Top 5 midcap funds in September 2026 by CAGR, rank and AUM; how they stack up on risk ratios

The top five midcap funds by five-year CAGR have delivered returns between 19.15% and 21.83%. But data reveals that the fund with the highest return is not the fund with the lowest risk, and the fund with the largest assets under management (AUM) is not the fund with the highest rank. This article lists top 5 midcap funds by CAGR and rank over five years, their current AUM and key risk ratios or volatility measures.

Top 5 schemes by CAGR over 5 years

Top 5 schemes ranked by performance over 5 years

Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund ranks no. 1 here as well, but HDFC Mid Cap Fund is rank 2, ahead of Invesco India Midcap, which is second by CAGR over 5 years.

Top 5 schemes by AUM*

Here, HDFC Midcap Fund dominates with ₹1,06,793 crore in AUM, making it the only midcap fund to cross the ₹1 lakh crore mark. Kotak Midcap Fund and Axis Midcap Fund, which appear in the top five by AUM, do not appear in the top five by either CAGR or rank, highlighting that a large AUM is not a predictor of higher returns. .

Risk ratios of all schemes listed above

The following risk ratios table with a one-year range using daily returns highlights some important patterns.

Beta measures how much a fund moves relative to the market. A beta above 1 means the fund is more volatile than its benchmark, while a beta below 1 means it is less volatile. Two funds the above table have beta above 1: Invesco India at 1.11 and Motilal Oswal at 1.05. Both are also the top two by CAGR. The remaining six funds have beta between 0.83 and 0.95, meaning they move less aggressively than the market. HDFC Mid Cap Fund has the lowest beta at 0.83.

Standard deviation (SD) measures the volatility in a fund’s returns by showing how much they deviate from the average return. A higher SD means the fund fluctuate more, while a lower SD points to a more stable performance. Data shows that Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund has the highest standard deviation at 1.16, meaning its daily returns fluctuate the most. HDFC has the lowest at 0.87. The range between the most and least volatile fund is 0.29, which is substantial.

The Sharpe ratio measures return earned per unit of risk taken. A higher Sharpe means the fund is generating more return for each unit of volatility it carries. Data shows HSBC Midcap Fund, ranked fourth by both CAGR and rank, has the highest Sharpe ratio at 0.08, double the Sharpe of HDFC, Edelweiss, Nippon, Kotak and Axis midcap funds, all of which sit between 0.03 and 0.04. Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund, the top performer by return and rank, has a Sharpe of 0.00, the lowest in the entire set. This means that on a risk-adjusted basis, the fund's high returns came with proportionally high volatility.

The Fama ratio, which measures a fund's selectivity or stock-picking ability net of market risk, is negative for Motilal Oswal at -0.04 and Kotak at -0.01. Invesco has the highest Fama at 0.05, suggesting its returns included a component attributable to stock selection rather than just market movement. HDFC, Edelweiss and Nippon sit at 0.00, meaning their returns were largely explained by their market exposure rather than active stock picking.

The key takeaway for investors is that no single fund dominates on all aspects. This means an investor chasing the highest CAGR without checking the risk ratios or volatility measures may find themselves in a fund whose volatility is harder to sit through.