Value Research data shows that direct plans outperformed the regular schemes by a margin ranging from 4 basis points in liquid funds to 25 basis points in equity funds. Direct plans raced ahead because they have lower costs due to the absence of intermediaries.

Economic Times put the two data sets together and found that investing in these direct schemes resulted in a gain of Rs 401.94 crore for investors in 2013. Most of these gains were, however, in liquid funds and debt schemes, where institutional investors and corporates park their surplus funds.

Though the direct plans of equity schemes outperformed by the highest margin, they contributed only Rs 41.71 crore additional gains to this kitty in 2013.

Data for Jan-Dec 2013; Does not include closed-ended funds, including FMPs

These gains are likely to amplify as the outperformance snowballs due to the effect of compounding. Within a year of their launch, direct plans have cornered almost 30% of the total AUM of the mutual fund industry. In the coming years, the direct plans may eclipse regular schemes.

In some equity funds, the margin of outperformance was as high as 75-80 basis points. Don't underestimate the potential of what seems like a minor difference. If a fund earns 12%, even a 75 basis point higher return on a 10-year SIP of Rs 5,000 can make a difference of Rs 50,000 in the final corpus value.

Even with a wafer thin margin of 4 basis points, liquid funds were the biggest gainers in absolute terms. Liquid funds account for 48.8% of the total direct AUM. Debt funds, which account for 13.1%, yielded as much gains as liquid funds.