Top 10 ELSS funds

ELSS funds are one of the best categories of mutual funds available in the market. Not only do they help to save tax but also aid in building wealth over the long term by investing in equity. Under Sec 80C, an individual can claim a tax deduction of up to Rs.1,50,000 by submitting the required investment proofs. ELSS funds offer the flexibility of utilizing this full quota of tax deduction by investing Rs. 1.5 lakhs in it.

These funds are best suited for long term goals such as retirement planning, purchasing a house, kid’s education/marriage, etc. With the help of the power of compounding, these funds can help an individual to meet his/her financial goals comfortably.

But it is not sufficient to simply invest in an ELSS fund. In order to ensure that the future goals are met, one has to invest only in the best performing funds. The fund has to be chosen carefully with proper research and analysis. It should have a well-diversified portfolio of stocks from different sectors. Else the returns may fall well short of the estimated goal. Below is a list of the 10 top ELSS funds that one can invest to ensure good returns and also save on taxes.

Top ELSS funds in 2019 at a glance

Axis Long Term Equity Fund

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Aditya Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96

Motilal Oswal Long Term Equity Fund

Quant Tax Plan

DSP Tax Saver Fund

IDFC Tax Advantage Fund

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Invesco India Tax Plan

JM Tax Gain Fund

L&T Tax Advantage Fund

Principal Tax Savings Fund

Top ELSS funds in 2019 in details

Let’s take a look now at each of the above funds in details with respect to different categories:

Axis Long Term Equity Fund:

This is one of the top ELSS funds in 2018. It is an open-ended fund with a lock-in of 3 years and it was launched on Jan 01, 2013. It is a fund with moderately high risk and has given a return of 19.96% since its launch.

• This fund has been rated as a 5-star fund by Value Research and is ranked 2^nd in its category
• AUM of close to Rs. 16467 crores
• Age of the fund is nearly 5 years, so we can easily judge the performance
• The fund has consistently outperformed its benchmark S&P BSE 200 TRI over a period of 1 year, 3 years and 5 years
• The top portfolio holdings of the fund include HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance and Pidilite Industries
• The holdings are spread across different sectors with maximum weight given to Financial, Technology, and Chemicals
• Minimum SIP of Rs. 500
• A minimum additional investment of Rs. 500
• Minimum withdrawal is Rs. 500
• Exit load is nil
• The fund has an average market cap of Rs. 81717.83 crores
• Giant cap share= 53.85%, large-cap share= 17.96%, mid-cap share= 26.67% and small-cap share= 1.52%.

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Aditya Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96:

This is one of the best performing ELSS funds for a long time. It is an open-ended fund with a lock-in of 3 years and it was launched on Mar 29, 1996. It is a fund with moderately high risk and has given a return of 24.53% since its launch.

• This fund has been rated as a 5-star fund by Value Research and is ranked 3^rd in its category
• AUM of close to Rs. 6480 crores
• Age of the fund is nearly 22 years, so we can easily judge the performance
• The fund has consistently outperformed its benchmark S&P BSE 200 TRI over a period of 3 years, 5 years and 10 years
• The top portfolio holdings of the fund include Honeywell Automation, Gillette, Reliance Industries, Bayer CropScience and Pfizer
• The holdings are spread across different sectors with maximum weight given to Healthcare, Services, and Engineering
• Minimum SIP of Rs. 500
• A minimum additional investment of Rs. 500
• Minimum withdrawal is Re. 1
• Exit load is nil
• The fund has an average market cap of Rs. 34883.38 crores
• Giant cap share= 28.36%, large-cap share= 13.74%, mid-cap share= 46.69% and small-cap share= 1.52%.

Motilal Oswal Long Term Equity Fund:

It is an open-ended fund with a lock-in of 3 years and it was launched on Jan 01, 2015. It is a fund with moderately high risk and has given a return of 14.96% since its launch.

• This fund has been rated as a 5-star fund by Value Research and is ranked 2^nd in its category of 3-year returns
• AUM of close to Rs. 1048 crores
• Age of the fund is nearly 3 years
• The top portfolio holdings of the fund include Infosys, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Indusind Bank and Petronet LNG
• The holdings are spread across different sectors with maximum weight given to Financial, Technology, and Energy
• Minimum SIP of Rs. 500
• A minimum additional investment of Rs. 500
• Minimum withdrawal is Rs. 500
• Exit load is nil
• The fund has an average market cap of Rs. 34883.38 crores
• Giant cap share= 46.88%, large-cap share= 26.65%, mid-cap share= 24.05% and small-cap share= 2.42%.

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Quant Tax Plan:

It is an open-ended fund with a lock-in of 3 years and it was launched on Jan 01, 2013. It is a fund with moderately high risk and has given a return of 15.72% since its launch.

• This fund has been rated as a 5-star fund by Value Research and is ranked 1^st in its category of 5-year returns
• AUM of close to Rs. 8 crores
• Age of the fund is nearly 5 years
• The top portfolio holdings of the fund include ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and Stylam Industries
• The holdings are spread across different sectors with maximum weight given to Financial, Construction, and FMCG
• Minimum SIP of Rs. 1000
• A minimum additional investment of Rs. 500
• Minimum withdrawal is Rs. 1000
• Exit load is nil
• The fund has an average market cap of Rs. 79318.26 crores
• Giant cap share= 51.23%, large-cap share= 27.03%, mid-cap share= 16.54% and small-cap share= 5.19%.

DSP Tax Saver Fund:

It is an open-ended fund with a lock-in of 3 years and it was launched on Jan 01, 2013. It is a fund with moderately high risk and has given a return of 16% since its launch.

• This fund has been rated as a 4-star fund by Value Research and is ranked 9^th in its category of 5-year returns
• AUM of close to Rs. 4329 crores
• Age of the fund is nearly 6 years
• The top portfolio holdings of the fund include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HCL Technologies, State Bank of India and Tech Mahindra
• The holdings are spread across different sectors with maximum weight given to Financial, Construction, and Technology
• Minimum SIP of Rs. 500
• A minimum additional investment of Rs. 500
• Minimum withdrawal is Rs. 500
• Exit load is nil
• The fund has an average market cap of Rs. 63028.57 crores
• Giant cap share= 50.41%, large-cap share= 20.19%, mid-cap share= 22.05% and small-cap share= 7.36%.

IDFC Tax Advantage Fund:

It is an open-ended fund with a lock-in of 3 years and it was launched on Jan 01, 2013. It is a fund with moderately high risk and has given a return of 16.94% since its launch.

• This fund has been rated as a 4-star fund by Value Research and is ranked 10^th in its category of 5-year returns
• AUM of close to Rs. 1607 crores
• Age of the fund is nearly 6 years
• The fund has consistently outperformed its benchmark S&P BSE 200 TRI over a period of 3 years and 5 years
• The top portfolio holdings of the fund include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Infosys and Future Retail
• The holdings are spread across different sectors with maximum weight given to Financial, Energy, and Technology
• Minimum SIP of Rs. 1000
• A minimum additional investment of Rs. 500
• Minimum withdrawal is Rs. 500
• Exit load is nil
• The fund has an average market cap of Rs. 28837.44 crores
• Giant cap share= 32.32%, large-cap share= 17.54%, mid-cap share= 29.31% and small-cap share= 20.84%.

Invesco India Tax Plan:

It is an open-ended fund with a lock-in of 3 years and it was launched on Jan 01, 2013. It is a fund with moderately high risk and has given a return of 17.97% since its launch.

• This fund has been rated as a 4-star fund by Value Research and is ranked 5^th in its category of 5-year returns
• AUM of close to Rs. 620 crores
• Age of the fund is nearly 6 years
• The fund has consistently outperformed its benchmark S&P BSE 200 TRI over a period of 1 year, 3 years and 5 years
• The top portfolio holdings of the fund include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Infosys and Kotak Mahindra Bank
• The holdings are spread across different sectors with maximum weight given to Financial, Energy, and Technology
• Minimum SIP of Rs. 500
• A minimum additional investment of Rs. 500
• Minimum withdrawal is Rs. 500
• Exit load is nil
• The fund has an average market cap of Rs. 85773.23 crores
• Giant cap share= 59.50%, large-cap share= 17.06%, mid-cap share= 18.67% and small-cap share= 4.77%.

JM Tax Gain Fund:

It is an open-ended fund with a lock-in of 3 years and it was launched on Jan 01, 2013. It is a fund with moderately high risk and has given a return of 15.43% since its launch.

• This fund has been rated as a 4-star fund by Value Research and is ranked 5^th in its category of 5-year returns
• AUM of close to Rs. 28 crores
• Age of the fund is nearly 6 years
• The fund has consistently outperformed its benchmark S&P BSE 500 TRI over a period of 3 years and 5 years
• The top portfolio holdings of the fund include HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints, and SKF India
• The holdings are spread across different sectors with maximum weight given to Financial, Construction, and Chemicals
• Minimum SIP of Rs. 500
• A minimum additional investment of Rs. 500
• Minimum withdrawal is Rs. 500
• Exit load is nil
• The fund has an average market cap of Rs. 74746.05 crores
• Giant cap share= 53.94%, large-cap share= 20.30%, mid-cap share= 24.44% and small-cap share= 1.32%.

L&T Tax Advantage Fund:

It is an open-ended fund with a lock-in of 3 years and it was launched on Jan 01, 2013. It is a fund with moderately high risk and has given a return of 15.49% since its launch.

• This fund has been rated as a 4-star fund by Value Research and is ranked 5^th in its category of 5-year returns
• AUM of close to Rs. 3176 crores
• Age of the fund is nearly 6 years
• The fund has consistently outperformed its benchmark S&P BSE 200 TRI over a period of 3 years and 5 years
• The top portfolio holdings of the fund include HDFC Bank, Graphite India, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Tata Consultancy Services
• The holdings are spread across different sectors with maximum weight given to Financial, Engineering, and Technology
• Minimum SIP of Rs. 500
• A minimum additional investment of Rs. 500
• Minimum withdrawal is Rs. 500
• Exit load is nil
• The fund has an average market cap of Rs. 45256.05 crores
• Giant cap share= 42.04%, large-cap share= 12.89%, mid-cap share= 34.70% and small-cap share= 10.38%.

Principal Tax Savings Fund:

It is an open-ended fund with a lock-in of 3 years and it was launched on Jan 02, 2013. It is a fund with moderately high risk and has given a return of 16% since its launch.

• This fund has been rated as a 4-star fund by Value Research and is ranked 7^th in its category of 3-year returns
• AUM of close to Rs. 368 crores
• Age of the fund is nearly 6 years
• The fund has consistently outperformed its benchmark NIFTY 500 TRI over a period of 3 years and 5 years
• The top portfolio holdings of the fund include HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, and ITC
• The holdings are spread across different sectors with maximum weight given to Financial, Energy, and Technology
• Minimum SIP of Rs. 500
• A minimum additional investment of Rs. 500
• Minimum withdrawal is Rs. 500
• Exit load is nil
• The fund has an average market cap of Rs. 47324.35 crores
• Giant cap share= 43.29%, large-cap share= 17.55%, mid-cap share= 22.01%, small-cap share= 10.38% and tiny cap share= 0.38%.

These are some of the top ELSS funds for investing. You can invest in these funds to save up to Rs.46,500 in taxes every year. Plus you can create a sizeable corpus to meet your future financial goals using the power of equity and compounding.

Happy Investing!