Rishabh Desai, an AMFI-registered mutual fund distributor based in Mumbai, replied:

The best place to get 10-15% CARG returns in the long run is in the equity market. Currently, Indian stock markets are sitting at high valuations. Achieving 10-15% CAGR returns from a short term perspective of three years can be a challenge for you and I would not suggest you to do any lump sum investment at this point of time.

Also, given the volatile nature of this asset class, you should venture into equities only if you have more than five years of holding. Again looking at the volatile nature of equities for your SIP investment, one year is not the right time horizon that you should have. At these high levels in the equity markets, you should have a time horizon of at least six to seven years. Given your moderate risk profile and your short-term time horizon, I would suggest sticking with high-quality short-term fixed deposits and loans mutual funds.