New Delhi, Aug. 8 -- Prior to investing in a mutual fund, it is vital to examine the past returns of one scheme and compare the same with similar schemes in the same category.

Past returns typically give an indication of how the scheme has performed in the past, which, some believe, sets the tone of future performance.

Importantly, comparing the scheme of one category with another scheme in a different category is equivalent to comparing apples with oranges. This is why we handpick one category of mutual fund schemes - focused mutual funds - and list out thetop performing schemes within this category based on past five-year returns.

At the outset, let us first explain what exactly focused mutual funds are. These are equity mutual funds...