The year that was: 2018’s best & worst-performing equity funds

NEW DELHI: The performance of equity mutual funds was uninspiring through most of 2018, with the best-performing fund giving just 6 per cent return for the year.

Uncertain market conditions amid weak macros, trade war worries and liquidity woes battered the market through the year.

Among the open-ended equity funds, Axis Bluechip Fund emerged best performer of the year, delivering 5.8 per cent returns. The fund manages around Rs 3,295 crore.

Two UTI funds - Nifty Index Fund and Equity Fund – climbed 3.2 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively. Axis Long-Term Equity Fund and Axis Midcap Fund finished fourth and fifth, with 2.4 per cent returns each.

Smallcap funds topped the list of worst performers within this category. The worst performer was the Sundaram Small Cap Fund, which manages assets worth Rs 1,042 crore. Its NAV declined 29.4 per cent for the year.

It was closely followed by HSBC SmallCap Equity Fund (down 25.9 per cent), DSP SmallCap Fund (down 25.2 per cent), Aditya Birla Sun Life Pure Value Fund (down 23.9 per cent) and Aditya Birla Sun Life SmallCap Fund (down 23.6 per cent).

(The sample size comprised 304 open-ended equity schemes domiciled and available in India and with total assets of at least Rs 500 crore)