List of worst equity mutual funds (Jan 2013 to Dec 2025)

This is a list of the worst-performing equity mutual funds across every possible five-, four-, and three-period study period from the inception of direct plans (Jan 2013) to Dec 20th 2025.

Some caveats before we begin: (1) The definition of a “worst mutual fund” is as arbitrary as the definition of a “best mutual fund”. We hope it is a reasonable definition, considering the high fees demanded by the MF industry.

(2) We choose a representative category benchmark and compare the fund’s returns with the benchmark over the above-mentioned periods. The choice of the benchmark is also arbitrary, but reasonably representative at the category level, but perhaps not at the individual fund level.

(3) SEBI mutual fund categorisation rules were implemented by May-June 2018. Some funds (particularly those from smaller AMCs) may have changed significantly in style after that. An exhaustive filtration that accounts for these changes is beyond the scope of this study.

(4) A fund labelled as “worst” means a careful, deeper investigation of its past performance is necessary, particularly if you invest in it or consider future investments.

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(5) Your personal experience with these funds may be different! For different holding periods, performance can significantly vary.

How a worst mutual fund is defined

Say 800 five-year return periods are possible, 1025 four-year, and 1300 three-year return periods. We shall define a fund as “worst” if it has beaten the benchmark for less than 50% of the 5Y, 4Y and 3Y return periods.

Using our monthly Equity Mutual Fund Screener, we filter out all funds with a rolling return outperformance consistency of less than 50% over five, four, and three years, provided there are at least 1000 rolling return data points over five years. This will be our definition of a “worst fund”. We make no claim of superiority over this definition. While appreciating that not all readers will agree with the methodology used, we feel this is reasonable.

NOTE: Investors holding these funds need not exit them in a hurry. Please use this as a sign to dig deeper and re-evaluate these funds. A fund not on this list does not mean it is a “good fund” or an outperformer!

The filtration process

A total of 485 equity mutual funds were studied across these categories and benchmarks.

Category	Benchmark
Aggressive Hybrid Fund	CRISIL 65:35 Aggressive Hybrid Index
Contra Fund	Nifty 100 TRI
Dividend Yield Fund	Nifty 100 TRI
Large Cap Fund	Nifty 100 TRI
ELSS	Nifty 100 TRI
Focussed Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI, N200TRI
Large & Mid Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI, N200TRI
Multi-Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI, N200TRI
Flexi-Cap Fund	NIFTY 500 Multicap 50:25:25 TRI, Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI, N200TRI
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI
Value Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI
Mid Cap Fund	NiftyMidcap150TRI
Small Cap Fund	NiftyMidcap150TRI

NIfty Largemidcap 250 has 50% of the Nifty 100 and 50% of the Nifty Midcap 150. Compared to our monthly mutual fund screener, we have removed factor index benchmarks and do not compare aggressive hybrid funds with the Nifty 100 TRI, as this comparison can be too harsh.

When more than one index is used for the comparison, a fund could have done well with one index and poorly with another.

Some funds may have changed names (ownership changes) and strategies during the period of this study. As mentioned above, our study is not capable of identifying such changes. Investors in these funds must consider this on a case-by-case basis.

List of the worst performing funds, Jan 2013 to Dec 2025

We are left with 98 funds after applying the above filter (a total of 112 entries since multiple benchmarks were used for the same category).

Investors holding these funds need not exit them quickly. Please use this as a sign to dig deeper and re-evaluate these funds. A fund not on this list does not mean it is a “good fund” or an outperformer!

Category	Benchmark	Fund
Aggressive Hybrid	Crisil6535	Aditya Birla SL Equity Hybrid ’95 Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Aggressive Hybrid	Crisil6535	JM Aggressive Hybrid Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Aggressive Hybrid	Crisil6535	LIC MF Aggressive Hybrid Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Aggressive Hybrid	Crisil6535	PGIM India Aggressive Hybrid Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Aggressive Hybrid	Crisil6535	Shriram Aggressive Hybrid Fund(G)-Direct Plan
ELSS	Nifty 100 TRI	Aditya Birla SL ELSS Tax Saver Fund(G)-Direct Plan
ELSS	Nifty 100 TRI	Navi ELSS Tax Saver Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Aditya Birla SL Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	N200TRI	Bandhan Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	NIFTY 500 Multicap 50:25:25 TRI	Bandhan Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Bandhan Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Canara Rob Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	DSP Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Franklin India Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	HDFC Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	N200TRI	LIC MF Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	NIFTY 500 Multicap 50:25:25 TRI	LIC MF Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	LIC MF Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	N200TRI	Motilal Oswal Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Motilal Oswal Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	SBI Flexicap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	N200TRI	Taurus Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	NIFTY 500 Multicap 50:25:25 TRI	Taurus Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Taurus Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	NIFTY 500 Multicap 50:25:25 TRI	Union Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Union Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Flexicap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	UTI Flexi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	N200TRI	Aditya Birla SL Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Aditya Birla SL Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Axis Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	N200TRI	Bandhan Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Bandhan Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	N200TRI	DSP Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	DSP Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Franklin India Focused Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	HDFC Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	ICICI Pru Focused Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	N200TRI	Motilal Oswal Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Motilal Oswal Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Focused Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Nippon India Focused Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large & Mid Cap Fund	N200TRI	Aditya Birla SL Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large & Mid Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Aditya Birla SL Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large & Mid Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Bandhan Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large & Mid Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Bank of India Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large & Mid Cap Fund	N200TRI	Franklin India Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large & Mid Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Franklin India Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large & Mid Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	ICICI Pru Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large & Mid Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Navi Large & Midcap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large & Mid Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Nippon India Vision Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large & Mid Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Tata Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large & Mid Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	UTI Large & Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large Cap	Nifty 100 TRI	Bandhan Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large Cap	Nifty 100 TRI	DSP Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large Cap	Nifty 100 TRI	Franklin India Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large Cap	Nifty 100 TRI	JM Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large Cap	Nifty 100 TRI	LIC MF Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large Cap	Nifty 100 TRI	PGIM India Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Large Cap	Nifty 100 TRI	Taurus Large Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Midcap Fund	NiftyMidcap150TRI	Aditya Birla SL Midcap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Midcap Fund	NiftyMidcap150TRI	DSP Midcap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Midcap Fund	NiftyMidcap150TRI	Franklin India Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Midcap Fund	NiftyMidcap150TRI	ICICI Pru Midcap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Midcap Fund	NiftyMidcap150TRI	SBI Midcap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Midcap Fund	NiftyMidcap150TRI	Tata Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Midcap Fund	NiftyMidcap150TRI	Taurus Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Midcap Fund	NiftyMidcap150TRI	UTI Mid Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Multi-Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Baroda BNP Paribas Multi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Multi-Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	ICICI Pru Multicap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Multi-Cap Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Nippon India Multi Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Aditya Birla SL Banking & Financial Services Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Aditya Birla SL Infrastructure Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Aditya Birla SL Mfg. Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Aditya Birla SL MNC Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Baroda BNP Paribas Banking and Fin Serv Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	DSP India T.I.G.E.R Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	HDFC Infrastructure Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	ICICI Pru Banking & Fin Serv Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	ICICI Pru Exports & Services Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	ICICI Pru FMCG Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	ICICI Pru Infrastructure Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Invesco India PSU Equity Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	LIC MF Banking & Financial Services Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	LIC MF Infra Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Nippon India Consumption Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Nippon India Power & Infra Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Nippon India Quant Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	SBI ESG Exclusionary Strategy Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	SBI Infrastructure Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	SBI MNC Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	SBI PSU Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Sundaram Consumption Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Sundaram Fin Serv Opp Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Sundaram Infra Advantage Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Tata Banking & Financial Services Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Tata Ethical Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Tata India Consumer Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Tata Infrastructure Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Taurus Banking & Fin Serv Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Taurus Ethical Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Taurus Infrastructure Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	UTI Banking and Financial Services Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	UTI Healthcare Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	UTI India Consumer Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	UTI Infrastructure Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Sectoral/ Thematic	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	UTI MNC Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Small Cap Fund	NiftyMidcap150TRI	Aditya Birla SL Small Cap Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Value Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Groww Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Value Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	HDFC Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Value Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Quantum Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Value Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Sundaram Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Value Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	Templeton India Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan
Value Fund	Nifty Largemidcap 250 TRI	UTI Value Fund(G)-Direct Plan

To reiterate: Investors holding these funds need not exit them quickly. Please use this as a sign to dig deeper and re-evaluate these funds. A fund not on this list does not mean it is a “good fund” or an outperformer!

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