The mutual fund route to your financial planning might have got a rude shock in 2011 & 2020 because of the -25% returns by the stock markets. While a chunk of investors might have packed their bags and left Dalal Street in a hurry, the wise ones are still waiting. They know that they need to believe in long term investing and need to stay for a good 3-5 years to make any money from the current levels. They also know that the best way to do that is via systematic investment planning of mutual funds. So here is a listing of the 3 best large cap mutual funds to invest in India.
The core of your portfolio needs to have large cap funds to begin with and you need to venture out to other types after this core if formed. Data is updated till 10 June 2020
And yes, don’t stuff your portfolio with innumerable mutual funds, read how many mutual funds should you invest in before you go ahead.
Also note that large cap mutual funds are those that invest 80 per cent or more of their assets in large cap stocks.
So, here are 3 best large cap mutual funds to invest
1. DSPBR Top 100 Equity Reg
DSPBR Top 100 Equity Reg is an open ended large cap equity fund bench-marked against BSE 100 and in existence for 8 years now. It has returned a staggering 28% since launch and if you look closely at 2011, it fell less than the benchmark – which indicates that it is a goof performing find and able to limit the downside. Net assets have now swelled to Rs 2042/- crores.
With a low risk taking capacity and a above average return, this fund should be on the top of your list.
| Scheme Name | NAV | Corpus (in Crs) |
Min. Investments |
Investment | 1 Month | 3 Months | 6 Months | 1 Year | 2 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year |
| DSP Top 100 Equity Fund (G) | 179.90 | 2042.47 | 500 | REGULAR | 8.06 | -8.79 | -18.43 | -15.38 | -5.52 | -1.55 | 3.44 |
2. Franklin India Bluechip
Franklin India Bluechip fund was launched in 1993. That gives you some idea why it is there in the list ! Bench marked against the Sensex, the returns have been high, around 24% since launch. With high returns and low risk taking capability and a steep tilt towards large cap stocks, this fund is a must have in your portfolio.
It’s long term outlook on stocks and ability to give returns to investors without taking unnecessary risks makes it a top contender in your portfolio.
| Scheme Name | NAV | Corpus (in Crs) |
Min. Investments |
Investment | 1 Month | 3 Months | 6 Months | 1 Year | 2 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year |
| Franklin India Bluechip Fund – (G) | 407.20 | 5018.14 | 5,000 | REGULAR | 13.22 | -1.68 | -12.11 | -12.91 | -5.29 | -1.65 | 3.37 |
3. ICICI Prudential Focused Bluechip Equity
Honestly, this is an absolute stunner. It has showed it’s mettle in a very short period of time. It was launched in 2008, so in that sense has a history of only 3-4 years maximum. With a corpus of Rs 21820 Cr crores, it is benchmarked against S&P CNX Nifty. It invests in 20 large-cap companies from the top 200 stocks by market capitalization; has lower risk profile and above average returns.
ICICI Pru Focused Bluechip Equity is managed by Prashant Kothari who keeps the exposure to the number of stocks limited and believes in less churning.
| Scheme Name | NAV | Corpus (in Crs) |
Min. Investments |
Investment | 1 Month | 3 Months | 6 Months | 1 Year | 2 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year |
| ICICI Pru Bluechip Fund (G) | 37.47 | 21820.93 | 100 | REGULAR | 9.63 | -2.93 | -13.86 | -12.92 | -3.65 | 1.16 | 5.88 |
Are there any mutual funds you know of which needed to make it to the list ? Note that we could add another 10 more to this list and then go round and round in circles to choose the best. The above 3 are what you need to go with so leave the rest of them and invest your money with these large cap mutual funds. You will be safer than sorry.
Radhey,
Nice post. I am already invested in DSPBR Top 100 since last four years. HDFC Top 200 is also a good fund which have given decent returns over a long period of time.
Rakesh
@Rakesh, I will cover HDFC Top 200 in a subsequent article.
Thanks for the Info Radhey..
I thing I wanted to ask.. When can u expect the list of Best Mutual funds to Invest in 2012, all LArge cAPs, Mid CAps, small caps etc..
In many of your old posts, u hv appreciated HDFC TOP 200, but it is missing here.. any specific reason??
@Aparna Nema, I intend to do posts for large cap, mid cap and large cap, mid and small cap, balanced, ELSS and many more so HDFC Top 200 will get covered there.
@Radhey Sharma, Good to see HDFC Top 200 is also in your list. Probably, its best left to the person to choose his asset allocation given the best funds in each category 🙂
@Radhey Sharma,
Thanks.. Waiting for that post..
This explicit mention of funds should give a good head-start to the ones who are still stuck in their mission to determine the “best” funds and are yet to get started in any meaningful way.
@Jaswinder Singh, Jas, are you analyzing the funds yourself or just leaving it to your planner to do the needful 🙂 ?
@Radhey Sharma, Coming from the Quality Assurance background, verification and validation are my trademarks 😉
BTW, I have full faith and confidence in my planner 🙂
HDFC Prudence is my personal favourite. During boom times, gives returns equivalent to the best of diversified equity funds but limits the damage during downturns.
One useful tip – Make sure your SIP portfolio does not comprise of more than 4-5 funds and preferably these funds should be from different fund houses.
@Pawan Nanda,
Agree don the tip you just mentioned. It is very important. I look at the amount of money parked with a fund house so even if I have 2 funds from the same house, I don’t fret as long as the % in it is in a safer zone.
HDFC Prudence is a good fund, I intend to do posts for large cap, mid cap and large cap, mid and small cap, balanced, ELSS and many more so HDFC Prudence will get covered there.
HDFC Prudence is a must in everyone’s portfolio. Over a long period of time it has given decent returns. I am personally invested in it since last 4 year.
Rakesh
@Rakesh, I don’t invest in balanced funds !!
Radhey,
Surprised to hear that you don’t invest in balanced funds. I think one should invest atleast in one balanced fund. Incase of market slowdown like current scenario, balanced funds will safeguard your portfolio to some extent.
But then if your time horizon is 10-15 years and willing to take risks then we can skip balanced funds.
Rakesh
@Rakesh, There are 2 schools of thought here.
One that believes that let MFs, like balanced funds, invest in equity and debt for you. In that way, you don’t carry the headache around.
Another school of thought says that investments in products better be either in equity or debt solely and not a mix of both.
Depends which school one wants to go to.
I don;t have anything against them, just that I am happy with the full equity and full debt products. No harm with either including them or missing them.
Radhey,
Yes, got you, full equity and full debt products.
Rakesh
@Radhey Sharma,
I also believe in keeping things simple and not mixing insurance with investment as they in ULIPs.But as far as balanced funds are concerned my take different here.I believe that for a new investor with moderate risk appetite , for medium term investment horizon,for small amount of investment balanced funds are best.You manage with one or two funds, leave the headache of rebalancing to the fund manager or use them yourself for rebalancing.So you get the best of both worlds.
@ANIL KUMAR KAPILA, I agree that is why I have said above that there are two schools of thought – there are many investors who go for balanced fund and keee it simple.
I agree with the funds mentioned above. But better to take the SIP route because of the current scenario of the market.
Radhey,
There is news going around that the Govt. would miss its deadline on the DTC tax, so we can invest in ELSS and claim tax too.
Request you to write an article on Best ELSS Funds to invest in 2012, on the similar lines you wrote for 2011.
Cheers,
Rakesh
@Rakesh, I will write about them this Jan for sure.
@Rakesh, It seems DTC is not going to come anytime soon for sure. But we are not sure on ELSS. They may stop ELSS and infra. funds alone in this February budget for the tax purpose without introducing DTC, which has lot of other things as well.
Manickkam,
If DTC does not come, i don’t think they will stop ELSS and Infra alone. They will implement all or nothing. As for Infra funds I think they will have it for another couple of years because for India to grow we would need a lot of improvement in the infrastructure front too.
Rakesh
@Rakesh, I do agree on the fact that we still have a long way to go as far as infrastructure development is concerned. At the same time I think Govt has to juggle too many balls simultaneously and they don’t work in digital mode of All or None. They may very well take a call to implement a selective pie of DTC instead of holding DTC in abeyance all-together.
@Rakesh, Not sure whether this is too premtaure to say…I am sure they will not stop ELSS though I might be completely wrong.
Another month of wait and watch and we will know.
@Radhey Sharma, Yeah. May be they won’t even implement anything and leave it as such. We will wait and see.
Dear Mr. Radhey,
Adding to Mr. Rakesh’s request, can we expect an article from you, detailing about pros n cons of DTC.. How will it affect our lives n how to plan for investments once DTC will come into force..
Thanks..
@Aparna Nema, Hi Aparna, yes I want to do that but I don’t want us to spend time on something which the govt might push by another year !
I know I will write something but let’s first make sure DTC is really going to be applicable.
I am glad that I have one fund from your listed ones in my portfolio.
@Venkat, You are supposed to have only one fund in the listed ones. If you have more than one, its better to make it one as all the funds belong to the same category and the diversification concept fails.
Congratulations on you having one of the best fund of 2012 in your portfolio 🙂
@Manickkam, Yes..I have one large cap,one small & mid cap and one multi cap 🙂 no diworsification. more funds mean more difficulty in tracking
@Venkat, Exactly, you got that right Venkat. More funds, more tracking, more mess, less earnings !
The mentioned 3 are no doubt the best & top performing Large cap funds.
What are your thoughts for other good Large cap funds like HDFC Top 200, HDFC Growth, Birla SL Frontline Equity & Franklin India Prima Plus?
@Sudip D, These are good funds that you mention but the above 3 are best !
@Radhey Sharma, Indeed!
hi,
I am looking for the best Mutual fund in 2012, which can give good return.
Thanks
@Akash, You can invest in any of the funds mentioned in this article, all are good. But ensure you have a time horizon of 5-10 years and review the investment periodically, say once a year at least.
@Akash,
Are you looking for large/mid/small cap funds? What is your risk appetite? As Vivek by mentioned if your time-frame is less than 5 years then equity is not the place to invest.