Active banking funds fail to capitalise on PSU rally: Value Research data

Core Insights - Sectoral funds focused on public sector banks (PSBs) have outperformed other domestic mutual fund categories, achieving nearly a 28% rise in the Nifty PSU Bank index over the past six months [1][3] - Active banking and financial services funds have lagged behind, with median returns of only 9.2% during the same period, primarily due to their heavy investment in private sector lenders [3][4] Investment Composition - Most active banking and financial services (BFSI) funds allocate over 50% of their investments to the top 4-5 private sector banks, which dominate the banking sector's profit pool [4][6] - HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank collectively account for 66% of the Nifty Financial Services index, while State Bank of India (SBI) is the only PSB with over 5% weight in the index [4][5] Performance Analysis - Despite the flexibility of active funds to build independent portfolios, their performance is still benchmarked against indices, leading to a performance gap with PSB indices [5][6] - Direct plans of BFSI schemes have generally outperformed the Nifty Financial Services total return index, which increased by 7.17% in the last six months [5] Market Outlook - Experts suggest that the performance gap between PSU and private sector banks may narrow in the near term, with private banks expected to outperform in the medium term due to their superior deposit franchises and operational efficiencies [7][8] - The rally in PSU banks may have peaked, with a potential sector rotation anticipated in 2026, as the Nifty PSU Bank index appears overextended after a multi-year rally [9]