Thematic funds launched in 2024: 14 of 53 trade below ₹10

A year of themes

In 2024, Indian fund houses launched 70 new equity funds other than index funds. Fifty-three of them, 76%, were sector or thematic funds, spread across 29 fund houses. This looks at how those 53 stand now, on NAVs of 7 October 2026, Direct plan, Growth option.

New fund offers are normally priced at ₹10 a unit, so a NAV under ₹10 means the fund is below where it started and a NAV over ₹10 means it has gained. That is a plain test, but it tells you something the one-year return does not.

Where the NAVs stand

The median NAV is ₹10.85: a gain of about 8.5% on the launch price after between 21 and 33 months, depending on the fund. The lowest is ₹7.89 and the highest ₹17.24.

Later launches fared worse

The year's launches were not spread evenly. They bunched at the end:

Twenty of the 53, 38%, launched in the last three months of 2024, the most of any quarter. Seven of those are now under ₹10 and the group's median one-year return is negative. None of the 11 January–March funds is below ₹10.

The data shows only that later launches did worse in this stretch. It does not show why, and a fund's starting date is one of several things that separate them.

Against the older themes

Sector and thematic funds that existed before 2024 have a median one-year return of 0.74% across 149 funds, below the 2024 class's 1.64%. The share losing money over a year is 43.0% for the older ones and 37.7% for the new ones.

So the newer funds are not, as a group, worse than the older ones over the past year. The older funds' longer record shows in the other direction, though: only one of the 152 older funds has a NAV under ₹10, since their NAVs have had many more years to grow.

Who is at the top and bottom

One-year returns to 7 October 2026 for the best and worst of the 2024 class:

Healthcare and pharma funds fill two of the top three places, and the spread from top to bottom is more than 32 points. For how existing healthcare funds have returned, see pharma and healthcare fund returns. The wider risk and reward of sectoral funds covers the category as a whole.

What this does not tell you

A NAV under ₹10 is not a measure of skill. It depends on when you buy: someone who put money in a fund after it fell to ₹9 would be ahead of its launch-day investor.

Short records are noisy. None of these funds has run for three years, and a theme's results over 12 months say little about the next 12.

The sample is one year's launches. Funds that were closed or merged within the period, if any, are not in the count.

This is not a recommendation for or against any fund or theme.