Three-year record, August 2026 portfolio, data as of 30 September 2026
Axis Multicap Fund: First of 21 Peers Over Three Years, and How It Is Built
A 67.43% three-year return, a 100th percentile rank and ₹11,984.67 crore of assets. The portfolio shows where the weight sits, and the return history shows when the gains arrived.
Between 29 September 2023 and 30 September 2026, the NAV of Axis Multicap Fund (Direct Growth) rose from ₹12.16 to ₹20.36. That is a gain of 67.43%, the highest of the 21 Direct Growth multi-cap funds in DirectGrowth's data that have a three-year record.
The fund is also the second-largest by assets of the 66 equity funds that scored above 80 on the Vriddhi Score on 30 September 2026. Size, a steady run of strong scores and a three-year lead make it a natural fund to read closely. The rest of this article reads it closely, including the parts that are less flattering than the headline.
The fund in numbers
Axis Multicap Fund in numbers
The 1-year, 2-year and 3-year figures are point-to-point returns ending 30 September 2026, taken from NAVs of ₹18.58 (30 September 2025), ₹19.22 (30 September 2024) and ₹12.16 (29 September 2023). The yearly equivalent of the three-year figure is our own conversion of the total return. The Vriddhi Score is DirectGrowth's own composite score, on a scale of 0 to 100, and it changes daily.
When the three-year gain arrived
The three-year figure needs one more cut before it is quoted. From ₹12.16 on 29 September 2023 to ₹19.22 on 30 September 2024, the NAV rose 58.06%. From ₹19.22 to ₹20.36 on 30 September 2026, it rose 5.93% over two years.
So most of the three-year gain belongs to the first of the three years. The last two have been much quieter. The one-year return of 9.58% still places the fund in the 80th percentile of its peers, and the two-year return of 5.93% in the 84th. Those are good relative positions on modest absolute numbers.
Over the same one-year and two-year periods, the benchmark proxy on DirectGrowth shows 0.25% and -5.57%. The proxy is built from index-tracker NAVs and is a validated estimate, not an exact index value. It gives context for the fund's two recent figures. It is not a promise about the next two years.
The path was not smooth. In the NAV history DirectGrowth holds from September 2024, the largest fall from a peak ran from 26 September 2024 to 28 February 2025 and measured 18.1%. The fund's latest high is ₹21.33 on 31 August 2026, and the NAV of ₹20.36 on 30 September 2026 is 4.55% below it. The one-year low was ₹16.84 on 23 March 2026, and the NAV has recovered 20.90% from that point.
What a multi-cap fund has to hold
Multi-cap funds in India are required to keep at least 25% of their assets in each of large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap stocks. The scheme page of Axis Mutual Fund states the same minimum of 25% in each segment. The result is a fund that cannot drift into a single corner of the market, however well that corner has done recently.
DirectGrowth sizes each holding using its own stock classification, the same one used on the fund page. For the 31 August 2026 disclosure, 98.4% of the equity weight could be classified. Of that classified equity, the split is below.
| Segment | Share of classified equity |
|---|---|
| Large cap | 41.68% |
| Mid cap | 27.51% |
| Small cap | 30.81% |
All three segments clear the 25% floor, and the small-cap share is larger than the mid-cap share. Two holdings, together about 1.59% of net assets, could not be classified and are left out of the split.
Holdings: wide, with no single stock above 3.6%
The 31 August 2026 disclosure lists 114 lines. Equity is 98.50% of net assets across 111 holdings, with the balance in one debt line (1.44%) and minor cash and other items. The ten largest holdings add up to 23.31% of net assets, and the largest single stock is 3.57%.
| Holding | 31 Aug 2026 | 31 Jul 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| ICICI Bank | 3.57% | 3.85% |
| HDFC Bank | 2.72% | 3.56% |
| Sona BLW Precision Forgings | 2.48% | 2.61% |
| Shriram Finance | 2.40% | 2.47% |
| Ather Energy | 2.14% | 1.55% |
| Eternal | 2.13% | 2.14% |
| Apar Industries | 2.07% | 1.73% |
| Welspun Corp | 2.07% | 1.56% |
| Multi Commodity Exchange of India | 2.03% | 1.23% |
| TD Power Systems | 1.70% | 0.97% |
The pattern in the table is a trim at the top and an addition lower down. HDFC Bank fell from 3.56% to 2.72%, a cut of 0.84 percentage points. Multi Commodity Exchange of India rose from 1.23% to 2.03%, and TD Power Systems from 0.97% to 1.70%.
By sector label in the disclosure, banks hold 15.90% of net assets, auto components 9.82%, electrical equipment 9.54% and pharmaceuticals and biotechnology 7.53%. Automobiles hold 5.65%, finance 5.49% and retailing 5.31%.
Changes between July and August
Nine holdings, together about 4.12% of net assets, appear in the August disclosure and not in July. Seven holdings, together about 1.72%, were in July and are gone in August. The line count rose from 112 to 114, and the equity share of net assets moved from 98.75% to 98.50%.
That is a small amount of turnover for a fund of this size. The August portfolio is mostly the July portfolio with its weights adjusted, which fits a fund that spreads its bets across more than a hundred names.
Size and the direction of money
Month-end assets under management rose from ₹9,656.66 crore on 30 April 2026 to ₹10,457.27 crore on 30 June, ₹10,973.14 crore on 31 July and ₹11,984.67 crore on 31 August 2026. Over those four months the fund's NAV rose about 14.1%, which explains part of the increase and not all of it.
Subtracting the market-driven part leaves an estimated net inflow of about ₹964 crore between 30 April and 31 August 2026. This is our own estimate, not a disclosed figure. It assumes the NAV growth applies to the opening assets, and it ignores timing within each month.
How the Vriddhi Score has behaved
The Vriddhi Score of 87.28 on 30 September 2026 placed the fund 25th among 1,207 eligible equity funds. Across the 21 daily score files for September 2026, the score stayed between 85.9 and 92.4, and above 80 on every one of them. In the monthly category snapshot frozen on 1 September 2026, the fund was 4th of 30 multi-cap funds.
That is steadier than most funds above 80. Many of them crossed the line only on some days of the month. A steady score is still a snapshot of recent evidence, and the data behind it is updated every day.
What the data does not tell us
The figures here describe what has happened, not what will happen. They do not say why the fund's first year was so strong, how the manager makes decisions, or how the portfolio will hold up in a falling market. The largest fall in the history we hold was 18.1%, and a future fall could be larger or smaller.
Two details are also left to the fund's own documents: the current expense ratio of the Direct plan and the exit load. Both can change, and the scheme page of the fund house is the place to confirm them before relying on any number.
What to watch next
Three things will show whether the pattern holds. The first is the small-cap share, now 30.81% of classified equity, against the 25% floor. The second is whether the pace of inflows seen since April continues as the assets grow. The third is the one-year and two-year returns against the benchmark proxy, which have carried the recent story more than the three-year figure.
Sources and notes
- Axis Multicap Fund (Direct plan), scheme page, Axis Mutual Fund: scheme category, benchmark and the 25% minimum in each market-cap segment.
Holdings, NAV, AUM and returns come from DirectGrowth's validated database, which is built from the fund house's monthly portfolio disclosure and published NAVs. NAV and return figures are as of 30 September 2026, holdings and AUM as of 31 August 2026, and the Vriddhi Score as of 30 September 2026 (data generated 30 September 2026, 17:59 UTC). Peer percentiles are DirectGrowth's own calculation across Direct Growth funds of the same category. The benchmark figures are a validated proxy built from index-tracker NAVs. Estimated inflows are our own calculation from month-end AUM and NAV. Figures change after publication.
This article is for information and education only. It is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any scheme. The Vriddhi Score is DirectGrowth's own analysis and changes as new data arrives. Past performance may or may not be sustained in future. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Read all scheme-related documents carefully before making any investment decisions, and consult your financial advisor.