Relatively newer funds are among the best performing equity diversified (first table) and tax planning (second table) funds. In equity diversified, Reliance Regular Savings has delivered consistent returns since inception. In the tax-planning funds category, even though Taurus Libra Taxshield has delivered the best returns in the past one year, its three year returns are lower than even the category average
If index funds (third table) are still reeling under pressure, mirroring the volatility in the markets, some midcap funds (fourth table) are steadily regaining lost ground. Birla Midcap Fund's three-year returns are almost equal to the best equity-diversified fund. Diversifying into global funds (fifth table) does not seem to be paying off, at least in the short term. The category as a whole has delivered negative three-month returns
Balanced funds are definitely back in favour.While equityoriented balanced funds (sixth table) are yet to recoup from the recent turmoil, balanced debt funds (seventh table) are steadily gaining ground. Escorts has done well, with its funds topping the lists in both categories for one-year returns. Escorts Opportunities in the balanced fund category has delivered better returns than the best performing equity index fund
Exchange Traded Funds (eighth table) as a category are fast catching up with their asset corpus rising. In the FoF category (ninth table), both Kotak and OptiMix have two funds each in the top five. Capital protection funds (tenth table), whose objective is to preserve capital by investing in risk-free securities, are yet to catch on in India. Three out of the top five funds are less than a year old; the bottom two have delivered negative three-month returns
