Fund Categories page: how to read the category averages

What the page is for

Most fund research starts from a name. The Fund Categories page starts from the other end: which corner of the market is working? It lists every SEBI sub-category, from large cap to liquid to gold, grouped under its asset class (Equity, Hybrid, Debt, Commodity, Solution Oriented, Index, ETF, FoF and Other), with the average return and expense ratio of the funds in it. The page's header tiles show how many sub-categories and funds the averages cover.

Each section is sorted by one-year return, strongest first, so the best-performing corner of each asset class sits at the top. A row opens the screener already filtered to that category, and the page links onward to the best funds in each category.

What each column means

• Fund count: how many funds went into the average.
• 1Y, 3Y, 5Y: trailing returns. Under one year they are absolute; one year and longer are annualised (CAGR).
• Expense ratio: the average Direct-plan cost.
• A dash means fewer than five funds carry that period, so no average is shown.

The footnote on the page prints the NAV date the numbers come from. Check it: a page that says "refreshed hourly" only tells you something if the date is current.

A worked example

Here are simple averages of Direct Growth funds to 19 October 2026, for three equity categories and two debt ones. The page applies a fresh-NAV filter, so its own figures can differ by a decimal from a plain average like this one.

Reading across:

Short and long periods tell different stories. Large cap funds average −6.1% over a year but +9.3% a year over three. Small cap funds average +8.6% over a year. A single column would have given a different view of both. This is why the page shows 1Y, 3Y and 5Y side by side.

Order changes with the window. Mid cap leads over three years (+14.7%), small cap over one and five. Flexi cap and large cap are third and fourth on every row of the table.

Liquid funds are a useful reference point. Their 5.6%, 6.2% and 5.7% sit in a narrow band, while the equity categories swing widely around them. Setting an equity category's return beside that shows what the extra risk has paid over the same window.

Counts matter. Averages built on 21 five-year small cap funds are a thinner sample than 40 liquid ones. The page hides a period when fewer than five funds have it; below roughly 20, one fund can still move the average by a point.

Three ways to use it

1. Start top-down. Open the strongest category in an asset class, then use its screener link to rank the funds inside it.
2. Check what you hold. Find your fund's category and compare its 1Y, 3Y and 5Y with the row. A fund below the average on all three is a prompt to look closer, not a verdict.
3. Compare costs. The expense-ratio column shows what a category typically charges. Our Direct versus Regular gap post and costs for equity funds by fund house put those costs in context.

What the averages do not do

They are not forecasts. A category that led last year may not lead next year; see what happened to last year's top-quarter funds.

They average winners and losers. The range inside a category can be wide. For example, 2026 year-to-date returns in thematic funds run from −19.5% to +82.8%.

They use Direct Growth plans. Regular-plan and IDCW investors see lower returns, as plan costs differ.

For a sharper cut than the category average, the screener lets you filter within a category by return, risk and cost together. Nothing on the page is a recommendation to buy a fund.