There were around 36 ELSS schemes that have completed three years in the market. Out of these 36 ELSS schemes, seven schemes —Aditya Birla SL ELSS Tax Saver Fund, Axis ELSS Tax Saver Fund, Edelweiss ELSS Tax saver Fund, LIC MF ELSS Tax Saver, Shriram ELSS Tax Saver Fund, Sundaram Diversified Equity, and Groww ELSS Tax Saver Fund— have underperformed their respective benchmarks in three consecutive years from 2021 to 2023. (See table for details)
ELSS Funds: Consistent Underperformers
Source: ACE MF, Yearly returns as on January 29, 2024
Axis ELSS Tax Saver Fund, the largest scheme in the ELSS category based on assets managed, failed to beat its benchmark in the last three years. The scheme manages assets of around Rs 34,299.84 crore.
Aditya Birla Sun Life ELSS Tax Saver Fund failed to beat its benchmark in 2021, 2022, 2023. The scheme is benchmarked against Nifty 500 – TRI.
We considered regular and growth options for the analysis. We analysed the yearly performance of ELSS schemes for a period of five years from 2019 to 2023 and considered the ELSS schemes that have underperformed their respective benchmarks for three consecutive years.
These schemes are benchmarked against NIFTY 500 – TRI, S&P BSE 100 – TRI, and S&P BSE 500 – TRI.
Note, this is not a recommendation. The main purpose of the exercise was to find out which ELSS schemes have continuously underperformed against their respective benchmarks in the last three years.
One should not make investment or redemption decisions based on the above exercise. One should always consider investment horizon, risk appetite, and goals before making any investment decision.
If you are looking for recommendations, see:
Best tax saving mutual funds or ELSS to invest in 2024
