India’s top performing mutual fund schemes for FY26
India’s top performing mutual fund schemes for FY26 HOW MUTUAL FUNDS PERFORMED IN FY26 The recently concluded financial year 2026 has been quite erratic with March wiping most of the returns of the year. However, it was not a bad time…
India’s top performing mutual fund schemes for FY26
HOW MUTUAL FUNDS PERFORMED IN FY26
The recently concluded financial year 2026 has been quite erratic with March wiping most of the returns of the year. However, it was not a bad time for all funds. Some of the fund categories managed to do well and even within each category, there were outperformers. Here we capture funds across equity funds, debt funds, and hybrid funds to see how they performed across 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year time frames.
We have deliberately avoided taking the end of March as it would just give the picture of war and not of the ceasefire and the efforts to end the war. Hence, we take 13-April as the cut-off date, since it captures the devastation of war and the optimism of ceasefire. It was a year in which FPI selling was intense and longer duration bonds were under cloud due to a possible rate hike by the RBI. Of course, the rate hike did not happen, but it is still too early.
Equity Large Cap Funds
Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 13th Apr-26):
| Name of Fund | 1-Year Return | 3-Year Return | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nippon India Large Cap Fund (G) | 9.011% | 17.606% | 18.178% |
| ICICI Pru Large Cap Fund (G) | 7.108% | 16.259% | 15.778% |
| Invesco India Large Cap Fund (G) | 10.379% | 17.614% | 15.605% |
| Category Average | 5.986% | 13.668% | 12.440% |
| Data Source: Morningstar |
Equity Large & Mid Cap Funds
Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 13th Apr-26):
| Name of Fund | 1-Year Return | 3-Year Return | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motilal Oswal Large & Mid Cap (G) | 20.307% | 26.321% | 22.261% |
| ICICI Pru Large & Mid Cap (G) | 9.606% | 20.627% | 20.532% |
| Bandhan Large & Mid-Cap (G) | 12.228% | 23.562% | 20.123% |
| Category Average | 9.758% | 17.797% | 15.995% |
| Data Source: Morningstar |
Equity Multi-Cap Funds
Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 13th Apr-26):
| Name of Fund | 1-Year Return | 3-Year Return | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nippon India Multi Cap (G) | 10.633% | 20.795% | 22.037% |
| Mahindra Manulife Multi Cap (G) | 13.377% | 21.295% | 19.755% |
| ICICI Pru Multi-Cap Fund (G) | 9.883% | 20.341% | 18.425% |
| Category Average | 9.089% | 18.262% | 16.720% |
| Data Source: Morningstar |
Equity Flexi Cap Funds
Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 13th Apr-26):
| Name of Fund | 1-Year Return | 3-Year Return | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| HDFC Flexi Cap Fund (G) | 8.506% | 20.344% | 20.898% |
| BOI Flexi Cap Fund (G) | 16.523% | 23.037% | 20.361% |
| Quant Flexi Cap Fund (G) | 9.992% | 18.694% | 20.056% |
| Category Average | 7.490% | 15.523% | 13.973% |
| Data Source: Morningstar |
Equity Mid Cap Funds
Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 13th Apr-26):
| Name of Fund | 1-Year Return | 3-Year Return | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motilal Oswal Mid-Cap Fund (G) | 2.965% | 22.685% | 24.780% |
| Nippon India Mid-Cap Fund (G) | 16.150% | 25.785% | 22.978% |
| Edelweiss Mid-Cap Fund (G) | 15.772% | 26.160% | 22.460% |
| Category Average | 13.454% | 21.271% | 18.394% |
| Data Source: Morningstar |
Equity Small Cap Funds
Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 13th Apr-26):
| Name of Fund | 1-Year Return | 3-Year Return | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bandhan Small Cap Fund (G) | 13.197% | 30.657% | 24.466% |
| Quant Small Cap Fund (G) | 7.858% | 20.125% | 23.797% |
| Nippon Small Cap Fund (G) | 9.340% | 20.660% | 23.135% |
| Category Average | 9.438% | 18.773% | 19.305% |
| Data Source: Morningstar |
Dynamic Asset Allocation Funds (BAF)
Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 13th Apr-26):
| Name of Fund | 1-Year Return | 3-Year Return | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| HDFC BAF (G) | 5.967% | 16.369% | 17.762% |
| Baroda BNP Paribas BAF (G) | 10.721% | 14.071% | 12.454% |
| ICICI Prudential BAF (G) | 10.305% | 13.178% | 12.153% |
| Category Average | 5.830% | 11.602% | 9.994% |
| Data Source: Morningstar |
Multi-Asset Allocation Funds (MAAF)
Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 13th Apr-26):
| Name of Fund | 1-Year Return | 3-Year Return | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quant Multi-Asset Fund (G) | 26.853% | 24.454% | 24.174% |
| ICICI Pru Multi-Asset Fund (G) | 12.689% | 18.555% | 20.073% |
| Nippon Multi-Asset Fund (G) | 22.879% | 21.373% | 17.442% |
| Category Average | 17.014% | 17.728% | 15.995% |
| Data Source: Morningstar |
Arbitrage Funds (Cash-Futures)
Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 13th Apr-26):
| Name of Fund | 1-Year Return | 3-Year Return | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invesco India Arbitrage Fund (G) | 6.875% | 7.760% | 6.868% |
| Kotak Arbitrage Fund (G) | 6.782% | 7.784% | 6.778% |
| Edelweiss Arbitrage Fund (G) | 6.736% | 7.718% | 6.750% |
| Category Average | 6.309% | 7.139% | 6.096% |
| Data Source: Morningstar |
Government Securities Funds (Gilt Funds)
Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 13th Apr-26):
| Name of Fund | 1-Year Return | 3-Year Return | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| ICICI Prudential Gilt Fund (G) | 3.472% | 7.483% | 6.684% |
| Bandhan Gilt Fund (G) | 2.818% | 7.404% | 6.193% |
| SBI Gilt Fund (G) | 1.476% | 6.832% | 6.176% |
| Category Average | 0.540% | 6.040% | 5.283% |
| Data Source: Morningstar |
Corporate Bond Funds
Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 13th Apr-26):
| Name of Fund | 1-Year Return | 3-Year Return | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nippon Corporate Bond (G) | 5.643% | 7.709% | 6.854% |
| Axis Corporate Debt Fund (G) | 6.138% | 7.827% | 6.761% |
| ICICI Pru Corporate Bond (G) | 6.122% | 7.708% | 6.747% |
| Category Average | 5.448% | 7.221% | 6.077% |
| Data Source: Morningstar |
Credit Risk Funds
Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 13th Apr-26):
| Name of Fund | 1-Year Return | 3-Year Return | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| BOI Credit Risk Fund (G) | 11.517% | 8.098% | 26.906% |
| DSP Credit Risk Fund (G) | 5.369% | 14.588% | 11.759% |
| ABSL Credit Risk Fund (G) | 13.511% | 12.963% | 10.783% |
| Category Average | 8.513% | 8.939% | 9.489% |
| Data Source: Morningstar |
Having seen returns for various categories of funds for financial year FY26, here are some key takeaways for investors.
KEY INVESTOR TAKEAWAYS FROM THE FY26 MUTUAL FUND RANKINGS
Here are some key trends we deciphered from the MF rankings for FY26.
Despite the sharp correction in the month of March 2026, the FY26 returns till date of leading funds have only dropped marginally. In fact, longer returns over 3 years and 5 years are almost at par with the pre-March returns.
Across all the categories, the best one-year returns were seen in multi-asset allocation funds. That is more due to their exposure to gold and silver, which have been the stand-out performers of the last one year rising by 60% and 150% respectively.
Most of the funds in the top-3 obviously have not only beaten the averages, but have also beaten the comparable benchmark index returns. This shows that there has been genuine alpha creation by the leaders across fund classes.
Winners have been consistent over time with very small changes. That means; past winners have predictive ability of top performers for the future. This has positive implications for investors and financial advisors. They can make consistency of top rankings as a principal criterion, while deciding the winners of the future.
The outperformance of gold and silver in FY26 underlines the fact that the real story of returns lies, not in stock selection, but in asset allocation. That should be the focus!
Want help choosing funds that suit your goals?
Start with Tick FundsDisclaimer: Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks; read all scheme-related documents carefully. SERNET is an AMFI-registered mutual fund distributor and receives commission from fund houses.
Was this article helpful?