This guide helps you shortlist the best mutual funds for lump sum investing based on two proven criteria: those trading near their 52-week lows and those offering higher returns with lower risk.

Disclaimer: The Fund names in this article are not recommendations to buy/hold/sell. Mutual funds are subject to market risks. Do not invest real money without adequate research.

📚 Table of Contents

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• How should you shortlist mutual funds for lump sum investment?
• Who can benefit from bottom fishing?
• Which mutual funds have higher returns at lower risk vs the broad market?
• What should investors do with this data?

How should you shortlist mutual funds for lump sum investment?

We will look at two criteria together for an initial shortlist for mutual fund lump sum investing:

• funds which are now trading close to their 52-week lows
• funds which have given higher returns at lower risk vs. the broad market benchmark (Nifty 50 Total Return Index)

The first point is pretty straightforward: if you are putting in a big chunk of money, you would prefer to do closer to a recent market bottom.

The second point is easy to understand via the image below:

If we split the list of all equity mutual funds then we will end up with four categories:

• funds that give better returns than the Nifty 50 index fund but with lower risk which are ideal for any investor
• funds that give better returns than the Nifty 50 index fund but with higher risk which are great for investors with high risk tolerance
• funds that give lower returns than the Nifty 50 index fund but with lower risk which are good for debt funds
• funds that give lower returns than the Nifty 50 index fund but with higher risk which is a terrible place to be for an equity fund

Who can benefit from bottom fishing?

If you are an investor who has experienced at least one down-market (e.g., the COVID-19 market crash), you have a chance to benefit from bottom-fishing opportunities.

We recommend having the experience of at least one market cycle because, without it, it is easy to believe that stock markets rise 15-20% every year, like a supercharged fixed deposit.

If you are not this type of investor, it’s best to continue your SIP in your chosen funds as-is without making any additional changes.

If you are an investor with cash available, whether money is set aside for this purpose or from a recent windfall like a bonus, temporary market declines can present excellent bottom-fishing opportunities.

Of course, you should apply something like our Have-vs-Need framework first to decide how much should go into equity, debt and cash asset classes: How to invest a lump sum amount for your goals?

After all, investors aim to buy low and sell high, an opportunity that rarely comes around. It is much easier to jump onto a hot stock, sector, or theme after it has already gained momentum.

Which mutual funds have higher returns at lower risk vs the broad market?

We have set a threshold of 10% or less closeness to the 52-week low NAV to identify these opportunities using NAV data from AMFI for the closing date of 15-Apr-2025. Only mutual funds with higher returns at lower risk using the last three years of market data are on this list.

Note: This chart represents point-to-point data. The funds in the list will change over time as the future performance of any particular fund is random and cannot be predicted in advance.

Other: FoF Overseas

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Baroda BNP Paribas Aqua	0.16	11.9984	12.0181
DSP Global Clean Energy	1.56	15.5904	15.8336
DSP US Flexible Equity	2.24	54.2099	55.4254
Kotak Global Emerging Market	3.11	22.5050	23.2040
Edelweiss Emerging Markets Opportunities Equity Offshore	4.34	15.0989	15.7538
Kotak International REIT FOF	5.04	9.0000	9.4537
Edelweiss US Value Equity Offshore	5.20	30.6393	32.2322
Axis Global Innovation	5.93	11.6300	12.3200
Kotak Global Innovation	6.26	9.1766	9.7512
Franklin India Feeder Templeton European Opportunities	6.66	10.6966	11.4089

Equity: Sectoral or Thematic

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Aditya Birla Sun Life Digital India	1.97	162.3300	165.5300
Aditya Birla Sun Life MNC	2.78	1272.4800	1307.8700
Tata Ethical	3.20	388.7248	401.1826
Kotak ESG Exclusionary Strategy	4.09	15.9010	16.5520
Axis Innovation	4.31	16.4600	17.1700
Tata Digital India	4.34	45.8578	47.8461
Axis ESG Integration Strategy	4.47	20.1400	21.0400
ICICI Prudential US Bluechip Equity	4.84	59.0600	61.9200
Edelweiss Recently Listed IPO	4.86	23.3722	24.5075
SBI ESG Exclusionary Strategy	5.31	224.5500	236.4758

Equity: Large Mid Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Aditya Birla Sun Life Equity Advantage	4.30	844.0800	880.3400

Other: Index Funds

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
UTI Nifty 200 Momentum 30 Index	0.79	18.4242	18.5701
UTI Nifty Midcap 150 Quality 50 Index	3.64	12.0793	12.5194
HDFC NIFTY 100 Index	3.95	13.2545	13.7778
SBI NIFTY INDEX	4.97	200.3559	210.3092

Equity: Large Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
LIC MF Large Cap	7.87	54.3408	58.6162

Solution: Child Fund

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
LIC MF Childrens	5.11	31.6985	33.3186
UTI Childrens Equity	5.94	80.1562	84.9174

Equity: Focused

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Motilal Oswal Focused 25	4.39	41.1809	42.9884
Axis Focused	5.66	54.6300	57.7200
Mirae Asset Focused	7.94	22.8930	24.7100

Equity: ELSS

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Shriram ELSS Tax Saver	4.75	20.6814	21.6646
Axis ELSS Tax Saver	5.96	93.8529	99.4468

Equity: Multi Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
quant Active	4.94	588.7864	617.8738
Sundaram Multi Cap	5.07	79.5545	83.5889

Equity: Flexi Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Samco Flexi Cap	2.91	9.2800	9.5500
PGIM India Flexi Cap	7.28	35.2900	37.8600
Axis Flexi Cap	7.33	24.4300	26.2200

Other: FoF Domestic

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Axis Equity ETFs FOF	2.95	13.2944	13.6865
Tata Nifty India Digital ETF	4.00	12.2083	12.6972
Mirae Asset ESG Sector Leaders	4.75	16.3100	17.0840

Equity: Small Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
PGIM India Small Cap	5.68	14.0800	14.8800

What should investors do with this data?

There are three key takeaways from this data:

1. Review existing funds: Investors should check if their current funds are on the list and evaluate their next steps, including consulting their advisor. Such funds should be shortlisted for future additional investment
2. Bottom fishing opportunities: Funds in the list might represent bottom-fishing opportunities since their performance has been stable vs. the market index
3. Introduce hybrid funds into the portfolio: This might be a good opportunity to move some portion of the portfolio to hybrid funds that have an allocation to both equity and debt with automated tax-free rebalancing