Banking and financial institution stocks have been outperforming the market from December when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) began pumping liquidity into the economy, despite some bad debt woes. HDFC Bank may have emerged as the best bet for equity investors as it has helped deliver for top fund managers more growth than the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50. No wonder that four of the five equity mutual funds that topped the 11.7 per cent growth of the National Stock Exchange's (NSE) benchmark index, which rose from a low of 10,488 on December 10 close to mark a high of 11,761 on April 3, had HDFC Bank as one of the top three stakes on their portfolios.