An underrated and under-appreciated flexi-cap fund

Summary: This fund has been around for over a decade, yet it’s only the 18th largest flexi-cap fund in India. But look beyond its size, and you’ll find a remarkable story. In terms of returns and consistency, it trails only Parag Parikh’s much-celebrated flexi-cap scheme. In fact, on several metrics, it has quietly outperformed many of its more famous peers. Let’s uncover which fund this is, and how impressive its long-term record truly is. Some mutual funds quietly deliver strong performance year after year, yet rarely make it to investors’ top lists. JM Flexicap Fund is one such gem, a consistent performer that doesn’t get the spotlight it deserves. This four-star-rated fund has been around for over a dozen years. Over the long term, its performance speaks for itself: Three-year returns: Fifth-best among flexi-cap funds Five-year returns: Sixth-best 10-year returns: A remarkable 18.01 per cent, second only to the Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund (18.8 per cent). And yet, JM Flexicap remains a lightweight in terms of popularity, managing less than Rs 6,000 crore in assets, making it just the 18th largest flexi-cap fund in the country. For context, the two largest flexi-cap funds, Parag Parikh Flexi Cap and HDFC Flexi Cap, manage Rs 1.2 lakh crore and Rs 85,500 crore, respectively. So, why is such a strong performer still flying under the radar? Is there a catch? Has it been inconsistent in the past? Let’s find out. Consistency in performance Point-to-point returns — like three-year or five-year figures mentioned in the initial part of the article — tell you how much a fund made over that period. But they don’t tell you how consistently the fund delivered those returns. Which is why we looked at the rolling returns. Think of rolling returns like checking your report card not just once, but after every exam. Instead of looking at how a fund did only from say February 10, 2020 to February 10, 2025, we look at every possible five-year stretch in between. We basically for all the dates, like February 11, 2020 to February 11, 2025, February 12, 2020 to February 12, 2025, February 13, 2020 to February 13, 2025, and so on. This helped us see if the fund scores well most of the time, or just got lucky in one or two years. In short, rolling returns show how consistent a fund really is — whether it performs well again and again, not just once in a while. So, when we looked