74% mid cap funds underperformed in seven years; are you investing?

A recent ETMutualFunds analysis revealed that most equity mutual fund schemes failed to beat their benchmarks in five and seven-year horizons. You can read the story here: 61% equity mutual fund schemes failed to beat benchmarks in five years.

The mid cap category has also underperformed its benchmark in both the five and seven-year horizons. Based on trailing returns, around 55% schemes underperformed their benchmarks in the five-year horizon. Around 74% schemes failed to beat their benchmarks in the seven-year horizon. Based on rolling returns, around 60% mid cap schemes underperformed their benchmarks in five-year horizon. Around 21% schemes failed to beat their benchmarks in seven-year horizon.

An analysis of trailing returns in the five years showed that 11 out of 20 mid cap schemes have underperformed their benchmarks. In the seven-year horizon, 14 out of 19 mid-cap schemes fared poorly.


The rolling returns analysis showed that 12 out of 20 mid cap schemes have failed to beat their benchmark in the five-year horizon. In the seven-year horizon, out of 19 schemes, 4 schemes have underperformed.

The schemes of regular and growth options were taken for the analysis. We looked at each category's trailing and rolling returns to analyze the performance. Here is the list of schemes in the mid cap category that have underperformed their benchmarks over the five and seven-year horizon.

Scheme Performance (Trailing returns)			Benchmark Performance
Scheme Name	5 Yrs	7Yrs	Benchmark	5 Yrs	7 Yrs
Aditya Birla SL Midcap Fund(G)	9.29	12.59	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	14.94	17.69
Axis Midcap Fund-Reg(G)	17.54	15.92	S&P BSE 150 MidCap - TRI	14.68	17.11
Baroda BNP Paribas Mid Cap Fund -Reg(G)	12.37	14.10	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	14.94	17.69
DSP Midcap Fund-Reg(G)	11.55	14.60	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	14.94	17.69
Edelweiss Mid Cap Fund-Reg(G)	15.98	16.49	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	14.94	17.69
Franklin India Prima Fund(G)	11.07	13.65	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	14.94	17.69
HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund(G)	13.47	15.72	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	14.94	17.69
ICICI Pru Midcap Fund(G)	12.34	13.80	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	14.94	17.69
IDBI Midcap Fund(G)	8.70		Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	14.94	17.69
L&T Midcap Fund-Reg(G)	9.27	13.88	S&P BSE 150 MidCap - TRI	14.68	17.11
Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund-Reg(G)	15.06	14.91	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	14.94	17.69
Nippon India Growth Fund(G)	15.31	16.11	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	14.94	17.69
Sundaram Mid Cap Fund-Reg(G)	9.53	12.82	Nifty Midcap 100 - TRI	12.58	15.49
Tata Mid Cap Growth Fund(G)	13.29	14.27	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	14.94	17.69
Taurus Discovery (Midcap) Fund-Reg(G)	12.61	14.64	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	14.94	17.69

Source :ACE MF, Returns as on 13 September 2022

Based on rolling returns the scheme that performed badly are :

Scheme Performance (Rolling returns)			Benchmark Performance
Scheme Name	5 Yrs	7Yrs	Benchmark	5 Yrs	7 Yrs
Aditya Birla SL Midcap Fund(G)	12.92	15.40	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	16.42	16.95
Baroda BNP Paribas Mid Cap Fund-Reg(G)	14.49	18.45	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	16.42	16.95
Franklin India Prima Fund(G)	14.95	18.52	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	16.42	16.95
HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund(G)	15.63	19.20	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	16.42	16.95
ICICI Pru Midcap Fund(G)	14.90	16.79	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	16.42	16.95
IDBI Midcap Fund(G)	8.37		Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	16.42	16.95
Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund-Reg(G)	10.17	14.36	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	16.42	16.95
Nippon India Growth Fund(G)	14.32	14.42	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	16.42	16.95
PGIM India Midcap Opp Fund-Reg(G)	12.04	16.31	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	16.42	16.95
Quant Mid Cap Fund(G)	12.14	10.88	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	16.42	16.95
Tata Mid Cap Growth Fund(G)	15.64	17.73	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	16.42	16.95
Taurus Discovery (Midcap) Fund-Reg(G)	15.40	16.15	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	16.42	16.95

Source :ACE MF, Returns as on 13 September 2022

Note, this is not a recommendation. For our recommendations in the mid cap category, see: Best mid cap schemes to invest in 2022. A word of caution: mid cap schemes are recommended only to aggressive investors who are ready to take a lot of risk and volatility. Invest in them only if you have a long investment horizon as these schemes may have long phases of underperformance.