Direct vs regular SIP: How returns vary after investing ₹10,000 a month for 10 years in top 5 funds

Mutual Fund investors can invest either in the direct or the regular plan of a scheme. Direct plans offer the freedom to invest directly, without involving any mutual fund distributor or agent.

Both 'Direct Plan' and 'Regular Plan' are part of the same mutual fund scheme with the same portfolio and the fund manager. However, direct plans have a lower expense ratio and generally higher NAVs as they do not need to pay to distributors or agents.

The savings from not paying distributors are added back to the returns of the direct plan. This results in a marginal difference in the NAV of a direct plan and a regular plan of a mutual fund scheme. Over the long term, it also results in a significant gap in the final corpus. That said, this article looks at how the final corpus from investing ₹10,000 per month in direct and regular plans of the top five equity mutual funds by assets under management (AUM) varies after 10 years.

As per data on Association of Mutual funds in India (AMFI) website as of November 18, 2025, the top five equity mutual funds by AUM are Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund (₹127,578 crore), HDFC Flexi Cap Fund (₹92,221 crore), HDFC Midcap Fund (₹91,021 crore), Nippon India Small Cap Fund (₹68,968 crore), and ICICI Large Cap Fund (₹77,073 crore).

Data shows that investing ₹10,000/month in the direct plan of Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund would have resulted in a corpus of ₹34.8 lakh, while the regular plan would have resulted in ₹32.9 lakh, with a gap of approximately ₹1.94 lakh. Check the table below to know the difference for the other four funds.

AUM and returns data source: AMFI

Key observations

• The difference column in the above table shows how much extra an investor would have earned by choosing the direct plan over the regular plan for a ₹10,000 SIP over 10 years.

• Every fund shows a higher SIP maturity value under the direct plan compared to the regular plan.

• The difference in the amount earned by choosing direct plans ranges from ₹1.47 lakh to ₹3.08 lakh for a ₹10,000 monthly SIP after 10 years.

• The gap widens when returns are higher. For instance, in the above table, funds with higher annualized returns (like small-cap and mid-cap) show bigger differences between their direct and regular plans.

The direct plan may be suitable for investors who prefer to invest directly, without the help of any distributor or agent. In contrast, regular plans may be suitable for investors who need some handholding and guidance.

While direct plans offer better returns, one should note that investing in them is not as simple as buying an item in your local market. You need to have some knowledge and understanding of what kind of mutual fund product is suitable for your investment needs. Moreover, you also need to properly understand the risks that come with any mutual fund product.