Should I invest in Principal Tax Saving Fund?

We don't give personal investment advice. Principal Tax Saving Fund is suitable for an investor whose:time horizon is **5+ years** — equity funds can drop 30-50% in bad years; horizons under 5 years materially raise the risk of selling at a lossrisk tolerance accepts seeing the portfolio fall sharply without panic-sellinggoal isn't capital preservation in the short termCross-check the numbers above against alternatives before deciding. Worst 5-year drawdown: 41.4%. 5-year CAGR: 16.58%.

PRINCIPAL

Principal Tax Saving Fund

NAV history & peer comparison

All NAVs split-adjusted and normalised to 100 at the start of the selected period, so funds with very different absolute NAV scales can be compared on one axis.

Period

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Returns matrix

Fund return alongside the category average and peer rank for every standard window. Returns under one year are absolute; one year and longer are compound annualised (CAGR).

Window	Fund	Category avg	+/− vs avg	Rank	Quartile
1D	+0.01%	-1.86%	+1.87	46 / 90	Q3
1W	+0.26%	-3.45%	+3.71	21 / 87	Q1
2W	-1.44%	-4.75%	+3.32	33 / 87	Q2
1M	+0.74%	-5.79%	+6.53	11 / 87	Q1
3M	-0.51%	-4.65%	+4.14	40 / 87	Q2
6M	+11.12%	-3.61%	+14.73	15 / 89	Q1
YTD	+30.36%	-5.38%	+35.74	6 / 89	Q1
1Y	+30.85%	+0.15%	+30.70	8 / 87	Q1
2Y	+24.70%	-0.30%	+25.00	5 / 86	Q1
3Y	+16.80%	+5.90%	+10.90	5 / 81	Q1
4Y	+9.77%	+8.17%	+1.60	50 / 78	Q3
5Y	+16.58%	+6.75%	+9.83	2 / 77	Q1
7Y	+12.93%	+8.81%	+4.12	21 / 75	Q2
10Y	+18.73%	+8.08%	+10.65	2 / 69	Q1
Inception	+9.79%	+5.84%	+3.95	36 / 91	Q2

Quartile legend: Q1 top 25% Q2 25-50% Q3 50-75% Q4 bottom 25%

Calendar-year returns

Full-year performance vs category average. Current year is partial (year-to-date).

Year	Fund	Category avg	+/− vs avg	Rank
2021 YTD	+30.36%	+28.91%	+1.45	24 / 54
2020	+18.63%	+11.40%	+7.23	12 / 56
2019	+2.15%	+2.03%	+0.12	34 / 59
2018	-8.88%	-9.68%	+0.80	31 / 61
2017	+47.42%	+29.95%	+17.47	3 / 65
2016	+5.49%	-0.31%	+5.80	9 / 70
2015	+2.44%	-1.16%	+3.60	5 / 24
2014	+48.99%	+42.05%	+6.94	6 / 27
2013	+7.46%	+2.38%	+5.07	7 / 27
2012	+46.16%	+28.66%	+17.50	3 / 27
2011	-30.38%	-28.62%	-1.76	21 / 25

Rolling returns

Removes start-date bias by averaging CAGR over every overlapping N-year window in the fund's history. Higher average plus tight min/max plus high "% positive" = consistent.

1-Year rolling

+14.66%

180 windows

min -68.5% · max 93.6%

70% positive

3-Year rolling

+9.72%

156 windows

min -16.7% · max 31.2%

79% positive

5-Year rolling

+11.03%

132 windows

min -8.1% · max 23.8%

83% positive

7-Year rolling

+11.96%

107 windows

min -0.1% · max 20.1%

99% positive

SIP returns — historical "what if"

If you had invested every month in this fund over the chosen period, this is what your investment would be worth today.

Period

Total invested

₹ —

Today's value

₹ —

XIRR

Annualised

Wealth multiplier

Period	Total invested	Today's value	XIRR	Wealth multiplier

XIRR is the annualised internal rate of return on the SIP cash flow — invariant to the monthly amount. "Today's value" and "Total invested" scale linearly with the slider. Past performance does not guarantee future returns. Excludes exit load and taxes.

Risk profile

Risk-adjusted return and volatility, computed from monthly NAV returns over the trailing 3-year and 5-year windows.

Std deviation

23.27%

3-year · annualised

Sharpe ratio

0.52

vs risk-free 6.5%

Sortino ratio

0.75

Downside-only deviation

Max drawdown

-36.61%

Jun 2019 → Mar 2020

% positive months

61.1%

Share of monthly returns > 0 over the 3-year window

Sharpe / Sortino use a risk-free rate of 6.5% (1-year T-bill proxy). Higher Sharpe = more return per unit of total risk; higher Sortino = more return per unit of downside risk.

Peers in ELSS

Scheme	Fund house	NAV	As of
HDFC TaxSaver-Dividend Plan	HDFC	₹63.4950	10 Jun 2026
NIPPON INDIA ELSS TAX SAVER FUND - ANNUAL IDCW Option	Nippon India	₹19.8315	10 Jun 2026
SBI MAGNUM TAXGAIN SCHEME 1993 - DIVIDEND	SBI	₹84.7997	10 Jun 2026
ICICI Prudential Long Term Wealth Enhancement Fund - IDCW Option	ICICI Prudential	₹27.2000	10 Jun 2026
Quantum Tax Saving Fund - Dividend	Quantum	₹120.2000	10 Jun 2026
Motilal Oswal ELSS Tax Saver Fund - IDCW Payout	Motilal Oswal	₹29.4537	10 Jun 2026
Franklin India Taxshield-Dividend	Franklin Templeton	₹57.5323	10 Jun 2026
Kotak Tax Saver-Scheme-Dividend	Kotak Mahindra	₹41.0930	10 Jun 2026
EDELWEISS ELSS FUND - Dividend Option	Edelweiss	₹29.0400	10 Jun 2026
DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund - Dividend	DSP BlackRock	₹21.2240	10 Jun 2026

Recent NAVs

Date	NAV
30 Dec 2021	₹323.0900
29 Dec 2021	₹323.0500
28 Dec 2021	₹323.6400
27 Dec 2021	₹320.8300
24 Dec 2021	₹319.7800
23 Dec 2021	₹322.2500
22 Dec 2021	₹320.5000
21 Dec 2021	₹316.2500
20 Dec 2021	₹312.5500
17 Dec 2021	₹321.1200

Frequently asked questions

These answers are generated from this fund's live metrics — NAV, returns, peer rank, drawdown, SIP backtest. Numbers refresh nightly after AMFI's NAV feed lands.

Principal Tax Saving Fund is a ELSS from PRINCIPAL (Unknown plan, IDCW (dividend) option). Latest NAV isn't currently available in our feed — the AMC publishes it once per business day after market close.

Principal Tax Saving Fund has NAV history starting from 03 Apr 2006, a track record of about 20 years 2 months. Long-tenured funds like this have weathered multiple market cycles — the 2008 crash, 2013 taper tantrum, 2020 COVID drawdown — which makes their returns more credible than a 3-year track record alone.

Principal Tax Saving Fund is managed by PRINCIPAL. It's classified by AMFI under the 'ELSS' SEBI category, which determines its peer set and tax treatment.

Over the trailing 1-year window, Principal Tax Saving Fund has delivered a absolute return of 30.85% — +30.7 pp ahead of the ELSS category average of 0.15%. The fund ranks #8 of 87 in its category — the top (Q1) quartile.

Over the trailing 3-year window, Principal Tax Saving Fund has delivered a CAGR of 16.80% — +10.9 pp ahead of the ELSS category average of 5.90%. The fund ranks #5 of 81 in its category — the top (Q1) quartile.

Over the trailing 5-year window, Principal Tax Saving Fund has delivered a CAGR of 16.58% — +9.83 pp ahead of the ELSS category average of 6.75%. The fund ranks #2 of 77 in its category — the top (Q1) quartile.

₹1 lakh invested in Principal Tax Saving Fund exactly 10 years ago would be worth approximately ₹556,669 today — a multiplier of 5.57×, based on the 10-year CAGR of 18.73%. The category average over the same window would have grown ₹1 lakh to ₹217,539.

A ₹10,000 monthly SIP in Principal Tax Saving Fund over the last 5 years — total invested ₹600,000 — would be worth ₹926,149 today. That's an XIRR (money-weighted annualised return) of 17.37%.

A ₹10,000 monthly SIP for 10 years in Principal Tax Saving Fund = ₹1,200,000 invested. It would currently be worth ₹2,859,776 (multiplier 2.38×). XIRR: 16.54%. Long-horizon SIP results matter more than point-to-point returns because they smooth out entry timing.

On a 5-year basis, Principal Tax Saving Fund ranks #2 out of 77 funds in the ELSS category — that places it in the top quartile (Q1) — strong outperformance. The category average return over the same window is 6.75%; this fund delivered 16.58%.

The worst peak-to-trough decline Principal Tax Saving Fund has experienced over the last 5-year window is 41.37% — its NAV fell from a high on 23 Jan 2018 to a low on 23 Mar 2020. Drawdown is a useful gauge of how much short-term pain you'd have endured to capture the long-term return.

Across all 5-year rolling windows, Principal Tax Saving Fund averaged 11.03% (best 23.78%, worst -8.08%). 83% of rolling windows ended positive. The 5-year Sharpe ratio is 0.54 — reasonable risk-adjusted performance.

In calendar year 2020, Principal Tax Saving Fund returned 18.63% — beating the ELSS category average of 11.40% by 7.23 pp. It ranked #12 of 56 in its category that year.

Principal Tax Saving Fund is classified as an Equity fund (at least 65% equity exposure). Tax rules (post Budget 2024): if you hold 12 months or more, gains are Long-Term and taxed at 12.5% on the amount exceeding ₹1.25 lakh per financial year. Held for under 12 months, gains are Short-Term and taxed at 20%. The ₹1.25 L exemption is per PAN per FY across all equity LTCG.

We don't give personal investment advice. Principal Tax Saving Fund is suitable for an investor whose:

time horizon is **5+ years** — equity funds can drop 30-50% in bad years; horizons under 5 years materially raise the risk of selling at a loss
risk tolerance accepts seeing the portfolio fall sharply without panic-selling
goal isn't capital preservation in the short term

Cross-check the numbers above against alternatives before deciding. Worst 5-year drawdown: 41.4%. 5-year CAGR: 16.58%.

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