Mutual fund category rankings: how the lists are built

The question these pages answer

"Which large cap funds have done well?" is one of the most searched questions about mutual funds, and most answers are lists someone wrote once and stopped updating. Each category page on this site answers it with a rule instead: the same ranking, recomputed from NAVs, every time the data moves. The hub at Best Mutual Funds in India links to all 41 of them, from large cap to overnight funds to gold ETFs.

This post explains the rule and then reads one list, the ELSS list, as of the NAV of Wednesday 15 October 2026.

How a list is built

1. The universe. Every live fund in the SEBI sub-category, Direct plan and Growth option only. Regular plans hold the same portfolio with a commission inside the expense ratio, so including both would list each fund twice. The two ETF pages are the exception: ETFs have no Direct plan, so they rank across all variants.
2. The ranking. By 3-year CAGR, highest first, computed from AMFI NAV history.
3. The cut. The top 20 that actually have a 3-year return. A young fund without one is left off, not tacked onto the bottom with blanks, so a thin category gets a shorter list.
4. The refresh. Returns are recomputed with each new NAV, and the page re-renders at most once an hour. The line under the table states the NAV date the list is computed as of.

What is on the page

The top band gives three numbers: Funds tracked, Category avg 3Y and Avg expense ratio. A paragraph then names the leaders in plain words, written from the same rows as the table, so it changes when they do.

The table has eight columns: #, Fund, Rating, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y, Expense and AUM. Each column header re-sorts the table, so you can re-order the same 20 funds by cost or by 5-year return. Below it come a "Screen all" button, which opens the classic screener with the category already set, head-to-head links for the top funds, sibling categories, related guides and an FAQ.

Worked example: the ELSS list

On 15 October 2026 the ELSS page tracked 50 funds, with a category average 3-year return of 10.60% and an average expense ratio of 1.14%. The top ten:

Three things in this table are worth noticing before anyone treats it as a shopping list.

Closed-ended series sit in the top ten. Numbers 2, 8 and 10 are closed-ended tax-saving series. They are live funds with live NAVs, so they rank, but they take no new money. The comparison of JM, Motilal Oswal, WhiteOak and SBI Long Term Advantage V covers this in more detail.

Rank and stars disagree. The number 1 fund on 3-year return holds 3 stars; numbers 2 and 4 hold 5. The ranking uses one number. The star rating blends 3-year returns with volatility, cost and the depth of falls, so a fund can lead on return and sit mid-pack on the rest.

Three years is one window. Re-sort by 1Y and Quant ELSS leads the ten at 7.40%; sort by 5Y and Motilal Oswal still leads at 16.17%. Three of the ten have no 5-year record at all. A list ranked on any single period rewards whatever suited that period.

Using the list well

Treat the page as a starting set, not an answer. Re-sort it by expense and 5Y, open the funds that survive, and read their rolling returns and worst falls. Shortlisting a fund with the screener walks through that for mid caps. For tax-saving funds specifically, the three-year lock-in applies to each SIP instalment separately, and the 80C deduction applies only under the old tax regime; the ELSS guide covers both. The category scorecard for October puts ELSS next to the other equity categories.

What these pages do not do

They do not adjust for risk, check whether a fund is open for investment, or say whether the category suits you. A fund at number 1 today can be number 9 next quarter. Every figure is computed from AMFI NAVs with the formulas on the methodology page, and the stars are WealthTicker's own, not a SEBI or agency rating. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy any fund.