New Delhi, Oct. 3 -- For mutual fund investors, September 2026 offered a useful reminder of why fund performance needs to be viewed against the right benchmark and across multiple time periods.

While mid-cap and large-cap funds faced a sharp correction during the month, the longer-term performance of mid- and small-cap benchmarks remained stronger than that of the large-cap benchmark.

For investors evaluating their mutual funds, benchmark returns provide a reference point to understand how a fund has performed relative to its underlying market segment.

Large-cap funds are compared with the Nifty 100 TRI, mid-cap funds with the Nifty Midcap 150 TRI, small-cap funds with the Nifty Smallcap 250 TRI, while the Nifty 500 TRI is used as a br...