What we measured
For each equity fund with a three-year record we took its Direct Growth annualised return to 16 October 2026 and compared it with the median of its own category. The pool is 230 funds from 38 houses in ten categories: flexi cap, large cap, mid cap, small cap, multi cap, large & mid cap, focused, value, dividend yield and contra. Sectoral, thematic and ELSS funds are left out, since their categories are too varied to have a middle; ETFs and segregated portfolios are out too.
Then, per house, we counted how many of its funds beat that median. 26 houses have five or more funds in the pool. Across them 97 of 203 funds beat the median, 48%; the median fund in an odd-numbered category sits exactly on it and counts as not above. The "average margin" is each fund's 3-year return minus its category median, averaged, in percentage points a year.
The top of the table
| Fund house | Funds ranked | Above median | Share | Average margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of India | 5 | 5 | 100% | +3.66 |
| HSBC | 8 | 7 | 88% | +2.53 |
| ITI | 7 | 6 | 86% | +3.35 |
| ICICI Prudential | 9 | 7 | 78% | +1.33 |
| Invesco | 8 | 6 | 75% | +4.50 |
| Quant | 8 | 6 | 75% | +1.20 |
| Edelweiss | 7 | 5 | 71% | +1.32 |
| Bandhan | 8 | 5 | 63% | +2.03 |
| Axis | 8 | 5 | 63% | +1.09 |
| DSP | 7 | 4 | 57% | +0.47 |
Invesco has the widest average margin, +4.50 points a year, on six of eight funds above the median. Bank of India's five funds are all above, which is the only 100% in the table, though five is a small number to stand on.
The middle and the bottom
| Fund house | Funds ranked | Above median | Share | Average margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nippon India | 8 | 4 | 50% | −0.36 |
| LIC | 9 | 4 | 44% | +0.91 |
| HDFC | 9 | 4 | 44% | −0.03 |
| Aditya Birla Sun Life | 9 | 4 | 44% | −0.05 |
| Mahindra Manulife | 7 | 3 | 43% | +0.33 |
| Kotak | 8 | 3 | 38% | 0.00 |
| Canara Robeco | 8 | 3 | 38% | −0.74 |
| Sundaram | 9 | 3 | 33% | −1.52 |
| Tata | 9 | 3 | 33% | −2.12 |
| Union | 8 | 2 | 25% | −0.48 |
| Baroda BNP Paribas | 8 | 2 | 25% | −0.90 |
| UTI | 8 | 2 | 25% | −1.56 |
| Mirae Asset | 6 | 1 | 17% | −1.51 |
| SBI | 9 | 1 | 11% | −2.07 |
| Franklin Templeton | 8 | 0 | 0% | −2.14 |
JM Financial (two of five, +0.25) is the one house in the pool not shown.
Two ways to be near the middle
The share above the median and the average margin do not always agree. LIC has only four of nine above, but its average margin is +0.91, because its four winners beat their medians by 2.6 to 6.6 points (the dividend yield fund is first of nine) while its five others trail by 0.6 to 3.2. Nippon India has a 50% share but a −0.36 margin: half its funds are above, but the ones below lag by more. Kotak sits on 0.00, an average dead on the category middle.
At the bottom, Tata, SBI and Franklin have average margins of −2.0 or worse. SBI has one fund above the median in nine and Franklin none in eight, so for both the weakness is broad, not a single laggard.
What the numbers do not tell you
Three years is one window. A house whose funds lean to small and mid caps looks better in a stretch when those rose; the medians are of the same stretch, but fund styles within a category differ.
Counts are small. Moving one fund across the median shifts a house by 11 to 20 points of share, so a ten-point gap between two houses is not a verdict.
Fund size is ignored. A fund with ₹40,000 crore counts once, like one with ₹400 crore. Our league table of the biggest houses shows size.
None of this is a recommendation to buy or sell any fund or fund house.
Frequently asked questions
Which fund house has the highest share of equity funds above the category median?
Among houses with five or more ranked equity funds, Bank of India had all five above their category's 3-year median (average margin +3.66 points a year), HSBC seven of eight (+2.53) and ITI six of seven (+3.35), on Direct Growth returns to 16 October 2026.
Which houses have the fewest?
Franklin Templeton had none of its eight ranked equity funds above the category median over three years, SBI one of nine, Mirae Asset one of six, and UTI, Union and Baroda BNP Paribas two of eight each.
What is counted in this report card?
Direct Growth equity funds with three years of history in ten categories: flexi, large, mid, small, multi, large & mid, focused, value, dividend yield and contra. Sectoral, thematic and ELSS funds are left out, as are ETFs and segregated portfolios.
This is commentary on published data, not investment advice. WealthTicker is not a SEBI-registered adviser or distributor. Figures are WealthTicker’s own calculations from public data — AMFI’s fund NAVs and disclosures, NSE’s index and FII/DII files, and the fund houses’ monthly portfolios (how we calculate). They are as of the dates stated and can be revised by their source.
Keep reading
Bajaj Finserv: 6 of 8 equity funds at 4-5 stars; UTI 2 of 18
Share of rated Direct equity funds at four or five stars for 30 fund houses with 8+ rated funds, from Bajaj Finserv (75%) to JM Financial (0%), 21 Oct 2026.
Do bigger equity funds return more? One, three, five years
Split each equity category in half by size, and the smaller funds led over one year in 8 of 9 categories. Over five years the larger half led in 5.
28% of equity funds launched since 2024: cohorts by year
162 of 585 equity funds began in 2024, 2025 or 2026, and 106 of them are sector or thematic. The 2022 and 2023 launches show 13–14% three-year medians.