Published Online:January 2026
Product Name:The IUP Journal of Applied Finance
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJAF050126
DOI:10.71329/IUPJAF/2025.32.1.102-123
Author Name:Sourav Das and Kiranjit Sett
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Finance
Download Format:PDF
Pages:102-123
In this study, performance of mutual funds, having investment strategy differences in terms of market capitalization of stocks (viz., large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap), for the period January 2017 to December 2024 was evaluated using Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio and Jensen’s alpha. Small-cap funds, which predominantly invest in small-cap stocks, were found to outperform mid- and large-cap funds in terms of risk-adjusted returns during the periods of high uncertainty, viz., the Covid-19 and post-Covid-19 years. Large-cap funds achieved stable performance with returns lower than mid-cap funds, while the performance of mid-cap funds lacked stability.
A mutual fund mobilizes savings of several individuals and invests in a diversified portfolio comprising equity shares, money market instruments, government bonds and other securities, which may have risk-return characteristics though better than the risk-return characteristics of the portfolios that retail investors themselves can construct.