Where do I find a mutual fund's factsheet?

Every AMC publishes monthly factsheets on its own website, usually under 'Downloads' or 'Factsheet', and AMFI links to them too. They're dated to a fixed month-end, so make sure you're reading the latest one. FindMF independently recomputes the key numbers - returns, risk metrics, and the direct-vs-regular cost gap - from AMFI NAVs so you can compare funds on the same basis without hunting through PDFs.

Is a fund with a lower NAV cheaper or better value?

No. NAV is just the current per-unit price and reflects how long the fund has existed and how it has compounded, not future potential. A Rs 12 NAV is not 'cheaper' than a Rs 450 NAV - what matters is the percentage growth, which is the same for both at a given return. Ignore NAV level when picking funds; look at trailing returns, risk metrics, and cost instead.

Which factsheet numbers actually matter most for a long-term SIP investor?

Three things move your outcome most: the expense ratio (use the Direct plan to cut the drag - see our cost calculator), the asset allocation (it sets both risk and your tax treatment), and whether the fund beat its correct TRI benchmark over 5+ years after fees. Max drawdown is the fourth - it tells you whether you can actually hold the fund through a bad patch without selling at the bottom.

Why do risk metrics differ between a fund's factsheet and FindMF?

Fund houses compute volatility, Sharpe, beta and alpha over different time windows and may annualise differently, so two factsheets often aren't comparable. FindMF computes every metric on a single consistent basis - month-end NAVs, disclosed lookback windows, and the same risk-free rate for all funds - which is documented on our methodology page. The goal is apples-to-apples comparison, not matching any single fund house's house style.

How to Read a Mutual Fund Factsheet

6 min read · Educational, independent analysis - not investment advice

Every Indian mutual fund publishes a monthly factsheet - a 2-3 page PDF per scheme that SEBI and AMFI require fund houses to disclose. It's the single most honest document a fund will hand you: no marketing gloss, just the numbers as of a fixed date.

The problem is that most investors either never open it or get lost in the jargon. This guide walks through each section in the order it usually appears, and tells you what actually matters versus what's noise.

NAV (Net Asset Value)

The NAV is the per-unit price of the fund on the stated date. It's the total value of the fund's assets minus liabilities, divided by units outstanding.

The single biggest beginner mistake: thinking a low NAV is "cheap". A fund at Rs 12 is not better value than one at Rs 450. NAV is just a starting marker - what matters is the percentage it grows. A fund's NAV level reflects how long it has existed and how it has compounded, nothing about future returns.

Use NAV only to confirm you're looking at the right plan and option (more on that below). For returns, look at the trailing-return table instead.

AUM (Assets Under Management)

AUM is the total money the scheme manages, in crores. Context matters more than the absolute number:

Very small AUM (say under Rs 100-300 crore) can mean higher per-unit costs and, in debt funds, concentration risk if one investor exits.
Very large AUM in a small-cap fund can be a drag - it's hard to deploy thousands of crores into illiquid small companies without moving prices. Some funds soft-close to protect existing investors.
For large-caps and index funds, big AUM is generally fine and often cheaper.

Don't chase "biggest." Ask whether the size fits the strategy. You can compare AUM across peers on FindMF's category pages.

Expense Ratio (TER)

The Total Expense Ratio is the annual percentage the fund deducts for managing your money - it's already baked into the NAV, so you never see a separate bill, but it quietly compounds against you.

Two numbers you must distinguish:

Regular plan TER (higher - includes distributor commission)
Direct plan TER (lower - no commission)

The gap is often 0.5%-1.0% a year. Over a 20-year SIP that difference can cost lakhs. Our direct-vs-regular cost calculator shows the exact drag for any scheme. If you research your own funds, the direct plan is almost always the rational choice.

A note on factsheet TER figures: they're a monthly snapshot and can change. We recompute the direct/regular gap from the latest data; see methodology for how.

Portfolio Holdings and Asset Allocation

This section shows where your money actually sits. Look for the asset-allocation split - equity vs debt vs cash. This drives both risk and taxation:

A fund with >=65% Indian equity is taxed as equity: STCG 20% if held under 12 months, LTCG 12.5% on gains above Rs 1.25 lakh/year.
A fund with <35% equity (most debt funds) bought on or after 1 Apr 2023 is taxed entirely at your income-tax slab rate, with no LTCG benefit or indexation, regardless of holding period.
Hybrids flip on the 65% line.

So the allocation table isn't trivia - it determines your post-tax return.

Sector Allocation

For equity funds, the sector breakdown tells you the fund's bets. A fund 40% in financials behaves very differently from one spread evenly. Check whether the sector tilt matches what the fund claims to be, and whether it overlaps heavily with other funds you already own - owning three funds all loaded on the same sectors is fake diversification.

Top Holdings

Usually the top 10 stocks (or top issuers in debt). Scan for:

Concentration: if the top 10 is 60%+ of the portfolio, the fund is making conviction bets. Higher reward, higher single-stock risk.
Overlap: across your funds, are the same 5-6 names everywhere? Then you're paying multiple fund managers for one portfolio.
In debt funds: look at credit quality of issuers, not just yield. A high-yield debt fund is taking credit risk, not magic.

Risk Metrics

This is where factsheets earn their keep, and where most people's eyes glaze over. The common ones:

Standard deviation / volatility - how much returns bounce around. Higher means a wilder ride.
Sharpe ratio - return earned per unit of total risk. Higher is better; compare only within the same category.
Beta - sensitivity to the benchmark. Beta 1.2 means the fund tends to move 20% more than the index, up and down.
Alpha - return the manager added (or destroyed) beyond what the benchmark explains.
Max drawdown - the worst peak-to-trough fall. This is the gut-check: could you hold through that without panic-selling?

A caution: different fund houses compute these over different periods (1Y, 3Y, since-inception) and may annualise differently, so cross-house comparisons can mislead. FindMF computes every metric on the same basis - month-end NAVs, disclosed windows, the same risk-free rate - so funds are actually comparable. See methodology for the formulas. Every metric we show is derived from AMFI NAVs, and FindMF takes no commission, so there's no reason to flatter any fund.

Fund Manager

Note the manager's name and tenure. A stellar 10-year track record means little if the manager left last year and the number reflects someone else's work. Also check how many schemes the manager runs - a manager spread across a dozen funds has less attention per fund.

For index funds and ETFs, the manager matters far less; tracking error (how closely the fund follows its index) is the thing to watch instead.

Benchmark

Every scheme declares a benchmark - the index it measures itself against, e.g. Nifty 50 TRI or Nifty Smallcap 250 TRI. Always insist on the TRI (Total Return Index) version, which includes dividends; older PR (price return) benchmarks make funds look better than they are.

The honest question: did the fund beat its benchmark after fees, over a full cycle (5+ years)? A small-cap fund "beating Nifty 50" is meaningless - that's the wrong yardstick. Compare like with like using our sub-category pages and rankings.

Exit Load

The penalty for redeeming early - often 1% if you exit within 365 days, zero after. For equity funds it's usually a short window; some debt and international funds have their own schedules. Read it before you start an SIP so a short-term need doesn't trigger an avoidable charge.

A Quick Reading Order

When you open a factsheet, this sequence gets you to a verdict fast:

Confirm plan and option (you want Direct-Growth, usually).
Check TER and the direct-vs-regular gap.
Read asset allocation for risk and tax treatment.
Glance at top holdings and sector tilt for concentration and overlap.
Check max drawdown - can you stomach it?
Confirm the fund beat its correct TRI benchmark over 5 years, not 1.
Note manager tenure and exit load.

The factsheet won't tell you whether a fund suits your goals - that's your job. But read this way, it tells you almost everything about the fund itself.