Mutual Fund Returns Calculator — CAGR & absolute return
Compute CAGR (annualized) and absolute returns on your mutual fund investment. Simple lump-sum return analysis.
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About the MF Returns Calculator
CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) is the industry standard for reporting mutual fund returns. It's the annualized rate that would have produced your gain if growth were steady year after year — even though actual returns are jagged. Reporting CAGR (instead of absolute return) is mandatory for mutual fund factsheets in India when reporting returns over periods longer than 1 year, per SEBI advertising regulations.
Formula: CAGR = (Final Value / Initial Value)^(1/years) − 1. Works for any investment held for a continuous period, not just mutual funds — direct stocks, real estate, gold, or even a business valuation. Important caveat: CAGR is appropriate only when there are no in-between cashflows. If you added or withdrew money during the holding period, you need XIRR (Extended Internal Rate of Return) instead, which handles dated cashflows. SIPs, SWPs, and partial withdrawals all need XIRR.
Quick check: if your CAGR beats inflation by 3–6%, you're doing well. Beating Nifty 50's long-term CAGR (~12% over 20 years) consistently is the real benchmark for active funds — yet roughly 70–80% of active large-cap funds underperform the Nifty 50 TRI over 10-year windows, which is why low-cost index funds (Nifty 50, Nifty Next 50, Nifty 500) have become so popular among Indian retail investors.
What 'good CAGR' looks like by asset class for Indian investors over 10+ year windows: large-cap equity MFs 11–13%, flexi-cap 12–15%, mid-cap 14–17%, small-cap 15–19% (with much higher volatility), debt MFs 6–8%, gold 8–10%, real estate 6–9%, FDs 6.5–8%. Anything claiming 25%+ CAGR over multiple years should be examined skeptically — it's either short-term lucky, includes survivorship bias, or hides leverage/risk.
Use this calculator for honest portfolio review. Pull your invested amount and current value across all funds, plug in the years held, and compare resulting CAGR to the relevant benchmark (Nifty 50 TRI for large-cap, Nifty Midcap 150 TRI for mid-cap, etc.). Funds that have under-performed their benchmark by 2%+ for 5+ years are almost always worth switching. Past performance is not a guarantee, but persistent under-performance versus an index is the clearest signal that an active fund isn't earning its expense ratio.