Only 5 large & mid-cap funds cross 7% in 1 year, while category average stays at 0.04%; here’re the top performers

Large & mid-cap mutual funds have delivered almost no return on average over the past year, with the category average standing at just 0.04%. However, the headline average masks a wide gap in performance across individual schemes.

Only five of the 32 funds in the category delivered returns of more than 7% over the past one year. HSBC Large and Mid Cap Fund topped the list with a 9.15% return, followed by Quant Large and Mid Cap Fund at 8.74%. Motilal Oswal Large and Midcap Fund, Sundaram Large and Mid Cap Fund and Invesco India Large & Mid Cap Fund were the other three schemes to cross the 7% mark.

At the other end, seven funds delivered negative returns over the same period, with Samco Large & Mid Cap Fund declining 6.29%.

Only five funds crossed the 7% mark

HSBC Large and Mid Cap Fund delivered the highest one-year return in the category at 9.15%, while Quant Large and Mid Cap Fund followed at 8.74%.

Motilal Oswal Large and Midcap Fund returned 7.44%, Sundaram Large and Mid Cap Fund delivered 7.21% and Invesco India Large & Mid Cap Fund returned 7.04%.

The difference between the category average and the top-performing fund is significant. HSBC Large and Mid Cap Fund’s 9.15% return was more than nine percentage points above the category average of 0.04%.

However, returns fell below 7% quickly after the top five. Bank of India Large & Mid Cap Fund delivered 6.01%, followed by Helios Large & Mid Cap Fund at 5.20% and Axis Large & Mid Cap Fund at 4.92%.

How did the largest funds perform?

The largest schemes by net assets were not among the top five performers.

Mirae Asset Large & Midcap Fund, the largest fund in the category with ₹45,811 crore in net assets, delivered a 1.87% return over one year. SBI Large & Midcap Fund, with ₹42,336 crore, returned 0.94%.

ICICI Prudential Large & Mid Cap Fund, with ₹33,592 crore in assets, delivered 0.17%, while Kotak Large & Mid Cap Fund returned 0.87%. HDFC Large & Mid Cap Fund, with ₹30,294 crore, was down 0.29%.

The numbers show that a larger asset base did not necessarily translate into a higher one-year return. Several of the category’s biggest funds delivered returns below 2%, while some smaller schemes were among the better performers.

A wide gap between the best and worst performers

The difference between the best and worst-performing funds was substantial. HSBC Large and Mid Cap Fund gained 9.15% in one year, while Samco Large & Mid Cap Fund fell 6.29%. That represents a 15.44 percentage-point gap between the two ends of the category.

Seven of the 32 funds delivered negative returns. These included HDFC Large & Mid Cap Fund at -0.29%, PGIM India Large and Mid Cap Fund at -0.30%, Nippon India Vision Large & Mid Cap Fund at -1.32%, DSP Large & Mid Cap Fund at -1.64%, Franklin India Large & Mid Cap Fund at -2.64%, Canara Robeco Large and Mid Cap Fund at -2.66% and Samco Large & Mid Cap Fund at -6.29%.

The one-year data therefore presents a very different picture from the category average alone. While the large & mid-cap category was almost flat at 0.04%, individual fund returns ranged from a gain of 9.15% to a loss of 6.29%.

For investors, the numbers highlight the extent of performance dispersion within the category. However, a one-year return alone does not establish whether a fund is suitable for an investor or whether it should be switched.