Mutual fund vs benchmark checker
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Your funds 3 of 5
Full calendar years each fund beat its benchmark, direct plans.
ICICI Prudential Large Cap vs Nifty 100 TRI
Example: three of the largest funds by assets, a large cap, a flexi cap and a small cap fund, on direct plans. Search above to check the funds you hold.
Calendar years it beat its benchmark
5 of 6
2020 to 2025 · Benchmark: Nifty 100 TRI
5-year return a year
9.9%
Benchmark 7.0% · +2.9 pts
₹1 lakh in 2020 became
₹2.69 L
End of 2025 · ₹2.29 L in the benchmark · ₹40,262 more
Years it beat the category average
5 of 6
Average of 32 large cap funds, direct plans
Difference = fund return minus benchmark return, in percentage points
| Year | Fund | Benchmark | Against benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 11.9% | 10.0% | Beat+1.9 pts |
| 2024 | 17.5% | 12.6% | Beat+5.0 pts |
| 2023 | 28.1% | 21.0% | Beat+7.2 pts |
| 2022 | 7.5% | 4.8% | Beat+2.7 pts |
| 2021 | 30.0% | 25.9% | Beat+4.1 pts |
| 2020 | 14.2% | 15.8% | Trailed−1.6 pts |
- Benchmark: Nifty 100 TRI, the SEBI tier 1 index for large cap funds. The fund's own scheme documents may name a related index, so treat it as the category yardstick.
- Index figures follow a low-cost index fund that tracks the index, so they include its small yearly cost (about 0.2–0.5%). The Nifty 100 TRI is followed through the Axis Nifty 100 Index Fund; its history here starts Oct 2019.
- Years before 2020 are not compared because the index history here starts in Oct 2019.
- Category average: simple average of the direct plans (growth) of large cap funds, 32 in the latest year. Each fund counts only in years it existed for the whole year.
How did every fund you own do against its benchmark?
Upload your CAS and Kalpi checks each fund you hold against its benchmark, on the plan you actually own, with your fund overlap, the cost of regular plans and a portfolio health score. How Kalpi handles your data
What is a mutual fund's benchmark?
A benchmark is the index a fund measures itself against: what you would have earned by simply owning that part of the market. Each scheme names its benchmark in its scheme documents and factsheet. Under SEBI's two-tier system, the tier 1 benchmark reflects the fund's category, such as a large-cap or small-cap index, and an optional tier 2 benchmark can reflect the manager's style.
TRI vs price index: why the Nifty 50 number misleads
The Nifty 50 level quoted in the news is a price index: it ignores dividends. A fund's NAV includes the dividends its stocks pay. So a fund compared with the price index gets a head start roughly equal to the index's dividend yield every year. The fair comparison is the Total Return Index (TRI), which reinvests dividends, and it is what SEBI requires funds to use.
How the checker works
For each full calendar year we take the change in the fund's NAV from the last NAV of December to the last NAV of the next December, the same change in its benchmark index, and the simple average return of every fund in its category on the same plan. Trailing returns run 1, 3, 5 and 10 years to the latest NAV, a year (annualised) beyond one year. The rolling view repeats the three-year comparison for every trading day as a start date, which shows how consistent the result is, not just how it looks from one starting point.
Difference = fund return − benchmark TRI return (percentage points) · Annualised return = (end value ÷ start value)^(1 ÷ years) − 1
Kalpi does not carry index values yet, and the benchmark named in each scheme's documents is not in its data. So each fund is measured against the SEBI tier 1 index for its category, or the index an index fund tracks. Some funds name a close relative instead, such as a BSE index, so treat it as the category yardstick. Index figures follow a low-cost index fund that tracks the index, so they include its small yearly cost (about 0.2–0.5%). The Nifty 50 and Sensex histories here go back to 2006 and 2010; the other indices to late 2019, when the index funds that track them started, so most active funds are compared over the full years since 2020.
| Fund category | Benchmark used |
|---|---|
| Large cap | Nifty 100 TRI |
| Large and mid cap | Nifty LargeMidcap 250 TRI |
| Mid cap | Nifty Midcap 150 TRI |
| Small cap | Nifty Smallcap 250 TRI |
| Multi cap | Nifty 500 Multicap 50:25:25 TRI |
| Flexi cap, focused, ELSS, value, contra, dividend yield | Nifty 500 TRI |
| Banking sector funds | Nifty Bank TRI |
| Index funds | The index they track (Nifty 50, Nifty Next 50, Nifty 100, Nifty 500, Midcap 150, Smallcap 250, Sensex, Nifty Bank) |
| Hybrid, other sectoral and thematic funds | No index yet: compared with the category average only |
A year counts as beaten when the fund's return is at least 0.05 percentage points above the benchmark's. Only full years are counted, so a young fund shows fewer years. Category averages count each fund only in years it existed for the whole year.
How to read your result
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Beat in most years and most rolling periods | The fund has added return over its index consistently, after costs. |
| Mixed years, ahead over the longest period | Uneven, with a few strong years doing the work. |
| Trailed in most years and periods | The fund has returned less than its index after costs. Compare the gap with its expense ratio. |
| Behind the benchmark, ahead of the category | Most funds in the category also trailed; this one trailed less. |
One year on its own says little. Look at the pattern across years and rolling periods, and remember past returns do not tell you future ones. The rolling returns calculator shows every 1, 3 and 5-year period of a fund on its own, and compare mutual funds puts returns, risk and cost side by side.
How often do active funds beat their benchmarks in India?
S&P Dow Jones Indices' SPIVA India Mid-Year 2026 scorecard, to 30 June 2026, found that 80% of Indian large-cap funds trailed the S&P India LargeMidCap index over 3 years, 85% over 5 years and 74% over 10 years. For mid- and small-cap funds the figures were 53%, 55% and 82%, and for ELSS funds 64%, 71% and 80%. SPIVA uses S&P indices, not each fund's own benchmark, so treat it as the market-wide picture, not a view on any one fund.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my mutual fund beat its benchmark?
Compare the fund’s return with its benchmark Total Return Index over the same periods. Add your fund above to see each full calendar year, its 1, 3, 5 and 10-year returns and every rolling three-year period side by side, with the difference in percentage points.
What is the benchmark of a mutual fund?
It is the index the fund measures itself against, named in its scheme documents and factsheet. A large-cap fund usually uses a large-cap index such as the Nifty 100 TRI or BSE 100 TRI, and a small-cap fund a small-cap index. This checker uses the SEBI tier 1 index for the fund’s category, so every fund in a category is measured against the same index.
What is TRI in mutual funds?
TRI stands for Total Return Index. It tracks an index assuming all dividends are reinvested, which matches how a fund’s NAV works. SEBI requires fund benchmarks to be TRIs, so it is the fair yardstick for a fund’s returns.
Should my fund beat the Nifty 50?
Only if the Nifty 50 is its benchmark. A fund should be judged against the index that matches the kind of stocks it buys. The Nifty 50 TRI is still a useful simple yardstick for a large-cap fund, as long as you use the TRI and not the price index.
What is a Tier 1 and Tier 2 benchmark?
Since SEBI’s 2021 framework, every scheme has a tier 1 benchmark that reflects its category, and may add a tier 2 benchmark that reflects the manager’s style. Tier 1 is what lets you compare funds in the same category on the same footing.
How many years should I look at?
At least five, and ideally the full record. Single years swing a lot. Rolling three-year periods show whether a fund beat its benchmark consistently or thanks to one or two strong years.
What if my fund trailed its benchmark?
Look at how often and by how much. A fund that trails in most years and most rolling periods has returned less than its index after costs. Part of the gap is often the expense ratio, which is higher in regular plans. This tool shows the record; it does not tell you what to do with the fund.
Why do direct and regular plans show different results?
Both plans hold the same portfolio, but the regular plan’s higher expense ratio is taken out of its returns. So the regular plan beats its benchmark less often, or trails it by more. Pick the plan you actually hold with the switch above.
How often do active funds beat their benchmarks in India?
Less often than most people expect. SPIVA India Mid-Year 2026 found 85% of Indian large-cap funds trailed the S&P India LargeMidCap index over five years to 30 June 2026, and 55% of mid- and small-cap funds trailed their SPIVA comparison index over the same five years. These are market-wide figures, not about any one fund.
Where does the data come from?
Fund returns come from each plan's daily NAVs, published through AMFI and collected by Kalpi. Kalpi does not carry index values yet, so each index is followed through the NAV of a low-cost index fund on it, which includes that fund's small yearly cost (about 0.2–0.5%). Category averages are the simple average of every fund in the same category on the same plan, from Kalpi's calendar-year and trailing returns. To see which of your funds hold the same stocks, use the mutual fund overlap checker; to run this check on everything you own, use the portfolio analyser.
For education only. This tool compares a fund’s past returns with a benchmark index and its category average; it is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or switch any fund. Fund returns are from daily NAVs. Index returns follow a low-cost index fund on each index, so they include that fund’s small yearly cost.