Beat the market: Try 13 ELSS funds that gave over 20 percent returns

Are you a retail investor? You should evaluate a mutual fund scheme for its past returns and compare it with similar schemes in the same category before investing in it.  

Here's a list of the top performing ELSS funds that yielded over 20 percent return in the past 5 years.

Let us look at the past returns of the broader benchmark indices last year. In the calendar year 2023, Nifty50 gave a return of 20 percent and Sensex grew by 18.74 percent.

ELSS mutual funds

Equity linked savings schemes (ELSS) invest at least 80 percent in stocks in accordance with Equity Linked Saving Scheme, 2005, notified by the Ministry of Finance. These schemes have a lock-in period of three years, the shortest amongst tax saving options.

These schemes are eligible for deduction under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act up to ₹1,50,000 just as other investment options of PPF, LIC, Sukanya Samridhi Yojana and National Savings Certificate (NSC).

Past five-year returns of ELSS schemes:

ELSS Funds	5-year-return (%)
Bandhan ELSS Tax Saver Fund	22.50
Bank of India ELSS Tax Saver Fund	28.69
Canara Robeco ELSS Tax Saver	21.31
DSP ELSS Tax Saver Fund	22.97
Franklin India ELSS Tax Saver Fund	20.78
HDFC ELSS Tax Saver Fund	21.00
JM ELSS Tax Saver Fund	24.08
Kotak ELSS Tax Saver Fund	21.62
Mahindra Manulife ELSS Tax Saver Fund	20.17
Mirae Asset ELSS Tax Saver Fund	21.61
Motilal Oswal ELSS Tax Saver Fund	24.01
SBI Long Term Equity Fund	25.07
Union ELSS Tax Saver Fund	21.41

(Source: AMFI; returns as on July 12, 2024; names in alphabetical order)

Bank of India ELSS Tax Saver Fund gave the highest return of 28.69 percent, followed by SBI Long Term Equity Fund with 25.07 percent.

Other mutual fund schemes which gave higher than 24 percent included JM ELSS Tax Saver Fund (24.08%) and Motilal Oswal ELSS Tax Saver Fund (24.01%).

The investors should look beyond the past returns of a scheme and gauge other factors such as the reputation of the fund house, macro-economic factors which influence the future returns and future expectations from the category and sector that the scheme belongs to.

Note: This is for informational purposes only. Do speak to a SEBI-registered investment advisor before making any investment related decision.

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