Looking Beyond the Rankings: Our Sunrise Mutual Funds

Our primary mutual fund ranking framework is built around a more robust and repeatable approach. Funds that score well on this framework have, by definition, have a historical track-record of data and we believe they should form the core of a portfolio in most cases.

But a ranking framework can sometimes miss funds that are interesting for other reasons.

A relatively new fund may not have enough history to qualify. A fund may have recently changed its fund manager. Another may be taking a meaningfully different approach to portfolio construction. Or a fund that has struggled over the recent past may have a fundamentally sound investment process that warrants a closer look.

That is where our “Sunrise Mutual Funds” list comes in.

How We Select Sunrise Mutual Funds: Our Criteria

Our shortlist is not based on just recent returns. We have considered various factors (mainly qualitative) in arriving at this list. Some of the factors we considered are:

• The fund manager and senior team’s past track record and investing style

• Portfolio construction style and evolution of their equity holdings over the past year

• Attribution of outperformance – to ensure it is not driven by one-off events or bumper gains in select stocks

• Attribution of underperformance – to spot funds that have underperformed recently, but have a solid fundamental base and good long-term performance

• AUM – the fund shouldn’t be too small, but nimble enough to capitalize on opportunities in smaller market cap companies. Needless to say, it needs to have a process in place to ensure governance and fundamental checks on the small cap companies

A Disclaimer Before You Read: What Sunrise Funds Are (and Aren't)?

Our regular mutual fund rankings benefit from a larger body of evidence and operational history spanning different market cycles.

However, these sunrise mutual funds may not have that luxury - some are relatively new, some have gone through changes, and some have not yet performed to their potential.

That makes them more interesting - but also less proven. Therefore, these funds should be considered only as satellite allocations around a core portfolio, rather than replacements for established, higher-ranked funds.

Continuing the sports analogy - The underdog teams are worth keeping an eye on because they may have something different to offer - but they still need to prove themselves on the field.

And, as with any underdog, there is no guarantee that potential will translate into performance.

Note: Some of the funds featured in this list have limited operating history and have not yet experienced a complete market cycle. Investors should evaluate them in the context of their overall portfolio, risk profile and investment horizon.

The Sunrise Mutual Funds List (September 2026)

Here is our shortlist of sunrise funds (the list is not in order of preference):

All information is as of 27 September 2026

Our brief rationale for selection and risks associated with each fund is below:

Old Bridge Focused Fund

While the fund itself is new, the founder-fund manager (Kenneth Andrade) is a market veteran with ~30 years of experience and was head of investments at IDFC AMC (now operating as Bandhan AMC).

The fund has performed well in the past year, and the outperformance to benchmark has widened with passing time – despite holding ~40% in large cap stocks.

The portfolio is slightly differentiated, and predominantly a mix of large and small caps. They have made multiple right calls in past year (in terms of buying ‘winners’ and exiting positions on time) and the return is driven by multiple stocks instead of one-off bumper gains.

Being a focused fund, the primary risk is that concentrated positions do not perform as expected.

Abakkus Small Cap Fund

Founded by Sunil Singhania, Abakkus AMC (equity practice) is currently managed by Sanjay Doshi and Pratish Krishnan (both market veterans with >20 years of experience). The fund has limited operational history and has underperformed category average in the short term (3 months).

Our rationale for including it in the list - the pedigree of the fund managers and relatively low AUM - allowing it to stay agile and access a larger pool of opportunities in the small cap space.

The portfolio is also slightly differentiated to others, with concentration in financial services, industrials, tech and healthcare (all above 15% of equity holdings).

The main risk with this fund is small caps as a category underperforming. Since the fund’s operational history is limited, how it performs in challenging market conditions is still to be seen.

Bank of India Small Cap Fund

This is one of the older funds in the list, which has consistently outperformed the benchmark and category average over 1-year to 7-year tenures. It was more resilient than the benchmark during most of the market-moving macro events like the recent crude oil price shock, Trump’s tariff threat early last year, FII exodus in 2024-25 and so on.

They have an aggressive portfolio construct (supported by agility from the relatively low AUM). They have made multiple right calls in the past year (in terms of buying ‘winners’) and the return is driven by multiple stocks instead of one-off bumper gains.

The key risk is the small cap category underperforming broader markets and the fund not being able to frictionlessly liquidate its position in smaller companies.

Groww Multicap Fund

Fund manager Anupam Tiwari has been a solid small cap stock picker during his tenure at Axis MF and has managed institutional money for 15+ years across multiple market cycles.

The relative fund performance has been strong and could be suitable for investors looking for a nimble multicap offering. It was more resilient than the benchmark during macro events like the recent crude oil price shock, and outperformed in the recovery rally.

Axis Innovation Fund

The fund (and the category itself) has not given superlative returns in the past; but it has not performed poorly either, giving ~17.8% CAGR over 3 years. It operates in a theme that inherently has limited listed companies to invest in, and yet has generated decent returns.

With Indian businesses looking to go up the value chain (beyond the traditional manufacture/supply of commoditized products/services) and the growing IPO pipeline, the fund could see its investable universe expanding. Relatively low AUM and intent to have a decent portion of small caps in the portfolio could enable it to capitalize on this opportunity, when it arises.

Since this is a thematic fund, the theme / sector and fund’s portfolio need to be actively tracked by the MFDs if they are advising on this fund.

Invesco Consumption Fund

Invesco Consumption Fund has a limited operational history of just under a year but has punched well above its weight. The portfolio has a tilt towards quality combined with a dominant small-cap exposure.

The consumption theme is likely to benefit from the evolving consumption patterns in India, driven by rise in GDP per capita, urbanization, nuclearization and rising e-commerce penetration. This fund stands out in terms of its differentiated portfolio construction as compared to its benchmark, combined with a preference for growth-oriented companies.

This fund is suitable for an investor who requires a small portion of their portfolio towards the structural consumption growth theme in India. If the broader market starts to prefer value stocks over growth stocks, this scheme could see underperformance.

SBI Comma Fund

Managed by veteran fund manager Dinesh Balachandran, SBI Comma Fund has a greater degree of active stock selection than peers. This scheme is suitable for investors looking for a satellite allocation to the commodity sectors (oil & gas, metals, materials, agriculture and textiles) and the expertise of someone who has managed serious money.

Key risk is the inherent cyclical nature of commodities, which may result in negative returns during prolonged downcycles.