Compare Funds

Most investors compare funds by looking at a single number: the 3-year or 5-year return. That is the worst possible way to choose between two schemes. A fund that outperforms over a specific 5-year window may be riskier, more expensive, or simply lucky on the end date. The six dimensions that actually matter — and that this tool computes side by side — are returns consistency, expense ratio, portfolio overlap, risk-adjusted return, downside behaviour, and fund-house stability.

1. Returns consistency, not trailing returns

Trailing returns are end-date-sensitive. Rolling returns — the same CAGR computed across every overlapping 3-year or 5-year window — remove that sensitivity. When comparing two funds, look at the median rolling 5-year return, the 10th-percentile return (how bad it got in the worst periods), and how often the fund beat its benchmark.

2. Expense ratio

In FY 2025-26 benchmarks: a large-cap index fund should charge 0.1–0.2%, an active large-cap 0.8–1.0%, flexi-cap 0.8–1.2%, small-cap 0.9–1.3%. A 50-bps difference in expense ratio compounds into roughly 12% less terminal wealth over 25 years. This is not a small number. The cheaper fund starts with a permanent structural advantage that the expensive fund has to overcome through alpha every single year — and the empirical data says most of them don't.

3. Portfolio overlap

If you own two flexi-cap funds and their top-10 holdings overlap 70%, you are not diversified — you are paying two management fees for one exposure. Our overlap percentage uses the actual latest factsheet holdings, not category-level assumptions. Below 40% overlap = meaningfully different funds; above 60% = you should pick one.

4. Risk-adjusted return (Sharpe, Sortino)

Fund A at 15% return with 18% volatility looks similar to Fund B at 13% return with 10% volatility. They are not similar at all. Fund B has a Sharpe roughly 70% higher and will deliver far better outcomes if you ever have to redeem during a drawdown. For retirees using SWP, the Sortino ratio matters more than Sharpe — it penalises only downside volatility, which is the only volatility you actually care about when withdrawing.

5. Downside capture

How much of a falling market did the fund absorb? A 90% downside capture means the fund fell 9% when the index fell 10%. An 80% downside capture means it fell 8%. Over a full market cycle, lower downside capture is a strong predictor of long-term outperformance because the fund starts the next rally from a higher base. Compare this metric between any two candidate funds.

6. Fund-house stability

Manager tenure, AUM concentration, parent AMC stability. A brilliant manager at an AMC that has had three CEOs in four years is a different risk than the same manager at a stable house. The compare tool surfaces manager tenure and AMC AUM trend alongside every fund.

One more rule: never compare a Direct plan to a Regular plan. The expense ratio difference (usually 1–1.3% in the Regular's favour of the fund house, not yours) distorts every return number. Always compare Direct-to-Direct. Our tool defaults to Direct plans for this reason.