Investors who put money using systematic investment plans (SIPs) over the last three years in thematic/sectoral funds, smalland mid-cap schemes have earned more than double the returns compared to the broader market benchmark index Nifty 50. While an SIP in the Nifty 50 index returned 21.3% return for the last three years, several top sectoral funds, smalland mid-cap funds returned more than 45%. Among thematic funds, PSU funds saw a sharp rally due to their exposure to stocks from segments like defence, railway, banks and power finance companies, while infra companies did well owing to a revival in the capex cycle aided by high performance by the stocks of capital goods, power and infrastructure companies.