The ICICI Prudential NASDAQ 100 Index Fund delivered a 39.4% annual return, outperforming major peers as of July 21, 2026. This fund outperformed its benchmark by 13.6 percentage points over the one-year period. Investors should note that performance in passive index funds depends heavily on tracking error and the underlying market index movement.
Detailed Coverage
The ICICI Prudential NASDAQ 100 Index Fund has recorded the highest one-year returns among major Indian index funds, posting a 39.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Data analyzed as of July 21, 2026, highlights this fund's performance relative to other index-based investment products with assets exceeding Rs 1,500 crore.
Comparison Against Peers and Benchmarks
In this comparative study, the ICICI Prudential NASDAQ 100 Index Fund outperformed other significant funds. For example, the Motilal Oswal S&P 500 Index Fund, which manages a larger corpus of Rs 4,487.1 crore, recorded a 32.5% gain over the same period. Meanwhile, the Motilal Oswal BSE Enhanced Value Index Fund returned 8.4%. A key takeaway for investors is the fund's ability to outperform its own benchmark, which returned 25.8% over the year. This 13.6 percentage point difference shows how effectively the fund has managed its portfolio relative to the NASDAQ 100 index it tracks. Over a three-year horizon, the fund maintained its lead, recording a 29.8% CAGR against the benchmark's 25.8%.
Dynamics of Passive Investing
While the ICICI Prudential fund performed strongly over the one-year and three-year periods, investors should recognize that performance rankings in mutual funds often shift based on the time frame analyzed. Short-term data from the same period showed different leaders, such as the Motilal Oswal S&P 500 Index Fund, which saw a 2.2% return over a one-month window, and the ICICI Prudential fund itself leading in the three-month category with a 13.2% gain.
Index funds are designed to mirror the movement of a specific underlying index rather than seeking to beat the market through active stock selection. The primary goal for these funds is to keep the tracking error—the difference between the fund's return and the index's return—as low as possible. In cases where a fund significantly outperforms its benchmark, it is important to understand the underlying causes, such as currency fluctuations or specific expense structures, rather than assuming similar performance will persist in the future. Investors tracking these funds should look beyond one-year returns and examine the expense ratio and the consistency of the tracking error to understand how well the fund remains aligned with its mandate.