Short-term outperformance can look dramatic when a sector is in favor — and the last one year has produced a fresh batch of mutual funds crossing the 20% mark. Healthcare, pharma, small caps and a handful of thematic and index funds dominate this list, with returns ranging from 20.1% to 29.0% on a one-year basis.
Below is a comparison of 18 mutual funds (equity, non-global) that have delivered 1-year returns above 20.0%, along with their 6-month, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year performance where available. Global/international funds have been excluded from this list, as several currently have restrictions on fresh lump-sum or SIP investments.
Explore – 11 Mutual Funds With 5-Year Annualized Returns Above 20.0%
Why This Comparison Matters
A single year of strong returns rarely tells the full story of a fund’s consistency or risk profile. Many of the funds below are recent launches — sectoral or index funds with no 3-year, 5-year, or 10-year history yet — so their 1-year number is the only data point currently available for comparison. Viewing 1-year returns alongside whatever longer-period data exists helps put the recent performance in context before drawing any conclusions.
18 Mutual Funds With 1-Year Returns Above 20.0%
Data as on 22 September 2026. Returns are point-to-point, annualized for periods above 1 year. Global/international funds excluded due to current restrictions on fresh investments.
| S No | Fund Name | Category | 1-Yr Return (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TRUSTMF Small Cap Fund | Small Cap | 29.0 |
| 2 | Kotak Healthcare Fund | Healthcare / Pharma | 27.4 |
| 3 | HDFC Pharma And Healthcare Fund | Healthcare / Pharma | 26.5 |
| 4 | Motilal Oswal Active Momentum Fund | Thematic – Momentum | 25.9 |
| 5 | Bank of India Small Cap Fund | Small Cap | 24.8 |
| 6 | Motilal Oswal Focused Fund | Focused | 24.6 |
| 7 | PGIM India Healthcare Fund | Healthcare / Pharma | 24.2 |
| 8 | SBI Automotive Opportunities Fund | Sectoral – Automotive | 23.2 |
| 9 | WhiteOak Capital Pharma and Healthcare Fund | Healthcare / Pharma | 22.9 |
| 10 | Bajaj Finserv Healthcare Fund | Healthcare / Pharma | 21.6 |
| 11 | SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund | Healthcare / Pharma | 21.4 |
| 12 | Aditya Birla Sun Life Manufacturing Equity Fund | Sectoral – Manufacturing | 21.0 |
| 13 | Edelweiss MSCI India Domestic & World Healthcare 45 Index Fund | Index – Healthcare | 20.8 |
| 14 | HDFC Defence Fund | Sectoral – Defence | 20.8 |
| 15 | Motilal Oswal Small Cap Fund | Small Cap | 20.6 |
| 16 | Motilal Oswal Special Opportunities Fund | Special Situations | 20.4 |
| 17 | Motilal Oswal Nifty MidSmall Financial Services Index Fund | Index – Financial Services | 20.4 |
| 18 | Motilal Oswal Nifty Capital Market Index Fund | Index – Capital Market | 20.1 |
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Fund Performance Snapshot: 6 Months to 10 Years
The table below adds the 6-month, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year returns for each fund, wherever the fund has been around long enough to have that track record.
| Fund Name | 6 Mth (%) | 1 Yr (%) | 3 Yr (%) | 5 Yr (%) | 10 Yr (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TRUSTMF Small Cap Fund | 38.6 | 29.0 | — | — | — |
| Kotak Healthcare Fund | 30.8 | 27.4 | — | — | — |
| HDFC Pharma And Healthcare Fund | 30.8 | 26.5 | — | — | — |
| Motilal Oswal Active Momentum Fund | 31.0 | 25.9 | — | — | — |
| Bank of India Small Cap Fund | 41.0 | 24.8 | 22.4 | 20.3 | — |
| Motilal Oswal Focused Fund | 33.3 | 24.6 | 15.3 | 10.9 | 13.4 |
| PGIM India Healthcare Fund | 27.3 | 24.2 | — | — | — |
| SBI Automotive Opportunities Fund | 25.7 | 23.2 | — | — | — |
| WhiteOak Capital Pharma and Healthcare Fund | 26.8 | 22.9 | — | — | — |
| Bajaj Finserv Healthcare Fund | 31.8 | 21.6 | — | — | — |
| SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund | 27.0 | 21.4 | 25.0 | 19.0 | 14.9 |
| Aditya Birla Sun Life Manufacturing Equity Fund | 25.4 | 21.0 | 21.8 | 15.7 | 14.1 |
| Edelweiss MSCI India Domestic & World Healthcare 45 Index Fund | 19.1 | 20.8 | 20.2 | 14.2 | — |
| HDFC Defence Fund | 29.8 | 20.8 | 38.2 | — | — |
| Motilal Oswal Small Cap Fund | 36.5 | 20.6 | — | — | — |
| Motilal Oswal Special Opportunities Fund | 29.2 | 20.4 | — | — | — |
| Motilal Oswal Nifty MidSmall Financial Services Index Fund | 16.7 | 20.4 | — | — | — |
| Motilal Oswal Nifty Capital Market Index Fund | 18.6 | 20.1 | — | — | — |
Data as on 22 September 2026. “–” indicates the fund has not completed the relevant period since launch.
Category-Wise Breakdown
This gives a glimpse as to which category of funds outperformed.
- Healthcare / Pharma (7 funds)
- Index Funds — Financial Services / Capital Market (2 funds)
- Thematic / Momentum (1 fund)
- Sectoral — Automotive (1 fund)
- Sectoral — Manufacturing (1 fund)
- Sectoral — Defence (1 fund)
- Special Situations (1 fund)
This indicates healthcare/pharma funds dominated majorly while some of the sector funds too joined this list in the last 1 year.
What Stands Out in This Data
- Healthcare/pharma dominates the list — 7 of the 18 funds (nearly 40%) are healthcare- or pharma-focused, reflecting a strong run for the sector over the past year.
- TRUSTMF Small Cap Fund leads the list with a 29.0% 1-year return and the highest 6-month return (38.6%) among all 18 funds.
- Limited long-term data — 12 of the 18 funds show no 3-year, 5-year, or 10-year numbers, meaning most of this list consists of relatively recently launched funds without an established longer-term track record.
- HDFC Defence Fund’s 3-year number (38.2%) is well above its 1-year return (20.8%) — the largest gap between the two periods among funds that have both data points.
- Motilal Oswal Focused Fund is the only fund in this list with a complete 10-year history (13.4%), offering the longest track record even though its 1-year return (24.6%) is more moderate than the sector-focused names above it.
- 6-month returns run well ahead of 1-year returns for most funds (e.g., Bank of India Small Cap Fund: 41.0% over 6 months vs 24.8% over 1 year), suggesting the sharpest gains have come more recently rather than being spread evenly across the year.
Things to Check Before Comparing Further
- A large share of these funds have no 3-year, 5-year, or 10-year track record — a strong 1-year number alone does not indicate how the fund behaves across a full market cycle.
- Sectoral and thematic funds (healthcare, defence, automotive, manufacturing) carry concentration risk and tend to be more volatile than diversified equity funds.
- Compare each fund’s returns against its own category average and benchmark index, not just against the other funds in this list.
- This comparison does not cover expense ratio, portfolio concentration, or fund manager tenure — factors worth checking before going further.
- Past 1-year or 6-month returns are not indicative of future performance, especially for funds that have benefited from a specific sector rally.
Check our analysis – 15 Mutual Funds With 3-Year Annualized Returns Above 22.5%
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Why are global/international funds excluded from this comparison?
Several global and international mutual funds currently have restrictions on fresh lump-sum or SIP investments due to regulatory overseas-investment limits, so they have been left out of this comparison for practical relevance.
Q2. Why do so many funds in this list have no 3-year or 5-year returns?
A number of these funds — particularly sectoral and index funds — were launched relatively recently and have not yet completed a 3-year, 5-year, or 10-year period, so those columns show “–” until that history is available.
Q3. Does a high 1-year return mean a fund is better than one with a lower 1-year but longer track record?
Not necessarily. A high 1-year return often reflects strong performance from a specific sector or theme over a short window, while a fund with a longer track record has been tested across different market cycles. Both are different types of data points and are best compared within their own context.
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