Large and Mid Cap Mutual Funds

A large and mid cap fund must keep at least 35% of its money in large caps and at least 35% in mid caps.

A mutual fund is a pool of money from many people, invested by a professional manager under SEBI rules. SEBI, the market regulator, sorts funds into categories, its labels for what a fund may hold. This one is an equity category. Equity means shares of companies. The category rules in force today took effect on 26 February 2026.

Large and mid refer to size, measured as market capitalisation, or market cap. That is a company's share price times the number of shares it has issued. AMFI, the mutual fund industry body, ranks every listed company by it. Ranks 1 to 100 are large caps. Ranks 101 to 250 are mid caps. Rank 251 onwards is small cap.

Of every ₹1,00,000 in the fund, at least ₹35,000 sits in the top 100 companies. At least another ₹35,000 sits in companies ranked 101 to 250. So at least ₹70,000 is in the top 250.

AMFI's list for the six months to 30 June 2026 sets the edges:

• Rank 100: GAIL (India), average full market cap ₹1,06,346 crore. The last large cap.
• Rank 101: Bosch, ₹1,06,278 crore. The first mid cap.
• Rank 250: Godrej Industries, ₹33,664 crore. The last mid cap.
• Rank 251: Navin Fluorine International, ₹33,442 crore. The first small cap.

AMFI redoes the list every six months, on data to the end of June and December. It publishes within 5 calendar days. Funds then have one month to rebalance, which means adjusting their holdings to fit the new list.

The remaining ₹30,000 of every ₹1,00,000 is the manager's choice. It may go into any equity, small caps included. It may also go into money market instruments (short-term loans to governments, banks or companies), gold and silver instruments, or InvITs (infrastructure investment trusts). Each has its own limit.

Because each half is only a floor, two funds in this category may hold very different mixes. One could hold 35% in large caps and 60% in mid caps. Another could hold 60% in large caps and 35% in mid caps.

No one can say in advance, but the riskometer puts these funds at its top level. The riskometer is the risk label SEBI makes every fund show, on six levels from Low to Very High. It is checked every month. Every listed large and mid cap fund read Very High on 29 September 2026.

SEBI's formula shows why. Each share a fund holds gets three scores: company size, daily price swings over two years, and impact cost. Impact cost is how much a share's price moves when a large order to buy or sell it is placed. On size, a large cap scores 5, a mid cap 7 and a small cap 9. A final score above 5 means Very High. With at least 35% in mid caps scoring 7, the fund's equity score goes above 5. Only a heavy cash holding would pull it back down.

Past falls in two indices show what Very High can mean. An index is a list of companies picked by fixed rules, whose combined value is tracked every day. The NIFTY 50 covers large caps and the NIFTY Midcap 150 covers mid caps. From NSE Indices price data:

• NIFTY 50: fell 59.9% from 8 January to 27 October 2008.
• NIFTY 50: fell 38.4% from 14 January to 23 March 2020.
• NIFTY Midcap 150: fell 73.4% from 7 January 2008 to 9 March 2009.
• NIFTY Midcap 150: fell 44.2% from 8 January 2018 to 23 March 2020.

Each fall has its own dates. These are index figures, not fund results.

In rupees: ₹1,00,000 that falls 38.4% is worth ₹61,600 for a while. A 44.2% fall leaves ₹55,800.

A fund's level can change. Each fund re-checks it monthly and publishes it within 10 calendar days of month-end. If it changes, unitholders must be told by notice and by email or SMS. Check the level on the fund's own page.

It can suit money that can stay invested for 5 to 7 years. That span is Koshex's suggestion, not a SEBI rule.

Money you need in a year or two is a poor fit. The NIFTY 50's 2020 fall took just over two months, from 14 January to 23 March.

There is no lock-in, meaning no period when you cannot sell at all. These funds are open-ended, so you can sell your units whenever you choose. Units are your share of the fund. When you redeem, or sell units back to the fund, the money must reach you within 3 working days.

Some funds charge an exit load. That is a fee for selling within a set time after buying. Each fund sets its own, and it is shown on that fund's page.

Koshex offers the regular plan. That is the version of a fund bought through a distributor such as Koshex, who helps you choose and stays with you afterwards. A distributor is a registered intermediary; Koshex holds AMFI registration ARN-154632. We help you choose a fund that suits your goal and your timeline.

If the fund passes one test, gains on units held 12 months or less are taxed at 20%. Longer-held gains are taxed at 12.5%, only on the part above ₹1,25,000 a tax year. The test: at least 65% of the fund's money must be in shares of Indian companies listed on a stock exchange, taken as a yearly average. The test is in section 198 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, in force from 1 April 2026.

Your holding period decides which rate applies. That is how long you owned a unit, from the day you bought it to the day you sold it.

• Short-term capital gain: profit on units held 12 months or less. Taxed at 20% (section 196).
• Long-term capital gain: profit on units held more than 12 months. Taxed at 12.5%, only on the part above ₹1,25,000 in a tax year (section 198).

Suppose you sell units held more than 12 months for an assumed gain of ₹2,40,000. You have no other equity long-term gains that tax year. The first ₹1,25,000 is not taxed, which leaves ₹1,15,000. Tax at 12.5% is ₹14,375. Cess, an extra 4% on the tax, adds ₹575. You pay ₹14,950.

Now suppose the same ₹2,40,000 gain came on units held 12 months or less. At 20%, the tax is ₹48,000. Cess adds ₹1,920, for ₹49,920.

Both figures leave out surcharge, an extra charge on the tax above ₹50 lakh of income. The ₹1,25,000 is counted once across all your equity-oriented funds in the tax year, not once per fund.

No TDS, tax deducted before money reaches you, is taken from a resident's redemption gains.

A fund may also make IDCW payouts from its income or gains. Each payout lowers the NAV, the price of one unit, by the amount paid. IDCW is taxed at your slab rate, the normal rate on your income. Once a fund's IDCW to you crosses ₹10,000, it deducts 10% TDS. That TDS is credited against your tax for the year. The growth option pays nothing out and keeps the money invested.

The difference is how much each must hold in which size band.

• Large cap funds: at least 80% in the top 100 companies.
• Mid cap funds: at least 65% in companies ranked 101 to 250.
• Large and mid cap funds: at least 35% in each of those two bands.

Put per ₹1,00,000, a large cap fund keeps at least ₹80,000 in the top 100. A mid cap fund keeps at least ₹65,000 in ranks 101 to 250. A large and mid cap fund keeps at least ₹35,000 in each.

On the riskometer, all three sit at the same level. Every listed fund in each of the three categories read Very High on 29 September 2026.

Koshex suggests different horizons for each. For large cap funds, 5 years or more. For mid cap funds, 7 years or more. For large and mid cap funds, 5 to 7 years. These are our suggestions, not SEBI rules.

SEBI allows each fund house only one fund in this category.

Look at four columns in the table on this page: CAGR, expense ratio, AUM and riskometer.

• CAGR is the average yearly growth over a period, as if the fund grew at the same pace each year. Compare a fund's 3-year and 5-year CAGR with the category averages of 5.3% and 11.2%.
• Expense ratio is the fund's yearly fee, shown as a share of your money and taken out of the fund's value. The law caps the base fee for an actively managed equity-oriented fund. The cap is 2.10% a year on the first ₹500 crore. It steps down as the fund grows, to 0.95% on the largest amounts. The table shows what each fund actually charges.
• AUM, or assets under management, is the current value of the money a fund manages. It is not the amount people paid in. The 35 listed funds hold ₹3,72,658 Cr between them.
• Riskometer is worth checking fund by fund, as each one is re-checked monthly.

Only 25 of the 35 funds have a 3-year record. Only those are ranked on 3-year return and counted in the averages. A newer fund is not a worse one. It simply has less history to judge.

After you invest, Koshex reviews your holdings over time. We flag it when a fund's category, risk or ranking shifts.

In what it must hold, a large and mid cap fund sits between a large cap fund and a mid cap fund.

A few things decide how much fits. When you need the money is one. What you already hold is another: a flexi cap fund or large cap fund may already give you large caps. The last is how big a fall you can sit through without selling.

Try it in rupees. If ₹2,00,000 fell 44.2%, as the NIFTY Midcap 150 did from 8 January 2018 to 23 March 2020, it would be worth ₹1,11,600.

A SIP, or systematic investment plan, invests a fixed amount at regular intervals, usually monthly. Each instalment buys units at that day's NAV. Your purchase dates spread out over time. A lumpsum puts a larger amount in at one time, at one day's price.

For tax, each SIP instalment has its own holding period. An instalment turns long-term only once it has been held more than 12 months from its own purchase date.

A monthly surplus from your salary fits a SIP naturally. A bonus arrives as a lumpsum. Either way, when markets fall sharply, Koshex talks you through it before you redeem.