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

Related:
Which are high-risk and underperforming mutual funds that can be avoided by investors?

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?

Related:
Lumpsum vs. SIP: Here's the Truth on the Winning Strategy for Mutual Fund Investors

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 21-Mar-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.

Equity: Sectoral or Thematic

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Tata Ethical	6.03	388.7248	412.1733
Kotak ESG Exclusionary Strategy	6.85	15.8160	16.9000
Axis ESG Integration Strategy	6.90	20.1400	21.5300
Aditya Birla Sun Life MNC	7.03	1256.3400	1344.6000
Edelweiss Recently Listed IPO	8.33	23.3722	25.3189
ICICI Prudential US Bluechip Equity	8.75	62.0500	67.4800
SBI ESG Exclusionary Strategy	9.16	222.2706	242.6207
SBI Magnum COMMA	9.95	93.8390	103.1781

Other: FoF Overseas

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
DSP Global Clean Energy	1.92	16.9526	17.2789
HSBC Global Equity Climate Change	3.98	9.6776	10.0626
PGIM India Global Equity Opportunities	7.71	41.7400	44.9600
Baroda BNP Paribas Aqua	7.92	11.9984	12.9484
DSP US Flexible Equity	9.90	54.5885	59.9932

Equity: Large Mid Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Aditya Birla Sun Life Equity Advantage	8.21	844.0800	913.3800

Other: Index Funds

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
UTI BSE Sensex Index	7.22	12.7678	13.6895
SBI NIFTY INDEX	7.40	200.3559	215.1774
UTI Nifty Midcap 150 Quality 50 Index	8.94	11.8788	12.9413

Equity: Large Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Axis Bluechip	7.35	60.9800	65.4600
LIC MF Large Cap	8.36	54.0568	58.5741

Solution: Child Fund

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
LIC MF Childrens	8.56	31.6985	34.4113
UTI Childrens Equity	9.41	78.9132	86.3357

Equity: Focused

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Axis Focused	7.36	54.6300	58.6500
Motilal Oswal Focused 25	7.99	41.1809	44.4731

Equity: ELSS

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Shriram ELSS Tax Saver	6.77	20.6814	22.0824
Axis ELSS Tax Saver	8.59	93.5808	101.6223

Equity: Flexi Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Samco Flexi Cap	8.73	9.2800	10.0900
PGIM India Flexi Cap	9.78	35.2900	38.7400

Other: FoF Domestic

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Axis Equity ETFs FOF	5.62	13.2944	14.0421
Mirae Asset ESG Sector Leaders	7.57	16.3100	17.5450
Tata Nifty India Digital ETF	9.39	12.2083	13.3544

Equity: Multi Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Sundaram Multi Cap	7.13	79.5545	85.2287

What should investors do with this data?

Related:
Analyze Your Mutual Fund Portfolio for Free with Arthgyaan's Mutual Fund Review Service

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