Large & mid cap: Invesco vs Motilal vs HSBC vs Bandhan

Why these four

Of the 26 large & mid-cap funds with a three-year record, four stand clear of the rest: Invesco India Large & Mid Cap, Motilal Oswal Large and Midcap, HSBC Large & Mid Cap and Bandhan Large & Mid Cap. Each returned at least 16.6% a year over three years; the category median is 12.49%. ₹1 lakh put into the Invesco fund three years ago is worth about ₹1.79 lakh today, and about ₹1.59 lakh in the Bandhan fund, against ₹1.42 lakh at the median.

All four must keep at least 35% in large caps and 35% in mid caps; the guide to the category explains what the other 30% can do. That shared rule is what makes them comparable. Every figure is for the Direct plan, Growth option, from NAVs to Friday 9 October 2026.

Returns

Returns of a year or more are compounded annual rates. Motilal Oswal and HSBC launched in 2019, so neither has ten years.

The leader changes with the window: HSBC on one year, Invesco on three, Motilal Oswal on five. The tightest race is Invesco against Motilal Oswal, 0.42 points apart on three years. HSBC against Bandhan is closer still, 16.76% against 16.64%.

Risk

All four columns cover the last three years. Volatility is the annualised swing in daily returns; the worst fall is the deepest peak-to-trough drop in NAV (max drawdown); Sharpe is return above a 6.5% risk-free rate per unit of volatility. Down capture compares each fund with the Nifty 500 TRI in the months that index fell: under 100% means the fund lost less.

Invesco has the best Sharpe ratio of all 26 funds, so its lead did not come from taking the biggest swings. Motilal Oswal took the most risk for a similar result: the highest volatility, the deepest fall and a down capture of 112%. Motilal Oswal against Bandhan is the clearest contrast: Bandhan had the lowest volatility and shallowest fall of the four, and lost about 90% of what the index lost in its down months. HSBC and Motilal Oswal both fell about a quarter from a peak inside the window.

Fees, size and exit load

Expense ratios are AMFI's, dated 7 and 8 October 2026; AUM is AMFI's quarterly average. HSBC is both the smallest and the dearest. Invesco against HSBC is a 0.55-point fee gap, about ₹5,500 a year on ₹10 lakh.

Invesco, HSBC and Bandhan file the same exit load in their Scheme Summary Documents: up to 10% of an investment can be redeemed free in the first year, and the rest pays 1%. Motilal Oswal's summary document says only that a load applies, so read its scheme information document for the terms.

What they own

From each house's monthly portfolio disclosure. The cap split is of the equity holdings, by current market value against AMFI's July 2026 cut-offs, and is rounded.

The two leaders on returns are also the two most concentrated. Invesco's top five alone are 35.65% of the fund, led by InterGlobe Aviation at 8.27% and Eternal at 8.18%. Motilal Oswal runs 34 stocks, with One 97 Communications at 6.11%. Bandhan is the opposite: 128 stocks, none above 3.78%. Bandhan against Invesco is a fair test of whether concentration paid: 4.73 points a year over three years, but only 0.47 over five.

Trading differs as much as holdings. HSBC's August factsheet states a portfolio turnover of 156%, Motilal Oswal's disclosure 60% and Invesco's 27%.

Who runs them

• Invesco India: Aditya Khemani, manager since 9 November 2023 per the August 2026 summary document, so the three-year record is almost all his. Invesco runs its mid-cap fund under him too.
• Motilal Oswal: the May 2026 scheme information document names Ajay Khandelwal, Atul Mehra, Ankit Agarwal and Rakesh Shetty. See Motilal Oswal for the house.
• HSBC: Cheenu Gupta since 26 November 2022, with Sonal Gupta for overseas investments, at HSBC Mutual Fund.
• Bandhan: Manish Gunwani since 28 January 2024 and Rahul Agarwal since 28 August 2024, at Bandhan.

What the numbers do not tell you

Three years is a short record, and both leaders hold a few large positions that can turn. The funds state the NIFTY Large Midcap 250 TRI as their benchmark; its valuation history shows where the market they buy from stands. Category-wide numbers are in our October look at the category, and the Sharpe ratio ranking puts Invesco's risk-adjusted record in context.

Past returns say nothing certain about the next three years. A fund's style can stop working, a manager can leave, and a fund that grows fast can find its smaller holdings harder to trade. Portfolios here are one month's snapshot. None of this is a recommendation to buy or sell any fund.