Parag Parikh ELSS Tax Saver Fund has emerged as the worst-performing fund among all equity mutual funds, excluding sectoral and thematic schemes, over the past year. The fund fell 9.52% during the period, while another fund from the same fund house, Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund, fell 2.71% over the same period. This leaves a 6.81 percentage-point gap between the two schemes, according to reports from Mint. The fund currently manages ₹1,70,790 crore in assets under management with a latest NAV of ₹31.24 as of September 9, 2026.
Despite having around 71% portfolio overlap, the two funds had significantly different exposure to common holdings. As of 31 August 2026, Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund and Parag Parikh ELSS Tax Saver Fund held 38 of the same stocks. However, the weights assigned to several common stocks were substantially different. Maharashtra Scooters accounted for 5.76% of ELSS portfolio versus just 0.10% in Flexi Cap, while CMS Info Systems had a 2.62% allocation in ELSS compared with 0.16% in Flexi Cap. Together, these three stocks represented 9.91% of the ELSS portfolio at the end of August, compared with only 0.26% in Flexi Cap.
In August, Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund made significant portfolio adjustments, increasing its stake in HDFC Bank by adding 90.02 lakh shares to reach nearly 15.87 crore shares from 14.97 crore in the previous month. The fund also increased its holding in Indraprastha Gas by adding 95.53 lakh shares, taking the total share count to 11.50 crore in August compared to 10.54 crore in July. Additionally, the fund added DLF as a new entrant with 1.37 crore shares, while reducing exposure to The Great Eastern Shipping Company by selling 9.31 lakh shares. The fund currently holds 34 stocks across 26 sectors with the highest allocation in banks at 20.91%, followed by 10.32% in IT and 6.89% in automobiles & ancillaries.
The August-end portfolios showed a clear difference in overseas exposure between the two schemes. Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund had 11.05% of its portfolio in foreign equities as of 31 August 2026, comprising four US technology companies: Alphabet (4.14%), Microsoft (2.40%), Amazon (2.33%), and Meta Platforms (2.18%). In contrast, Parag Parikh ELSS Tax Saver Fund had no foreign equity exposure in the analysed portfolio. Within Flexi Cap's US allocation, Alphabet returned 37.08% over one year, while Amazon gained 9.58%.
The two schemes differed significantly in their overall asset allocation at the end of August. Equity and related assets accounted for 96.78% of the ELSS portfolio, compared with 90.30% for Flexi Cap. Flexi Cap had a larger allocation to certificates of deposit, commercial paper, treasury bills, liquid fund units and reverse repo or TREPS. ELSS was more heavily invested in equity at the end of August, while Flexi Cap had a larger allocation outside conventional equity.
The performance gap occurs alongside different long-term return records for the two schemes. Parag Parikh ELSS Tax Saver Fund's five-year return of 11.19% was slightly above the ELSS category average of 11.12%, while its seven-year return of 17.29% was also above the category average of 16.28%. The fund's 10-year return of 17.3% significantly outperformed the category average, demonstrating the scheme's long-term resilience despite recent underperformance. For investors comparing the two schemes, the August-end portfolio data demonstrates that substantial portfolio overlap can coexist with significant differences in individual stock weights, overseas exposure and overall equity allocation, as reported by Mint.
