What is a Medium to Long Duration Fund?

Medium to Long Duration 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.

How many Medium to Long Duration Fund schemes are listed on ProfitGuruOnline?

We currently track 61 active Medium to Long Duration Fund schemes (Regular plan, Growth option). The list updates daily after AMFI publishes new NAVs and SEBI re-classifies schemes.

What is the average return of Medium to Long Duration Fund schemes?

Over the last 5 years, the average Medium to Long Duration Fund (Regular plan) has returned 6.66% CAGR — that turns ₹1 lakh into roughly ₹138,036. Over the last 12 months the category averaged 5.87%. 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.

Which is the best Medium to Long Duration Fund for 5-year returns?

Over the trailing 5-year window, the highest-returning Medium to Long Duration Fund in our database is **SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 1 (3668 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth** (SBI) with a CAGR of 6.50%. The category average is 6.66%. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns — top-quartile funds in one window often slip in the next.

Which Medium to Long Duration Fund is hot right now (1-year return)?

The best 1-year return in the Medium to Long Duration Fund category right now is **Nippon India Fixed Maturity Plan-XLV-Series 5-Regular Plan-Growth Option** (Nippon India) at 7.09%. 1-year numbers are noisy and shouldn't be the sole basis for picking — cross-check rolling returns and 5-year CAGR before deciding.

What is the spread of Medium to Long Duration Fund returns?

Across all Medium to Long Duration Fund schemes with 5 years of history, the 5-year CAGR ranges from 5.98% (worst) to 6.50% (best), with a median of 6.12%. That spread of about 1 percentage points between top and bottom is a useful gauge of how much fund selection matters in this category.

Are most Medium to Long Duration Fund schemes Direct or Regular plans?

On ProfitGuruOnline you can browse either Medium to Long Duration 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.

How is a Medium to Long Duration Fund taxed?

Medium to Long Duration 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).

Is Medium to Long Duration Fund suitable for SIP investing?

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.

What time horizon is right for a Medium to Long Duration Fund?

Medium to Long Duration Fund schemes are best held 5+ years and timed to a falling-rate cycle. NAV can fall 5-10% if rates rise sharply.

What is the risk of investing in Medium to Long Duration Fund schemes?

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.

Should I pick a single Medium to Long Duration Fund or diversify?

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.

How often should I review my Medium to Long Duration Fund holdings?

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.

How does ProfitGuruOnline rank Medium to Long Duration Fund schemes?

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.

Where does the Medium to Long Duration Fund category data come from?

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.

SEBI sub-category

Medium to Long Duration Fund funds

Funds

Regular plans only

Category 1Y avg

+5.87%

Category 5Y CAGR

+6.66%

Direct vs Regular

Direct Regular

5-Year return distribution

How the 61 Medium to Long Duration Fund funds spread across return buckets. Taller bars = more funds in that band.

Risk vs Return — Medium to Long Duration 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%) 10 funds plotted

All Medium to Long Duration Fund funds

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

#	Scheme	NAV	1Y	3Y	5Y	7Y	10Y	Peer Q (5Y)	Sharpe	Max DD
1	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 1 (3668 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	17.18	+3.74%	+7.24%	+6.50%	+7.49%	—	Q2	0.31	-0.9%
2	BANDHAN Fixed Term Plan Series 179 REGULAR PLAN-GROWTH (3652 days) Bandhan	17.43	+3.43%	+7.06%	+6.35%	+7.43%	—	Q2	0.21	-1.1%
3	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 6 (3668 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	16.64	+3.40%	+7.01%	+6.25%	+7.26%	—	Q3	0.19	-0.9%
4	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 34 (3682 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	14.38	+2.91%	+6.98%	+6.22%	—	—	Q3	0.14	-1.3%
5	Aditya Birla Sun Life Fixed Term Plan - Series TI (1837 days) - Regular Plan - Growth Option Aditya Birla Sun Life	13.44	+5.72%	+7.04%	+6.12%	—	—	Q3	0.61	-0.1%
6	Aditya Birla Sun Life Fixed Term Plan - Series TJ (1838 days) - Regular Plan - Growth Option Aditya Birla Sun Life	13.47	+5.79%	+7.11%	+6.11%	—	—	Q3	0.64	-0.2%
7	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) Series 42 (1857 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.47	+5.77%	+6.84%	+6.04%	—	—	Q3	—	-0.1%
8	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) Series 45 (1840 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.40	+5.53%	+6.89%	+6.03%	—	—	Q4	0.36	-0.1%
9	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 46 (1850 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.38	+5.51%	+6.83%	+5.99%	—	—	Q4	0.24	-0.2%
10	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 44 (1855 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.41	+5.57%	+6.90%	+5.98%	—	—	Q4	0.37	-0.1%
11	Aditya Birla Sun Life Fixed Term Plan - Series TQ (1879 days) - Regular Plan - Growth Option Aditya Birla Sun Life	13.03	+5.40%	+7.19%	—	—	—	—	0.54	-0.4%
12	Aditya Birla Sun Life Fixed Term Plan - Series UB (1224 days)- Regular Plan - Growth Option Aditya Birla Sun Life	12.54	+5.90%	+6.85%	—	—	—	—	0.24	-0.2%
13	Aditya Birla Sun Life Fixed Term Plan - Series UJ (1110 days) - Regular Plan - Growth Option Aditya Birla Sun Life	12.32	+6.08%	+6.93%	—	—	—	—	0.35	-0.2%
14	Axis Fixed Maturity Plan - Series 129 (108 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth Axis	10.19	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Axis Fixed Maturity Plan - Series 130 (92 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth Axis	10.17	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
16	Axis Fixed Term Plan - Series 112 (1143 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth Axis	12.45	+5.92%	+6.94%	—	—	—	—	0.33	-0.2%
17	Axis Fixed Term Plan - Series 113 (1228 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth Axis	12.49	+6.19%	+6.97%	—	—	—	—	0.50	-0.2%
18	DSP FMP Series - 264 - 60M - 17D - Regular Plan - Growth DSP	13.15	+5.63%	+7.07%	—	—	—	—	0.52	-0.2%
19	DSP FMP Series - 267 - 1172 Days - Regular - Growth DSP	12.69	+4.94%	+6.61%	—	—	—	—	-0.10	-0.6%
20	DSP FMP Series - 268 - 1281 Days - Regular - Growth DSP	12.71	+5.55%	+6.87%	—	—	—	—	0.27	-0.1%
21	DSP FMP Series - 270 - 1172 Days - Regular - Growth DSP	12.46	+4.94%	+6.61%	—	—	—	—	-0.10	-0.6%
22	Kotak FMP Series 292 - Regular Plan - Growth Kotak	13.12	+5.69%	+6.81%	—	—	—	—	0.21	-0.1%
23	Kotak FMP Series 300 - Regular Plan - Growth Kotak	12.54	+6.00%	+7.02%	—	—	—	—	0.47	-0.2%
24	Kotak FMP Series 304-Regular Plan-Growth Option Kotak	12.96	+1.99%	+7.10%	—	—	—	—	0.14	-2.1%
25	Kotak FMP Series 305 - Regular Plan - Growth Kotak	12.47	+5.62%	+6.72%	—	—	—	—	0.03	-0.2%
26	Kotak FMP Series 308 - Regular Plan - Growth Kotak	12.54	+6.71%	+7.60%	—	—	—	—	—	-0.2%
27	Kotak FMP Series 310 - Regular Plan - Growth Option Kotak	12.29	+5.63%	+6.72%	—	—	—	—	0.03	-0.2%
28	Nippon India Fixed Maturity Plan - XLIII - Series 1 - Regular Plan - Growth Option Nippon India	13.20	+5.52%	+6.90%	—	—	—	—	0.35	-0.1%
29	Nippon India Fixed Maturity Plan- XLIV - Series 4-Regular Plan-Growth Option Nippon India	12.50	+5.98%	+6.96%	—	—	—	—	0.41	-0.3%
30	Nippon India Fixed Maturity Plan-XLIII-Series 5- Regular Plan-Growth Option Nippon India	13.15	+3.82%	+7.09%	—	—	—	—	0.26	-0.9%
31	Nippon India Fixed Maturity Plan-XLIV-Series 1-Regular Plan-Growth Option Nippon India	13.08	+5.14%	+7.21%	—	—	—	—	0.48	-0.4%
32	Nippon India Fixed Maturity Plan-XLV-Series 4-Regular Plan-Growth Option Nippon India	12.30	+5.95%	+6.98%	—	—	—	—	0.40	-0.3%
33	Nippon India Fixed Maturity Plan-XLV-Series 5-Regular Plan-Growth Option Nippon India	12.92	+7.09%	+8.25%	—	—	—	—	—	-0.2%
34	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 49 (1823 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.27	+5.72%	+7.04%	—	—	—	—	0.56	-0.2%
35	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 50 (1843 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.12	+5.60%	+6.98%	—	—	—	—	0.44	-0.2%
36	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 51 (1846 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.13	+5.67%	+7.06%	—	—	—	—	0.54	-0.2%
37	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 52 (1848 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.11	+5.70%	+7.06%	—	—	—	—	0.57	-0.2%
38	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 53 (1839 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.14	+5.67%	+7.11%	—	—	—	—	0.59	-0.2%
39	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 54 (1842 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.11	+5.62%	+7.10%	—	—	—	—	0.53	-0.2%
40	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 55 (1849 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.09	+5.61%	+7.09%	—	—	—	—	0.52	-0.2%
41	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 57 (1835 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.01	+5.63%	+7.13%	—	—	—	—	0.56	-0.2%
42	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 58 (1842 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.11	+5.52%	+7.13%	—	—	—	—	0.52	-0.3%
43	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 59 (1618 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	12.90	+5.40%	+6.71%	—	—	—	—	0.05	-0.3%
44	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 60 (1878 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	13.01	+5.48%	+7.18%	—	—	—	—	0.56	-0.4%
45	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 66 (1361 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	12.87	+5.93%	+6.91%	—	—	—	—	0.41	-0.1%
46	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 67 (1467 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	12.99	+5.59%	+6.92%	—	—	—	—	0.37	-0.2%
47	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 68 (1302 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	12.72	+5.83%	+6.81%	—	—	—	—	0.19	-0.3%
48	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 73 (1226 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	12.56	+5.97%	+7.01%	—	—	—	—	0.43	-0.2%
49	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 76 (1221 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	12.52	+5.45%	+6.72%	—	—	—	—	0.04	-0.2%
50	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) - Series 79 (1130 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth SBI	12.39	+5.98%	+6.91%	—	—	—	—	0.33	-0.2%
51	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP)- Series 61 (1927 Days)- Regular Plan- Growth option SBI	13.04	+5.19%	+7.13%	—	—	—	—	0.44	-0.4%
52	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP)-Series 72 (1239 Days) Regular Plan- Growth SBI	12.58	+6.02%	+7.00%	—	—	—	—	0.51	-0.2%
53	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP)-Series 74 (1243 Days)- Regular Plan- Growth SBI	12.62	+5.56%	+6.92%	—	—	—	—	0.35	-0.1%
54	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP)-Series 78 (1170 Days) Regular Plan- Growth SBI	12.47	+5.84%	+6.82%	—	—	—	—	—	-0.1%
55	SBI Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP)-Series 81 (1157 Days) Regular Plan- Growth SBI	12.43	+5.70%	+6.91%	—	—	—	—	—	-0.1%
56	TRUSTMF FIXED MATURITY PLAN -SERIES II (1196 DAYS)-REGULAR PLAN -GROWTH —	1,287.56	+7.01%	+8.27%	—	—	—	—	2.87	-1.6%
57	Union Fixed Maturity Plan - Series 13 - Regular Plan - Growth Option Union	12.20	+5.67%	+6.62%	—	—	—	—	-0.15	-0.2%
58	UTI Fixed Term Income Fund - Series XXXV-I (1260 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth Option UTI	12.57	+5.56%	+6.64%	—	—	—	—	-0.11	-0.2%
59	UTI Fixed Term Income Fund - Series XXXV-II (1223 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth Option UTI	12.43	+5.74%	+6.75%	—	—	—	—	0.07	-0.3%
60	UTI Fixed Term Income Fund - Series XXXV-III (1176 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth Option UTI	12.33	+5.58%	+6.63%	—	—	—	—	-0.11	-0.2%
61	UTI Fixed Term Income Fund Series XXXVI - I (1574 Days) - Regular Plan - Growth Option UTI	12.66	+4.96%	+6.96%	—	—	—	—	0.22	-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%.

Medium to Long Duration Fund funds

5-Year return distribution

Risk vs Return — Medium to Long Duration Fund

All Medium to Long Duration Fund funds

Frequently asked questions