SEBI sub-category

Short Duration Fund funds

Funds

Direct plans only

Category 1Y avg

+7.50%

Category 5Y CAGR

+7.71%

Direct vs Regular

Direct Regular

5-Year return distribution

How the 26 Short Duration Fund funds spread across return buckets. Taller bars = more funds in that band.

Risk vs Return — Short 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%) 19 funds plotted

All Short Duration Fund funds

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

#	Scheme	NAV	1Y	3Y	5Y	7Y	10Y	Peer Q (5Y)	Sharpe	Max DD
1	BANK OF INDIA Short Term Income Fund-Direct Plan- Growth Bank of India	30.39	+4.40%	+7.26%	+10.51%	+5.16%	+5.89%	Q1	0.37	-0.6%
2	UTI Short Duration Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option UTI	35.30	+4.40%	+7.17%	+7.41%	+7.52%	+6.55%	Q1	0.40	-0.5%
3	ICICI Prudential Short Term Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option ICICI Prudential	69.11	+5.31%	+7.65%	+6.99%	+7.71%	+7.96%	Q1	0.88	-0.5%
4	Aditya Birla Sun Life Short Term Fund - Growth - Direct Plan Aditya Birla Sun Life	53.95	+4.57%	+7.36%	+6.70%	+7.44%	+7.71%	Q1	0.53	-0.5%
5	Axis Short Duration Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option Axis	35.47	+4.96%	+7.46%	+6.62%	+7.51%	+7.59%	Q2	0.61	-0.5%
6	Nippon India Short Duration Fund - Direct Plan Growth Plan - Growth Option Nippon India	60.14	+4.52%	+7.40%	+6.56%	+7.32%	+7.45%	Q2	0.53	-0.6%
7	Mahindra Manulife Short Duration Fund - Direct Plan -Growth Mahindra Manulife	13.96	+4.99%	+7.47%	+6.48%	—	—	Q2	0.71	-0.4%
8	HDFC Short Term Debt Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan HDFC	34.64	+4.54%	+7.31%	+6.46%	+7.29%	+7.45%	Q2	0.52	-0.5%
9	Kotak Bond Short Term Plan-(Growth) - Direct Kotak	59.96	+4.17%	+7.21%	+6.35%	+7.09%	+7.43%	Q2	0.40	-0.5%
10	Baroda BNP Paribas Short Duration Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option Baroda BNP Paribas	33.17	+4.21%	+7.19%	+6.32%	+6.75%	+7.38%	Q3	0.39	-0.5%
11	Mirae Asset Short Duration Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Mirae Asset	17.42	+4.16%	+7.13%	+6.26%	+6.79%	—	Q3	0.33	-0.6%
12	Bandhan Short Duration Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Bandhan	64.19	+4.58%	+7.27%	+6.24%	+6.91%	+7.19%	Q3	0.44	-0.6%
13	SBI SHORT TERM DEBT FUND - DIRECT PLAN -GROWTH SBI	35.69	+4.31%	+7.10%	+6.23%	+6.88%	+7.19%	Q3	0.33	-0.5%
14	Tata Short Term Bond Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option Tata	55.30	+4.11%	+6.94%	+6.18%	+6.91%	+6.58%	Q3	0.20	-0.6%
15	LIC MF Short Duration Fund-Direct Plan-Growth LIC	16.28	+4.31%	+7.19%	+6.08%	+6.58%	—	Q4	0.36	-0.8%
16	DSP Short Term Fund - Direct Plan - Growth DSP	52.82	+4.09%	+6.98%	+6.07%	+6.76%	+7.06%	Q4	0.23	-0.7%
17	Invesco India Short Duration Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Invesco	4,114.28	+4.27%	+7.04%	+6.04%	+6.77%	+7.05%	Q4	0.28	-0.5%
18	Groww Short Term Fund (formerly known as Indiabulls Short Term Fund) - Direct Plan - Growth Option Groww	2,499.25	+4.39%	+7.04%	+5.97%	+5.79%	+6.63%	Q4	0.28	-0.4%
19	CANARA ROBECO SHORT DURATION FUND - DIRECT PLAN - GROWTH OPTION Canara Robeco	28.98	+4.41%	+6.83%	+5.86%	+6.48%	+7.02%	Q4	0.14	-0.4%
20	Franklin India Short Tem Income Plan - Segregated Portfolio 3 (9.50% Yes Bank Ltd CO 23Dec21) - Direct Retail Plan Growth Option Franklin India	0.00	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
21	HSBC Short Duration Fund - Direct Growth HSBC	29.30	+4.11%	+6.98%	—	—	—	—	0.22	-0.6%
22	JioBlackRock Short Duration Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option —	1,016.33	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
23	JM Short Duration Fund (Direct) - Growth —	12.86	+4.23%	+6.89%	—	—	—	—	0.16	-0.5%
24	Sundaram Short Duration Fund (Formerly Known as Principal Short Term Debt Fund)- Direct Plan - Growth Option Sundaram	50.21	+4.55%	+7.20%	—	—	—	—	0.42	-0.4%
25	TRUSTMF Short Duration Fund-Direct Plan-Growth —	1,332.54	+4.27%	+6.89%	—	—	—	—	0.17	-0.6%
26	Union Short Duration Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option Union	10.85	+4.08%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

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.

Short 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.

We currently track 26 active Short Duration 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 Short Duration Fund (Direct plan) has returned 7.71% CAGR — that turns ₹1 lakh into roughly ₹144,992. Over the last 12 months the category averaged 7.50%. 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 Short Duration Fund in our database is **BANK OF INDIA Short Term Income Fund-Direct Plan- Growth** (Bank of India) with a CAGR of 10.51%. The category average is 7.71%. 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 Short Duration Fund category right now is **ICICI Prudential Short Term Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option** (ICICI Prudential) at 5.31%. 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 Short Duration Fund schemes with 5 years of history, the 5-year CAGR ranges from 5.86% (worst) to 10.51% (best), with a median of 6.32%. That spread of about 5 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 Short 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.

Short 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).

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.

Short Duration Fund schemes are suitable for 6-month to 2-year horizons. Slightly more yield than a liquid fund, slightly more interest-rate sensitivity.

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.