Large & mid-cap mutual funds delivered an average return of just 0.04% in the past year, according to reports from Mint. However, the headline average masks significant performance dispersion across individual schemes. Only five of 32 funds in the category delivered returns of more than 7%, while seven funds ended the year in negative territory.
HSBC Large and Mid Cap Fund topped the category with a 9.15% return, followed by Quant Large and Mid Cap Fund 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 top-performing fund is significant, with HSBC's 9.15% return being more than nine percentage points above the 0.04% average.
The largest schemes by net assets were not among the top five performers. Mirae Asset Large & Midcap Fund, the largest fund with ₹45,811 crore in net assets, delivered a modest 1.87% return. SBI Large & Midcap Fund, with ₹42,336 crore, returned 0.94%, while ICICI Prudential Large & Mid Cap Fund, with ₹33,592 crore in assets, delivered just 0.17%. Kotak Large & Mid Cap Fund returned 0.87% with ₹32,325 crore in assets, and HDFC Large & Mid Cap Fund was down 0.29% with ₹30,294 crore.
Seven funds delivered negative returns over the same period, with Samco Large & Mid Cap Fund declining 6.29%. Other poor performers included Canara Robeco Large and Mid Cap Fund at -2.66%, Franklin India Large & Mid Cap Fund at -2.64%, DSP Large & Mid Cap Fund at -1.64%, Nippon India Vision Large & Mid Cap Fund at -1.32%, PGIM India Large and Mid Cap Fund at -0.30%, and HDFC Large & Mid Cap Fund at -0.29%. The difference between the best and worst-performing funds was substantial, representing a 15.44 percentage-point gap.
The data reveals significant performance dispersion within the large & mid-cap category, with returns ranging from 9.15% to -6.29%. As reported by Mint, a larger asset base did not necessarily translate into higher returns, as several category-leading funds delivered returns below 2%, while some smaller schemes were among the better performers. The numbers highlight the importance of fund selection over category averages, with individual fund performance showing substantial variation from the overall category average of 0.04%.
