HDFC mid-cap opportunities fund: Forging midcap steel into portfolio armour

Fund anneals quality names into resilient wealth defenders

HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund, launched in June 2007, has consistently ranked in the top 30 percentile of the midcap fund category in the Crisil Mutual Fund Ranking (CMFR) for four consecutive quarters through March 2025. Managed by Chirag Setalvad since inception, the fund’s assets under management more than doubled from ₹31,309 crore in March 2022 to ₹72,610 crore by March 2025.

 

HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund aims for long-term capital growth and current income by investing in quality midcap companies with durable competitive advantages and strong growth potential.

 

Trailing returns

 

The fund has outpaced its benchmark (Nifty Midcap 150 TRI) over the one-, two-, three-, and five-year trailing periods. It also surpassed its peers (funds ranked in the midcap category in CMFR as of December 2024) over the past six months, and in the one-, two-, three-, five-, seven-, and 10-year trailing periods.

 

An investment of ₹10,000 in the fund on June 25, 2007 (its inception date) would have grown to ₹1.77 lakh at an annualised return of 17.48 per cent as of April 30, 2025. In comparison, the same investment in the category would have reached ₹1.08 lakh at 14.31 per cent, while the benchmark would have grown to ₹1.24 lakh at 15.15 per cent.

 

A systematic investment plan (SIP) is a methodical approach to investing, allowing investors to contribute a fixed sum regularly. A monthly investment of ₹10,000 in the fund over the past seven years, totalling ₹8.4 lakh, would have grown to ₹19.14 lakh (an annualised return of 23.62 per cent), compared with ₹18.75 lakh (23.02 per cent) for the benchmark as of April 30, 2025. Overall, the fund has outperformed the benchmark in SIP periods of one, three, five, and seven years. 

 

Portfolio analysis

 

Over the past three years, the fund has shown a greater focus on midcap stocks. Allocations to largecap and smallcap stocks averaged 9.89 per cent and 17.27 per cent, respectively, while midcap stocks accounted for an average of 66.58 per cent. By contrast, the category averages were 13.89 per cent for largecap, 66.91 per cent for midcap, and 14.15 per cent for smallcap stocks. The fund’s allocation to smallcap stocks exceeded that of its peers.

 

The portfolio was diversified across 18 sectors. Financial services had the largest allocation at an average of 22.95 per cent, followed by capital goods (15.27 per cent), healthcare (9.96 per cent), information technology (6.88 per cent), and automotive and auto components (6.63 per cent).

 

During the period under analysis, the fund invested in 102 stocks, holding 47 consistently. Key contributors to the portfolio included Indian Hotels Company, Bharat Electronics, Max Healthcare Institute, REC, and Hindustan Aeronautics.