Floater funds in India
12 live funds in the Floater category, ordered by 5-year return, highest first; Franklin India Floating Rate Fund leads. Funds younger than five years follow by name. Returns are for the plan each fund's page leads with, Direct where the fund has one, to each fund's latest NAV, the newest of them on 27 Oct 2026; 3 and 5 year returns are a year, compounded.
- Category median, 1 yearCategory median, 1 year. The middle return among the Floater category's funds, each over the same window to its own latest NAV, on their Direct plans.
- +5.54%Middle of 12 funds
- Category median, 3 yearsCategory median, 3 years. The middle return among the Floater category's funds, each over the same window to its own latest NAV, on their Direct plans; a year, compounded.
- +7.36%Middle of 12 funds
- Category median, 5 yearsCategory median, 5 years. The middle return among the Floater category's funds, each over the same window to its own latest NAV, on their Direct plans; a year, compounded.
- +6.69%Middle of 12 funds
Floater funds
Size is the average money the fund managed over its latest quarter. Cost is its yearly expense ratio.Filter them in the screener
Franklin India Floating Rate FundFranklin Templeton Mutual FundNAV₹48.21111Y+5.81%3Y+7.87%5Y+7.10%Size₹281 CrCost0.38%
Axis Floater FundAxis Mutual FundNAV₹1,420.61481Y+5.60%3Y+8.12%5Y+7.03%Size₹142 CrCost0.22%
ICICI Prudential Floating Interest FundICICI Prudential Mutual FundNAV₹500.76211Y+5.53%3Y+7.49%5Y+6.90%Size₹8,784 CrCost0.29%
Aditya Birla Sun Life Floating Interest Rate FundAditya Birla Sun Life Mutual FundNAV₹386.19511Y+5.57%3Y+7.26%5Y+6.74%Size₹13,187 CrCost0.25%
HDFC Floating Interest Rates FundHDFC Mutual FundNAV₹54.81371Y+5.09%3Y+7.30%5Y+6.73%Size₹16,272 CrCost0.27%
Bandhan Floating Rate FundBandhan Mutual FundNAV₹14.25281Y+5.80%3Y+7.63%5Y+6.73%Size₹225 CrCost0.14%
SBI Floating Interest Rates FundSBI Mutual FundNAV₹14.50851Y+6.12%3Y+7.33%5Y+6.65%Size₹682 CrCost0.28%
Tata Floating Rate FundTata Mutual FundNAV₹13.98971Y+5.33%3Y+7.24%5Y+6.65%Size₹120 CrCost0.31%
Kotak Floating Interest Rates FundKotak Mahindra Mutual FundNAV₹1,666.04061Y+5.04%3Y+7.47%5Y+6.62%Size₹3,390 CrCost0.24%
Nippon India Floating Interest Rates FundNippon India Mutual FundNAV₹50.85991Y+4.35%3Y+7.17%5Y+6.48%Size₹7,470 CrCost0.35%
DSP Floating Interest Rates FundDSP Mutual FundNAV₹14.23201Y+4.19%3Y+7.39%5Y+6.38%Size₹324 CrCost0.27%
UTI Floating Interest Rates FundUTI Mutual FundNAV₹1,688.19481Y+5.55%3Y+6.93%5Y+6.28%Size₹1,109 CrCost0.44%
Tax on floater funds
Gains on units bought on or after 1 Apr 2023 are taxed at the income tax slab rate however long they are held; gains on units bought earlier are taxed at 12.5% when held over 24 months, or over 12 months for a listed fund such as an ETF, and at the slab rate otherwise.
Rules in force from 23 Jul 2024, checked 27 Oct 2026. Surcharge and cess are not included.
About floater funds in India
Floater funds in India are debt mutual funds that invest at least 65% of their assets in floating rate instruments, bonds and loans whose interest resets with a benchmark rate. Fixed-rate bonds swapped into floating exposure count towards that 65%.
What SEBI requires
SEBI requires a floater fund, named Floating Interest Rates Fund in its category table, to invest at least 65% of total assets in floating rate instruments. Fixed-rate bonds converted to floating-rate exposure through swaps or other derivatives count towards the 65%. The category sets no duration band and no rating floor.
A floating rate instrument is a bond or loan whose coupon (the interest it pays) is reset at intervals against a benchmark such as the RBI repo rate or a treasury bill yield, instead of staying fixed until maturity.
How floater funds work
Floating rate bonds are in limited supply in India, so many floater funds get part of their floating exposure synthetically. The fund buys a fixed-rate bond and enters an interest rate swap (an agreement to exchange fixed interest payments for payments linked to a floating rate, often an overnight rate). The pair behaves like a floating rate bond.
When the benchmark rises, a floating coupon resets higher, so income rises and the net asset value (NAV, the price of one unit) is less exposed to falling bond prices. When it falls, coupons reset lower.
Neighbouring categories
Duration-based categories such as short term, medium term and long term funds are defined by the portfolio's Macaulay duration, a measure of how sharply its value reacts to rate changes. A floater fund is defined by what it holds instead. Liquid, overnight and money market funds are defined by the maturity of what they hold, and corporate bond funds by credit quality.
What the list compares
The rule fixes only the floating share. The remaining 35% may sit in fixed-rate bonds, government securities or money market instruments of any length or rating, so the floater funds in the page's 5-year ranking can differ widely in duration and credit quality.