Mutual funds aggregate money from multiple investors, allowing professional fund managers to make strategic investments. The attractiveness is based on skilled management, risk diversification, and the ability to connect with a variety of financial objectives.
Mutual funds provide liquidity by offering alternatives that appeal to various risk profiles and objectives, allowing investors to buy or sell shares at net asset value (NAV). This blog will look at the top mutual funds in 10 distinct categories, depending on their CRISIL rating.
Top 10 Best Mutual Funds
Let’s have a look at the top mutual funds for investing, together with their AUM (Assets under Management) and categories.
| Fund name | AUM (Rs cr) | Category |
|---|---|---|
| HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund | 52,137.70 | Mid-cap fund |
| ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund | 44,425.37 | Large-cap fund |
| HDFC Flexi Cap Fund | 42,271 | Flexi cap Fund |
| Nippon India Small Cap Fund | 41,018.84 | Small cap fund |
| Nippon India Multicap Fund | 22,695.37 | Multi cap fund |
| SBI Contra Fund | 18,930.58 | Value/Contra fund |
| SBI Long-Term Equity Fund | 17,279.15 | ELSS |
| UTI Nifty 50 Index Fund Direct-Growth | 13,626.63 | Fund/ETFs |
| HDFC Large and Mid Cap Fund | 13,427.73 | Large and mid-cap fund |
| HDFC Focused 30 Fund | 7,762.21 | Focussed fund |
A deeper look at the top ten mutual funds
It’s time to take a deeper look at the best mutual funds for investing in various categories based on characteristics such as volatility, expense ratios, total returns since inception, and more.
Note that-
- The expense ratio refers to the annual maintenance charge that a mutual fund pays to cover miscellaneous expenses such as management fees, allocation charges, promotional costs, and so on.
- Volatility refers to the degree to which a mutual fund’s price fluctuates over time. Standard deviation measures the dispersion of returns from the mean, providing insight into the fund’s past price variations. In contrast, beta relates the fund’s volatility to that of the wider market.
- Total returns from inception provide investors with a long-term perspective on how well the fund has fared during its existence.
- The Portfolio Turnover Ratio (PTR) reflects the frequency with which the fund’s holdings are acquired and sold over a given time period. A greater turnover percentage indicates more frequent trading, which could increase transaction costs and capital gains taxes for investors. In contrast, a lower turnover ratio indicates a buy-and-hold strategy with less portfolio modifications.
- Tracking error quantifies the difference between a mutual fund’s performance and that of its benchmark index. A low tracking error shows that the fund closely resembles the benchmark, whereas a bigger tracking error indicates greater variance.
Read Also-What is Liquid Fund? How to invest, Return, Types, and More
HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund
- Fund house: HDFC Mutual Fund
- Expense ratio: 1.5%
- Volatility, shared deviation: 15.11 vs 14.97
- Volatility, beta version: 0.9 vs 0.88
- Total returns since inception: 1329.75%
- Portfolio turnover ratio: 12.35%
- Tracking error: 4.65%
The fund invests 93.96 percent of its assets in local stocks. This includes 5.16 percent in large-cap stocks, 54.07 percent in mid-cap stocks, and 18.58 percent in small-cap stocks.This is the best mutual Funds for investing in 2024.
ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund
- Fund house: ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund
- Expense ratio: 1.56%
- Volatility, shared deviation: 13.4 vs 14.03
- Volatility, beta version: 0.91 vs 0.94
- Total returns since inception: 761.20%
- Portfolio turnover ratio: 23.00%
- Tracking error: 6.18%
The fund invests 90.89 percent in local stocks, including 79.12 percent in large-cap stocks, 5.63 percent in mid-cap stocks, and 0.36 percent in small-cap stocks. In addition, 0.5 percent of the fund is invested in debt, with 0.51 percent in government securities.
HDFC Flexi Cap Fund
- Fund house: HDFC Mutual Fund
- Expense ratio: 1.57%
- Volatility, shared deviation: 14.82 vs 14.24
- Volatility, beta version: 0.96 vs 0.94
- Total returns since inception: 14572.15%
- Portfolio turnover ratio: 24.52%
- Tracking error: 7.50%
The fund invests 88.57 percent of its assets in domestic equities, with 62.49 percent in large-cap companies, 5.99% in mid-cap stocks, and 3.98 percent in small-cap stocks.
Nippon India Small Cap Fund
- Fund house: Nippon India Mutual Fund
- Expense ratio: 1.53%
- Volatility, shared deviation: 15.98 vs 15.1
- Volatility, beta version: 0.89 vs 0.81
- Total returns since inception: 1236.02%
- Portfolio turnover ratio: 19.00%
- Tracking error: 0.0%
This fund invests 96.26 percent of its assets in domestic equities, with 5.35 percent in large-cap companies, 8.64 percent in mid-cap stocks, and a considerable 56.38 percent in small-cap shares.
Nippon India Multicap Fund
- Fund house: Nippon India Mutual Fund
- Expense ratio: 1.67%
- Volatility, shared deviation: 15.27 vs 14.67
- Volatility, beta version: 0.99 vs 0.92
- Total returns since inception: 2125.12%
- Portfolio turnover ratio: 30.00%
- Tracking error: 10.18%
This fund’s portfolio includes 98.37% investments in domestic stocks. Of these, 36 percent are in large-cap stocks, 21.97 percent in mid-cap stocks, and 23.75 percent in small-cap stocks.
SBI Contra Fund
- Fund house: SBI Mutual fund
- Expense ratio: 1.7%
- Volatility, shared deviation: 13.44 vs 13.95
- Volatility, beta version: 0.86 vs 0.93
- Total returns since inception: 1795.84%
- Portfolio turnover ratio: 204.00%
- Tracking error: 6.84%
The fund invests 76.23 percent in domestic equities, with 34.51 percent in large-cap stocks, 17.62 percent in mid-cap stocks, and 9.51 percent in small-cap stocks. Furthermore, the fund has 6.21 percent of its assets invested in debt, with the full debt allocation going to government securities.
SBI Long-Term Equity Fund
- Fund house: SBI Mutual fund
- Expense ratio: 1.72%
- Volatility, shared deviation: 13.42 VS 13.81
- Volatility, beta version: 0.92 VS 0.91
- Total returns since inception: 3091.43%
- Portfolio turnover ratio: 17.00%
- Tracking error: 3.66%
The fund invests 93.28 percent of its assets in domestic equities, with 54.47 percent in large-cap companies, 13.88 percent in mid-cap stocks, and 11.8% in small-cap stocks.
UTI Nifty 50 Index Fund Direct-Growth
- Fund house: UTI Mutual fund
- Expense ratio: 0.21%
- Volatility, shared deviation: 14.51 vs 14.89
- Volatility, beta version: 0.99 vs 0.83
- Total returns since inception: 287.42%
- Portfolio turnover ratio: 4.00%
- Tracking error: 0.13%
This fund implements a passive investment approach across a diverse range of Nifty 50 equities.
HDFC Large and Mid Cap Fund
- Fund house: HDFC Mutual fund
- Expense ratio: 1.57%
- Volatility, shared deviation: 14.82 vs 14.24
- Volatility, beta version: 0.96 vs 0.94
- Total returns since inception: 14572.15%
- Portfolio turnover ratio: 24.52%
- Tracking error: 5.12%
The fund’s portfolio is 95.81 percent invested in domestic equities, including 38.05 percent in large-cap stocks, 29.47 percent in mid-cap stocks, and 9.06 percent in small-cap stocks.
HDFC Focused 30 Fund
- Fund house: HDFC Mutual fund
- Expense ratio: 1.76%
- Volatility, shared deviation: 13.88 vs 14.26
- Volatility, beta version: 0.9 vs 0.93
- Total returns since inception: 1594.39%
- Portfolio turnover ratio: 18.84%
- Tracking error: 7.04%
The fund invests 83.14 percent in domestic equities, including 55.86 percent in large-cap companies, 7.5% in mid-cap stocks, and 4.19% in small-cap stocks.