On March 23, 2020, the Indian government announced the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, triggering a bloodbath in the equity market. On that day, the Sensex and Nifty fell by almost 13% to their lowest levels in more than four years. Due to this massive fall in equities, the NAVs of equity mutual funds collapsed badly.
But the journey after that has been completely different. The Indian equity market has made a spectacular recovery since then, and many mutual funds have given excellent returns to investors. The performance from those lows of March 2020 till today shows how much wealth can be created by staying invested over the long term. In particular, some select funds have increased investors’ capital manifold.
We have selected 5 such equity funds, whose 5-year returns and performance since the Covid-low till now are worth learning for investors.
1. Quant Small Cap Fund
This fund has given an excellent return of 36.56% CAGR in the last 5 years.
Annualised and absolute return since March 23, 2020
NAV on 23 March 2020: Rs 28.96
NAV on 25 August 2025: Rs 276.31
5.5-year CAGR return: 50.7%
Absolute return: 854.11%
That is, if an investor had invested Rs 1 lakh in it at the time of lockdown, its value would have been around Rs 9.5 lakh today.
2. Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund
This fund’s 5-year CAGR return is 34.88%.
Annualised and absolute return since March 23, 2020
NAV on 23 March 2020: Rs 19.62
NAV on 25 August 2025: Rs 119.70
5.5-year CAGR return: 38.93%
Absolute return: 510.09%
That is, if the investor had invested Rs 1 lakh during the lockdown, the amount would have now become more than Rs 6 lakh.
3. ICICI Prudential Infrastructure Fund
This fund has delivered a 34.55% CAGR over the last 5 years.
Annualised and absolute return since March 23, 2020
NAV as on 23 March 2020: Rs 32.04
NAV as on 25 August 2025: Rs 210.64
5.5-year CAGR return: 40.83%
Absolute return: 557.43%
This means that Rs 1 lakh invested during the lockdown would have turned into around Rs 6.6 lakh now.
4. Nippon India Small Cap Fund
This fund has given a 5-year CAGR of 33.78%.
Annualised and absolute return since March 23, 2020
NAV as on 23 March 2020: Rs 27.09
NAV as on 25 August 2025: Rs 189.25
5.5-year CAGR return: 42.4%
Absolute return: 598.60%
Here too, an investment of Rs 1 lakh during the lockdown would have reached around Rs 7 lakh today.
5. Franklin Build India Fund
This fund has delivered a 33.26% CAGR in the last 5 years.
Annualised and absolute return since March 23, 2020
5-year CAGR: 33.26%
NAV as on 23 March 2020: Rs 27.80
NAV as on 25 August 2025: Rs 162.84
5.5-year CAGR return: 37.91%
Absolute return: 485.76%
An investor who invested Rs 1 lakh during the lockdown would have now got around Rs 5.8 lakh.
Conclusion: Returns are not everything
The performance of these funds since the lows of Covid-19 has undoubtedly been amazing. But investors must keep in mind that such high returns are not guaranteed all the time. Returns are high as funds rebounded from the low levels hit during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mutual funds are subject to market risks and their performance depends on time, sector and market conditions.
So, investors should also keep in mind the risk profile of the fund, quality of the portfolio, investment period and their financial goals rather than judging by returns alone.