The SBI CRISIL IBX Gilt Index - June 2036 Fund has emerged as a top performer among debt-oriented index mutual funds, delivering a 7.7% three-year CAGR. This ranking considers funds with over Rs 1,500 crore in assets, highlighting how these funds compare against their benchmarks over different timeframes.
The SBI CRISIL IBX Gilt Index - June 2036 Fund has outperformed its peers in the debt-oriented index mutual fund category, according to data as of July 28, 2026. The fund recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7% over the last three years. It is followed closely by the Kotak Nifty SDL Apr 2032 Top 12 Equal Weight Index Fund and the SBI CRISIL IBX Gilt Index - Apr 2029 Fund, both of which posted 7.5% returns during the same period.
Scale and Market Context
This performance assessment focuses on funds that manage an asset base of at least Rs 1,500 crore, ensuring that the comparison involves funds with sufficient scale. Among the top five performers in this segment, the Kotak Nifty SDL Apr 2032 Top 12 Equal Weight Index Fund currently maintains the largest corpus, valued at approximately Rs 3,250.7 crore.
Benchmarking Performance
Investors often look at how a fund performs relative to its benchmark to understand the manager's ability to track the index. The SBI CRISIL IBX Gilt Index - June 2036 Fund showed a strong performance against its benchmark, outpacing it by 0.8 percentage points over the three-year period. While the fund delivered 7.7%, its benchmark yielded 6.9%. Over a one-year timeframe, the fund's outperformance relative to its benchmark widened to 1.8 percentage points, as the fund returned 4.4% compared to the benchmark's 2.6%.
Short-Term Variability
Performance rankings often shift depending on the time horizon selected. While the SBI Gilt fund leads over the long term, short-term data shows different winners. For instance, the Kotak Nifty SDL Apr 2032 Top 12 Equal Weight Index Fund recorded a 1.1% return over the past month. Additionally, when looking at a three-month horizon, the Kotak fund yielded 3.1%, slightly trailing the SBI June 2036 fund's 3.3%. The one-year return charts also highlight the Axis CRISIL IBX SDL May 2027 Index Fund, which secured a 5.9% return.
For investors, these variations across time periods demonstrate that a fund’s performance can fluctuate significantly based on interest rate cycles and bond market movements. When evaluating these debt-oriented index funds, it is helpful to assess performance over multiple time horizons rather than relying on a single timeframe, as funds that lead in the short term may not necessarily follow the same trend over several years.