Know About Your Financial Investments

March 30, 2026

Sanjeev Kalra

TV Channel ET Now Swadesh runs a popular programme Women’s Wednesday in which various women investors ask financial experts questions relating to financial investments, mutual funds etc. Last Wednesday one lady asked a very interesting question from the expert Harshvardhan Roongta about the best flexible fund and also that why Parag Parikh Flexicap Fund is there in every person’s portfolio? The question underlined Indian mutual fund investor’s obsession with Parag Parikh Flexicap Fund, which now is the largest actively managed single mutual fund scheme in India with its assets under management (AUM) crossing Rs 1.34 lakh crore.

Parag Parikh: Who was Mr Parag Parikh after whom the fund is named? He began his career as a stock broker in the late 1970s and later on founded Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services Private Limited in 1992. This company has sponsored PPFAS Mutual Fund, which was launched in 2013.

Pravin Palande, in his article in Forbes India, written at the time of death of Sh. Parag Parikh in 2015 mentions that there was more to the man than just finance. “The idea is to make the middle class of this country into a richer class. Most PMS schemes are aimed to target the rich and make them richer” Parag Parikh told when I was looking for a job in the financial sector around 2004.Much has been written about Mr. Parag Parikh’s and this Fund’s belief in applying globally accepted tenets of Behavioural Finance and vide which the focus is on long-term thinking and not merely following the latest fad.The Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence India 2026 were recently announced in order to recognise funds and asset managers that have served investors well over the long term. The awards highlight those managers who Morningstar’s research team believes can deliver strong risk-adjusted returns over time.

Parag Parikh was awarded Best Flexi Cap fund award.According to SEBI regulations, a flexi cap fund is an open-ended equity scheme that can invest dynamically across large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap stocks, with a minimum of 65% equity exposure. This flexibility allows fund managers to shift allocations based on market opportunities.

Future Challenges: While the journey has been so far and so good; this fund’s success has created its own challenges. With more success comes more investments and now every one is asking one question: whether size can affect future performances? When a fund manages tens of thousands of crores of money, investing becomes harder.

At that scale even routine trades can move prices and complicate decisions. Since beginning, it has stuck to just one scheme — Flexi Cap Fund. However in January 2026 a new scheme has been launched — Parag Parikh Large Cap Fund. It is interesting to mention that firms like ICICI Prudential MF, HDFC MF, and Aditya Birla Sunlife M.F have over 100 schemes.

The launch of the large-cap scheme has turned the spotlight on this fund house with one article commenting: Parag Parikh MF: the rebel that finally conformed. Is it really a departure from the philosophy that prioritised investor simplicity over asset gathering? Time will answer this but I am sure that this fund house will stick to its earlier principles.
(Disclaimer: Disclaimer: before investing in any mutual fund discussed here, please consult your financial adviser)

( Sanjeev Kalra is a retired IPS officer. He has been following mutual funds for the last 15 years. In this column, he will talk about his favourite mutual funds. His email is : [email protected])