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 19-Feb-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: Index Funds

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
LIC MF BSE Sensex Index	6.27	142.7858	151.7439
Nippon India Index	6.44	38.2310	40.6914
UTI BSE Sensex Index	6.44	12.7018	13.5201
Navi Nifty Bank Index	8.58	11.9304	12.9536

Other: FoF Overseas

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
DSP Global Clean Energy	4.37	17.5437	18.3102

Equity: Large Mid Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Axis Opportunities	1.13	22.9100	23.1700
Aditya Birla Sun Life Equity Advantage	6.85	821.9800	878.2600

Equity: Sectoral or Thematic

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
LIC MF Banking and Financial Services	3.84	19.4684	20.2151
SBI Magnum COMMA	5.03	92.3696	97.0164
Kotak ESG Exclusionary Strategy	6.75	15.5560	16.6060
Aditya Birla Sun Life MNC	6.99	1218.0200	1303.1100
Axis ESG Integration Strategy	8.33	19.8000	21.4500

Equity: Large Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
LIC MF Large Cap	7.08	53.1094	56.8697

Equity: Focused

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Union Focused	4.85	23.0700	24.1900
Axis Focused	7.29	52.7800	56.6300

Equity: Flexi Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Shriram Flexi Cap	0.14	20.9177	20.9467
Samco Flexi Cap	0.81	9.8800	9.9600
PGIM India Flexi Cap	9.42	34.4900	37.7400

Equity: ELSS

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Shriram ELSS Tax Saver	0.19	21.6473	21.6895

Other: FoF Domestic

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Mirae Asset ESG Sector Leaders	5.73	16.1390	17.0640

Equity: Multi Cap

Fund	Change (%)	NAV (52w low)	Latest NAV
Sundaram Multi Cap	3.42	79.7082	82.4311

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