Kotak Contra Fund at 21: A look at its returns, portfolio and investor risks

Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company’s Kotak Contra Fund has completed 21 years, with the equity mutual fund scheme delivering a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 16% since inception, according to data shared by the fund house.

A monthly SIP of ₹10,000 started in the scheme 13 years ago would have grown to around ₹56.89 lakh, compared with total investments of ₹16.3 lakh, translating into a CAGR of 16.98%, as per calculations shared by the fund house.

The open-ended equity scheme follows a contrarian investment strategy, where the fund manager invests in companies that are considered fundamentally strong but are trading at valuations lower than their perceived potential. The strategy involves taking exposure to stocks that may be out of favour with the market, with the expectation that their valuations could improve over time.

The scheme benchmarks its performance against the Nifty 500 Total Return Index (TRI). The fund house said Kotak Contra Fund has delivered a CAGR of over 16% since inception, compared with around 13% for the benchmark, resulting in an alpha of over 3 percentage points.

Fund performance across periods

According to scheme data, Kotak Contra Fund delivered a CAGR of 17.13% over 10 years, 16.83% over five years and 17.68% over three years. Over the one-year period, the scheme generated returns of over 3.6%, compared with 0.83% for its benchmark.

The scheme had assets under management (AUM) of ₹5,331 crore as of June 30, 2026, and is managed by Shibani Kurian.

Portfolio composition

The fund’s portfolio is spread across sectors including financial services, industrials, energy, telecom and healthcare.

As of May 31, 2026, the scheme’s largest holdings included HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries and NTPC. Other significant holdings included Larsen & Toubro, Shriram Finance, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp and Fortis Healthcare India.

What investors should keep in mind

While past returns and benchmark performance are among the parameters investors track while evaluating mutual funds, they do not indicate future performance.

A contrarian strategy may underperform for extended periods if the expected recovery in undervalued stocks takes longer than anticipated. Performance can also vary across market cycles based on valuations, economic conditions and company-specific factors.

Investors should assess the fund’s risk profile, investment horizon, portfolio allocation, expense ratio and alignment with their financial goals before investing in any equity mutual fund scheme.