Best Performing Mutual Funds in the last 15 years

Best Performing Mutual Funds in the last 15 yearsBest Performing Mutual Funds in the last 15 years


You would have got bored listening to mutual fund experts saying that mutual fund investments should be done for the long term. There are bull phases and bear phases. We have seen a stock market crash in 2008 and several market crashes after that. We have seen bull phase in 2020 and now in 2021 in spite of Covid-19. Such bull and bear phases might not come every year. Hence we keep recommending investors to invest in mutual funds for the long term. However, as a mutual fund investor you would have got a doubt about mutual fund performance if one invested 10 years back or 15 years back. This article would help you to clear such doubts. Which are the Best Performing Mutual Funds in the last 15 years in India? Can we invest in such mutual fund schemes or they are just generating high returns with these bull runs?

Why we need to invest in mutual funds for the long term?

I would keep publishing mutual fund portfolio recommendations every year and I keep indicating investors to invest in mutual funds atleast for 8 to 10 years. Such period would help investors to get good returns from bull phases and reduce negative returns any bear phases. Let us check the ups and downs in the stock market (major ones) in the last 15 years.

2007 – Markets at peak (Bull Phase)

2008 – Stock Market Crash (Bear Phase)

2015 – Markets at peak (Bull Phase)

2016 – Stock Market Crash (Bear Phase)

Jan-2020 – Markets at peak (Bull Phase)

Mar-2020 – Markets crashed, but it was for a short period

2021 – Bull run continues

Assume you have invested in 2007 and long term of say 10 years i.e. till 2017. You would have seen 2 bull phases and 2 bear phase

Assume you have invested in 2010 and for long term of 10 years i.e. 2020, you would have seen 2 bull phases and 2 bear phases.

Assume you have invested in 2005 for 15 years, i.e. till 2020, you would have seen 3 bull phases and 3 bear phases.

This is where your returns would get averaged out. I have provided some of these tips in how to get higher returns from mutual funds article earlier.

Best Performing Mutual Funds in the last 15 years

Here are the list of top performing mutual funds in the last 15 years in India along with 15 years annualized return.

#1 – Nippon India Pharma Fund – 18.6%

#2 – IDFC Flexi Cap Fund – 16.6%

#3 – Nippon India Banking Fund – 16.6%

#4 – ICICI Prudential Technology Fund – 16.6%

#5 – Nippon India Value Fund – 16.04%

#6 – Canara Robeco Emerging Equities Fund – 15.7%

#7 – SBI Consumption Opportunities Fund – 15.7%

#8 – Sundaram Mid Cap Fund – 15.6%

#9 – Aditya Birla Sun Life India GenNext Fund – 15.4%

#10 – ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund – 15.4%

Best Performing Mutual Funds in the last 15 years – Detailed Analysis

Let me provide fund overview, fund performance and our view and analysis about these funds.

#1 – Nippon India Pharma Fund – 18.6%

This fund is sector fund that invests in pharma and healthcare companies.

Fund Performance

1 Year Return – 57%

3 Year Annualised Return – 21.4%

5 Year Annualised Return – 12.8%

10 Year Annualised Return – 17.2%

15 Year Annualised Return – 18.6%

Our View: This is sector fund that invests in single sector, i.e. Pharma / Healthcare. Pharma has been doing well in the last 10 to 15 years. However, one can see slowdown for several years the way it happened during 2017 to 2019. This is one of the top performing mutual fund in the last 15 years. This fund generated high returns even in the last 5 to 10 years too. This is one of the best pharma mutual funds to invest, however this is meant for high risk investors only. They always need to keep an eye. If there is down trend in the sector, one can exit such fund.

#2 – IDFC Flexi Cap Fund – 16.6%

This Flexicap fund invests across market cap, i.e. large cap, midcap and smallcap stocks.

Fund Performance

1 Year Return – 20%

3 Year Annualised Return – 6.4%

5 Year Annualised Return – 11.5%

10 Year Annualised Return – 14.2%

15 Year Annualised Return – 16.6%

Our View: This flexicap fund is top performer in the last 10 to 15 years time frame. However, if you observe, this is under performer in the last 1 year to 10 years time frame. There are several other Flexicap mutual funds which did well in the last 5-10 years. One can avoid this fund.

#3 – Nippon India Banking Fund – 16.6%

This fund invests in banking and financial services companies in India.

Fund Performance

1 Year Return – 19%

3 Year Annualised Return – 6.5%

5 Year Annualised Return – 15.7%

10 Year Annualised Return – 11.8%

15 Year Annualised Return – 16.6%

Our View: This banking fund is top performer in the last 5 to 15 years time frame. However, this fund is under performer in the last 1 to 5 years time frame. There are several other peers which did well in the last 1-5 years. One need to wait and watch before investing in such funds.

#4 – ICICI Prudential Technology Fund – 16.6%

This fund invests in IT and IT related companies in India. Again this is a sector mutual fund.

Fund Performance

1 Year Return – 82%

3 Year Annualised Return – 27.3%

5 Year Annualised Return – 21.6%

10 Year Annualised Return – 19.2%

15 Year Annualised Return – 16.6%

Our View: This fund is again sector fund that invests in IT and IT related companies. IT and Technology related companies have always been evergreen (except during recessions). This is one of the top performing mutual fund in the last 15 years. This fund generated high returns even in the last 5 to 10 years too. High risk investors can invest in this Technology mutual fund, but keep an eye on the sector performance.

#5 – Nippon India Value Fund – 16%

The scheme aims for capital appreciation and to generate consistent returns by actively investing in equity/ equity related securities predominantly into value stocks.

Fund Performance

1 Year Return – 39.7%

3 Year Annualised Return – 10.7%

5 Year Annualised Return – 16.3%

10 Year Annualised Return – 13.1%

15 Year Annualised Return – 16%

Our View: This fund aims to generate returns by investing in value stocks. One needs to have patience if invested in such funds as such value stocks would move at a slower pace. One can see the value in such stocks only  the long term. At some  times, the fund manager’s strategy of value stocks can also go wrong. I would recommend avoiding such funds and stick to other category of funds where an investor is familiar.

#6 – Canara Robeco Emerging Equities Fund – 15.7%

The fund aims to generate capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of large and mid-cap stocks.

Fund Performance

1 Year Return – 36.3%

3 Year Annualised Return – 12.5%

5 Year Annualised Return – 19.8%

10 Year Annualised Return – 20.2%

15 Year Annualised Return – 15.7%

Our View: This fund invests in large cap and midcap stocks. This fund has beaten its peers and able to generate good returns in the medium to long term. This is one of the best performing mutual fund in the last 15 years. This fund generated high returns even in the last 5 to 10 years too. This is one of the best large cap-midcap mutual fund to invest for medium to long term.

#7 – SBI Consumption Opportunities Fund – 15.7%

The scheme seeks to provide the investor with the opportunity of long-term capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of equity and equity related securities in Consumption space.

Fund Performance

1 Year Return – 27%

3 Year Annualised Return – 7%

5 Year Annualised Return – 14.9%

10 Year Annualised Return – 17.8%

15 Year Annualised Return – 15.7%

Our View:  This fund would invest in stocks based on consumption theme. Such themes would work well for a specific period. These funds are best suitable only for short term when there is a spike in consumer spending. Medium to long term investors should avoid such funds.

#8 – Sundaram Mid Cap Fund – 15.6%

As the name indicates, this midcap mutual fund would invest in midcap stocks.

Fund Performance

1 Year Return – 30.2%

3 Year Annualised Return – 5.4%

5 Year Annualised Return – 14.1%

10 Year Annualised Return – 15.9%

15 Year Annualised Return – 15.6%

Our View:  Midcap mutual funds invests in midcap stocks and are high risk. With the current bull run, midcap stocks are rising. There are several midcap mutual funds that have shown high annualized returns in the last 1 to 5 years due to this bull run. This fund is lagging behind its peers, even in this bull run. There are better midcap mutual fund schemes to invest.

#9 – Aditya Birla Sun Life India GenNext Fund – 15.4%

The scheme aims to invest in equity/ equity related instruments of companies that are expected to benefit from the rising consumption patterns in India, which in turn is getting fuelled by high disposable incomes of the young generation.

Fund Performance

1 Year Return – 27.4%

3 Year Annualised Return – 13.2%

5 Year Annualised Return – 17.8%

10 Year Annualised Return – 17.6%

15 Year Annualised Return – 15.4%

Our View:  Even this fund would invest in stocks that would benefit from consumption theme. As indicated earlier, such themes would work well for a specific period. These funds best suitable only for short term when there is a spike in consumer spending. Long term investors can avoid such funds.

#10 – ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund – 15.4%

The scheme seeks to generate returns through a combination of dividend income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in a well-diversified portfolio of value stocks.

Funds Performance

1 Year Return – 48.9%

3 Year Annualised Return – 11.2%

5 Year Annualised Return – 13.5%

10 Year Annualised Return – 15.6%

15 Year Annualised Return – 15.4%

Our View:  This was a top performing fund while ago (If I remember it was 4 to 5 years back). It has lost its shine when it is under performing compared to its peers. Looks now it is  recovery path. Investors should wait and watch before investing in such funds now.

Best Performing Mutual Funds in the last 15 years

Here are the key messages after analyzing above funds.

1) Invest in mutual funds based on tenure of investment and risk appetite. If you are looking for growth, invest in equity funds and if you are looking for regular income, go for steady income mutual funds.

2) If you are medium to long term investor, go for long term mutual funds instead of short term funds or sector funds

3) Don’t invest in funds that performed well in the bull run. Check how these funds are performing compared to peers and its benchmark. This would give a clear picture about the fund.

4) Invest in funds that performed well across market cycles. If funds have performed well in the last 10 to 15 years, but failed in short term to long term of say 1 to 10 years, one can avoid such funds.

If you enjoyed this article, share it with your friends and colleagues through Facebook and Twitter.

10 comments

  1. Sir,Please say in details of Global Mutual Fund 2021.
    Secondly,Why you stopped to mentioned the summary table at the last of your every post where it applicable.
    Deep Regards,
    Dilip Adhikary

    1. For couple of article we did not do that. Going forwarding you would see the summary too. Also selective global mutual funds can invested though these are high risk

  2. i want to invest in mutual fund for my daughter marriage for approx, 6-8 years. which fund is suitable for investment. pls. suggest.

  3. Dear Mr.Suresh can you suggest me mutual fund for next 15 years. I want to invest extra amount for target of 15 years. My current age is 30 with no debt.

  4. Dear Suresh, if I send my list of mutual funds and the money allotted to it in ℅ , will you be able to help me in ADVISING ME my next PLAN OF ACTION ? If so what are the charges, please do help , 1) your email id 2) any prescribed format for filling it up etc Please do advice

    1. Hello Raman, If you need advice on mutual funds, I can provide. Looks your first statement says advice on mutual funds and second statement says filing i.e. income tax. I don’t provide tax filing services. You need to approach CA / income tax filing websites. If you need help on only mutual funds, you can mail me suresh@myinvestmentideas.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *