SBI Gold Fund delivered the highest three-year SIP return at 44.11%, followed closely by Axis Gold Fund at 43.84%, according to data from Value Research as of August 24, 2026. The two gold funds emerged as clear outliers in the ranking, with SBI Gold Fund's 44.11% return being 22.75 percentage points higher than the third-ranked SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund at 21.36%. Axis Gold Fund's 43.84% return was similarly more than double the returns of the equity funds that followed.
The equity funds themselves were closely grouped, with the difference between SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund at 21.36% and WhiteOak Capital Mid Cap Fund at 19.57% being just 1.79 percentage points. Among the top equity performers, Bank of India Small Cap Fund and ITI Small Cap Fund both returned 21.36% over three years, while HSBC Midcap Fund delivered 21.26%. The equity portion of the ranking was spread across pharma, small-cap, mid-cap and flexi-cap schemes rather than being dominated by a single category.
A ₹10,000 monthly SIP over 36 months represents total contributions of ₹3.6 lakh. According to Value Research data, the accumulated value was ₹6.59 lakh in SBI Gold Fund and ₹6.57 lakh in Axis Gold Fund. Among the top equity funds in the top five, the accumulated value was around ₹4.9 lakh. This stark difference demonstrates the significant impact of gold fund performance compared to equity schemes over the three-year period.
The one-year SIP data provides a different perspective, with Bank of India Small Cap Fund leading at 50.13% and ITI Small Cap Fund at 42.06%. Axis Gold Fund and SBI Gold Fund posted 38.45% and 37.83%, respectively, over one year. SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund returned 35.46%, while HSBC Midcap Fund delivered 33.80%. This data highlights how performance leaders can change across investment periods, making the return horizon an important part of any mutual fund comparison.
