How gold mutual funds have performed vis-a-vis gold?

A near Rs 3,000 per 10 grams surge in Gold over the last six to seven sessions and back-to-back lifetime highs has brought its mojo back after a lackluster February.

Moreover, its one-year returns stand at an impressive 17.63%. But have gold mutual funds that track yellow metal prices performed with equal zeal? Here is what ETMarkets analysis found out.

There are seven active mutual fund schemes whose 1-year returns are in the range of 13.24%-14.30% according to data fetched from Ace Equities. Average returns by these gold mutual funds stand at 13.76% while median returns are at 13.82% during this period, this data revealed. This shows that on a relative basis gold MFs have underperformed gold. The returns since inception of these funds are also lower than the returns given by this bullion metal.

A sneak peek into the performance of these funds:

1) Aditya Birla SL Gold Fund(G) | 1-year returns: 13.41%

It is an open-ended fund-of-funds scheme investing in Aditya Birla Sun Life Gold ETF. The fund is in inception since March 2012 and the asset under management (AUM) as on January 31 was Rs 296 crore while net asset value (NAV) stood at Rs 19.23. The fund tracks returns provided by Aditya Birla Sun Life Gold ETF.

2) Axis Gold Fund-Reg(G) | 1-year returns: 13.82%

This is an open-ended fund of fund scheme investing in Axis Gold ETF and it was launched in October 2011. The annualised returns given by this fund since its inception stands at 5.30% which is lower than the returns by gold at 7.31% since then. The NAV as of March 6 stood at Rs 19.33 while the AUM as of January 31 stood at Rs 376.64 crore.

3) HDFC Gold Fund(G) | Returns: 13.24%

Since its inception in 2011, this fund has given 5.51% returns. It is benchmarked against domestic prices of gold and silver. The NAV as on March 6 stood at Rs 20.60 while the AUM was Rs 1,682.18 crore as of February 29.

4) Kotak Gold Fund(G) | 1-year returns:13.65%

Since its inception in March 2011, the fund has delivered 5.75% CAGR returns. The scheme benchmarks itself against the physical price of gold. The AUM is Rs 1,576 crore as of February 29.

5) Nippon India Gold Savings Fund(G) | 1-year returns: 14.03%

Since its inception in March 2011, this scheme has given returns of 7.28%. The fund’s NAV is Rs 25.39 as on March 6 while the AUM stood at Rs 1,602.90 crore as on January 31. This is a fund-of-fund scheme and investments go into buying units of Nippon India ETF Gold BeES.

6) Quantum Gold Saving Fund-Reg(G) | Returns: 14.04%

Launched in May 2011, this scheme has delivered returns of 7.19% as of February 29, 2024, which is an underperformance against its benchmark which is domestic price of gold. The latter has returned 8.44% during this period. The AUM is Rs 83.53 crore as on January 31 while its NAV stood at Rs 25.21 as on February 6.

7) SBI Gold-Reg(G) | Returns: 14.13%

Launched in September 2011, the scheme has delivered returns of 5.11% till now which is lower than the returns by its benchmark at 6.43%. The AUM as of February 29 stood at Rs 1506.89 crore while its NAV as of March 6 stood at Rs 19.32.

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(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)