Six 30-year-old equity schemes offer 8-15% since inception

Most equity mutual fund investors and advisors believe that equity mutual funds would offer double-digit returns over a long period. ETMutualFunds looked at the performance of the oldest equity schemes in the market to see whether they indeed offer double-digit returns in the long run. There are six schemes that have completed 30-32 years in the market. Four schemes have completed 30 years and two schemes completed 32 years. Five schemes offered double-digit returns ranging between 11-15%. One scheme offered single-digit returns of around 8%.

One aggressive hybrid fund, two large & mid cap funds, and an ELSS fund completed 30 years of existence. One aggressive hybrid fund and thematic fund completed 32 years in the market. SBI Long Term Equity Fund, the oldest ELSS fund, launched in March 1993, completed around 30 years in the market. The scheme offered around 15.51% returns since inception. SBI Long Term Equity Fund was earlier known as SBI Magnum TaxGain'93 before the recategorisation by the Sebi.

SBI Large & Midcap Fund, earlier known as SBI Magnum Multiplier Fund, was launched in February 1993. It has completed around 30 years in the market. The scheme offered 14.49% since its inception. Tata Large & Mid Cap Fund, earlier known as Tata Equity Opportunities Fund, launched in February 1993, completed 30 years. The scheme offered 12.64% returns since its inception. Canara Robeco Equity Hybrid Fund, launched in February 1993, completed around 30 years in the market. The scheme offered 11.27% returns since its inception. Prior to recategorisation, Canara Robeco Equity Hybrid Fund was known as Canara Robeco Equity Debt Allocation Fund.


SBI Magnum Equity ESG Fund (Earlier known as SBI Magnum Equity Fund), and LIC MF Equity Hybrid Fund (Earlier known as LIC MF Balanced Fund), both launched in January 1991, completed around 32 years in the market. SBI Magnum Equity ESG Fund and LIC MF Equity Hybrid Fund offered 14.21% and 8.46% returns respectively since their inception.


We considered equity-oriented mutual funds categories such as large cap, mid cap, small cap, large & mid cap, multi cap, flexi cap, focused fund, ELSS, contra, and value funds, sectoral/thematic funds, aggressive hybrid fund, balanced advantage and dynamic asset allocation fund for the study. We considered regular and growth options. We have only included schemes that have completed 30 years.

You may notice that most of these schemes have public sector parentage like SBI, LIC, Canara, etc. This is because most old mutual funds were in the public sector. Also, these schemes are from diverse categories and they have different risk-reward profiles. For example, aggressive hybrid funds are considered ideal for conservative equity investors to create wealth to achieve their long-term financial goals. Large & mid cap funds are ideal for aggressive investors with a large risk appetite as these funds are mandated to invest 35% of the assets in large cap stocks and 35% of the asset in mid cap stocks, which makes them riskier. ELSS or tax saving schemes are recommended to investors who want to save taxes under Section 80C of the income tax Act. Investors can invest a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh in these schemes and claim tax deductions on it in a financial year. Simply put, since the risk profile is different, comparing their returns won’t give you a complete picture.

Note, this is not a recommendation. This exercise is just to find out how the schemes that have completed 30- 32 years in the market performed. One should not make any investment decisions based on historical returns. Past returns do not guarantee future performance. You need to include factors like goals, horizon, and risk profile while choosing a scheme.

If you are looking for recommendations, see:
Best large & mid cap funds to invest in 2023
Best tax saving mutual funds or ELSS to invest in 2023
Best aggressive hybrid mutual funds to invest in 2023