Mutual Funds 2025: Silver, Gold Soar; Smallcaps Plunge Amid Volatile Year

• 2025 saw uneven equity performance, sharp style rotation, and renewed interest in hard assets and global diversification, leading to wide dispersion in mutual fund returns.
• Silver funds (128%) and Gold funds (71%) emerged as top-performing categories, followed by International diversified funds (28%).
• Large-cap (ICICI Prudential Large Cap Fund 10.1%) and Large & Midcap funds (ICICI Prudential Large & Midcap Fund 12.13%) showed stable returns.
• Smallcap funds were clear underperformers, with most delivering losses, while Quantum Small Cap Fund was the only one with positive returns (1.81%).
• Global funds like DSP World Gold Mining Overseas Equity FoF (161%) and various hybrid and debt funds also delivered strong returns, emphasizing diversified asset allocation.

Why It Matters: Diversified asset allocation across styles, metals, debt, and global markets was crucial for 2025 portfolio resilience.