How many mutual funds outperformed during this bear market?

Published: March 19, 2023 at 6:00 am

Last Updated on March 19, 2023 at 9:11 am

A reader wants to know how many mutual funds have outperformed their benchmarks during the current bear market (or sideways market, if you will). So in this article, we look at the annualized return over the last 17 months from Oct 2021.

Note: No part of this article or fund listing should be construed as investment advice, and no decision should be made based on a 17-month window.

Aggressive Hybrid Funds

  • No of funds studied: 29
  • Benchmark and last 17 months annualized return: CRISIL Hybrid 35+65 – Aggressive Index -1.9963%
  • No of funds that did better: 12 (40%)
Scheme Name17 Months
ICICI Pru Equity & Debt Fund(G)-Direct Plan5.2300
Edelweiss Aggressive Hybrid Fund(G)-Direct Plan3.5807
Quant Absolute Fund(G)-Direct Plan2.5667
HDFC Hybrid Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan(Adjusted)2.5411
Tata Hybrid Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan0.6001
Nippon India Equity Hybrid Fund(G)-Direct Plan0.5769
JM Equity Hybrid Fund(G)-Direct Plan0.4650
Mahindra Manulife Aggressive Hybrid Fund(G)-Direct Plan0.4141
UTI Hybrid Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-0.3252
Navi Equity Hybrid Fund(G)-Direct Plan-0.6447
Franklin India Equity Hybrid Fund(G)-Direct Plan-1.1440
Baroda BNP Paribas Aggressive Hybrid Fund(G)-Direct Plan-1.5644

Less than half is a poor show, reiterating – Why we badly need an aggressive hybrid index fund!

Equity Linked Savings Schemes

  • No of funds studied: 21
  • Benchmark and last 17 months annualized return:  NIFTY 500 – TRI -5.3619%
  • No of funds that did better: 12 (57%)
Scheme Name17 Months
Parag Parikh Tax Saver Fund(G)-Direct Plan2.2470
Kotak Tax Saver Fund(G)-Direct Plan1.9510
PGIM India ELSS Tax Saver Fund(G)-Direct Plan1.1237
Quant Tax Plan(G)-Direct Plan0.6843
Mahindra Manulife ELSS Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.0343
Motilal Oswal Long Term Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.6213
IDBI Equity Advantage Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.4082
Indiabulls Tax Savings Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.0326
JM Tax Gain Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.5617
ICICI Pru LT Equity Fund (Tax Saving)(G)-Direct Plan-5.1762
Navi ELSS Tax Saver Fund(G)-Direct Plan-5.1766
Mirae Asset Tax Saver Fund(G)-Direct Plan-5.2887

Flexi Cap Funds

  • No of funds studied: 25
  • Benchmark and last 17 months annualized return:  NIFTY 500 – TRI -5.3619%
  • No of funds that did better: 15 (60%)
Scheme Name17 Months
HDFC Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan5.7888
ICICI Pru Flexicap Fund(G)-Direct Plan1.4697
JM Flexicap Fund(G)-Direct Plan0.3343
Quant Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-1.0956
Mahindra Manulife Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.1099
Edelweiss Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.4557
Kotak Flexicap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.5148
Franklin India Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.7003
Bank of India Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.5113
Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.5715
Navi Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.8549
Shriram Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.3635
Nippon India Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.6470
SBI Flexicap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-5.0448
IDBI Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-5.3731

Focused Funds

  • No of funds studied: 24
  • Benchmark and last 17 months annualized return:  NIFTY 500 – TRI -5.3619%
  • No of funds that did better: 15 (62.5%)
HDFC Focused 30 Fund(G)-Direct Plan9.7990
Mahindra Manulife Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan1.5674
Franklin India Focused Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-0.0025
ICICI Pru Focused Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-0.5322
Quant Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan-1.2491
Canara Rob Focused Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-1.5719
Tata Focused Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.3730
IIFL Focused Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.1043
JM Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.3030
Nippon India Focused Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.6470
Kotak Focused Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.8964
Baroda BNP Paribas Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.9465
UTI Focused Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.4697
IDBI Focused 30 Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-5.1708
Aditya Birla SL Focused Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-5.1894

Large & Mid Cap Funds

  • No of funds studied: 22
  • Benchmark and last 17 months annualized return:  NIFTY LargeMidcap 250 – TRI -4.6388%
  • No of funds that did better:  12 (54%)
Scheme Name17 Months
Tata Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan2.0431
ICICI Pru Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan1.4554
Kotak Equity Opp Fund(G)-Direct Plan1.3373
Quant Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan1.1392
Motilal Oswal Large & Midcap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-0.3840
Bandhan Core Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-0.8401
HDFC Large and Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-1.4025
Navi Large & Midcap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.9366
Edelweiss Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.1469
UTI Core Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.6913
Bank of India Large & Mid Cap Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.1610
DSP Equity Opportunities Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.4328

Large Cap Funds

  • No of funds studied: 25
  • Benchmark and last 17 months annualized return:  NIFTY 100 – TRI -5.5375%
  • No of funds that did better: 16 (64%) -Not bad!
Scheme Name17 Months
Nippon India Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan1.6100
HDFC Top 100 Fund(G)-Direct Plan0.8979
ICICI Pru Bluechip Fund(G)-Direct Plan-0.3906
Edelweiss Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.3101
JM Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.4327
SBI BlueChip Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.9927
Baroda BNP Paribas Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.0859
Tata Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.7060
Aditya Birla SL Frontline Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.9594
DSP Top 100 Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.4765
Canara Rob Bluechip Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.5141
Mahindra Manulife Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.5726
Indiabulls Blue Chip Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.6401
PGIM India Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.8531
IDBI India Top 100 Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan-5.0779
Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-5.3957

Mid Cap Funds

  • No of funds studied: 22
  • Benchmark and last 17 months annualized return:  Nifty Midcap 150 – TRI -3.8365%
  • No of funds that did better: 12 (54.5%)
Scheme Name17 Months
Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund(G)-Direct Plan9.6655
Quant Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan5.4537
HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund(G)-Direct Plan2.8572
SBI Magnum Midcap Fund(G)-Direct Plan2.4008
Kotak Emerging Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan0.9994
Edelweiss Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.1339
Mahindra Manulife Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.6752
Nippon India Growth Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.7264
Mirae Asset Midcap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.0518
PGIM India Midcap Opp Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.3038
Baroda BNP Paribas Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.6004
Invesco India Midcap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.7062

Multi Cap Funds

  • No of funds studied: 9
  • Benchmark and last 17 months annualized return:  Nifty500 Multicap 50:25:25 – TRI -5.3724%
  • No of funds that did better: 7. That is not bad, but this is a pretty new category and a newer benchmark! Please do not get excited about this. Also, see: Only 3 out of 28 mid cap MFs consistently beat Nifty Midcap 150!
Scheme Name17 Months
Nippon India Multi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan4.7643
Invesco India Multicap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-5.2212
ICICI Pru Multicap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-1.6763
Quant Active Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.1084
Mahindra Manulife Multi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.2159
Aditya Birla SL Multi-Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.4825
Kotak Multicap Fund(G)-Direct Plan2.6955

Small cap Funds

Value Funds

  • No of funds studied: 17
  • Benchmark and last 17 months annualized return:  NIFTY 500 – TRI -5.3619%
  • No of funds that did better: 17. However, if you use NIFTY500 Value 50 – TRI 5.3578%, none of them outperformed! This is a list of them all.
Scheme Name17 Months
ICICI Pru Value Discovery Fund(G)-Direct Plan5.1237
Canara Rob Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan4.4334
Bandhan Sterling Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan1.9255
JM Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan0.6374
HSBC Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan-0.1754
Tata Equity P/E Fund(G)-Direct Plan-0.9595
DSP Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.2149
HDFC Capital Builder Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.4487
Union Value Discovery Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.5937
Quantum Long Term Equity Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan-2.8755
UTI Value Opp Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.2118
Axis Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.5665
Indiabulls Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan-3.7645
Nippon India Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.5264
IDBI Long Term Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan-4.7646
ITI Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan-5.0375
Aditya Birla SL Pure Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan-5.1664

In summary, actively managed sectorally diversified funds have performed better than usual during the bear market over the last 17 months. This is in line with out earlier, more detailed study: Do active mutual funds offer downside protection? Or is it a myth? However, this is insufficient evidence to choose active rather than passive funds.

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