Value Fund Leaders Change Across 1-, 3- and 5-Year Return Periods

Key Takeaways

• LIC MF Value Fund led one-year returns at 19.65%, while Quant Value Fund topped the three-year table at 19.26% CAGR. 
• Axis Value Fund ranked first over five years with a 15.37% CAGR and was the only scheme to appear among the top five across all three periods. 
• Return rankings differed materially by timeframe, showing that recent leaders were not necessarily the same funds leading longer-term tables. 

No single value mutual fund topped the latest return tables across one, three and five years, with leadership changing materially depending on the measurement period. 

Among value funds with comparable histories, LIC MF Value Fund recorded the highest one-year return at 19.65% as of 1 October 2026. Quant Value Fund followed at 11.71%, while ABSL Value Fund, Mahindra Manulife Value Fund and Axis Value Fund completed the top five. 

The rankings shifted over three years. 

Quant Value Fund led that period with a 19.26% CAGR, followed by LIC MF Value Fund at 16.78% and Axis Value Fund at 16.56%. DSP Value Fund and HDFC Value Fund were also among the five highest three-year returns in the dataset. 

Over five years, Axis Value Fund moved to the top with a 15.37% CAGR. HSBC Value Fund followed at 14.87%, while JM Value Fund recorded 14.15%. ABSL Value Fund and HDFC Value Fund rounded out the five-fund group. 

Axis Value Fund was the only scheme to appear among the top five across all three periods examined. 

The study covered a category that had 23 value funds based on August 2026 mutual fund industry data. 

Value funds are required to follow a value-oriented investment strategy and maintain the equity exposure prescribed for the category. Their portfolios can therefore differ considerably depending on how individual fund managers define and identify valuation opportunities. 

The analysis also compared alpha data. 

Quant Value Fund showed alpha of 9.39%, followed by LIC MF Value Fund at 7.36%, Axis Value Fund at 7.07%, DSP Value Fund at 6.69% and HDFC Value Fund at 5.27%. The category average cited in the dataset was 2.94%. 

Alpha and trailing return measure different aspects of historical performance, so a higher rank on one metric does not automatically translate into leadership on another. 

More importantly, one-year returns and multi-year CAGR figures should not be mixed. The three- and five-year figures are annualised compound returns, while the one-year figures describe performance over that single trailing period. 

The data reflects historical performance through 1 October 2026 and does not indicate future returns.