Flexicap fund inflows jump nearly 50% MoM: How many schemes outperform the benchmark in the long term?

As NIFTY50 lingers around record high levels, the investor sentiment continues to remain robust. The mutual fund data for June indicates strong buying interest among investors, as the equity mutual funds saw ₹23,587 crore worth of inflow, after hitting multi-year lows of ₹19,013 crore in May. October and December saw the highest inflow of above ₹41,000 crore, and since then, the inflow decreased to a multi-year low in May 2025 at ₹19,000 crore.

The first half of 2025 saw multiple external shocks to the markets from tariffs to wars, all impacting the sentiments. However, Indian markets remained resilient and outperformed the majority of their global peers. Despite such volatile market conditions, few categories from the equity segment continued to garner strong inflows. Flexicap funds remained one of the top categories that saw increased investor interest. On the other hand, sectoral or thematic mutual funds, which saw the highest inflows in 2024, saw reduced interest in H12025.

(Source: AMFI Monthly data)

1 year period

In one year, a total of 25 out of the 29 flexicap schemes outperformed their benchmark returns, and 14 schemes underperformed the benchmark NIFTY500 TRI and BSE 500 TRI index. Among the top-performing schemes, Motilal Oswal Flexicap remained the top performer with 12.2% returns, while Samco Flexicap was the top underperforming flexicap mutual fund with -12.3% returns.

3 year period

In the medium term period of 3 years, 16 out of the 29 schemes outperformed the benchmark index returns of 20.5%, while 12 schemes underperformed the benchmark. Among the top-performing schemes, the Invesco India flexicap mutual fund scheme stood as the top performer with 28% returns against the 20.3% of the benchmark BSE 500 TRI index. On the contrary, the Samco flexicap fund underperformed with 9.2% returns over 20.5% of the benchmark NIFTY 500 TRI.

5 year period

Over the long-term duration of 5 years, the outperformance shrinks, and the underperformance increases in the flexicap category. Out of the 24 schemes present over 5 years, 11 schemes outperformed the respective benchmark schemes, vs 13 which underperformed. Amongst all the schemes, Quant flexicap fund stood as the top performer with 32% returns as compared to 23% of the benchmark NIFTY 500 TRI. Meanwhile, Shriram Flexicap Fund and LIC Flexicap Fund were the top two underperforming schemes, with 17.8% returns against 23% their benchmark of NIFTY500 TRI.

In summary

The Flexicap category has seen growing investor interest in recent years and has given consistent returns over longer periods of time. The data shows that the outperformance over the benchmark index shrinks as the period increases. However, in the long term, even the underperforming schemes are delivering returns over 15%, which in the long term are good returns for any investor to generate wealth. Short-term data in the mutual funds may be skewed due to multiple factors, but in the long term, the overall performance remains consistent and robust in the flexicap category.