102 of 232 thematic funds rose in a year, FMCG fell 22%

The number

Of 232 sectoral and thematic funds with a full year of history, 102 had a positive one-year return to 19 October 2026, 44% of the group. The median was -1.2%. Thirty-three funds returned more than 10%, and the range ran from -22.1% to 102.3%.

The category is a catch-all. SEBI's "Sectoral/Thematic" label covers a technology fund, a pharma fund, a consumption fund, an infrastructure fund and the funds that invest overseas in a single country or theme, so one median blends very different portfolios. The lists below show who sits at each end.

Best and worst

Direct plan, Growth option, ranked by one-year return.

Reading the two ends

The top four are overseas funds. Taiwan, Japan, Asia ex-Japan and US large-cap funds fill the first four places. Their returns are in rupees, so the currency's move against the dollar and other currencies is part of each figure; overseas funds and the weak rupee takes that apart. The Taiwan fund's 102.3% came with volatility of 36.5%, far above every other leader; the next highest, the defence fund, was 26.0%.

Without the Taiwan fund, the best year was 28.2%. One fund accounts for the whole of the group's 124-point spread. It is a poor guide to a typical result.

The domestic leaders were health, defence and momentum. Kotak Healthcare (18.1%), HDFC Pharma and Healthcare (17.9%), and HDFC Defence and Motilal Oswal Active Momentum (17.6% each) were the best funds investing only in India. The defence fund has the longer record of the three: 34.4% a year over three years, with volatility of 26.0%, the highest among the domestic leaders.

Consumption lagged on every measure. Three consumption funds and an FMCG fund sit at the foot, along with an MNC fund and an infrastructure fund. The FMCG fund's three-year return is -4.9% a year, the only negative three-year figure on this list. For the consumption funds the three-year returns were 3.3% to 7.0% a year. It is a long stretch of lagging, not one bad year.

Volatility differs by theme. The weakest funds are not the most volatile: the FMCG fund's 12.6% is among the lowest in the table, while Taurus Infrastructure's is 18.2%. A fund that falls steadily can look calm.

What the median hides

A median of -1.2% describes a group where the top quarter and bottom quarter had little in common. A portfolio of one sector's stocks is a bet on that sector, whichever way it goes, and the label does not say how concentrated a fund is. Many of these funds only recently launched; funds without a full year are not in the 232.

Three cautions for this list:

• Past returns by theme rotate. The funds at the top over a year are often not the ones at the top over three, and the reverse. The defence fund's three-year figure is nearly double its one-year figure; the consumption funds went the other way.
• Overseas funds carry extra things. Currency, a limit on overseas investment that has at times paused fresh purchases, and tax on gains differ from those of domestic funds.
• No endorsement. Nothing here is a view on any sector.

For a shorter window, see thematic funds over three months and the quarterly review in sectoral and thematic funds, third quarter 2026. The screener can filter the category to any one theme.