Only 20 of 320 active fund managers have 10+ years of experience: Why investors should look beyond past returns

When choosing an equity mutual fund, investors typically focus on long-term returns, consistency, and performance against the benchmark. But one question often gets overlooked. How long has the current fund manager actually been managing the scheme?

A September 2026 report by DSP Mutual Fund, titled “NETRA – Early Signals Through Charts”, looked at fund manager experience and tenure across equity mutual fund categories and found that long-serving managers are relatively uncommon.

Across the equity funds studied, there were around 320 active fund managers, but only 20 had more than 10 years of experience managing a scheme. Just eight had more than 15 years of experience managing a category.

Why does fund manager tenure matter?

A fund may have a 10-year performance record, but its current manager may have taken charge only recently. That means a fund's historical returns do not necessarily represent the investment decisions of the person currently managing your money.

For example, if a fund has delivered strong returns over 10 years but its current manager has managed it for only two years, investors should examine how the fund has performed since the manager took charge and whether its investment strategy has changed.

This is particularly relevant for actively managed funds, where managers have greater discretion over stock selection and portfolio construction.

Which categories have the longest-serving managers?

The data shows a mixed picture across categories. Value funds had the highest number of managers with 5 to 10 years of tenure, at 14.

Large & mid-cap followed with 11, while mid-cap and focused funds had 10 managers each in this tenure bracket.

Flexi-cap, by comparison, had only three managers with 5 to 10 years of tenure.

However, flexi-cap had the highest number of managers who had been managing their schemes for more than 10 years. Seven managers in the category had 10+ years of current scheme-management tenure.

This means flexi-cap has relatively few managers in the 5 to 10-year bracket, but more managers in the longest-tenure bracket.

At the other end of the spectrum, Banking and Business cycle funds each had just one manager with more than 10 years of tenure.

What is the average fund manager tenure?

Despite some long-serving managers, the overall average tenure across categories remains relatively short.

The report noted that “average manager tenure ranges from 1.99 to 2.69 years across the categories analyzed. No category has an average manager tenure of three years”.

Value funds had the highest average tenure at 2.69 years, followed by ELSS at 2.68 years and mid-cap at 2.60 years.

Flexi-cap recorded an average tenure of 2.38 years, while small-cap and multi-cap stood at 2.34 years and 2.19 years, respectively.

Banking had the lowest average tenure at 1.99 years.

What does it mean for investors?

A fund’s historical performance and its current manager’s track record are not necessarily the same thing.

Investors looking at a fund’s track record also need to understand how much of that record was generated under the current manager and how the fund has performed since the manager took charge.

It is also worth looking at the manager’s previous experience and whether there have been any changes to the fund’s strategy following the transition.

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.