Gilt Mutual Funds in India

Gilt funds invest at least 80% of assets in government securities across maturities, per SEBI. Because the issuer is the sovereign, credit risk is effectively nil - the government is not expected to default on rupee debt. What remains is interest-rate risk, which can be significant since gilt funds often hold longer-dated securities: NAVs rise when yields fall and drop when yields rise. The role is a high-credit-quality debt allocation for investors who want zero credit risk and are willing to accept rate-driven volatility, often as a rate-cycle play or a sovereign-only core holding. Returns can be strong in easing cycles and weak or negative when rates climb, so a horizon of three years or more is usually appropriate. The default benchmark on FindMF is the NIFTY Composite G-Sec Index, a government-security series we ingest, so benchmark-relative measures can be shown where overlapping history allows. We compute trailing returns and risk metrics for all 49 Gilt funds from AMFI-published daily NAVs using a disclosed methodology, so the rate-driven volatility of holding sovereign debt is visible alongside returns.

Who it suits: Investors wanting zero credit risk and willing to accept interest-rate-driven volatility, often over a three-year-plus horizon.

14% of the 28 funds here with a computed alpha beat their benchmark over the measured window (positive alpha). Past performance is not indicative; this is analysis, not advice.