Motilal Oswal Nifty MidSmall IT and Telecom Index Fund-Regular Plan-Growth

Motilal Oswal Nifty MidSmall IT and Telecom Index Fund-Regular Plan-Growth lags behind most of its peers in the Index Funds category, currently carrying a 1-star rating. TopFund's composite Health Score, which weighs rating, 3-year CAGR, expense ratio and fund size, puts it at 38/100.

Cost: At 0.95%, the expense ratio runs 132% above the Index Funds category average of 0.41%. That gap is worth weighing against the fund's actual performance versus cheaper peers before committing to a long SIP.

Risk-adjusted performance: Over the trailing 1-year period, the fund shows a negative Sharpe ratio of -0.59 — over the past year, returns haven't kept pace with the volatility involved, even before accounting for the risk-free rate. Separately, with 21.05% annualised volatility, this is among the more turbulent funds in its space — expect sharp swings in both directions.

Who should invest: This fund is best suited to cost-conscious investors happy to simply match the market rather than try to beat it. The High risk rating means near-term volatility should be expected — this isn't a fund to check daily.