•Commodity funds like LIC MF Gold ETF FoF, Quantum Gold Savings Fund, Aditya Birla Sun Life Gold Fund, and SBI Gold Fund saw 80-85% returns in the past year.
•Defense funds including Motilal Oswal Nifty India Defense Index Fund, Aditya Birla Sun Life Nifty India Defense Index Fund, Groww Nifty India Defense ETF FoF, and HDFC Defense Fund delivered up to 48% returns.
•Experts Akshat Garg and Sameer Mathur note these funds perform in cycles, driven by inflation, geopolitical tensions, and government spending.
•They advise treating these as tactical or satellite allocations, not core portfolio holdings, due to potential volatility.
•Investors should have a higher risk appetite, long-term view, and consult financial analysts before investing.