Which Long Duration funds have given the best returns over 3 years?

Over a 3-year period, the best performing Long Duration funds are Franklin India Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan with a 5.96% CAGR, ICICI Prudential Long Term Bond Fund - Direct Plan with 5.88% CAGR, and Aditya Birla Sun Life Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan with 5.43% CAGR. The category average 3-year return stands at 5.38% CAGR.

What are the largest Long Duration mutual funds by assets?

The largest Long Duration funds by Assets Under Management (AUM) are Nippon India Nivesh Lakshya Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan with ₹ 7,302.88 crore, HDFC Long Duration Debt Fund - Direct Plan with ₹ 3,308.26 crore, and SBI Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan with ₹ 1,569.90 crore. Together, there are 11 Long Duration funds available in India.

What is the minimum amount to invest in Long Duration funds?

You can start investing in Long Duration funds with a minimum SIP of ₹99 per month or a minimum lumpsum of ₹100. The minimum investment varies across fund houses — some funds allow even lower entry points.

How are Long Duration fund returns taxed?

All gains from Long Duration funds — regardless of holding period — are added to your income and taxed at your applicable income tax slab rate.

Which Long Duration funds have the lowest expense ratio?

Among Long Duration funds, Mirae Asset Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan has the lowest expense ratio at 0.15% (Direct Plan), followed by HDFC Long Duration Debt Fund - Direct Plan at 0.28%. Lower expense ratios directly improve your net returns over the long term.

How many Long Duration mutual funds are available in India?

There are currently 11 Long Duration mutual funds available in India across different fund houses. You can compare all 11 funds on Sharpely based on returns, risk, AUM, and expense ratio to find the one that suits your investment goals.

mutual funds category

Long Duration

Long Duration Funds

Q: What are the top performing Long Duration funds?

Based on 1-year returns, the top performing Long Duration funds are Franklin India Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan with 0.22% return, ICICI Prudential Long Term Bond Fund - Direct Plan with -1.10% return, and Aditya Birla Sun Life Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan with -1.31% return. The category average 1-year return is -2.07%.

Long-duration debt funds invest in debt & money market instruments with a weighted average maturity (Macaulay duration) greater than 7 years.

Total Schemes

No. of schemes

Total AUM

₹ 0.14Lakh Cr

As on latest

Category Return (5Y)

5.32 %

CAGR

Benchmark Data

This category currently has no benchmark assigned.

Category Returns (%)

Period	1M	6M	1Y	3Y CAGR	5Y CAGR	10Y CAGR	YTD
Long Duration	0.08 %	0.15 %	-2.07 %	5.38 %	5.32 %	7.28 %	-0.66 %
Benchmark Not Available No benchmark assigned	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Top Long Duration Funds (by AUM)

Fund Name	AUM (₹ Cr)	1Y Return	3Y CAGR	5Y CAGR	Expense Ratio
Nippon India Nivesh Lakshya Long Duration Fund - Direct PlanNAV: ₹18.14	7,302.88 Cr	-2.49%	5.18%	5.46%	0.33%
HDFC Long Duration Debt Fund - Direct PlanNAV: ₹12.21	3,308.26 Cr	-2.84%	5.06%	-	0.28%
SBI Long Duration Fund - Direct PlanNAV: ₹12.47	1,569.90 Cr	-1.90%	5.43%	-	0.30%
ICICI Prudential Long Term Bond Fund - Direct PlanNAV: ₹98.60	850.38 Cr	-1.10%	5.88%	5.19%	0.43%
Axis Long Duration Fund - Direct PlanNAV: ₹1,230.56	230.50 Cr	-2.80%	5.12%	-	0.33%
Aditya Birla Sun Life Long Duration Fund - Direct PlanNAV: ₹13.05	121.32 Cr	-1.31%	5.96%	-	0.43%
Kotak Long Duration Fund - Direct PlanNAV: ₹10.91	92.67 Cr	-3.23%	-	-	0.31%
Bandhan Long Duration Fund - Direct PlanNAV: ₹11.08	81.78 Cr	-1.80%	-	-	0.28%
UTI Long Duration Fund - Direct PlanNAV: ₹12.06	67.56 Cr	-2.75%	5.00%	-	0.78%
Mirae Asset Long Duration Fund - Direct PlanNAV: ₹10.25	16.93 Cr	-2.77%	-	-	0.15%
Franklin India Long Duration Fund - Direct PlanNAV: ₹10.62	15.50 Cr	0.22%	-	-	0.35%

About Long Duration Funds

What is it?

Long-duration debt funds invest in debt & money market instruments with a weighted average maturity (Macaulay duration) greater than 7 years.

Objective

The objective of these funds is to generate stable returns over the long term. The long-duration debt funds will provide FD-like returns with very low volatility.

Suitability and opinion

These funds are suitable for risk-averse investors who are seeking to generate stable returns over a long period and for aggressive investors looking to diversify some portion of their portfolio into stable assets. We believe that these funds have a far lower risk compared to equity funds but their prices can fluctuate a lot if interest rates change. We feel that investors can avoid investing in this category and opt for short-duration debt funds if they want some debt exposure in their portfolio. This category has been adversely affected by the government's decision to remove indexation benefits.

Long Duration vs Other Categories

5Y CAGR Return Comparison

5.55%

5.48%

5.32%

Gilt

Gilt with 10 year Constant Duration

Long Duration

Key Insights

Long Duration delivered 5.32% CAGR over the last 5 years.

It ranks #18 out of 18 categories based on 5Y performance.

Below the category average return of 6.35%.

17 categories outperform it, while 0 categories have lower returns.

Top performer: Credit Risk (9.97%).

Lowest performer: Long Duration (5.32%).

Let's have a closer look

Now let us jump and check about these top 15 mutual fund schemes.

Nippon India Nivesh Lakshya Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan

Fund Performance: Nippon India Nivesh Lakshya Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan has given 5.18% annualized returns in the past three years and 5.46% in the last 5 years. The Nippon India Nivesh Lakshya Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan comes under the Debt category of Nippon India Mutual Fund.

Minimum Investment Amount: The minimum amount required to invest in Nippon India Nivesh Lakshya Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan via lump sum is ₹ 5,000.00 and via SIP is ₹ 100.00.

Min Investment Amt

₹ 5,000.00

AUM

₹ 7,302.88Cr

1Y Returns

-2.49%

Expense Ratio

0.33%

HDFC Long Duration Debt Fund - Direct Plan

Fund Performance: HDFC Long Duration Debt Fund - Direct Plan has given 5.06% annualized returns in the past three years. The HDFC Long Duration Debt Fund - Direct Plan comes under the Debt category of HDFC Mutual Fund.

Minimum Investment Amount: The minimum amount required to invest in HDFC Long Duration Debt Fund - Direct Plan via lump sum is ₹ 100.00 and via SIP is ₹ 100.00.

Min Investment Amt

₹ 100.00

AUM

₹ 3,308.26Cr

1Y Returns

-2.84%

Expense Ratio

0.28%

SBI Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan

Fund Performance: SBI Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan has given 5.43% annualized returns in the past three years. The SBI Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan comes under the Debt category of SBI Mutual Fund.

Minimum Investment Amount: The minimum amount required to invest in SBI Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan via lump sum is ₹ 5,000.00 and via SIP is ₹ 500.00.

Min Investment Amt

₹ 5,000.00

AUM

₹ 1,569.90Cr

1Y Returns

-1.90%

Expense Ratio

0.30%

ICICI Prudential Long Term Bond Fund - Direct Plan

Fund Performance: ICICI Prudential Long Term Bond Fund - Direct Plan has given 5.88% annualized returns in the past three years and 5.19% in the last 5 years. The ICICI Prudential Long Term Bond Fund - Direct Plan comes under the Debt category of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund.

Minimum Investment Amount: The minimum amount required to invest in ICICI Prudential Long Term Bond Fund - Direct Plan via lump sum is ₹ 5,000.00 and via SIP is ₹ 1,000.00.

Min Investment Amt

₹ 5,000.00

AUM

₹ 850.38Cr

1Y Returns

-1.10%

Expense Ratio

0.43%

Axis Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan

Fund Performance: Axis Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan has given 5.12% annualized returns in the past three years. The Axis Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan comes under the Debt category of Axis Mutual Fund.

Minimum Investment Amount: The minimum amount required to invest in Axis Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan via lump sum is ₹ 5,000.00 and via SIP is ₹ 1,000.00.

Min Investment Amt

₹ 5,000.00

AUM

₹ 230.50Cr

1Y Returns

-2.80%

Expense Ratio

0.33%

Aditya Birla Sun Life Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan

Fund Performance: Aditya Birla Sun Life Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan has given 5.96% annualized returns in the past three years. The Aditya Birla Sun Life Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan comes under the Debt category of Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund.

Minimum Investment Amount: The minimum amount required to invest in Aditya Birla Sun Life Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan via lump sum is ₹ 100.00 and via SIP is ₹ 500.00.

Min Investment Amt

₹ 100.00

AUM

₹ 121.32Cr

1Y Returns

-1.31%

Expense Ratio

0.43%

Kotak Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan

Fund Performance: The Kotak Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan comes under the Debt category of Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund.

Minimum Investment Amount: The minimum amount required to invest in Kotak Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan via lump sum is ₹ 100.00 and via SIP is ₹ 100.00.

Min Investment Amt

₹ 100.00

AUM

₹ 92.67Cr

1Y Returns

-3.23%

Expense Ratio

0.31%

Bandhan Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan

Fund Performance: The Bandhan Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan comes under the Debt category of Bandhan Mutual Fund.

Minimum Investment Amount: The minimum amount required to invest in Bandhan Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan via lump sum is ₹ 1,000.00 and via SIP is ₹ 100.00.

Min Investment Amt

₹ 1,000.00

AUM

₹ 81.78Cr

1Y Returns

-1.80%

Expense Ratio

0.28%

UTI Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan

Fund Performance: UTI Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan has given 5.00% annualized returns in the past three years. The UTI Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan comes under the Debt category of UTI Mutual Fund.

Minimum Investment Amount: The minimum amount required to invest in UTI Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan via lump sum is ₹ 5,000.00 and via SIP is ₹ 500.00.

Min Investment Amt

₹ 5,000.00

AUM

₹ 67.56Cr

1Y Returns

-2.75%

Expense Ratio

0.78%

Mirae Asset Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan

Fund Performance: The Mirae Asset Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan comes under the Debt category of Mirae Asset Mutual Fund.

Minimum Investment Amount: The minimum amount required to invest in Mirae Asset Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan via lump sum is ₹ 5,000.00 and via SIP is ₹ 99.00.

Min Investment Amt

₹ 5,000.00

AUM

₹ 16.93Cr

1Y Returns

-2.77%

Expense Ratio

0.15%

Franklin India Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan

Fund Performance: The Franklin India Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan comes under the Debt category of Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund.

Minimum Investment Amount: The minimum amount required to invest in Franklin India Long Duration Fund - Direct Plan via lump sum is ₹ 5,000.00 and via SIP is ₹ 500.00.

Min Investment Amt

₹ 5,000.00

AUM

₹ 15.50Cr

1Y Returns

0.22%

Expense Ratio

0.35%