SEBI sub-category

Arbitrage funds

Funds

Direct plans only

Category 1Y avg

+6.39%

Category 5Y CAGR

+6.52%

Direct vs Regular

Direct Regular

5-Year return distribution

How the 1 Arbitrage funds spread across return buckets. Taller bars = more funds in that band.

All Arbitrage funds

Sort by: 1Y 3Y 5Y 7Y 10Y

#	Scheme	NAV	1Y	3Y	5Y	7Y	10Y	Peer Q (5Y)	Sharpe	Max DD
1	HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - Growth Option - Direct Plan HDFC	33.76	+6.39%	+7.44%	+6.52%	+6.05%	+6.16%	Q4	—	-0.8%

Direct plans typically outperform Regular plans by around 50 basis points per year because they carry no distributor commission. The "Peer Q (5Y)" column shows the fund's quartile within this category over the 5-year window: Q1 = top 25%.

Frequently asked questions

Generated from this category's live aggregates — average returns, fund counts, quartile spreads. Updated daily.

Arbitrage is a SEBI-defined mutual-fund category. Each scheme in it must follow the asset-allocation and exposure rules set out in the SEBI October-2017 categorisation circular. Hybrid bucket for tax purposes.

We currently track 1 active Arbitrage schemes (Direct plan, Growth option). The list updates daily after AMFI publishes new NAVs and SEBI re-classifies schemes.

Over the last 5 years, the average Arbitrage (Direct plan) has returned 6.52% CAGR — that turns ₹1 lakh into roughly ₹137,137. Over the last 12 months the category averaged 6.39%. Top-quartile funds in this category typically beat the average by 3-6 percentage points per year — fund selection within a category matters more than the category choice itself.

Over the trailing 5-year window, the highest-returning Arbitrage in our database is **HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - Growth Option - Direct Plan** (HDFC) with a CAGR of 6.52%. The category average is 6.52%. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns — top-quartile funds in one window often slip in the next.

The best 1-year return in the Arbitrage category right now is **HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - Growth Option - Direct Plan** (HDFC) at 6.39%. 1-year numbers are noisy and shouldn't be the sole basis for picking — cross-check rolling returns and 5-year CAGR before deciding.

Across all Arbitrage schemes with 5 years of history, the 5-year CAGR ranges from 6.52% (worst) to 6.52% (best), with a median of 6.52%. That spread of about 0 percentage points between top and bottom is a useful gauge of how much fund selection matters in this category.

On ProfitGuruOnline you can browse either Arbitrage Direct plans (lower expense ratio, no broker commission baked in) or Regular plans (sold through distributors). Use the filter on the category page. Direct typically outperforms Regular by 0.5-1% per year in the same scheme — meaningful over 10+ years.

Arbitrage is a Hybrid scheme — tax follows the actual equity allocation. ≥65% equity behaves like an equity fund; under 35% equity is taxed as debt. Check the AMC's monthly factsheet for the current allocation.

SIP suits hybrid/balanced categories because the in-built equity exposure benefits from rupee-cost averaging. Hybrid funds also rebalance internally so you don't have to manually shift between equity and debt.

Match the horizon to the Hybrid bucket: equity ≥5 years, debt 1-3 years (or per modified duration), hybrid 3-5 years.

Moderate risk. Equity portion brings volatility, debt portion cushions it. Aggressive hybrid (65-80% equity) is closer to pure equity in drawdown profile; conservative hybrid is closer to debt.

Two or three schemes from different AMCs is usually enough for a single category. Beyond that you'd be re-creating the category average minus your selection cost. Focus on consistency (% of rolling-return windows that ended positive) over chasing top performers — top quartile rarely repeats.

Quarterly is plenty for monitoring NAVs and aggregate gain; annually (or after major regulatory changes like Budget 2024) is the right cadence for re-evaluating against alternatives. Don't churn based on 1-month or even 1-year underperformance — equity funds need 3-5 year horizons to fairly judge.

We rank funds within each category by point-to-point CAGR over the chosen window (1Y, 3Y, 5Y, 7Y, 10Y, since inception), then assign quartile and decile bands so any fund's standing relative to peers is one click away. Numbers are recomputed nightly after AMFI's NAV publish.

Daily NAVs are pulled directly from AMFI's published feed. Category classification uses SEBI's October-2017 mutual-fund categorisation circular. We compute returns, rolling-window stats, SIP backtests, drawdowns and Sharpe ratios in-house — no third-party feeds, no hidden adjustments.

Educational content only — not investment advice. Tax rules summarised above reflect Budget 2024; consult a qualified adviser before transacting.