3x MF Schemes Lost Money in FY26: Is Your SIP Safe?

In FY26, three times more mutual fund schemes gave negative returns compared to the year before. Only 198 schemes crossed the 10% return mark. If you have a SIP running, here's what this means for your money.

Here's what happened: SEBI's annual report for FY26 shows the number of mutual fund schemes with negative returns surged roughly three times compared to the prior year.. Only 198 mutual fund schemes across all categories delivered returns above 10% during FY26, a sharp drop from recent years.. The underperformance is linked to a broad equity market correction in FY26, which particularly hurt mid-cap, small-cap, and sectoral funds..

What you should do: Check your fund's category benchmark return — if the benchmark also fell, your fund may simply be reflecting market conditions, not poor management.. Compare your fund's 3-year and 5-year returns on AMFI or Value Research, not just the FY26 single-year figure, before making any exit decision.. Avoid stopping your SIP during a down year — continue or even increase your SIP amount to buy more units at lower NAVs and improve your average cost..

A fund giving -5% when its benchmark gave -8% is actually outperforming — always judge a fund against its category index, not an absolute return expectation.

For readers weighing their credit and loan options, our personal loan guide and CIBIL score resources put this update in context.