Flexi-cap funds are mutual fund schemes that are required to invest at least 65 percent of their assets in equities and equity-related instruments across large cap, mid cap, and small-cap companies.

The capital markets regulator Sebi will launch this category in November 2020. The objective behind the creation of this category was to provide mutual funds more leeway in pursuing suggestions given by the Mutual Fund Advisory Committee (MFAC).

In accordance with the stipulated criteria, the market regulator even enabled fund institutions to convert their existing plans into flexi caps. According to AMFI data, there are 37 schemes in this category with total assets under management (AUMs) of 2.90 lakh crore as of September 30, 2023.

As shown in the table above, nearly a half-dozen flexi cap schemes have outperformed the benchmark indices during the last three years. The top-performing schemes provided annualized returns in the region of 28-30%, while others delivered returns in the range of 22-26%.

The following are the best-performing flexi cap funds:

HDFC Flexi Cap Fund: Since its debut on January 1, 1995, it has delivered an annualized return of 18.5 percent. The scheme's primary constituent stocks are HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Treps, NTPC, and Cipla. It is a huge fund with a total asset value of Rs 38,668 crore.

Quant Flexi Cap Fund: Since its start on August 28, 2008, it has delivered an annualized return of 13.95 percent. Treps, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel Futures, RIL, and Jio Financial Services are the primary constituent stocks. This scheme's assets total 1,908 crore.

JM Flexicap Fund: Since its start on September 23, 2008, it has provided an annualised return of 13.63 percent. The scheme's primary constituent equities are REC, L&T, Treps-Tri Party Repo, Infosys, and One 97 Communications. It is a modest fund, with a total asset value of 545 crore.