Large & midcap funds comparison: SBI, HDFC, Kotak and ICICI Prudential schemes over 1–10 years

In earlier articles, we compared the returns over one, three, five, and ten years of large-cap, mid-cap, flexi-cap, and small-cap schemes to their corresponding indices. We will look at the performance of four large-cap funds in today's article.

But before we compare, let's understand what large & mid-cap funds are.

Large & mid-cap mutual funds are equity mutual funds and invest primarily in a mix of large and mid-sized companies. As mandated by the market regulator SEBI, these funds have to hold at least 35% in large and 35% in mid-caps.

Before reading further, please note that this is just for informational purposes only and not intended to recommend any of the schemes mentioned below.

Instead of focusing on the larger large & mid-cap fund universe, the comparison is based on past returns and aims to show performance trends within this small group of funds.

In India's top large and mid-cap mutual funds, long-term investing through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) has once again shown its capacity to generate wealth.

A ₹10,000 monthly SIP has performed across 1, 3, 5, and 10 years, according to a review of four prominent schemes. Long-term patience has allowed SIP investors to increase a ₹12 lakh investment into ₹26–31 lakh over ten years.

HDFC Large & Midcap Fund

The fund returned 11.12% over one year, 19.88% over three years, and 20.01% over five years, compared with benchmark returns of 13.14%, 19.03% and 17.96%, respectively. A ₹10,000 monthly SIP grew from ₹1.20 lakh to about ₹1.26 lakh in one year, ₹4.40 lakh in three years, ₹9.10 lakh in five years, and nearly ₹29.43 lakh over 10 years, driven by exposure to banking, healthcare, automobiles and IT.

Key Facts (Launch, AUM, Fund Manager, Benchmark)

Kotak Large & Midcap Fund

The SIP value of ₹10,000 per month rose to around ₹1.28 lakh in one year, ₹4.44 lakh in three years, ₹8.95 lakh in five years, and approximately ₹28.55 lakh over a decade, supported by a quality-focused portfolio across banks, capital goods, IT and healthcare.

Returns vs. Index (absolute %)

SBI Large & Midcap Fund

The SIP corpus from ₹10,000 per month grew to around ₹1.25 lakh in one year, ₹4.48 lakh in three years, ₹9.04 lakh in five years, and close to ₹26.91 lakh over a decade.

ICICI Pru Large & Mid Cap Fund

The fund delivered 15.38% over one year, 20.94% over three years, and 21.33% over five years, clearly outperforming the benchmark returns of 13.14%, 19.03% and 17.96%. A ₹10,000 monthly SIP grew to ₹1.27 lakh in one year, ₹4.60 lakh in three years, ₹9.56 lakh in five years, and an impressive ₹30.83 lakh over 10 years, aided by higher allocation to automobiles & ancillaries, banking, retailing and IT.

SIP Outcomes (₹10,000 monthly)

Key takeaways

While long-term discipline can more than quadruple invested capital, short-term SIP returns are still modest.

Over the course of three to five years, large and mid-cap funds have produced annualised returns of 15–21%; numerous schemes have outperformed the NIFTY LargeMidcap 250 TRI benchmark.

Despite interim volatility, a ₹10,000 monthly SIP has the potential to grow into ₹26–31 lakh over ten years.

Compounding and regularity are particularly beneficial to long-term SIP participants.