SEBI sub-category

Corporate Bond Fund funds

Funds

Direct plans only

Category 1Y avg

+5.26%

Category 5Y CAGR

+6.44%

Direct vs Regular

Direct Regular

5-Year return distribution

How the 22 Corporate Bond Fund funds spread across return buckets. Taller bars = more funds in that band.

Risk vs Return — Corporate Bond Fund

Each dot is a fund. Up-and-left = high return for low risk (the sweet spot). Down-and-right = under-performing with high volatility. Colour = 5-year peer quartile.

Q1 (top 25%) Q2 Q3 Q4 (bottom 25%) 18 funds plotted

All Corporate Bond Fund funds

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

#	Scheme	NAV	1Y	3Y	5Y	7Y	10Y	Peer Q (5Y)	Sharpe	Max DD
1	ICICI Prudential Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Plan - Growth ICICI Prudential	33.39	+6.05%	+7.70%	+6.95%	+7.37%	+7.56%	Q1	0.76	-0.6%
2	Nippon India Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Plan Growth Plan - Growth Option Nippon India	66.91	+5.34%	+7.70%	+6.92%	+7.27%	+7.43%	Q1	0.62	-0.6%
3	Nippon India Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Plan Growth Plan - Bonus Nippon India	47.77	+5.34%	+7.70%	+6.92%	+7.27%	+7.43%	Q1	0.62	-0.6%
4	Axis Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Plan Growth Axis	19.28	+5.74%	+7.86%	+6.89%	+7.63%	—	Q1	0.76	-0.6%
5	Franklin India Corporate Debt Fund - Direct - GROWTH Franklin India	115.40	+5.94%	+8.06%	+6.78%	+7.05%	+7.74%	Q2	0.94	-0.6%
6	Kotak Corporate Bond Fund- Direct Plan- Growth Option Kotak	4,185.39	+5.21%	+7.56%	+6.60%	+7.01%	+7.42%	Q2	0.55	-0.6%
7	Aditya Birla Sun Life Corporate Bond Fund - Growth - Direct Plan Aditya Birla Sun Life	121.48	+5.01%	+7.41%	+6.54%	+7.21%	+7.52%	Q2	0.42	-1.1%
8	HDFC Corporate Bond Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan HDFC	35.17	+4.94%	+7.43%	+6.49%	+7.10%	+7.49%	Q2	0.43	-1.1%
9	PGIM India Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Plan - Growth PGIM India	50.92	+5.07%	+7.33%	+6.45%	+7.00%	+7.14%	Q2	0.42	-0.7%
10	UTI Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option UTI	17.78	+5.27%	+7.41%	+6.42%	+7.02%	—	Q3	0.48	-0.6%
11	SBI Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Plan - Growth SBI	16.94	+5.13%	+7.42%	+6.40%	+6.94%	—	Q3	0.49	-0.8%
12	Invesco India Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Invesco	3,611.73	+5.14%	+7.44%	+6.30%	+6.92%	+7.02%	Q3	0.46	-0.9%
13	BANDHAN Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Growth Bandhan	21.08	+5.63%	+7.47%	+6.24%	+6.93%	+7.20%	Q3	0.54	-0.6%
14	Mirae Asset Corporate Bond Fund Direct Growth Plan Mirae Asset	13.76	+5.00%	+7.20%	+6.13%	—	—	Q4	0.32	-0.8%
15	Sundaram Corporate Bond Fund Direct Plan - Growth Sundaram	43.89	+4.89%	+7.16%	+6.12%	+6.92%	+7.26%	Q4	0.32	-0.6%
16	Union Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option Union	16.49	+4.60%	+7.17%	+5.99%	+6.73%	—	Q4	0.30	-0.9%
17	DSP Corporate Bond Fund - Direct - Growth DSP	17.30	+5.74%	+7.26%	+5.94%	+6.54%	—	Q4	0.63	-0.3%
18	CANARA ROBECO CORPORATE BOND FUND - DIRECT PLAN - GROWTH OPTION Canara Robeco	24.56	+4.76%	+6.86%	+5.93%	+6.48%	+6.87%	Q4	0.13	-0.5%
19	BARODA BNP PARIBAS Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option Baroda BNP Paribas	31.17	+5.83%	+7.76%	—	—	—	—	0.65	-0.6%
20	HSBC Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Growth HSBC	82.69	+5.28%	+7.37%	—	—	—	—	0.45	-0.7%
21	Tata Corporate Bond Fund-Direct Plan-Growth Tata	13.37	+5.13%	+7.45%	—	—	—	—	0.48	-0.8%
22	TRUSTMF CORPORATE BOND FUND-DIRECT PLAN-GROWTH —	1,269.01	+4.63%	+6.88%	—	—	—	—	0.13	-0.6%

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.

Corporate Bond Fund 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. Debt bucket for tax purposes.

We currently track 22 active Corporate Bond Fund schemes (Direct plan, Growth option). The list updates daily after AMFI publishes new NAVs and SEBI re-classifies schemes. 4 of them sit in the top quartile by 5-year CAGR.

Over the last 5 years, the average Corporate Bond Fund (Direct plan) has returned 6.44% CAGR — that turns ₹1 lakh into roughly ₹136,649. Over the last 12 months the category averaged 5.26%. 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 Corporate Bond Fund in our database is **ICICI Prudential Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Plan - Growth** (ICICI Prudential) with a CAGR of 6.95%. The category average is 6.44%. 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 Corporate Bond Fund category right now is **ICICI Prudential Corporate Bond Fund - Direct Plan - Growth** (ICICI Prudential) at 6.05%. 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 Corporate Bond Fund schemes with 5 years of history, the 5-year CAGR ranges from 5.93% (worst) to 6.95% (best), with a median of 6.45%. That spread of about 1 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 Corporate Bond Fund 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.

Corporate Bond Fund is a Debt scheme. For units bought on or after 1 April 2023, all gains are taxed at slab rate, no indexation. Pre-Apr-2023 holdings keep the old rules (20% LTCG with indexation if held over 36 months).

Less critical. Debt funds have low day-to-day volatility, so lumpsum and SIP outcomes converge. SIP still works for discipline, especially if your savings flow is monthly.

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

Lower risk than equity but not zero — credit-risk funds can lose 10-20% from a single corporate default; long-duration funds lose 5-10% if rates spike. Liquid and overnight funds are the safest debt sub-categories.

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.