India’s Best Equity Mutual Funds In 2024
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Equity mutual funds are funds that invest in the stocks of multiple companies on behalf of the investor, and help diversify their risk. Because they often hold a hundred or more stocks, equity mutual funds make it easy for investors to instantly invest in a large pool of companies and begin the process of building real wealth.
To help you find the right funds for your investment goals, Forbes Advisor India analyzed 700 Indian equity mutual fund schemes to determine the best performing equity mutual funds. Performance is based on research from the fund’s performance over a period of time, and does not guarantee future results.
- Featured Partner
- Top Equity Mutual Funds In India In 2024
- Axis Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan (LABEL: BEST SMALL CAP FUND)
- Quant Mid Cap Fund - Direct Plan (LABEL: BEST MID CAP FUND)
- SBI Large & Mid-cap Fund - Direct Plan (LABEL: BEST LARGE & MID CAP FUND)
- Mirae Asset Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan (LABEL: BEST TAX SAVER FUND)
- Quant Active Fund - Direct Plan (LABEL: BEST MULTI CAP FUND)
- PGIM India Flexi Cap Fund - Direct Plan (LABEL: BEST FLEXI CAP FUND)
- SBI Contra Fund – Direct Plan (LABEL: BEST CONTRA FUND)
- Quant Infrastructure Fund - Direct Plan (LABEL: BEST SECTORAL FUND)
- Methodology
- How Do Equity Mutual Funds Work?
- How to Choose an Equity Mutual Fund?
- Types of Equity Mutual Funds in India
- How Do Equity Mutual Funds Earn?
- Who Should Invest in Equity Mutual Funds?
- Things to Consider While Investing in Equity Mutual Funds
- How to Invest in Equity Mutual Funds Online?
- Featured Partner
- What are the Risks Involved in Investing in Equity Mutual Funds?
- How Are Equity Mutual Funds Taxed?
- Featured Partner
Featured Partner
1
Axis Mutual Fund
Save tax
Various tax saving investment options available
Type of Products:
Ranging from debt funds to index funds to ETFs and more
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Invest in more than 60 types of schemes
Top Equity Mutual Funds In India In 2024
Methodology
Forbes Advisor India determined the best equity mutual fund schemes based on how 700 leading funds fared on the following metrics:
- Expense ratio of the scheme compared to its peers given the important role expense ratio plays in determining the overall returns an investor makes on their investment.
- Performance compared to benchmark indexes over a period of time—three-year and five-year performance were considered as key.
- Three-year and five-year performance of the mutual fund compared to competing schemes offered by other funds.
As these equity mutual funds have been picked from different categories, some funds are “best” because their underlying industry or assets are not actually comparable to other funds’ underlying assets or industries.
How Do Equity Mutual Funds Work?
An equity mutual fund is a mutual fund that invests primarily in stocks or shares of companies listed on a stock exchange. Depending on the focus or the objective of the fund, its investment can be sector-specific or theme-specific and across small, mid or large capitalization companies. The net asset value of the fund is directly related to the performance of the companies’ stocks in which the investment is made.
Equity mutual funds are managed by fund managers and hence attract a fund performance fee or expense ratio. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has capped the expense ratio to a maximum of 2.5% for equity mutual funds. Experts generally recommend finding as low expense ratios as possible to keep more of your money invested. A fund could have a very high expense ratio, but higher-than-average performance might more than make up for it.
Expense ratios are also automatically deducted from investment returns, so investors aren’t really paying them, per se.
How to Choose an Equity Mutual Fund?
To choose an equity mutual fund, investors need to bear in mind the cost that they are willing to pay to own a fund, its performance over a considerable period of time, its risk-adjusted returns and the volatility of the fund. When choosing an equity mutual fund, investors need to shortlist peers to compare the mutual fund performance on two key metrics that need to be analyzed before choosing a fund:
Expense Ratio
This is the annual fee paid to cover the operating expense of a mutual fund or an ETF. This expense included the management cost, administrative cost as well as marketing and advertising cost borne by the asset management company to maintain the mutual fund.
When choosing a mutual fund scheme, you must select mutual funds that charge a reasonable expense ratio to ensure the majority of your investment is used to generate returns. When you buy a mutual fund, you don’t pay an expense ratio over and above your investment as the expense ratio is directly deducted from your returns.
What is a Benchmark Index?
A benchmark index is used to evaluate the performance of an investment in the stock market. A benchmark index covers different market capitalizations, sectors and themes. When making an investment, a portfolio manager evaluates the returns of an investment based on the performance of a set or a group of securities called the benchmark index.
When choosing a mutual fund, investors need to evaluate how the fund has performed in comparison to its benchmark index to evaluate if investing in the fund will garner returns. A mutual fund that has outperformed the benchmark index is preferred over a fund that has underperformed the benchmark index.
Types of Equity Mutual Funds in India
Category: Small cap
The small cap equity funds invest in companies with a market capitalization of less than INR 5,000 crore.
Category: Mid cap
The mid cap equity funds invest in companies with a market capitalization between INR 5,000 crore and lower than INR 20,000 crore.
Category: Large and mid cap
The large and mid cap equity mutual funds invest in companies with a large market capitalization of INR 20,000 crore or more and mid-cap companies whose market capitalization is between INR 5,000 crore and lower than INR 20,000 crore.
Category: Large cap
The large cap equity funds invest in companies with a market capitalization of INR 20,000 crore or more .
Category: Multi cap
Multi cap funds are diversified equity funds that invest in stocks of all market capitalization (large cap, mid cap and small cap) across sectors. Fund managers are required to invest at least 25% each in large-, mid and small-cap companies.
Category: Flexi cap
The flexi-cap funds invest a minimum of 65% of its assets in equity and equity-related instruments across market capitalizations. The key difference between flexi-cap and multi-cap funds is that flexi-cap does not restrict investments in large-, mid- and small-cap companies to a minimum threshold and the exposure can be dynamically managed.
Category: Equity-Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS)
ELSS funds are equity-oriented funds that allow investors to invest in stocks and take advantage of tax deduction on the invested amount. The tax deduction falls under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act that allows investors to get tax exemption of up to INR 1.5 lakh applicable on yearly taxable income.
Category: Value oriented
These funds invest in companies with a predefined investment strategy described in the scheme’s investment objective.
Category: Focused
In India, focused funds invest in a maximum of 30 stocks in a limited number of sectors rather than investing in a diversified mix of stocks and sectors. These funds invest in the best performing companies, which according to them deliver definite returns.
Category: Contra
These funds invest in companies that are promising as per the fund house’s research but the share prices of companies are not very high. Fund managers put money in such stocks expecting the price to rise. Contra funds are completely backed by speculations and the experience of the fund manager.
How Do Equity Mutual Funds Earn?
The shares that a fund invests in provides a dividend and it is distributed among those who have invested in it. Dividends are the main source of income. Not all shares in a portfolio of a mutual fund are good performers but the ones performing balance the deficit.
Investors also make money by selling their stake but this requires perseverance as the increase in value of a share takes time and if shares are sold prematurely then there may be no profit as any capital gain will be taxed at the rate of 20% and the selling amount will have to cover this as well in order to be called a profit.
Who Should Invest in Equity Mutual Funds?
There are three key attributes that one should possess to invest in mutual funds.
Perseverance
Equity mutual funds are for those who want returns but have perseverance. One can make money if they keep the money invested for a longer period of time. The taxes on selling mutual funds is high so one can not make it a regular affair to buy and sell, otherwise investors will not be able to make money considering the LTCG and STCG taxes into consideration. So, holding on to your investment for a considerable period of time is the key.
Ready for thorough research
Those investing must be dedicated to indulge in thorough research of the mutual funds they want to invest in as not every mutual fund is a good performer. Performance of a fund depends on the companies they have invested in; if the selection is not right, investors will never get the expected results. This knowledge can only be gained through understanding and people who do not have the ability or the will to work on researching and deep learning should never invest in mutual funds.
Money to spare
As mutual funds do not always give extraordinary returns at all times, one will have to wait for a certain number of years at times to get substantial returns. So, people with cash deficits or in need of liquid cash can not keep on holding their money parked in a fund that involves a certain amount of time to deliver gains.
Things to Consider While Investing in Equity Mutual Funds
There are many things to be taken into consideration before investing, but following are the key factors:
Time
One needs to understand the time frame for which the money has to be invested and accordingly invest as there are mutual funds that are good for long-term investments and there are the ones that can be considered for quick returns.
Risk-taking Capacity
There are mutual funds with investment in companies that are doing extremely well and there are the ones that have invested in companies which they speculate will perform well in the future. So, accordingly investing in a company that may do well in the coming future is speculation, but if it does clock bigger returns than the usual performers, it would be worth the risk.
Many mutual funds have made significant returns by relying on this very speculation but one has to verify the past experience and performance of the fund managers and be ready to risk their capital.
Low Expense Ratio
This is an important feature and one must go for a fund with lower expense ratio as this is the fee charged by the mutual fund company to maintain and operate your fund; more the fee lesser be your gain.
Exit Load
Like expense ratio, there are funds that charge money if there is a premature exit from the fund, hence eating into your gains. This charge is known as the exit load and has to be paid on early redemption of your mutual fund units.
Redemption of Tax
Redemption under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act is an important factor for any equity mutual fund as one can get a rebate of up to INR 1.5 lakh annually based on their tax slabs.
Portfolio Diversification
Portfolio diversification is important because if some of the stocks in your mutual fund portfolio are not doing well, then others that are performing well can balance that gap in returns. Hence, diversification is of great importance.
Portfolio Management
At times a mutual fund not doing well starts performing if the portfolio manager is changed as they are the ones who does the research and takes the investment decisions. Hence, the portfolio manager is the one who can make or break a mutual fund. Good management of the portfolio is crucial to the success of a mutual fund.
How to Invest in Equity Mutual Funds Online?
There are many ways to invest in equity mutual funds. Here’s a list:
Directly from an AMC
One can directly visit the office of the asset management company (AMC) and apply for the plan of their choice by going through the usual know your customer (KYC) process and providing your credentials by means of identification documents including the Aadhar card or PAN card.
Directly online from an AMC
One can also go for a direct plan online by filling the required details and uploading the documents online. This also requires filling a form and doing the KYC work, bank details etc.
From an agent
This method is old fashioned and costly as the plan involves commission of the agent which can be as high as 6%. The documents will remain the same but someone else will do the paperwork for you, though the paperwork is very nominal these days.
Through an investment platform
There are many good investment platforms that allow consumers to avail the service of investment for free, as there is no commission involved. These are zero brokerage companies. The process is easy and is the same as that of purchasing the mutual fund units from a fund provider. The benefit of purchasing your mutual fund from an investment platform is that you can choose freely between multiple options that too with comparisons.
Demat account
You can also invest by using your demat account. All you need to do is simply log into it and search for the desired company and then make the investment, but this can only be done if you already have a demat account.
Featured Partner
1
Axis Mutual Fund
Save tax
Various tax saving investment options available
Type of Products:
Ranging from debt funds to index funds to ETFs and more
Range of Products:
Invest in more than 60 types of schemes
What are the Risks Involved in Investing in Equity Mutual Funds?
There are many risks involved in mutual fund investments, as mutual funds do not assure returns. Nevertheless, companies launching these funds are professionals and are conscious about their reputation as service providers and know how to manage clients’ money. Still, one needs to know of these key risks involved in mutual fund investments:
Loss of principal
At times investment in equities may result in the loss of principal if the portfolio is not curated properly and the stock prices of the majority of the companies end up in losses.
Price fluctuation
Prices are constantly fluctuating and change on a daily basis. To assume you would make a definite return based on the stock price of one or more companies in your mutual fund portfolio is unreasonable and needs to be looked at as a holistic investment that will result in gains over a period of time.
Liquidity risk for listed shares
Trading volumes and settlement periods restrict the liquidity of investments made in equities. Settlement period is extended at times due to a number of reasons. At times when the mutual funds are not able to sell, these shares can lead to losses. Fortunately, such instances are rare.
Event-linked risk
At times, due to an unexpected reason, price may fall in a particular sector and diversity is the answer to such an issue.
How Are Equity Mutual Funds Taxed?
Any profit you make when you sell an equity mutual fund is taxable. You may also owe taxes on any dividends you receive from the fund.
If the investment is held for a period of up to one year, capital gains are termed as short term in nature and are subject to tax at the rate of 15%. If the investment is held for more than a year, capital gains are termed long term, and a long-term capital gains tax rate of 10% is applicable if the gains exceed INR 1 lakh per annum. Long-term capital gains are exempt from tax up to the threshold limit of INR 1 lakh.
Dividends are taxed as per the income slab of the investor and are deducted at source, which means the mutual fund automatically deducts the tax applicable on the dividends prior to disbursing it to the investor. Shareholders could claim dividend income without tax deducted at source (TDS), for which they need to submit form 15G or 15H to the mutual fund.
Featured Partner
1
Axis Mutual Fund
Save tax
Various tax saving investment options available
Type of Products:
Ranging from debt funds to index funds to ETFs and more
Range of Products:
Invest in more than 60 types of schemes
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