Equity mutual funds: September 2026 returns—how did large, mid, small and flexi-cap fare over 3, 5 and 10 years?

September 2026 was a challenging month for equity mutual funds, with all four major categories seeing declines. But a look beyond the monthly numbers reveals a different picture, with notable differences in how large-, mid-, small-, and flexi-cap categories have performed over longer periods.

For mutual fund investors, September 2026 offered a useful reminder of why fund performance needs to be viewed against the right benchmark and across multiple time periods.

While mid-cap and large-cap funds faced a sharp correction during the month, the longer-term performance of mid- and small-cap benchmarks remained stronger than that of the large-cap benchmark.

For investors evaluating their mutual funds, benchmark returns provide a reference point to understand how a fund has performed relative to its underlying market segment.

Large-cap funds are compared with the Nifty 100 TRI, mid-cap funds with the Nifty Midcap 150 TRI, small-cap funds with the Nifty Smallcap 250 TRI, while the Nifty 500 TRI is used as a broad benchmark for flexi-cap funds.

How do the mutual fund category benchmarks perform across different time periods?

Source: Capitalmind Mutual Fund. TRI benchmark returns include both price changes and dividends. CAGR as on 30 September 2026