25 equity MFs deliver over 25% in April; Nippon India Taiwan Equity Fund tops list. Will momentum continue in May?

Around 25 equity mutual funds have delivered over 25% return in April 2026, an analysis by ETMutualFunds showed. There were 613 equity funds, which included the equity mutual funds and equity oriented SIFs.

The top 10 funds were sectoral and thematic funds. Out of 613 funds, 248 funds gave double-digit returns, 363 gave single-digit returns and two gave negative returns.

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Indices movement

In April, Indian and global indices remained in the positive territory with Nasdaq being the biggest gainer as the index went up 12.96%, followed by S&P 500 which was up 8.52%. Nifty50 and BSE Sensex were up 6.60% and 5.96% respectively.

Dow Jones, Hang Seng and DAX were up 4.93%, 3.23% and 2.81% respectively in the month of April.

How equity funds performed

Nippon India Taiwan Equity Fund delivered the highest return of 27.83% in the month of April, followed by Motilal Oswal Nasdaq 100 FOF which gave 26.19% in the same period. Mirae Asset NYSE FANG+ETF FoF and Quant Infrastructure Fund gave 21.46% and 20.24% respectively.

Invesco India - Invesco Global Consumer Trends FoF posted a return of 20.16% followed by three funds from Quant Mutual Fund. Quant Commodities Fund, Quant PSU Fund and Quant Manufacturing Fund delivered a return of 20.14%, 19.74% and 18.85% respectively in April.

Bank of India Small Cap Fund and HDFC Defence Fund delivered 17.27% and 17.03% returns respectively. Three small cap funds - JM Small Cap Fund, Groww Small Cap Fund and Bajaj Finserv Small Cap Fund offered 15.41%, 15.38% and 15.34% returns respectively in April.

Two funds from Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund - Motilal Oswal Small Cap Fund and Motilal Oswal ELSS Tax Saver Fund offered a return of 15.02% and 14.96% respectively. Aditya Birla SL Infrastructure Fund and Quant ESG Integration Strategy Fund gave 14.93% each.

Mirae Asset Infrastructure Fund and DSP India T.I.G.E.R Fund posted a return of 14.19% each. SBI Energy Opportunities Fund delivered a return of 13.74% in April. Quant Small Cap Fund and Axis Global Innovation FoF delivered 13.02% each.

Two friends from Quant Mutual Fund - Quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund and Quant Large Cap Fund gave 12.48% each in April. SBI Small Cap Fund delivered a return of 11.65% in the said time period.

Two funds from SBI Mutual Fund - SBI Focused Fund and SBI Midcap Fund gave 11.31% each in the mentioned time period. Abakkus Flexi Cap Fund posted a return of 11.01% in April. Abakkus Small Cap Fund gave 10.55% return. DSP Midcap Fund, ICICI Pru Commodities Fund and Tata Multicap Fund gave 10.20% each. Axis Greater China Equity FoF was the last one to deliver a double-digit return of around 10.02% in April.

Helios Financial Services Fund and HDFC Consumption Fund gave 9.95% return each in April. Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund, the largest active fund and flexi cap fund based on assets managed, gave 5.81% return in April.

Edelweiss ASEAN Equity Off-Shore Fund was the last one to deliver positive returns as the fund gave 0.05% return in April.

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Negative performers

ICICI Pru Strategic Metal and Energy Equity FoF and Axis US Specific Treasury Dynamic Debt Passive FoF lost 2.42% and 0.21% in April.

What should investors do?

Rajesh Minocha, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Founder of Financial Radiance shared with ETMutualFunds that in April, equity funds saw gradual recovery, led by mid and small cap stocks, while large caps maintained steady performance.

“The sector trends diverged, with PSU and infrastructure sectors remaining strong and the IT sector showing early signs of improvement and international funds remained stable due to stronger global market indicators.”

Minocha further said that market fluctuations are expected in May, large cap stocks are likely to offer more consistent performance than mid and small caps, which require careful stock selection and investors are advised to use SIPs for flexi-cap funds and also include some mid-cap funds in their portfolio.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

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