Medium to long duration funds in India
13 live funds in the Medium to Long Duration category, ordered by 5-year return, highest first; UTI Medium to Long Term 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 Medium to Long Duration category's funds, each over the same window to its own latest NAV, on their Direct plans.
- +2.37%Middle of 13 funds
- Category median, 3 yearsCategory median, 3 years. The middle return among the Medium to Long Duration category's funds, each over the same window to its own latest NAV, on their Direct plans; a year, compounded.
- +6.45%Middle of 12 funds
- Category median, 5 yearsCategory median, 5 years. The middle return among the Medium to Long Duration category's funds, each over the same window to its own latest NAV, on their Direct plans; a year, compounded.
- +5.66%Middle of 12 funds
Medium to Long Duration funds
Size is the average money the fund managed over its latest quarter. Cost is its yearly expense ratio.Filter them in the screener
UTI Medium to Long Term FundUTI Mutual FundNAV₹82.57081Y+2.16%3Y+6.18%5Y+6.70%Size₹304 CrCost1.32%
LIC MF Medium to Long Term FundLIC Mutual FundNAV₹81.71111Y+3.40%3Y+7.31%5Y+6.17%Size₹175 CrCost0.22%
ICICI Prudential Medium to Long Term FundICICI Prudential Mutual FundNAV₹44.18391Y+2.18%3Y+6.54%5Y+5.98%Size₹2,006 CrCost0.59%
SBI Medium to Long Term FundSBI Mutual FundNAV₹79.52051Y+2.89%3Y+6.48%5Y+5.97%Size₹2,050 CrCost0.78%
Nippon India Medium to Long Term FundNippon India Mutual FundNAV₹103.81071Y+2.61%3Y+6.44%5Y+5.84%Size₹341 CrCost0.67%
Kotak Medium to Long Term FundKotak Mahindra Mutual FundNAV₹89.50461Y+2.53%3Y+6.70%5Y+5.80%Size₹1,799 CrCost0.74%
HDFC Medium to Long Term FundHDFC Mutual FundNAV₹66.49541Y+2.37%3Y+6.46%5Y+5.51%Size₹830 CrCost0.80%
Bandhan Medium to Long Term FundBandhan Mutual FundNAV₹74.96831Y+5.11%3Y+6.78%5Y+5.25%Size₹429 CrCost0.98%
Aditya Birla Sun Life Medium to Long Term FundAditya Birla Sun Life Mutual FundNAV₹138.47671Y+1.30%3Y+5.87%5Y+5.17%Size₹1,776 CrCost0.69%
Canara Robeco Medium To Long Term FundCanara Robeco Mutual FundNAV₹63.93091Y+1.86%3Y+6.00%5Y+5.16%Size₹111 CrCost0.72%
HSBC Medium to Long Term FundHSBC Mutual FundNAV₹48.53741Y+2.08%3Y+6.38%5Y+5.11%Size₹49 CrCost0.63%
JM Medium to Long Term FundJM Financial Mutual FundNAV₹71.30451Y+1.62%3Y+6.24%5Y+5.10%Size₹30 CrCost0.60%
Franklin India Medium to Long Term FundFranklin Templeton Mutual FundNAV₹11.17791Y+2.95%3Y–5Y–Size₹43 CrCost0.34%
Tax on medium to long duration 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 medium to long duration funds in India
Medium to long duration funds in India are debt mutual funds whose portfolio has a Macaulay duration of 4 to 7 years. Macaulay duration is the weighted average time to receive a bond portfolio's cash flows, a measure of how sharply its value reacts to interest-rate changes. SEBI now names the category Medium to Long Term Fund.
What SEBI requires
SEBI requires a medium to long duration fund to invest in debt and money market instruments so that the Macaulay duration of the whole portfolio is between 4 and 7 years. The test applies to the portfolio, not to each bond, and the category sets no rating limit.
A fund manager who expects an adverse move in interest rates may cut the duration to as low as 1 year. The fund must state its allocation for that case in its scheme document, and each time the duration goes below 4 years the fund house must record the reasons and place them before its trustees. Since SEBI's circular of 26 Feb 2026, every scheme in the category carries the name Medium to Long Term Fund.
Duration and interest rates
Duration estimates how much a fund's NAV (net asset value, the price of one unit) falls when yields rise. A portfolio with a duration of 5 years loses roughly 5% of its value for each 1 percentage point rise in yields, and gains about the same when yields fall. Among the categories set by duration, only long term funds and 10-year constant maturity gilt funds must hold a longer one.
Neighbouring categories
Medium term funds run 3 to 4 years and long term funds more than 7, so this category sits between them; short term funds run 1 to 3 years. Dynamic bond funds may hold any duration, and gilt funds are defined by issuer instead, at least 80% in government securities of any maturity.
Reading the ranking
Every fund on the page is held to the same 4 to 7 year band, so the gaps in its 5-year ranking come from where in the band each manager sits, the credit quality of its bonds and its expense ratio. Returns are for the Direct plan where a fund has one.