Hybrid Mutual Fund Rankings: What Changed in July 2026?

1.  Key Takeaways & Observations

Since our last rankings in April 2026, the markets recovered from the lows of March 2026, but have been relatively choppy amid geo-political tensions. While markets seemed to have eased out by 1st week July, new wave of attacks on 8 July 2026 hints towards uncertainty. The near-term outlook depends on how the conflict plays out and the resilience of our economy. Interest rates on government bonds have dropped from the peak of early April, while repo rates were kept unchanged by the RBI.

We continue to use the same scoring methodology as our previous iterations. Given the dynamic nature of the category, the rankings were not as static as equity and debt – but we have rationalized and summarized the category-wise changes to rankings below:

Aggressive Hybrid Funds:

• There was a slight decrease in the overall score (average score reduced from 2.57 in April 2026 to 2.46 in July 2026). This was mainly driven by large cap orientation of most funds – with large caps having underperformed relative to other categories. Further, historical data (both 3 and 5 years) shed periods of higher returns (April to June 2021 and 2023), lowering the overall return profile for funds with large cap orientation.

• The top-ranked funds broadly remained the same. ICICI Prudential retained the top spot and Edelweiss continued to be in the Top 3. UTI dropped from 3rd position to 4th due to near-term underperformance and fund manager change.

• A summary of the top 3 ranked Funds is below:

  

Arbitrage Funds:

• There average score for Arbitrage Funds decreased significantly from 3.04 in April 2026 to 2.70 in July 2026. This was mainly driven by the increase in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) for F&O transactions, which became effective from 1 April 2026. Since Arbitrage Funds use F&O instruments, this led to a decrease in their returns, consequently impacting risk-return ratios as well.

• We believe that the AMCs that were able to better manage transaction costs and impact of STT moved up in the rankings.

• 2 of the Top 3 ranked funds remained same as our previous review. SBI, which was ranked 4th in our previous review (but had the same score as Top 3) moved up to 1st position as it was able to better manage returns in the regulatory transition. Edelweiss which was our top ranked fund, moved to 6th position due to under-performance and significant drop in Sharpe Ratio.

• As a category, rankings for Arbitrage Funds are expected to be volatile. This is because the returns and scores for the funds are in a very narrow band. However, our top ranked funds remained broadly stable, with the Top 6 remaining the same (although rankings changed internally amongst them).

• Accordingly, MFDs need not change their portfolio or recommendations if a scheme drops out of the Top 3 – as long as it stays within Top 10 or there is a scheme specific issue.

• A summary of the top 3 ranked Funds is below:

  

Conservative Hybrid Funds:

• The average score remained broadly stable in this category. The top 2 ranked funds remained constant. In our previous review (April 2026), funds in positions 3 to 6 had the same score. Out of those, Bank of India and HDFC (ranked 3rd and 4th previously) dropped 2 positions due to slightly lower relative returns. As a result, ICICI Prudential moved up from 6th position to 3rd position.  

• Since the score gap between some of the top 10 ranked funds is very narrow, small changes can cause movement in rankings – however, our top 6 funds remained the same (although rankings changed internally amongst them).

• Accordingly, MFDs need not change their portfolio or recommendations if a scheme drops out of the Top 3 – as long as it stays within Top 10 or there is a scheme specific issue.

  

Dynamic Asset Allocation Funds:

• The average score remained broadly stable.

• The top 2 ranked funds remained constant. Baroda BNP Balanced Advantage Fund moved up from 5th position to 3rd position due to relative outperformance – since the score gap between the top ranked funds was minimal in our previous review (April 2026).

• Similar to conservative hybrid funds, the score gap between top ranked funds is narrow, causing internal movement in the rankings, but our top ranked funds are broadly the same.

  

Equity Savings Funds:

• The average score dropped marginally from 2.64 in April 2026 to 2.57 in July 2026, mainly driven by the STT impact (discussed in arbitrage funds).

• 2 of the top 3 funds remained constant. SBI moved down from 2nd position to 4th, driven by a drop in Sharpe and Sortino ratios. HSBC moved up from 6th position to 2nd due to improvement in Sortino ratio (implying better risk-reward profile) and manager tenure crossing our ranking thresholds.

  

Multi-Asset Allocation Funds:

• Whiteoak entered our ranking universe for the first time in the July 2026 cycle – as it fell within our minimum operational period criteria, and grabbed the 3rd position in our rankings.

• Apart from inclusion of Whiteoak, the remaining top ranked funds were constant.

Throughout this blog, we cover the key changes in our rankings since April 2026. We talk about our hybrid ranking framework in greater detail here: Our Hybrid Mutual Fund Ranking Framework

2. Universe Overview

3. Category-Level Average 3-Year Rolling Returns

The table lays out the category-wise 3-year rolling returns  for the 6 hybrid categories:

4. New Fund Entrants

Two funds entered the ranking universe for the first time in the April 2026 cycle – as they fell within our minimum operational period criteria.

If you want to see the detailed fund-level scores and category-by-category rankings, explore Creso's mutual fund ranking tool at creso.in, where the full April 2026 data is published alongside our methodology.

If you are looking for a platform that brings rankings, client management, and portfolio reporting into one place, take a look at what Creso offers for MFDs.