Auto and transportation mutual funds: SBI tops with 26% 1-year return, while the benchmark index gains just 2%

Auto and transportation funds are sectoral mutual funds that invest primarily in companies across the automobile, transportation, and logistics sectors.

According to Value Research data, the BSE Auto TRI delivered a 1-year return of just 1.81%, while the Auto & Transportation category average return stood at 6.66%.

Yet, the performance gap is much wider among individual schemes, with some actively managed funds delivering returns of more than 26% over the same period. So, which funds are leading the category and which ones are lagging in the 1 year returns?

Which auto and transportation funds are leading?

SBI Automotive Opportunities Fund was the strongest performer among the schemes listed, delivering a 26.25% return over 1 year. This was nearly 20 percentage points above the category average and substantially higher than the BSE Auto TRI's 1.81% return.

Aditya Birla Sun Life Transportation and Logistics Fund followed with a 16.58% return. HDFC Transportation and Logistics Fund delivered 9.29%, while ICICI Prudential Transportation and Logistics Fund returned 7.88%.

Bandhan Transportation and Logistics Fund was marginally above the category average, at 6.77%.

Which auto and transportation funds are lagging?

At the lower end, Kotak Transportation & Logistics Fund gave 4% in the last 1 year, below the category average return of 6.66%.

UTI Transportation & Logistics Fund was the weakest among the schemes listed, with a 1.98% return, only slightly above the BSE Auto TRI's 1.81%.

The data shows that the category average masks a significant difference in individual scheme performance. The gap between the best and weakest fund in the list was more than 24 percentage points.

The sharp dispersion in returns is important for investors because sectoral funds are concentrated in a particular part of the market and can therefore see large differences in performance depending on portfolio positioning and stock selection.

Disclaimer: This is purely for educational/informational purposes and should not be taken as any sort of investment advice. Always consult a SEBI-registered advisor before making any investment decisions.