Mutual fund investors got the much needed respite in April as the equity schemes turned profitable again after giving losses in the first three months this year, a latest report by mutual fund tracking firm Value Research says.
According to the report, on an average all equity funds categories made profits in April with the bellwether diversified equity gaining 8.36 per cent.

All the 234 equity schemes from various fund houses made profits for investors last month with the returns ranging from a high of 17.3 per cent to a low 1.69 per cent.

A majority of mutual funds had returns in the range of 7 per cent to 11 per cent, which was broadly in line with the markets during the month.

Gold ETFs lose sheen

However, only 44 equity funds, representing 19 per cent of all, could outperform there benchmark indices in April. Meanwhile, Gold ETFs, which track the price of gold, were the only funds that lost money last month. These funds lost six per cent during the month, in line with the performance of gold on international markets, it added.

Banking schemes were best performers among all equity funds, posting returns of 12.41 per cent for the investors. However, their one-year performance are worst. Even auto funds registered their first positive gains, with returns of 3.2 per cent in April, after a year’s negative performance. The gradual growth category of debt funds had a relatively volatile time last month on the back of unpredictable interest rate situation.

Medium term debt funds performed poorly with average returns of mere 0.39 per cent.
Gilt funds, were worse off with gains of just 0.23 per cent on an average.