BT Best Fund Manager: Gopal Agarwal’s HDFC AMC fund tops large- and mid-cap category with 30% return in 3 years

The HDFC Large and Mid Cap Fund has achieved impressive returns of 30.55% over a three-year period. During this span, the fund’s manager Gopal Agrawal consistently delivered remarkable results, solidifying his position as the leading mutual fund manager in the large and mid-cap fund category and securing the top spot in BT’s Portfolio Manager ranking. 

Gopal Agarwal has been overseeing the fund since July 2020 and has over 19 years of experience. As of June 30, he manages assets under management (AUM) totalling Rs 9,843.55 crore. 

Ihab Dalwai of ICICI Prudential Large & Mid Cap Fund and Manish Lodha of Mahindra Manulife Large & Mid Cap Fund were placed second and third, respectively. Their funds have delivered returns of 30.26% and 28.93%, respectively, over the three-year period. 

As per SEBI guidelines for mutual fund scheme categorisation, a large and mid-cap fund allocates at least 35 per cent of funds to large-cap stocks and 35 per cent to mid-cap stocks. Large-cap stocks constitute the top 100 companies, while mid-cap stocks encompass companies ranked from 101 to 250 in terms of market capitalisation. 

The BT Portfolio Manager ranking relies on the 3-Year Information Ratio, a metric gauging a fund manager's consistent ability to generate returns surpassing the benchmark. It is calculated by dividing the mean active return (fund return minus benchmark return) by the volatility of the active return, known as Tracking Error. A higher Information Ratio indicates stronger consistency in generating excess returns. 

The HDFC Large and Mid Cap Fund invests in a diverse portfolio of large and mid-sized companies. The fund employs a combination of top-down and bottom-up strategies, emphasising risk management to mitigate the inherent volatility associated with a portfolio centered around large and mid-cap companies.