Our number crunching revealed that 11 equity schemes that lost the most were from the international category.These schemes have offered negative returns in 2023. (See Table: Schemes that lost the most)
Edelweiss Greater China Equity Off-Shore Fund lost the most in 2023. The scheme lost 13.17%.
Axis Greater China Equity FoF lost 10.75% in 2023. The scheme was launched in 2021. The scheme lost 16.40% in 2021 and 14.35% in 2022. Mirae Asset Hang Seng TECH ETF FoF lost around 7.93% in 2023. The scheme has a performance record of two years. The scheme lost 5.98% in 2021 and 18.61% in 2022.
DSP World Agriculture Fund lost 7.69% in 2023. Mahindra Manulife Asia Pacific REITs FOF and DSP World Mining Fund lost around 6%. The schemes lost 6.55% and 6.47% respectively.
Edelweiss ASEAN Equity Off-Shore Fund lost around 5.64% in 2023. Franklin Asian Equity Fund lost around 4.38%. Kotak International REIT FOF lost 1.63% in 2023. The scheme was launched in December 2020.
ICICI Prudential Strategic Metal and Energy Equity FoF and HSBC Global Emerging Markets Fund lost 0.78% and 0.16% respectively in 2023.
Note, the above exercise is not a recommendation. One should not make investment or redemption decisions based on one-year performance. Equity mutual funds should be chosen on their long-term performance. One should always consider risk appetite, investment horizon, and goal before choosing mutual funds.
International funds invest in different international markets, commodities, foreign indices, among others. That means you should pay extra attention to your investments in international funds. Look at the geography or indices you are investing in. Also, you should keep in mind that geographical diversification always doesn’t translate into great returns. Developed markets, by definition, offer modest returns. An emerging market like India might offer better returns over a long period. That is why overseas funds are not recommended to small investors. They are mostly recommended to investors with very large portfolios looking to diversify across geographies.
