A method, not a category
A quant fund lets a model choose the stocks. It scores the market on measurable traits such as cheapness, earnings momentum, balance-sheet quality and price trend, buys the top of the ranking and rebalances when the model says so. As our guide to quant funds puts it, SEBI has no category for this. The label describes how a fund picks stocks, and the fund is registered under some ordinary category.
In practice that category is the same one every time. All 13 funds below sit in SEBI's sectoral/thematic category, with "quantitative" or "multi-factor" as the theme. We left out the fund house named quant: its funds carry the name of the house, not a promise about method.
13 funds, ₹11,983 crore
Assets are AMFI's average for July to September 2026, the expense ratio is the Direct plan's latest disclosure, and returns run to 9 October 2026. A year or more is a yearly rate; "since" is the first Direct-plan NAV in our data.
| Fund | Since | Assets (₹ crore) | Direct TER | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBI Quant | Dec 2024 | 2,910 | 1.60% | −7.32% | – | – |
| Aditya Birla Sun Life Quant | Jul 2024 | 2,000 | 1.29% | 0.71% | – | – |
| UTI Quant | Jan 2025 | 1,495 | 1.09% | −4.84% | – | – |
| 360 ONE Quant | Nov 2021 | 842 | 1.09% | −7.79% | 13.63% | – |
| Axis Quant | Jul 2021 | 829 | 2.72% | −4.35% | 7.59% | 7.46% |
| DSP Quant | Jun 2019 | 760 | 1.12% | −7.34% | 5.67% | 3.50% |
| Kotak Quant | Aug 2023 | 486 | 1.78% | −3.83% | 12.91% | – |
| Motilal Oswal Quant | Jun 2024 | 249 | 1.67% | −6.79% | – | – |
| ICICI Prudential Quant | Dec 2020 | 163 | 2.06% | −3.59% | 10.63% | 9.20% |
| Nippon India Quant | Jan 2013 | 115 | 0.87% | −4.52% | 12.16% | 11.65% |
| Sundaram Multi-Factor | Jul 2025 | 874 | 1.65% | −8.44% | – | – |
| Bandhan Multi-Factor | Aug 2025 | 656 | 2.74% | −9.30% | – | – |
| Franklin India Multi-Factor | Nov 2025 | 603 | 1.15% | – | – | – |
| Nifty 500 TRI | −4.87% | 9.71% | 8.60% |
The index row is a total-return figure we rebuilt from NSE's closing levels and daily dividend yields. Nippon India Quant's Regular plan has NAVs from April 2008, and over ten years its Direct plan returned 13.47% a year against 12.57% for the index. An eleventh quant fund, Tata Quant, published its last NAV on 1 April 2025 and is left out.
What stands out
Over three years, most beat the index. Four of the six quant funds with that record are ahead of the Nifty 500 TRI, and the median is 11.39% a year. The exceptions are Axis Quant at 7.59% and DSP Quant at 5.67%. Over five years two of four are ahead: Nippon India at 11.65% and ICICI Prudential at 9.20%.
Over one year, the models moved together. All ten quant funds sit between −7.79% and +0.71%, a spread of 8.5 points. Six beat the index, though UTI's margin is 0.03 points. Both multi-factor funds with a year's record trail it.
The money went to the new funds. SBI Quant, launched in December 2024, is the largest at ₹2,910 crore, and Aditya Birla Sun Life's, from July 2024, is second. Nippon India Quant, the only one with ten years of record, holds ₹115 crore. Eight of the 13 funds started in or after August 2023.
The models disagree on what to own
If quant funds all ran one model, their portfolios would look alike. They do not. On the latest disclosed portfolios (30 September 2026, or 31 August for 360 ONE and Bandhan), the bank weight in the ten quant funds runs from zero in 360 ONE's fund to 20.3% in SBI's, with a median of 5.8%. Flexi-cap funds average about 17% in banks. The largest industry is banks for four of the ten, pharmaceuticals for three (DSP, Kotak and Aditya Birla Sun Life), finance companies for Axis and 360 ONE, and capital-market companies for Motilal Oswal.
Some names still turn up almost everywhere. Bajaj Auto and Eicher Motors are each held by nine of the ten quant funds, and Nestle India, Marico, TVS Motor and Cummins India by seven. Different models, run by different houses, still land on many of the same large consumer and auto companies.
Costs and trading
The ten quant funds' Direct-plan expense ratios run from 0.87% at Nippon India to 2.72% at Axis, a median of about 1.4%, which is active-fund pricing. Reported portfolio turnover runs from 76% at Nippon India to 252% at Motilal Oswal, with SBI at 212% and Sundaram's multi-factor fund at 218%.
There is a passive way to buy a rules-based mix. Four multi-factor funds of funds, from Axis, Kotak, Mirae Asset and Motilal Oswal, charge 0.06% to 0.21% on their Direct plans, on top of the costs of the ETFs they hold. Their rules are published, unlike a quant fund's model. The oldest, Axis's, returned −4.60% over the year. Our post on whether smart beta funds are worth it covers that route, and factor indices in 2026 shows how the factors themselves did.
How to read it
The records are short. Six funds have three years and four have five. A model fitted to history is most at risk when the market changes character, and three years is one stretch of one market. Rolling returns give a fairer picture as the records lengthen.
Size has not followed results. The two largest funds have no three-year record; the longest record belongs to the smallest fund.
What the numbers do not tell you
They do not show what any model does, since none is published. Expense ratios are as disclosed to AMFI and include what each fund house reports there. Holdings are a month-end snapshot. Past returns do not predict future ones, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any fund. The Nippon India and SBI fund-house pages list the rest of their ranges.
Frequently asked questions
What is a quant mutual fund?
An actively managed equity fund that picks stocks with a rules-based model, scoring companies on measures such as valuation, momentum, quality and volatility. SEBI has no quant category: all 13 model-driven funds in this post are registered as sectoral or thematic funds. The fund house called quant Mutual Fund is a separate thing; its name is not a method.
How have quant funds performed?
Of ten quant funds (Direct Growth), the six with a three-year record returned 5.67% to 13.63% a year to 9 October 2026, a median of 11.39%, and four beat the Nifty 500 TRI's 9.71%. Over one year all ten fell between −7.79% and +0.71%, against −4.87% for the index.
Are quant funds cheaper than other active funds?
Not on the evidence. The ten quant funds' Direct-plan expense ratios run from 0.87% to 2.72%, with a median of about 1.4%. Passive multi-factor funds of funds charge 0.06% to 0.21% on their Direct plans, plus the costs of the ETFs they hold.
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.
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