The number
Ask what the median large-cap fund returned over the last five years, and the answer is 8.47% a year. Ask what it returned over a typical five-year stretch since 2013, and the answer is 13.80% a year.
Both are true. The first is a single window, ending on 30 September 2026. The second is the average of every five-year window that ends at a month-end since January 2018, about 105 of them.
The figures cover the 22 large-cap funds whose Direct plan, Growth option, has existed since 2013, so every fund has the same set of windows. All are computed from daily NAVs.
Trailing and rolling, side by side
| Window length | Median trailing return | Median average rolling return | Nifty 50, estimated total return: trailing | Nifty 50, estimated total return: rolling average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 9.14% | 14.03% | 6.18% | 13.36% |
| 5 years | 8.47% | 13.80% | 6.49% | 13.60% |
| 10 years | 11.71% | 13.89% | 11.54% | 13.38% |
The trailing column is low because of where it ends. A five-year window ending today starts in September 2021, when the Nifty 50's P/E stood at 26.98, and finishes after a year in which the Nifty 50 lost 8.09% on its price. The rolling average includes plenty of windows that started at lows and ended at highs, too.
The Nifty 50 figures are our estimate of its total return, built from NSE's daily price and dividend yield, and averaged over the same month-end windows.
The rankings barely agree
If trailing returns measured skill, a fund's five-year trailing rank would match its rolling rank. Among these 22 funds, it mostly doesn't. The correlation between the two five-year figures is 0.20, and between the two three-year figures it is 0.00.
| Fund (Direct, Growth) | Trailing 5-year | Rank | Average rolling 5-year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nippon India Large Cap | 12.01% | 1 | 15.93% | 1 |
| Canara Robeco Large Cap | 8.22% | 16 | 15.58% | 2 |
| Mirae Asset Large Cap | 7.02% | 17 | 15.44% | 3 |
| Axis Large Cap | 5.02% | 22 | 14.40% | 9 |
| JM Large Cap | 9.69% | 6 | 12.90% | 18 |
| Taurus Large Cap | 10.07% | 4 | 10.67% | 22 |
Nippon India is first on both. Taurus is fourth on the trailing number and last on the rolling one. Axis is last on trailing and ninth on rolling. Mirae Asset is seventeenth on trailing and third on rolling.
The margin over the index shrinks
On trailing five-year returns, the median large-cap fund beat the estimated Nifty 50 total return by about 2 points a year: 8.47% against 6.49%.
On rolling averages the gap is 0.20 points: 13.80% against 13.60%. Over three-year windows it is 0.67 points, and over ten-year windows 0.51.
Fund by fund, 14 of the 22 have a higher average five-year rolling return than the index's 13.60%, and 15 have a higher ten-year one than its 13.38%. A majority of these funds beat the index on the rolling measure too, but by much less than the trailing figure suggests.
What this does not tell you
An average hides the range. The Nifty 50's estimated five-year rolling return ran from 1.54% to 23.87% a year across these windows. Averages smooth that out. The worst window matters to anyone who invested at the wrong time.
The windows overlap. About 105 five-year windows starting a month apart share most of their months, so they are not a hundred independent results.
Only long-lived funds are counted. Requiring a record since 2013 leaves out newer funds, and funds that merged away. None of this is advice to buy or sell any fund.
Where to go from here
Rolling vs trailing returns explains the two measures in more depth, and absolute, CAGR and XIRR covers how each return is calculated. The steady large-caps screen and large-cap fund page carry these funds' live numbers.
For the trailing view alone, see large-cap funds vs the Nifty 50 over five years.
Frequently asked questions
What is a rolling return?
A rolling return is the return over every window of a given length, not just the one that ends today. A 5-year rolling return measured monthly takes every 5-year stretch ending at each month-end and computes its annual return. The average of those is a fairer picture of a typical holding period than the single trailing figure.
What is the average 5-year rolling return of large-cap funds?
For the 22 large-cap funds whose Direct Growth plans have run since 2013, the median fund's average 5-year rolling return was 13.80% a year, using windows ending from early 2018 to 30 September 2026. Their median trailing 5-year return to that date was 8.47%.
Do large-cap funds beat the Nifty 50 on rolling returns?
Narrowly. On the same monthly windows, our estimate of the Nifty 50's total return averaged 13.60% a year over 5-year windows. The median large-cap fund's 13.80% is 0.20 points ahead. On trailing 5-year returns the margin looks much larger: 8.47% against 6.49%.
This is commentary on published data, not investment advice. WealthTicker is not a SEBI-registered adviser or distributor. Figures are as of the dates stated and can be revised by their source.
Keep reading
Arbitrage funds vs liquid funds: the 2026 scorecard
The median arbitrage fund returned 6.68% in the year to 30 September 2026, against 6.46% for liquid funds. Where each came out ahead, and what it cost.
Balanced advantage funds in 2026's falling market
The Nifty 50 fell 13.4% from 31 December 2025 to 30 September 2026. The median balanced advantage fund lost 1.7%, and its worst dip was 8.7%.
Direct vs regular plans: the 1.16-point equity fee gap
A regular equity plan costs a median 1.16 points a year more than its direct twin, on AMFI's September 2026 data. Over ten years, direct ended 10.2% ahead.