Sectoral/ Thematic category, from Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited and ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Limited respectively. Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth has posted a higher 3-year rolling CAGR. Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth has the lower expense ratio. See the full table and FAQ below for the complete real-data comparison.
Basics
Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth has the lower direct-plan expense ratio, by 0.07 percentage points.
| Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth | ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund - Direct Plan - Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Sectoral/ Thematic | Sectoral/ Thematic |
| AMC | Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited | ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Limited |
| Benchmark | BSE 500 TRI | NIFTY100 ESG TRI |
| NAV | ₹29.61 (2026-10-28) | ₹21.44 (2026-10-28) |
| AUM | ₹1,356.868 Cr | ₹1,229.081 Cr |
| Expense Ratio (Direct) | 1.19% | 1.26% |
| Inception | 2020-10-05 | 2020-09-21 |
Returns
Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth leads on 3-year rolling CAGR (19.9% vs ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund's 18.1%) - see the FAQ below for percentile context within each fund's own category.
Risk Metrics
Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth has been the more volatile of the two by standard deviation.
Portfolio Analytics
Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth carries the higher portfolio P/E ratio (a rougher proxy for how richly the underlying holdings are valued) - see the table below for the full comparison.
Punji Fund Health Score
Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth has the stronger Punji Quality grade of the two.
Frequently asked questions
Which has a higher 3-year return, Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth or ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund?
Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth's 3-year rolling CAGR of 19.9% is higher than ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund's 18.1%. Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth sits in the 75th percentile of its category on this metric, versus the 60th percentile for ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund - though note both funds may belong to different categories with different medians, so a raw CAGR comparison doesn't account for how each fund performed relative to its own peers. A higher historical return also doesn't necessarily mean lower risk; check the risk metrics below before concluding either fund is the "better" choice.
Which has a lower expense ratio, Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth or ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund?
Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth's direct-plan expense ratio is 0.07 percentage points lower than ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund's. Over long holding periods, a persistent expense-ratio gap compounds into a materially different final corpus even if the two funds' gross returns are similar - it's one of the few fund attributes you can compare with total certainty upfront, unlike future returns, since the fee is contractually fixed rather than a historical estimate.
Which fund carries more risk, Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth or ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund?
By standard deviation (a measure of how much a fund's returns swing around its own average), Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth has been more volatile than ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund over the trailing window. Standard deviation captures total volatility in both directions - up and down - so a higher figure means bigger swings generally, not necessarily bigger losses specifically. Sharpe ratio (0.64 for Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth vs 0.13 for ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund) is a better single measure of risk-adjusted return, since it weighs the return earned per unit of volatility taken rather than volatility alone.
Which has higher AUM, Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth or ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund?
Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth has ₹1,357 Cr in assets under management, versus ₹1,229 Cr for ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund. A larger AUM generally means deeper liquidity and lower per-unit fixed costs for the AMC to spread across investors, but an AUM that's very large relative to a fund's category and strategy (especially in small/mid cap categories, where the investable universe is smaller) can also make it harder for a manager to enter and exit positions without moving the price - bigger isn't automatically better, especially for less liquid categories.
Which fund has a longer track record, Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth or ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund?
ICICI Prudential ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund launched on 2020-09-21, making it older than Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund-Direct-Growth (launched 2020-10-05). A longer track record means more real market cycles (bull runs, corrections, rate cycles) the fund has actually navigated, which is useful context for judging consistency - but it isn't a guarantee of future performance, and a newer fund isn't automatically worse, especially if it's run by an experienced manager or team with a track record at a prior fund.
Data as of 2026-10-29. Source: AMFI disclosures via Punji. Not investment advice.