The Nifty 100 is down 8.7%, how did active large-cap funds perform?

The Nifty 100 index has fallen 8.7% so far in 2026. Yet only 16 of the 33 active large-cap have managed to do better.

The remaining 17 schemes have delivered steeper losses than the benchmark itself. That suggests active management has not consistently translated into better downside protection during this market correction.

The divergence within the category has also been striking. The difference between the best and worst-performing fund is more than 12 percentage points, despite all schemes operating under the same large-cap mandate.

Let’s look at the funds that cushioned the fall and stood out during the correction.

Large-cap funds that protected downside better

Quant Large Cap Fund topped the charts with a gain of 0.7%, making it the only scheme in the sample to generate a positive return despite the market decline. Samco Large Cap Fund and Bank of India Large Cap Fund followed with declines of 2.75% and 3.71%, respectively.

Here are some of the top performing funds.

Several established funds also managed to cushion losses better than the benchmark. SBI Large Cap Fund, which manages more than ₹53,000 crore, declined 6.31%, while Nippon India Large Cap Fund fell 8.04%.

Together, 16 schemes managed to outperform the benchmark decline of 8.7%.

Large-cap funds that fell more than the benchmark

However, the picture was equally notable on the other side.

Seventeen schemes declined more than the benchmark, suggesting that active management did not automatically translate into better downside protection.

Mahindra Manulife Fund was the biggest loser, declining 11.38% in 2026.

Several other prominent names featured in this group. Axis Large Cap Fund fell 9.05%, Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund declined 9.31%, while HDFC Large Cap Fund lost 9.48%.

Where most investor money actually sits?

The performance of the largest schemes matters more than that of smaller funds because they account for a disproportionately large share of investor’s money.

Among the category’s biggest funds, the results were mixed.

SBI Large Cap Fund and Nippon India Large Cap Fund both outperformed the benchmark despite managing over ₹50,000 crore each. In contrast,Large Cap Fund, Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund, HDFC Large Cap Fund, Axis Large Cap Fund and Aditya Birla Sun Life Large Cap Fund all declined more than the benchmark.

This means that a substantial portion of investor money remained invested in funds that did not provide better downside protection than the index during the correction. The divergence also indicates that fund size alone was not the determining factor. Some large funds managed to navigate the downturn relatively well, while others struggled.

What should investors do?

One market phase rarely tells the complete story. Hence, investors should not judge a fund solely on a few months of performance.

That said, periods of market stress can provide useful insights into how funds behave when conditions become challenging. Investors evaluating active large-cap funds should pay attention not only to returns during bull markets but also to how effectively a fund manages downside risk.