Last updated 1 July 2026 · vs April 2026 · How the score is calculated
Equity savings funds hold at least 65% in equity, with the rest in debt and arbitrage positions used to hedge the equity downside. The category exists for investors who want a meaningful equity allocation with a much smaller drawdown than a pure equity fund. The structure is unusual: the equity portion is typically long-only, and the hedging is done through arbitrage between equity futures and the cash market, which captures most of the equity upside in up-markets and roughly half in down-markets. The expected return is 1-2 points below a balanced advantage fund, with a drawdown that is significantly smaller (5-10% in a typical bad year, vs 15-25% for an aggressive hybrid). How to read this table. The category is most useful in the 1-3 year horizon, when the hedging premium matters most. Over 5+ years, the hedging drag eats into the compounding.
Each Equity Savings fund in the table is scored on a blend of five factors: 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year returns, the 3-year Sharpe ratio, and the 3-year maximum drawdown. The 5-year return carries the heaviest weight; the 1-year return carries the lightest, because a single year is mostly noise. Funds with less than three years of history are kept out of the 3Y / 5Y windows but are still listed if they have a 1-year track record.
The underlying NAV data is sourced nightly from the AMFI daily NAV file and the AMC factsheets. The score is re-run every month after the latest upload. Two funds with a score within 5 points of each other are essentially interchangeable for retail purposes; pick from the top 3-5 names in the list, not just the top 1. The full formula, weights, and edge cases are in the rankings methodology post.
| Rank | Scheme | Score |
|---|---|---|
1— | HSBC Equity Savings Fund - Regular Growth HSBC Mutual Fund · Regular | 67.6 |
2— | Edelweiss Equity Savings Fund - Regular Plan - Growth Option Edelweiss Mutual Fund · Regular | 62.2 |
3↑1 | Kotak Equity Savings Fund - Regular - Growth Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund · Regular | 56.5 |
4↑1 | Mirae Asset Equity Savings Fund- Regular Plan- Growth Mirae Asset Mutual Fund · Regular | 51.2 |
5 | Mahindra Manulife Equity Savings Fund - Regular Plan - Growth Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund · Regular | 46.1 |
Rankings based on data up to 1 July 2026. Direct plans and regular plans are scored separately; this table shows the regular plan of each fund. For educational purposes only, not investment advice. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Read the full disclaimer.
The split between pure equity and hedged arbitrage is the main lever. A 65% pure equity / 10% hedged fund behaves more like an aggressive hybrid; a 35% pure equity / 40% hedged fund behaves more like a balanced hybrid with downside protection.
FinvestR Research Desk
Research team, FinvestR
The FinvestR research desk produces the monthly fund rankings and the underlying scoring engine. The team includes AMFI-registered distributors (ARN-142502) and NISM-Series-V-A certified research analysts. Plain English, no product pitches, full methodology on every page.
AMFI-registered Mutual Fund Distributor · ARN-142502 · NISM-Series-V-A: Mutual Fund Distributors
Last updated 1 July 2026. The full ranking methodology and the data sources are published in the July 2026 rankings post. Past performance does not indicate future results.
Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Read all scheme-related documents carefully before investing. FinvestR Capital is registered with AMFI as a Mutual Fund Distributor (ARN-142502). The rankings on this page are research output and not personalised investment advice. Consult a SEBI- registered investment advisor for advice tailored to your situation.