A recent survey of mutual fund investors carried out by Axis Mutual Fund showed that a majority of investors still rely on the past returns of the schemes before they opt for one.
Notwithstanding the advice of wealth advisors who often tell investors not to base their decision on the past returns, it continues to hold a special role in the minds of mutual fund investors.
Here, we give a lowdown on the past returns delivered by flexi cap mutual funds that have outpaced the benchmark returns. Let us first understand what exactly are flexi cap mutual funds:
Flexi cap mutual fund category was introduced Nov 6, 2020 via a circular by the capital markets regulator Sebi that stated that these schemes must invest a minimum of 65 percent of total assets in equity & equity-related instruments.
They are an open-ended dynamic scheme that invests across large cap, mid cap and small cap stocks.
What is a benchmark index?
It is an indicator against which a mutual fund’s performance can be measured such as S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50.
Having a benchmark index gives investors an idea of the performance of a fund which includes the choice of constituent stocks, proportion in which funds have been allocated, and the rate of appreciation in the price of constituent stocks, etc.
These are the flexi cap mutual fund schemes that have outperformed their benchmark index.
| Flexi cap funds | Returns (%) | Benchmark (%) |
| Quant Flexi Cap Fund | 22.82 | 14.40 |
| Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund | 18.83 | 14.40 |
| JM Flexicap Fund | 17.67 | 14.60 |
| DSP Flexi Cap Fund | 16.03 | 14.40 |
| PGIM India Flexi Cap Fund | 16.90 | 14.40 |
| Franklin India Flexi Cap Fund | 14.91 | 14.40 |
| HDFC Flexi Cap Fund | 16.34 | 14.40 |
| Union Flexi Cap Fund | 15.21 | 14.60 |
(Source: AMFI, regular returns as on Sept 25, 2023)
As we can see in the table above, the annualised returns delivered by flexi cap mutual funds as on Sept 25 were in the range of 14-23 percent.
The highest annualised returns of 22.82 percent were given by Quant Flexi Cap Fund against the benchmark index returns of 14.40 percent, whereas the lowest annualised return of 14.91 percent was given by Franklin India Flexi Cap Fund.
The remaining funds gave an annualised return that ranges between 15 to 19 percent per annum.
Top-performing flexi cap funds:
Quant Flexi Cap Fund: It was launched on Aug 28, 2008 and has delivered an annualised return of 14.04 percent since inception. The key constituent stocks in the portfolio include Treps, HDFC Bank, RIL, Jio Financial Services. The AUM of this scheme is ₹2,059 crore.
Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund: It was launched on May 24, 2013 and has delivered an annualised return of 18.59 percent. The scheme’s AUMs amount to ₹42,553 crore.
The key constituent stocks are Clearing Corporation of India, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Holdings & Investment, ITC and Axis Bank.
JM Flexicap Fund: It was launched on Sept 23, 2008 and has delivered an annualised return of 13.60 percent. The assets under management (AUMs) of the scheme amount to ₹545 crore.
The key constituent stocks of the scheme are REC, L&T, Treps, Infosys and One 97 Communications.
