A decade of disciplined SIP investing has rewarded investors handsomely in a select group of equity mutual funds. Only seven diversified equity schemes have generated annualised SIP returns of over 20% during the past 10 years, turning a ₹10,000 monthly investment into a corpus of ₹34.8 lakh to ₹38.8 lakh. The list, which excludes sectoral and thematic funds, is dominated entirely by small-cap and mid-cap schemes.
Among the seven schemes, four are mid-cap funds while the remaining three are small-cap funds. Notably, no large-cap, flexi-cap, multi-cap, focused or value-oriented equity fund managed to cross the 20% annualised SIP return mark during the 10-year period.
Nippon India Small Cap Fund tops the list
Nippon India Small Cap Fund emerged as the top performer, delivering a 10-year annualised SIP return of 22.21%. A monthly SIP of ₹10,000 in the fund would have grown to approximately ₹38.8 lakh over the decade.
Invesco India Mid Cap Fund ranked second with a 10-year annualised SIP return of 21.97%, taking the value of the same monthly investment to around ₹38.3 lakh. Edelweiss Mid Cap Fund followed with a return of 21.52%, helping investors accumulate nearly ₹37.4 lakh over the 10-year period.
Nippon India Growth Mid Cap Fund secured the fourth spot with a 20.95% annualised SIP return, growing a ₹10,000 monthly investment to about ₹36.2 lakh. Axis Small Cap Fund came next with a return of 20.66%, building a corpus of nearly ₹35.7 lakh.
Union Small Cap Fund and HDFC Mid Cap Fund completed the list, generating annualised SIP returns of 20.28% and 20.21%, respectively.
Expense ratios remain below 1%
All seven funds have base expense ratios of less than 1%, ranging from 0.41% to 0.79%.
Edelweiss Mid Cap Fund has the lowest base expense ratio among the seven at 0.41%, followed by Invesco India Mid Cap Fund at 0.48% and Nippon India Small Cap Fund at 0.52%. Axis Small Cap Fund, Nippon India Growth Mid Cap Fund and HDFC Mid Cap Fund have expense ratios of 0.55%, 0.58% and 0.61%, respectively.
While only seven diversified equity funds crossed the 20% annualised SIP return mark over the past decade, several other schemes came close.
ICICI Prudential Midcap Fund narrowly missed the milestone, delivering a 10-year annualised SIP return of 19.39%. HSBC Midcap Fund followed with a return of 19.24%, while Invesco India Large & Mid Cap Fund and Baroda BNP Paribas Midcap Fund generated annualised SIP returns of 19.03% and 18.83%, respectively.
Among flexi-cap funds, HDFC Flexi Cap Fund and Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund posted annualised SIP returns of 17.75% and 17.65%.