5 Top Performing Balanced Funds That Made it Huge in 2018

Balanced funds are a category of mutual fund schemes that invest in a balanced portfolio of equity and debt instruments with the aim to reduce the risk associated with the fund and provide stable returns even during market volatility. In these schemes, around 70% of the funds are allocated in equities and the rest 30% are allocated in debt instruments and there is a leeway of 5%. In this article, we are going to discuss 5 balanced schemes that performed really well in 2017-18. Let's have a look.

Reliance Equity Hybrid Fund (G)

This scheme was launched on Jun 08, 2005, as an open-ended scheme and has since shown tremendous growth. As of now, the scheme has 71.95% investment in equity instruments and 27.11% in debt instruments. The returns it has given in 1, 3, 5, and 10 years of time are 3.67%, 9.41%, 17.09%, and 15.56% (as on Jul 18, 2018), respectively. The short-term returns are average, but a great jump can be seen in long-term returns. Currently, it has a net asset value of Rs 53.63 (as on Jul 18, 2018) and is managing an asset size of Rs 13,593 crores (as on Jun 30, 2018).

Aditya Birla Sun Life Equity Hybrid 95 Fund (G)

This is one of the best schemes provided by Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Funds and is trusted by thousands of investors. This scheme was launched on Feb 10, 1995, as an open-ended scheme under the balanced fund category (now aggressive hybrid). It has given returns of 2.48%, 8.51%, 16.67%, and 15.10%, in 1, 3, 5, and 10 years respectively (as on Jul 18, 2018). It has successfully beaten its benchmark in 5 and 10 years trailing returns. As on Jul 18, 2018, it has a Net Asset Value of Rs 736.61, and the assets under management as recorded on Jun 30, 2018, are worth Rs 14,484 crores.

ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund (G)

This balanced mutual fund scheme is one of the biggest in terms of asset size. The total assets under management as recorded on Jun 30, 2018, are worth Rs 28,266 crores and are growing continuously. The fund has provided returns of 9.43%, 17.06%, and 14.23% in 3, 5, and 10 years (as on Jul 18, 2018), respectively and has successfully beaten its benchmark on all the occasions. The top equity holdings of this scheme include companies like ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, ITC, ONGC, Infosys, and Wipro. As on Jul 18, 2018, it has a NAV of Rs 123.32, and an expense ratio of 2.13%.

SBI Equity Hybrid Fund (G)

The scheme was launched on Dec 31, 1995, and was previously known as SBI Magnum Balanced Fund. It is one of the best and most trusted balanced funds in India. The returns that the fund has provided in 1, 3, 5, and 10 years are, 7.20%, 8.88%, 16.97%, and 13.46%, respectively (as on July 18, 2018) and the total return that it has provided since its inception is 16.24%. This fund has a current NAV of Rs 125.60 (as on Jul 18, 2018), and an asset size of Rs 24,959 crores (as on Jun 30, 2018). The minimum investment you can make in this scheme is Rs 1000 and you can start a SIP for as low as Rs 500.

L&T Hybrid Equity Fund (G)

This balanced fund was launched on Jan 31, 2011, and is one of the newest in the market. In just 7 years, it has gained a corpus of more than Rs 10,570 crores. The returns given by this scheme in 1, 3, and 5 years of time are 3.92%, 9.49%, and 17.93%, respectively (as on Jul 18, 2018). It has beaten its benchmark in 3 and 5 years of trailing returns. Currently, it has a NAV of Rs 26.002 (as on Jul 18, 2018), and an expense ratio of 1.93%. The scheme has major investments in finance, technology, construction, automobile, and engineering sector.

So, these are all the balanced fund schemes that gave over the top performance in 2018 and are leading the mutual fund market in their respective category. These schemes have provided satisfactory returns in past and are expected to perform likely in the future.