It is not unreasonable to expect a 15% return from mutual funds over a long term. The Indian economy is poised for significant growth ahead having made structural reforms such as GST, Bankruptcy laws.
Many Mutual Funds have given good returns compared to other asset classes, even the index. Here is a view of the rolling 5 year returns of Multicap funds vs the benchmark index of Nifty 500.
While 20 years is a long timeframe, it is important to understand that returns tend to be lump. Some years are very good and some years will be slow.
It is important to invest in direct plans as they not only get you higher returns, but also free you from ‘distributor bias’. When you get honest advice on the right investment options, your returns tend to be much higher than others who are using ‘free’ options.