Mumbai, March 6 -- UTI Nifty Index Fund, India's oldest Nifty 50 index fund, turned 25 this March.

Since its launch in 2000, it has delivered a return of 11.51%, which means a sum of Rs.10 lakh invested at its launch would have grown to approximately Rs.1.5 crore today.

While this return is commendable, active large-cap funds have outperformed it over a 25-year period. The average return for the large-cap category stands at 12.39%, while UTI Large Cap Fund (formerly UTI Mastershare) has generated a return of 12.87% over the same period.

However, the trend has reversed during the past decade. Over the last 10 years, the UTI Nifty Index Fund has delivered 10.54%, slightly ahead of the large-cap category average of 10.33% and comfortably ...