Blog
What the numbers said — fund returns and costs, foreign and domestic flows, index valuations, gold and silver — plus tax, retirement and personal-finance basics, written from the same data the rest of this site shows, with the date on every figure.
Overnight funds: 35 funds within half a point, cost decides
11 Oct 2026
Overnight funds returned 4.95% to 5.47% in the year to 9 October 2026, median 5.25%. The six that charge 0.15% or more all finished in the bottom group.
Debt & Hybrid FundsCosts & Fees
Short duration funds trailed overnight funds in a year
11 Oct 2026
The median short duration fund returned 4.96% in the year to 9 October 2026, below overnight (5.25%), liquid (6.50%) and ultra-short (6.55%) funds.
Debt & Hybrid FundsFund Returns
Value funds: 14 of 22 lost money in a year, October 2026
11 Oct 2026
The median value fund returned -3.03% in the year to 9 October 2026 but 11.27% a year over three. Best and worst funds, and how the Value 50 index compares.
Fund Returns10-year gilt funds: Bandhan vs ICICI vs SBI vs UTI
10 Oct 2026
Four 10-year constant maturity gilt funds to 9 October 2026: Bandhan made 2.96% in a year, UTI 1.81%. All four beat NSE's 10-year G-Sec index after costs.
Debt & Hybrid FundsFund ReturnsCosts & FeesAditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund in 2026: a profile
10 Oct 2026
Aditya Birla Sun Life managed ₹4.42 lakh crore in July–September 2026, sixth of 55 houses and up 3.9% in a year. Its largest scheme is a liquid fund.
Fund IndustryPortfolio Holdings
Atal Pension Yojana: what it earns and what it costs
10 Oct 2026
A ₹5,000 APY pension costs ₹210 a month from 18 and ₹1,454 from 40. The chart implies about 8.2% a year; the APY fund earned about 7.5% over ten years.
RetirementInvesting StrategyFund ReturnsAveraging down a stock: what the new average hides
10 Oct 2026
Buying more after a 40% fall cuts the break-even rise from 66.7% to 22.2%, but triples the stake and nearly doubles the loss if it halves again.
Investing StrategyPersonal Finance
Axis Mutual Fund in 2026: assets, funds, fees and holdings
10 Oct 2026
Axis managed ₹3.83 lakh crore in July–September 2026, eighth of 55 houses. Its four largest equity funds all trail their category median; two smaller ones lead.
Fund IndustryFund Returns
Multi cap: Axis vs WhiteOak vs HSBC vs LIC MF
10 Oct 2026
The four best 3-year multi-cap funds are 1.36 points apart, 17.11% to 18.47% a year to 9 October 2026. Risk, fees, cap mix and managers decide the rest.
Fund ReturnsInvesting Strategy
Banking & PSU debt funds: Kotak vs Franklin vs UTI vs LIC
10 Oct 2026
To 9 October 2026, UTI's banking and PSU fund made 5.98% in a year on a 0.45-year book; Kotak's made 4.82% on a 3.73-year book, but yields more now.
Debt & Hybrid FundsFund ReturnsCosts & FeesBreak-even for a small business: what a price cut costs
10 Oct 2026
A namkeen unit with ₹2.16 lakh of monthly fixed costs breaks even at 12,000 packs. A 5% price cut pushes that to 13,936 and cuts profit by 69%.
Personal Finance
Business cycle funds: all 10 with 3 years beat Nifty 500
10 Oct 2026
19 business cycle funds hold ₹42,278 crore. All 10 with three years beat the Nifty 500 TRI to October 2026, at a median 12.4% a year. Banks lead most of them.
SectorsFund Returns
How to calculate your SIP's XIRR in a spreadsheet
10 Oct 2026
A 12-instalment SIP in a Nifty 50 index fund, worked in Excel: the cash-flow table, signs, dates, =XIRR(), and why it shows -14.56% when the loss was 8.2%.
Investing StrategyPersonal Finance
Capital goods and engineering stocks: 10.7% of fund money
10 Oct 2026
Equity funds held ₹3,77,580 crore in capital goods and construction companies, 10.66% of their Indian shares. L&T led; small-cap funds leaned in most.
Portfolio HoldingsSectorsCar on EMI now, or invest the EMI and buy later?
10 Oct 2026
Saving ₹2 lakh plus a ₹19,908 EMI at 7% buys a ₹10 lakh car in 42 months as its price rises 5% a year, leaving ₹1.35 lakh by month 48. The cost is the wait.
Personal FinanceInvesting Strategy
Car on-road price: how ₹12 lakh becomes ₹13.96 lakh
10 Oct 2026
A ₹12 lakh ex-showroom petrol car costs ₹13.96 lakh on the road in Maharashtra. Road tax, insurance, TCS and registration, line by line, in eight states.
Personal FinanceTax
Checking a fund manager's record: three worked examples
10 Oct 2026
How to read a manager page: tenure per fund, which returns are really theirs, and how those funds rank. Worked on three managers, as of 9 October 2026.
Investing StrategyFund IndustryComparing two funds side by side: what to read first
10 Oct 2026
A compare page has 30-odd rows. Read them in this order: inception, long windows, rolling returns, falls, then cost. Two real pairs, as of 9 October 2026.
Investing StrategyFund Returns
Consistent compounders screen: 58 funds, gold at the top
10 Oct 2026
58 funds beat 15% a year over both 3 and 5 years with ₹1,000 crore or more in assets. Gold and US funds fill the top ten; no large-cap fund qualifies.
Fund ReturnsInvesting StrategyCTC to in-hand salary: ₹6 lakh to ₹50 lakh, worked out
10 Oct 2026
A ₹20 lakh CTC pays about ₹1.28 lakh a month in hand under the new regime. PF, gratuity and tax for eleven CTCs from ₹6 lakh to ₹50 lakh, FY 2026-27.
TaxPersonal Finance