Mutual Funds Have Been Hit Hard: 69 Schemes in Loss, Top 5 Losers Include LIC, Tata, and Others
For mutual funds, 2025 is a hard year, with the losses from 69 schemes as the major blow. The list of top 5 losers is headed by Samco Flexi Cap, LIC Small Cap, Tata Small Cap, HSBC Small Cap, and Samco ELSS. The reasons why careful investing and expert advice have become an absolute necessity are being told.
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Mutual funds are usually seen as a safer way of investing than going directly into the stock market where there is higher risk but with consistent returns as a secondary effect. However, mutual funds too have suffered from the losses, 2025 being the proof of this situation. The data shows that this year 69 mutual fund schemes suffered losses at the end of the period with some even registering negative return of more than 10% which is certainly something that the investors are still grappling with. Let us examine the schemes that brought the heaviest burden upon the investors this year in more detail.
The Growing Popularity of Equity Mutual Funds
Equity mutual funds are among those that have become more and more popular and that mostly the young investors are the ones to blame for this. The majority of these people are attracted by the possibility of getting high returns plus the professional management of the portfolio is not that bad at all. But in case investors are not savvy enough to understand the risks or do not hold a good enough diversified portfolio they can be easily caught by the market volatility. This year, numerous equity schemes lost a lot of money which shows vividly how important it is to plan your investments carefully.
Mutual Fund Losers in 2025
Samco Flexi Cap Fund – This year's worst performer has lost an incredible 19.18% the Samco Flexi Cap Fund.
LIC MF Small Cap Fund – LIC’s small-cap scheme went through the same fate and thus its loss has been 14.70% in the current year.
Samco ELSS Tax Saver Fund – Investors were not happy with this tax-saving ELSS scheme which has recorded a 13.04% loss.
Tata Small Cap Fund – The Tata Small Cap Fund recorded a return drop by 12.93%.
HSBC Small Cap Fund – HSBC’s small-cap mutual fund fell by 11.96%, thereby completing the list of the top five losing schemes.
Apart from these five there were still 64 other schemes that experienced losses in the range of 0.12% to 9.42% for the current calendar year. The lion's share of the losses was from small-cap and flexi-cap funds but other categories also faced difficulties.
Investor Takeaways
Mutual funds still tend to be the investment of choice when people want the market exposure without having to deal with buying and selling of stocks directly. But this year has shown it very clearly that one should be ever so watchful, make the right choices, and get expert opinions in order to be able to reduce the impact of possible losses. An investor should go through fund performance, risk areas, and portfolio mix before investing so as to be in a position to withstand the coming market fluctuations.
