Sundaram Consumption Fund (Formerly Known as Sundaram Rural and Consumption Fund Direct Plan - Growth)

Sundaram Consumption Fund (Formerly Known as Sundaram Rural and Consumption Fund Direct Plan - Growth) lags behind most of its peers in the Thematic category, currently carrying a 2-star rating. TopFund's composite Health Score, which weighs rating, 3-year CAGR, expense ratio and fund size, puts it at 49/100.

Cost: At 1.67%, the expense ratio runs 48% above the Thematic category average of 1.13%. 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 -0.82 — over the past year, returns haven't kept pace with the volatility involved, even before accounting for the risk-free rate. Separately, annualised volatility of 14.25% is fairly typical for actively managed equity funds.

Who should invest: This fund is best suited to investors whose goals and risk appetite align with a Equity fund. Given the Very High risk rating, this fund is not suited to short-term goals or investors who may need to exit within 2-3 years.