Compare the best value and contra funds in India — ICICI Prudential Value, SBI Contra, HSBC Value, Nippon India Value and UTI Value. Patient, contrarian investing in undervalued Indian stocks. Live NAV and returns from RightAdvise.
Sorted by 5-year CAGR. Click any fund for full analysis — rolling returns, drawdown chart, NAV history and risk ratios.
If you had invested ₹1 lakh 5 years ago in each fund, here is how much it would be worth today. Calculated from 5 years of daily NAV in the RightAdvise database.
💡 What is AAUM? AAUM stands for Average Assets Under Management — the average value of all investor money a fund managed during a specific quarter. Reported to SEBI every quarter via AMFI. More reliable than a single-day AUM snapshot.
| Fund | NAV | AAUM | 1Y Return | 3Y CAGR | 5Y CAGR | 10Y CAGR | Max Drawdown | Sharpe (3Y) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBI Contra Fund | ₹405.05 2026-06-04 | ₹46.9K Cr Jan–Mar 2026 | -1.4% | +15.7 % p.a. | +17.9 % p.a. | +16.2 % p.a. | -44.7% | 0.80 |
| ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund | ₹497.53 2026-06-04 | ₹58.9K Cr Jan–Mar 2026 | -1.5% | +16.7 % p.a. | +17.1 % p.a. | +15.6 % p.a. | -36.7% | 1.00 |
| Nippon India Value Fund | ₹240.13 2026-06-04 | ₹8.7K Cr Jan–Mar 2026 | -0.9% | +18.9 % p.a. | +16.5 % p.a. | +16.5 % p.a. | -38.6% | 0.94 |
| UTI Value Fund | ₹175.37 2026-06-04 | ₹7.9K Cr Jan–Mar 2026 | -2.1% | +15.3 % p.a. | +13.3 % p.a. | +13.9 % p.a. | -36.7% | 0.81 |
| HSBC Value Fund | ₹124.85 2026-06-04 | ₹14.0K Cr Jan–Mar 2026 | +3.4% | +20.8 % p.a. | — | — | -19.6% | 0.98 |
As per SEBI, Value Funds must follow a value investment strategy and invest at least 65% in equity. Contra Funds must follow a contrarian investment strategy — investing in out-of-favour stocks or sectors. An AMC can offer either a value fund OR a contra fund — not both. Both categories are taxed as equity funds — long-term gains above ₹1 lakh taxed at 10% LTCG.
Value and Contra funds are built on the same fundamental idea — buying good businesses when they are unloved and cheap, waiting patiently for the market to recognise their worth. Value funds use systematic screens to find stocks trading below their intrinsic value — typically low Price-to-Earnings, low Price-to-Book or high dividend yield relative to peers. Contra funds go a step further — they specifically invest in sectors or stocks that are currently out of favour with the market, making a contrarian bet on mean reversion.
The best value funds in India have delivered strong long-term returns because Indian markets tend to overprice momentum and underprice value during bull markets — creating buying opportunities for patient investors. ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund, managed by Sankaran Naren, is India's largest value fund and a prime example of how contrarian investing has rewarded patient investors. SBI Contra Fund takes the purest contrarian approach — actively seeking sectors that are deeply out of favour. Both strategies require patience — value investing can underperform growth strategies for extended periods before delivering outsized returns.
Historically, growth investing (backing companies with strong earnings momentum at premium valuations) has outperformed value investing during India's bull markets — particularly 2014-2018 and 2020-2024. But value and contra funds have delivered during recovery phases after sharp corrections — 2009 recovery, 2014 PSU rally, 2021-2022 banking recovery. Value investing requires patience measured in years, not months. The best results come from combining both styles in a portfolio rather than choosing one exclusively.
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