Highest 3-year SIP returns: SBI Gold Fund leads at 44.11%, while small-cap, mid-cap and pharma funds follow
SBI Gold Fund topped the three-year SIP return chart at 44.11%, followed by Axis Gold Fund at 43.84%, while equity funds delivered around 20-21%. The one-year data shows a shift, with Bank of India Small Cap Fund leading at 50.13% and ITI Small Cap Fund at 42.06%.
Gold has delivered a stunning lead over equity funds in the three-year SIP return race. SBI Gold Fund delivered 44.11% and Axis Gold Fund 43.84%, while the next-best funds—across pharma, small-cap and mid-cap categories—were clustered around 20-21%.
For investors who put ₹10,000 every month into the top-performing funds three years ago, the difference is stark. The SIP value in SBI Gold Fund reached ₹6.59 lakh, compared with about ₹4.90 lakh in the top-performing equity funds in the list.
SBI Gold Fund tops 3-year SIP returns at 44.11%
SBI Gold Fund delivered the highest three-year SIP return in the data at 44.11%, followed closely by Axis Gold Fund at 43.84%. The two gold funds were clear outliers in the ranking.
Rank | Fund | 3-year SIP return |
| 1 | SBI Gold Fund | 44.11% |
| 2 | Axis Gold Fund | 43.84% |
| 3 | SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund | 21.36% |
| 4 | Bank of India Small Cap Fund | 21.36% |
| 5 | HSBC Midcap Fund | 21.26% |
| 6 | ITI Small Cap Fund | 21.17% |
| 7 | UTI Healthcare Fund | 20.79% |
| 8 | SBI Children's Fund | 20.25% |
| 9 | Invesco India Mid Cap Fund | 19.94% |
| 10 | WhiteOak Capital Mid Cap Fund | 19.57% |
| Source: Value Research. Data as of 24th August 2026. | ||
SBI Gold Fund's 44.11% return was 22.75 percentage points higher than the third-ranked SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund. Axis Gold Fund's 43.84% return was similarly more than double the returns of the equity funds that followed.
The equity funds themselves were closely grouped. The difference between SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund at 21.36% and WhiteOak Capital Mid Cap Fund at 19.57% was 1.79 percentage points.
₹10,000 monthly SIP grew to ₹6.59 lakh in SBI Gold Fund
A ₹10,000 monthly SIP over 36 months represents total contributions of ₹3.6 lakh. Based on the data from Value Research, the accumulated value was ₹6.59 lakh in SBI Gold Fund and ₹6.57 lakh in Axis Gold Fund.
Among the equity funds in the top five, the accumulated value was around ₹4.9 lakh.
Fund | 3-year SIP return | Value of ₹10,000 monthly SIP |
| SBI Gold Fund | 44.11% | ₹6.59 lakh |
| Axis Gold Fund | 43.84% | ₹6.57 lakh |
| SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund | 21.36% | ₹4.90 lakh |
| Bank of India Small Cap Fund | 21.36% | ₹4.90 lakh |
| HSBC Midcap Fund | 21.26% | ₹4.89 lakh |
| Source: Value Research. Data as of 24th August 2026. | ||
Pharma, small-cap and mid-cap funds dominate equity rankings
After the two gold funds, all eight remaining funds in the top 10 were equity schemes.
SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund and UTI Healthcare Fund delivered 21.36% and 20.79%, respectively. Bank of India Small Cap Fund and ITI Small Cap Fund returned 21.36% and 21.17%.
HSBC Midcap Fund delivered 21.26%, making it the strongest mid-cap fund in the top 10. Invesco India Mid Cap Fund and WhiteOak Capital Mid Cap Fund followed at 19.94% and 19.57%.
The equity portion of the ranking was therefore spread across pharma, small-cap, mid-cap and flexi-cap schemes rather than being dominated by a single category.
The one-year SIP data provides a different perspective. Bank of India Small Cap Fund, which delivered 21.36% over three years, recorded a 50.13% one-year SIP return, the highest among the funds analyzed.
ITI Small Cap Fund delivered 42.06% over one year, while Axis Gold Fund and SBI Gold Fund posted 38.45% and 37.83%, respectively. SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund returned 35.46%, while HSBC Midcap Fund delivered 33.80%.
The data highlights how performance leaders can change across investment periods, making the return horizon an important part of any mutual fund comparison.
About the Author
Kirti Jha is a Senior Content Producer at Mint, where she writes on mutual funds, taxation, personal finance and macroeconomic developments. Her reporting focuses on helping readers understand complex financial developments through data-driven, research-backed stories that explain how policy changes, market trends and regulatory decisions affect investors and households. <br><br> Before joining Mint, Kirti worked at ET Money, where she specialised in mutual fund research and investment analysis. She tracked portfolio disclosures, fund manager strategies, sectoral allocation shifts and investment trends, distilling large datasets into investor-focused insights. Her work combined quantitative analysis with consumer-centric storytelling, enabling readers to better understand fund positioning, portfolio changes and long-term investment opportunities.<br><br> Kirti holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, and a Master's in Finance from the Jindal School of Banking & Finance at O.P. Jindal Global University. Her academic training emphasised analytical thinking, quantitative research and financial decision-making, providing a strong foundation in understanding capital markets, financial systems and economic policy. With a combined experience in investment research and financial journalism, she is committed to producing accurate, accessible and insightful journalism that empowers readers to make well-informed financial decisions.
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