80% equity mutual funds outperformed their benchmarks in October

Around 80% of equity mutual funds outperformed their respective benchmarks in October. Out of 240 equity mutual funds, around 192 funds outperformed their benchmarks during the said period.

The assets under management (AUM) of equity mutual funds declined by 4.03% sequentially to Rs 25.36 lakh crore in October, down from Rs 26.43 lakh crore in September (excluding Sectoral/Thematic Funds), according to a study by PL Wealth Management.

Value, contra, and dividend yield funds were the top-performing categories, with 96% of the schemes outperforming their benchmarks. They were followed by Flexi Cap Funds and Large & Mid Cap Funds, which outperformed their respective benchmarks by 86% and 85%, respectively, in October 2024.

Category	Benchmark	Number of schemes	Number of schemes that outperformed	Scheme outperformance (%)
Large Cap funds	S&P BSE 100 - TRI	25	21	84%
Large & Mid Cap Funds	NIFTY LargeMidcap 250 - TRI	26	22	85%
Multi Cap Funds	Nifty500 Multicap 50:25:25 - TRI	26	20	77%
Flexi Cap Fund	NIFTY 500 - TRI	35	30	86%
Mid Cap Funds	Nifty Midcap 150 - TRI	27	22	81%
Small Cap Funds	Nifty Smallcap 250 - TRI	25	15	60%
Focused Funds	NIFTY 500 - TRI	23	15	65%
Value Contra Div. Yield Funds	NIFTY 500 - TRI	26	25	96%
Equity Linked Savings Schemes	NIFTY 500 - TRI	27	22	81%
Total		240	192	80%

Around 84% of large-cap funds outperformed their respective benchmarks last month. Out of 25 large-cap funds, 21 outperformed their respective
benchmarks.

Small-cap funds were the least-performing category, with only 60% of funds outperforming the benchmark.

For the month ending October 2024, the monthly returns of Nifty 50 TRI, Nifty Midcap 150 TRI, and Nifty Small Cap 250 TRI were -6.12%, -6.42%, and -3.58%, respectively. For the 1-year period ending October 2024, the returns of Nifty 50 TRI, Nifty Midcap 150 TRI, and Nifty Small Cap 250 TRI were 28.39%, 44.15%, and 48.57%, respectively.

The report also advised investors to stick to their SIP investments and maintain a long-term focus. SIPs over the past 3 years have yielded an average return of over 15% p.a. for the top quartile equity funds.