Sundaram Focused Fund (Formerly Known as Principal Focused Multicap Fund)- Direct Plan - Growth Option

Sundaram Focused Fund (Formerly Known as Principal Focused Multicap Fund)- Direct Plan - Growth Option sits in the middle of the pack for Focused Fund funds, currently carrying a 3-star rating. It has delivered steady, if unspectacular, returns over a full market cycle. TopFund's composite Health Score, which weighs rating, 3-year CAGR, expense ratio and fund size, puts it at 63/100.

Cost: At 1.3%, the expense ratio runs 43% above the Focused Fund category average of 0.91%. 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 -0.74 — 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 13.24% 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. The High risk rating means near-term volatility should be expected — this isn't a fund to check daily.