50% equity mutual funds fail to beat their benchmarks in 2023

Around 50% equity mutual fund schemes have underperformed against their benchmarks in 2023, an analysis by ETMutualFunds showed. There were around 243 equity mutual fund schemes in the market and 122 equity schemes have failed to beat their respective benchmarks in 2023.

Small cap and mid cap category were the worst hit in 2023. Both the categories had around 83% underperformance. There were around 24 small cap schemes in the market and 20 schemes failed to beat their respective benchmarks in 2023. There were around 29 mid cap schemes in the market and 24 schemes failed to beat their respective benchmarks.



Large & mid cap category had an underperformance of 62%. Multi cap category had an underperformance of around 50%. Out of 16 multi cap schemes that have been there in the market, 8 schemes have failed to beat their respective benchmarks. Focused fund category had an underperformance of 46%.

The ELSS fund category had an underperformance of around 39%. Out of 38 ELSS schemes that have been around in the market, 15 schemes have failed to beat their respective benchmarks. Flexi cap category had an underperformance of 34%. Contra fund and large cap fund categories had an underperformance of around 33%. The value fund category had an underperformance of around 26%. Out of 19 value funds that have been around in the market, five schemes have failed to beat their respective benchmarks.

We considered equity categories such as large cap, mid cap, large & mid cap, multi cap, flexi cap, focused fund, ELSS, small cap, value and contra funds. We only considered regular and growth option schemes.

Note, the above exercise is not a recommendation. The purpose of the exercise was to find how the equity mutual fund categories performed against their respective benchmarks in 2023.

One should not make investment or redemption decisions based on the above exercise. Past performance does not guarantee future performance. You should not choose schemes based on one year performance.

If you are looking for recommendations, see:
Best large cap mutual funds to invest in 2024
Best large & mid cap funds to invest in 2023
Best focused mutual funds to invest in 2023
Best value mutual funds to invest in 2023
Best tax saving mutual funds or ELSS to invest in 2023
Best mid cap mutual funds to invest in 2023
Best small cap mutual funds to invest in 2023
Best flexi cap mutual funds to invest in 2023