Top 5 index mutual funds with highest SIP returns in 5 years: No. 1 fund has turned Rs 25,000 monthly SIP into Rs 31 lakh; get details

Top 5 index SIP mutual funds in 5 years: There are two roads. One is well-built but dimly lit, has hazy signboards with hardly understood instructions, and is heading to an unknown territory. There is another road that is of modest quality, well-lit, with bright signboards and clear instructions, and leading to a familiar territory. Which one will you pick? Most likely the second one. When a novice investor enters the mutual fund market with almost zero knowledge, they have many options to invest in, even if they pick equity funds. They can either pick schemes that may give high returns but are extremely volatile due to market fluctuations, or they can pick other schemes with modest returns and higher stability. Index mutual funds represent the second category. They follow an index, e.g., Nifty 50, Nifty 100, BSE 500.

So, when a new person with little knowledge enters the mutual fund market, they may invest in index funds since their money will be invested in the same companies that the index follows.

If it's a Nifty 50 index fund, it will invest in the same companies and in the same proportion as its parent index has done.

If some companies drop out of the index and are replaced by new ones, the fund will also change the proportion.

Index funds also go through fluctuations but are comparatively safer than mid- and small-cap heavy funds.

Not just beginners, but seasoned investors also park their money in index funds for their sheer stability.

Even though index funds are known more for their stability than their high returns, a number of them have given annualised SIP returns (XIRR) of up to 20.30 per cent in the five-year period.

Here, we take you through five of them and will tell you what the Rs 25,000 monthly SIP in each of the funds has become as of today's date.

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