Mutual Funds: 7 sectoral funds gave over 50% return in 2023

As the year 2023 draws to a close, some retail investors must be scouting for the tempting mutual fund schemes to invest based on the historical returns of the past one year.

Although different mutual funds in one category tend to deliver varied returns, yet some of the high-performing sectors in 2023 are undoubtedly PSU, infrastructure and manufacturing.

This is quite evident with the performance shown by some of the popular sectoral or thematic funds falling in these categories. For instance, Aditya Birla Sun Life PSU Equity Fund gave a whopping 59 percent return in the past one year and Nippon India Power & Infra Fund gave a high return of 57.44 percent in one year ending Dec 27.

“Last year, manufacturing, capital goods, autos, energy, and public sector undertakings (PSUs) stood out as some of the top-performing sectors. I anticipate that capital goods will continue to perform well, considering the ongoing government focus in this area,” said Santosh Singh of Motilal Oswal AMC in an interview with Livemint.

Table I

(Source: bseindia.com)

Jump in thematic indices

The jump in the sectors of manufacturing, PSU and infrastructure was phenomenal as evident from the rise in thematic indices. BSE India manufacturing index rose from 686 (Jan 2) to 916 (Dec 28) to give a return of 33.5 percent, reveals the data on the BSE India website.

At the same time, the BSE PSU index spiked from 10,117 (Jan 2) to 15,648 (Dec 28) in 2023 to deliver a return of 54.6 percent. Also, BSE India Infra index rose from 308 (Jan 2) to 471 (Dec 28) in 2023 showing 53 percent return.

Table II

(Source: AMFI; data as on Dec 27, 2023)

As we can see in the table above that the mutual fund schemes which have delivered more than 50 percent return in the past one year include Aditya Birla Sun Life PSU Equity Fund, Franklin Build India Fund, Franklin India Opportunities Fund, HDFC Infrastructure Fund, Invesco India PSU Equity Fund and Nippon India Power & Infra Fund.

However, it is vital to point out that the historical returns – albeit important to consider while making investing decisions – do not give a guarantee of future returns.

Note: This story is for informational purposes only. Please speak to a SEBI-registered investment advisor before making any investment related decision.