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HDFC Defence Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan vs Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund - Direct Plan - Growth
HDFC Defence Fund and Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund are both in the Thematic Fund category, from HDFC Asset Management Company Limited and Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Pvt Ltd respectively. HDFC Defence Fund has posted a higher 3-year rolling CAGR. HDFC Defence Fund has the lower expense ratio. See the full table and FAQ below for the complete real-data comparison.
Basics
HDFC Defence Fund has the lower direct-plan expense ratio, by 0.04 percentage points.
| HDFC Defence Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan | Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund - Direct Plan - Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Thematic Fund | Thematic Fund |
| AMC | HDFC Asset Management Company Limited | Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Pvt Ltd |
| Benchmark | Nifty India Defence TRI | Nifty 500 TRI |
| NAV | ₹29.085 (2026-10-28) | ₹15.062 (2026-10-28) |
| AUM | ₹11,136.943 Cr | ₹1,231.8 Cr |
| Expense Ratio (Direct) | 0.89% | 0.93% |
| Inception | 2023-05-19 | 2023-08-21 |
Returns
HDFC Defence Fund leads on 3-year rolling CAGR (39.6% vs Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund's 16.4%) - see the FAQ below for percentile context within each fund's own category.
Risk Metrics
HDFC Defence Fund has been the more volatile of the two by standard deviation.
| HDFC Defence Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan | Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund - Direct Plan - Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| 3Y Sharpe Ratio | 0.93 | 0.42 |
| 3Y Alpha | -0.6617% | 5.306% |
| 3Y Std Deviation | 26.9238% | 15.5624% |
| 3Y Calmar Ratio | 0.93 | 0.63 |
Portfolio Analytics
HDFC Defence Fund 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.
| HDFC Defence Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan | Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund - Direct Plan - Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| P/E Ratio | 59.1788 | 20.3584 |
| P/B Ratio | - | 4.5144 |
| Dividend Yield | 0.5081% | 1.0169% |
| Active Share | 30.63% | 77.78% |
| Portfolio Turnover | 3172% | 96% |
| YTM | - | - |
| Duration (Macaulay) | - | - |
Punji Fund Health Score
Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund has the stronger Punji Quality grade of the two.
Frequently asked questions
Which has a higher 3-year return, HDFC Defence Fund or Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund?
HDFC Defence Fund's 3-year rolling CAGR of 39.6% is higher than Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund's 16.4%. HDFC Defence Fund sits in the 100th percentile of its category on this metric, versus the 42nd percentile for Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle 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, HDFC Defence Fund or Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund?
HDFC Defence Fund's direct-plan expense ratio is 0.04 percentage points lower than Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle 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, HDFC Defence Fund or Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund?
By standard deviation (a measure of how much a fund's returns swing around its own average), HDFC Defence Fund has been more volatile than Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle 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 (0.93 for HDFC Defence Fund vs 0.42 for Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle 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, HDFC Defence Fund or Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund?
HDFC Defence Fund has ₹11,137 Cr in assets under management, versus ₹1,232 Cr for Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle 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, HDFC Defence Fund or Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund?
HDFC Defence Fund launched on 2023-05-19, making it older than Mahindra Manulife Business Cycle Fund (launched 2023-08-21). 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.