How many mutual funds outperformed during this bear market?

Published: March 19, 2023 at 6:00 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


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    • 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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