Aggressive hybrid funds: Only 2 delivered over 8% returns in 1 year as 22 funds lost money. How did your fund perform?

Only two aggressive hybrid mutual funds delivered returns above 8% over one year, while 22 of the 29 funds with reported returns in the latest list posted losses. Bank of India Aggressive Hybrid Fund topped the category with a 12.1% return, followed by Navi Aggressive Hybrid Fund at 8.42%, according to Value Research.

The data also shows that funds with negative returns accounted for about ₹2.33 lakh crore in assets, or roughly 91% of the assets of the funds with reported one-year returns in the list. This includes some of the category’s largest schemes, highlighting that a fund’s size does not necessarily translate into positive short-term performance.

Aggressive hybrid funds combine equity and debt investments, but their equity exposure means investors can still lose money when markets weaken. The latest figures show a wide gap between the category’s top performers and its weakest schemes.

Only two aggressive hybrid funds deliver over 8% returns

Bank of India Aggressive Hybrid Fund delivered a 12.1% one-year return, while Navi Aggressive Hybrid Fund returned 8.42%. The remaining five funds with positive returns delivered between 0.05% and 3.83%.

At the other end, HDFC Aggressive Hybrid Fund recorded the steepest loss at 6.87%, followed by Invesco India Aggressive Hybrid Fund at 6.59%. Mahindra Manulife Aggressive Hybrid Fund and Franklin India Aggressive Hybrid Fund lost 5.46% and 5.44%, respectively.

The gap between Bank of India Aggressive Hybrid Fund and HDFC Aggressive Hybrid Fund was nearly 19 percentage points over one year. However, this comparison reflects only a single period and does not establish which scheme is likely to perform better over the long term.

SBI, ICICI Prudential among large funds with negative 1-year returns

The pressure was not limited to smaller schemes. SBI Aggressive Hybrid Fund, the largest fund in the list with net assets of ₹86,163 crore, returned -0.18% over one year. ICICI Prudential Aggressive Hybrid Fund, with ₹50,706 crore in assets, lost 2.83%.

HDFC Aggressive Hybrid Fund, which had the category’s weakest one-year return, held ₹21,161 crore in net assets. These figures show why investors should examine returns alongside assets under management (AUM), rather than assuming that a large fund will necessarily perform better.

Aggressive hybrid funds invest 65-80% of their assets in equity and equity-related instruments, with the remaining 20-35% allocated to debt and money-market instruments. This allocation can offer some diversification, but the debt component does not eliminate the risk of losses from the equity portfolio.

Investors should compare a fund’s performance with its benchmark and category peers over three- and five-year periods, rather than making decisions based solely on one-year returns. They should also review portfolio holdings, consistency across market cycles and whether the fund’s risk level suits their investment horizon.

A negative one-year return does not automatically justify exiting a scheme. Equally, investors should not switch to the latest top performer simply because it has delivered strong recent returns. The key is to assess whether the fund continues to meet the investor’s goals and risk tolerance, not just whether it has beaten its peers over the past year.