Highest 3-year SIP returns: SBI Gold Fund leads at 44.11%, while small-cap, mid-cap and pharma funds follow

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 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.

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.

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.

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.