Motilal Oswal ELSS Tax Saver Fund has recorded a 20.1% annual return over the past three years, outpacing its benchmark by 12%. While it leads long-term performance, rankings across shorter periods like one-month or one-year windows show different leaders such as Quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund. Investors should note that mutual fund performance often varies significantly depending on the time horizon considered.
The Motilal Oswal ELSS Tax Saver Fund has established a leading position in the Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS) category, delivering a 20.1% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the last three years. This return notably exceeded its benchmark, which provided an 8.2% return during the same period, marking a significant performance gap of 12 percentage points. The fund also showed resilience in the one-year timeframe, where it outperformed its benchmark by 6 percentage points, even as the benchmark recorded a return of -1.7%.
Performance Variability Across Time Horizons
While the three-year performance highlights strong long-term growth, the leadership in the ELSS category remains fluid when measured across different time intervals. For instance, the Quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund has demonstrated superior short-term momentum, leading the one-year performance charts with a 13% return and topping the three-month period with a 5.1% gain. Meanwhile, the HSBC ELSS Tax Saver Fund maintained a steady position in the one-month rankings with a 0% return during a period of market fluctuation.
Scale and Investor Considerations
When evaluating these schemes, investors often look at both historical returns and the size of the fund, which is measured by Assets Under Management (AUM). Among the larger funds tracked, the SBI ELSS Tax Saver Fund holds a significant market presence with an AUM of ₹31,839.3 crore, though its three-year return stood at 15.4%. The HSBC ELSS Tax Saver Fund also remains a key competitor in the space with a 15.9% three-year CAGR.
For investors, these figures illustrate that selecting a tax-saving fund based solely on a single timeframe can be misleading. Because ELSS funds come with a mandatory three-year lock-in period, long-term consistency is generally prioritized over short-term spikes. The variation in rankings underscores that market cycles impact different investment strategies in unique ways. Prospective investors should monitor the fund manager's ability to maintain these returns during different market phases rather than focusing only on the current top-performing scheme. Ongoing updates to keep track of include the fund's expense ratio, portfolio turnover, and any shifts in the fund manager's strategy during periods of market volatility.