After the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) rolled out the “Sahi Hai” advertisement campaign to position mutual funds (MF) as a preferred investment option for investor, there has been a renewed interest in the industry, specially among first-timers. However, a common thought that disturbs all is which fund to invest in. So if you are looking for the best mutual funds to invest in, this is what you need to know.

The mutual fund industry has grown manifold giving huge returns to investors. The average assets under management of Indian mutual fund industry has grown from Rs 3.26 lakh crore as on March 31, 2007 to Rs 21.45 lakh crore as on September 30, 2017, a nearly 7-times increase in a span of little over 10 years. Individual investors now hold a higher share of industry’s assets, i.e. 48.2% in August 2017, compared with 45.3% in August 2016. The value of assets held by individual investors in mutual funds increased from Rs 7.28 lakh crore in August 2016 to Rs 10.11 lakh crore in August 2017, an absolute increase of 39%.

The systematic investment plan (SIP), which is a allows you to invest a certain sum at regular intervals, has as a powerful instrument for investment. Indian mutual funds had about 1.66 crore SIP accounts in September 2017, through which investors regularly invested in Indian mutual fund schemes. The MF industry has been adding about 8.8 lakh SIP accounts each month on an average during the current financial year, with an average SIP size of about Rs 3,300 per SIP account in September 2017. The total amount collected through SIP per month during September 2017 stood at Rs 5,516 crore.

For those simply looking for best mutual funds, here is a list for reference of funds as on January 9, 2018:

Best large cap equity funds

Large cap equity invest a large portion of their corpus in companies with large market capitalisation. One of the best mutual funds is the Aditya BSL Frontline Equity Gr which focuses on factors such as ROCE, ROE and earnings growth potential. Another fund ICICI Pru Focused Bluechip Equity Fund (G) is a true-to-lebel fund that invests about 90% of its assets in large cap stocks. The fund’s performance had remained above average in the long and short period.

Best mid cap equity funds

The mid-small cap segment is the true reflection of the volatility in the Indian equity markets. This segment therefore requires a solid investment process which is seen in best mutual funds like HDFC Mid Cap Opportunities and Canara Rob Emerg Equities.

Best multi cap equity funds

Franklin India Prima Plus Fund(G) has all the ingredients of a successful fund. It has picked companies with clean balance sheets, strong business models and sustainable competitive strengths.

Best balanced funds

Among the best mutual funds in the balanced segment Canara Rob Balance Scheme-Reg (G) has performed well due to its diversified asset allocation with 11.98% in cash, 68.08% in stock and 19.94% in bonds. Similarly, the Franklin India Balanced Fund(G), which aims to provide long-term capital appreciation and current income by investing in equity and equity related securities and high quality fixed income instruments, has 67.16% in stock, 31.83% in bonds and 1% in cash.  

Mutual funds are an excellent option of investment specially for those investing for longer time period as the returns are always high and risk is reduced.