India’s top performing mutual fund schemes in April 2025

1 May 2025 , 03:48 PM

FPIS TURN AGGRESSIVE NET BUYERS IN SECOND FORTNIGHT OF APRIL

In the first fortnight of April 2025, FPIs were net sellers worth $3.96 Billion. However, they bought shares worth $4.47 Billion in the second fortnight of April, to close the month with net FPI buying of $510 Million. In April 2025, Sensex rallied +3.65%, Nifty50 up +3.46%, Nifty Mid-Cap surged +4.75%, and Nifty Small Cap also closed +2.19% higher. While investors remained uncertain about small caps and were relatively neutral in large caps; it was the mid-caps that attracted a lot of alpha attention. April 2025 was also the month when the Sensex closed the month above the 80,000 mark after a long gap.

BENCHMARK BOND YIELDS VOLATILE IN APRIL 2025

Bond yields tapered in the first half of April 2025 from 6.51% to 6.32%. This was largely on the back of the RBI cutting rates by another 25 bps in April and hinting at a third cut of 25 bps in June policy. However, an interesting shift in market dynamics led to yields bouncing back to 6.46% by the close of April. As India bond yields fell and US bond yields spiked, the yield spreads narrowed sharply, resulting in debt flows out of India and into US bonds. This reduced demand for Indian bonds led to a fall in price, triggering a bounce in yields. Here is a look at how various equity, debt, and hybrid mutual funds performed in April 2025.

1. Equity Large-Cap Funds

Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 30th Apr-25):

Name of Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
Nippon India Large Cap Fund (G)	7.545%	21.038%	26.933%
ICICI Pru Bluechip Fund (G)	9.620%	19.009%	24.837%
HDFC Large Cap Fund (G)	6.726%	17.918%	23.926%
Category Average	7.085%	15.188%	20.953%
Data Source: Morningstar

2. Equity Multi-Cap Funds

Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 30th Apr-25):

Name of Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
Nippon India Multi Cap (G)	5.625%	23.448%	32.096%
Quant Active Fund (G)	-10.009%	13.137%	31.700%
Mahindra Manulife Multi Cap (G)	5.125%	19.010%	28.792%
Category Average	5.615%	18.557%	26.736%
Data Source: Morningstar

3. Equity Flexi-Cap Funds

Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 30th Apr-25):

Name of Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
Quant Flexi Cap Fund (G)	-3.370%	19.246%	35.578%
HDFC Flexi Cap Fund (G)	16.616%	24.338%	30.705%
PPFAS Flexi Cap Fund (G)	13.205%	19.943%	29.116%
Category Average	6.006%	15.879%	22.903%
Data Source: Morningstar

4. Equity Mid-Cap Funds

Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 30th Apr-25):

Name of Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
Motilal Oswal Mid-Cap Fund (G)	15.260%	28.164%	37.192%
Quant Mid-Cap Fund (G)	-6.524%	20.410%	35.419%
Edelweiss Mid-Cap Fund (G)	16.039%	25.031%	34.099%
Category Average	6.884%	19.813%	29.159%
Data Source: Morningstar

5. Equity Small-Cap Funds

Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 30th Apr-25):

Name of Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
Quant Small Cap Fund (G)	-5.412%	22.548%	48.296%
Nippon Small Cap Fund (G)	0.845%	22.259%	38.821%
Bandhan Small Cap Fund (G)	12.176%	27.538%	37.053%
Category Average	1.970%	18.283%	33.570%
Data Source: Morningstar

6. Balanced Funds (Aggressive Allocation)

Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 30th Apr-25):

Name of Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
Quant Absolute Fund (G)	-1.124%	13.617%	28.595%
JM  Aggressive Hybrid Fund (G)	3.373%	22.188%	27.890%
ICICI Pru Equity & Debt Fund (G)	11.016%	19.663%	27.212%
Category Average	8.055%	14.570%	20.033%
Data Source: Morningstar

7. Dynamic Asset Allocation Funds (BAF)

Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 30th Apr-25):

Name of Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
HDFC BAF (G)	7.924%	20.799%	25.728%
Baroda BNP Paribas BAF (G)	7.937%	14.793%	18.110%
ICICI Prudential BAF (G)	10.588%	13.683%	17.095%
Category Average	6.672%	12.328%	14.407%
Data Source: Morningstar

8. Multi-Asset Allocation Funds (MAAF)

Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 30th Apr-25):

Name of Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
Quant Multi-Asset Fund (G)	4.755%	18.937%	33.002%
ICICI Pru Multi-Asset Fund (G)	13.074%	19.632%	26.855%
Tata Multi-Asset Fund (G)	8.852%	15.349%	20.468%
Category Average	9.212%	14.916%	20.198%
Data Source: Morningstar

9. Arbitrage Funds (Cash-Futures)

Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 30th Apr-25):

Name of Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
Invesco India Arbitrage Fund (G)	8.073%	7.692%	6.340%
Tata Arbitrage Fund (G)	8.085%	7.494%	6.289%
Kotak Equity Arbitrage Fund (G)	8.094%	7.593%	6.288%
Category Average	7.448%	6.882%	5.579%
Data Source: Morningstar

10. Government Securities Funds (Gilt Funds)

Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 30th Apr-25):

Name of Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
Edelweiss G-Sec Fund (G)	12.478%	8.628%	7.757%
ICICI Prudential Gilt Fund (G)	11.523%	8.986%	7.562%
DSP Gilt Fund (G)	13.492%	9.161%	7.498%
Category Average	11.925%	8.195%	6.519%
Data Source: Morningstar

11. Corporate Bond Funds

Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 30th Apr-25):

Name of Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
Axis Corporate Debt Fund (G)	10.465%	7.938%	7.801%
Nippon Corporate Bond (G)	10.479%	8.016%	7.594%
ABSL Corporate Bond (G)	10.300%	7.812%	7.445%
Category Average	9.807%	7.257%	6.839%
Data Source: Morningstar

12. Credit Risk Funds

Top performing Direct Plans (Growth Option) on 5-year returns (as on 30th Apr-25):

Name of Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
BOI Credit Risk Fund (G)	5.919%	5.847%	27.431%
DSP Credit Risk Fund (G)	23.358%	14.877%	12.275%
ABSL Credit Risk Fund (G)	18.250%	11.635%	10.910%
Category Average	11.627%	8.493%	9.901%
Data Source: Morningstar

Having seen returns for various categories of funds for April 2025, some key takeaways.

WHAT WE READ FROM THE APRIL 2025 MUTUAL FUND RANKINGS

Here are some key trends we deciphered from the MF rankings for April 2025.

1. Most equity funds in April 2025 showed improvement in 1-year returns. Five year returns may look inflated as the base is the lows of April 2020.
2. Returns on debt funds were volatile during the month due to the bond yields and FPI flows in debt being fairly volatile; amidst narrowing Indo-US yield spreads.
3. Lastly, the winners across categories (debt, equity, and hybrid) have been consistent with over 90% repetitions. Past returns appear to be a good index of the future!