What if one mutual fund had managed to deliver more than 20% returns on SIP investments across three, five, and 10 years? SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund has done exactly that.
The fund has delivered 22.58% XIRR in three years, 24.04% in five years, and 20.97% in 10 years, making it the only active healthcare/pharma fund to cross the 20% mark across all three periods, according to Value Research data.
Its strong performance is not limited to its sector peers. We analysed 36 active SBI Mutual Fund schemes across categories and found SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund to be the best SBI fund for SIP returns across three, five and 10 years.
The fund has also remained among SBI’s top performers for lump-sum investments. It tops the three-year chart with a 24.60% CAGR, ranks third over five years with 18.84%, and is among the top 10 SBI funds over 10 years with a 15.10% CAGR.
But there is an important catch: this is a sectoral fund, with most of its money invested in healthcare. So, while the returns look impressive, investors also need to understand the risks before considering it.
SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund Performance
The SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund – direct plan has delivered strong long-term lump-sum returns, outperforming its benchmark across 3, 5 and 10-year time frames.
SIP performance
| Monthly SIP amount | Investment duration | Returns in % | SIP would have grown to |
| Rs 10,000 | 3 years | 22.58 | Rs 5 lakh approx |
| Rs 10,000 | 5 years | 24.04 | Rs 10.88 lakh approx |
| Rs 10,000 | 10 years | 20.97 | Rs 36.28 lakh approx |
Lump-sum performance
The SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund – Direct Plan has delivered strong returns across most time periods, outperforming its benchmark, the BSE Healthcare TRI, as well as its sectoral pharma category. The fund has generated a 23.90% return year-to-date (YTD), compared with 16.54% for the benchmark and 18.01% for the category.
The fund has continued to outperform the category and benchmark over the shorter term. In comparison to the benchmark’s 17.66% and the category’s 19.40%, it produced 23.65% in six months. Additionally noteworthy is the fund’s longer-term performance. SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund outperformed the category at 16.30% and the benchmark at 14.67% over the course of a year, delivering 20.39%.
| Fund name | 3-Year Returns In % | 5-Year Returns In % | 10-Year Returns In % |
| SBI Healthcare Opportunities Dir | 24.60 | 18.84 | 15.10 |
| BSE Healthcare TRI | 22.91 | 14.86 | 12.81 |
| Equity: Sectoral-Pharma | 22.92 | 15.83 | 15.43 |
Source: Value Research as of 19th August 2026
SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund performance vs other pharma funds
| Funds | 3-Year SIP Returns In % | 5-Year SIP Returns In % | 10-Year SIP Returns In % |
| SBI Healthcare Opportunities Dir | 22.58 | 24.04 | 20.97 |
| UTI Healthcare Dir | 21.38 | 22.46 | 19.83 |
| Mirae Asset Healthcare Dir | 20.49 | 21.27 | – |
| ABSL Pharma & Healthcare Dir | 19.02 | 20.56 | – |
| LIC MF Healthcare Dir | 18.86 | 19.14 | – |
| DSP Healthcare Dir | 18.54 | 20.75 | – |
| Quant Healthcare Dir | 17.68 | – | – |
| ICICI Pru Nifty Pharma Index Dir | 17.50 | – | – |
| ICICI Pru Pharma Healthcare and Diagnostics Dir | 16.83 | 21.07 | – |
| ITI Pharma and Healthcare Dir | 15.80 | – | – |
| Tata India Pharma & Healthcare Dir | 15.68 | 19.08 | 19.15 |
| Nippon India Pharma Dir | 14.83 | 18.22 | 19.09 |
Source: Value Research as of 19th August 2026
Over the past three to five years, India’s post-COVID health expenditures, US FDA approvals for India to supply generic medicines, China+1 API manufacturing shift, rupee depreciation, strong company earnings, Biopharma SHAKTI initiative, persistent Production Linked Incentive (PLI) funding, strategic customs duty waivers on essential medicines, robust budget allocation for the pharma industry, and much more have all contributed to the rise in pharma and healthcare mutual funds.
About SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund
This sectoral pharma fund was launched by SBI Mutual Fund on January 01, 2013, which means that the fund has completed 13 years of existence.
Tanmaya Desai is the current fund manager of SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund and has been managing the fund since June 2011.
The fund’s direct plan has an expense ratio of 0.75%, whereas the regular plan has a higher expense ratio of 1.59%. The fund’s AUM as of 31 Jul 2026 was Rs 5405.77Cr.
The fund makes at least 80% of its investments in equity and equity-related securities in the healthcare industry and the remaining 20% in debt or money market securities, as well as shares of companies outside the healthcare industry.
The SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund carries a relatively high risk profile, primarily because it is a sector-focused equity fund with significant exposure to healthcare and pharmaceutical companies. Its standard deviation is 14.36%, beta is 0.84, and Sharpe ratio is 1.16.
Top stock-wise holdings
| Top 10 companies | Net% To AUM |
| Sun Pharmaceutical Industries | 12.72 |
| Divi’S Laboratories | 7.46 |
| Acutaas Chemicals | 5.17 |
| Cipla | 5.07 |
| Apollo Hospitals Enterprise | 4.98 |
| Torrent Pharmaceuticals | 4.74 |
| Max Healthcare Institute | 4.58 |
| Laurus Labs | 4.04 |
| Aurobindo Pharma | 3.86 |
| Aster Dm Quality Care | 3.65 |
Source: Fund factsheet as of 31/07/2026
Top sector-wise allocation
| Sectors | Net% To AUM |
| Healthcare | 93.81 |
| Chemicals | 4.5 |
| Cash and cash equivalents (CCE) | 1.64 |
| Sovereign | 0.05 |
Key takeaway
Companies involved in pharmaceuticals, hospitals, medical equipment, healthcare service providers, and biotechnology make up the healthcare space.
Because the SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund comes from the pharmaceutical industry, it poses a much higher risk than other diversified funds.
Although the scheme has consistently beaten its benchmark, investors should not expect the same returns in the future because mutual funds are susceptible to market risk, and prior performance should not be expected in the future.
The SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund appears to be a robust healthcare-sector fund, but only in terms of returns over the next three, five, and ten years. You shouldn’t choose the fund just because of the past returns. The SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund is a good option for investors who already have diversified funds in their portfolio, but new investors should avoid it due to its high concentration risk when compared to other diversified funds like flexi-cap or multi-cap, large and mid-cap funds, or multi-asset and hybrid categories.
Investors who have long-term financial goals of 5 to 7 years and can tolerate sector-specific volatility can consider investing in SBI Healthcare Opportunities Fund, and those having low risk tolerance and looking for guaranteed/steady returns should avoid it,
Sector outlook, consistency of outperformance, portfolio concentration, fund manager’s track record, expense ratio, downside risk, valuation of underlying stocks, and overlap with existing mutual funds are important considerations when choosing a fund.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, financial, tax, or legal advice. Any illustrations, examples, or return projections used in this article are for explanatory purposes only and do not guarantee actual investment outcomes. The views and opinions expressed by experts quoted in this article are their own and should not be considered investment recommendations. Readers should consult a qualified professional before making any financial decisions.
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