But when you’re paying an average annual fee of around 2 per cent, the minimum you expect rises by that much. Add to that the additional fund manager risk. I would add 5 percentage points today (the factor being linked to benchmark performance) to that. Else, why not go for an exchange traded fund? The question, therefore, investors should be asking is: how many funds have outperformed the Indices by 7 percentage points?

The answer: not too many. Over the past 12 months, two out of five funds (31 funds) outperformed the Sensex, while 18 funds (or one out of five) outperformed the Nifty. Over three years, 21 funds (28 per cent) outperformed the Nifty, while 13 funds (just 17 per cent) outperformed the Sensex. Overall, a below average score, and one that needs to be monitored carefully. I haven’t given up on them yet, but I suppose most of them need to show us the real money, adjusted for performance. We have applauded a rising tide so far; the going’s getting tougher now, as the numbers show.