New Delhi, July 24 -- Mid-cap mutual funds have emerged as the best-performing equity fund category across the last one, three and five years, reinforcing their reputation as a sweet spot for investors seeking higher growth without venturing into narrowly focused themes.

An analysis of equity mutual fund categories (excluding sectoral and thematic funds) shows that mid-cap funds generated average returns of 4.04% over one year, 17.98% annualised over three years and 15.77% annualised over five years.

Among equity categories, small-cap funds came closest to mid-caps, delivering average returns of 2.92% over one year, 16.62% over three years and 15.30% over five years.

Multi-cap funds generated 1.08%, 14.71% and 13.36%, respectively, whi...