What is CAGR?
CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) measures the average annual return of an investment over a period, assuming profits are reinvested. It smooths out the ups and downs into one clean annualized number.
Formula
For periods shorter than 1 year, we show the absolute return instead (simple percentage change), because annualizing short periods can be misleading.
Worked Example
HDFC Flexi Cap - 3Y CAGR
Start NAV (2023-03-12): ₹1,200.45
End NAV (2026-03-12): ₹1,802.30
Days: 1,096
CAGR = (1802.30 / 1200.45)(365/1096) − 1 = 14.56%
This means if the fund grew at exactly 14.56% every year for 3 years, you'd get the same result.
How We Look Up Dates
Markets don't trade every day (weekends, holidays). When you ask for "1Y return", we look back exactly 365 calendar days from the as-of date. If that exact date has no NAV, we take the closest prior trading day. This is called "lookback with nearest prior date" and matches how AMFI and most fund houses report returns.
Periods We Show
30D, 90D, 6M (absolute return) and 1Y, 2Y, 3Y, 5Y, 10Y (CAGR). The "All" period uses the fund's entire NAV history. You can also pick a custom date range.
Edge Cases
- Fund younger than the period: If you ask for 5Y CAGR but the fund is only 3 years old, we show "-" (no data).
- Short custom ranges: Custom ranges under 365 days show absolute return, not CAGR, to avoid misleadingly large annualized numbers.
- Holiday boundary: A request for Jan 26 (Republic Day) will use the NAV from Jan 25 or the nearest prior trading day.
Related metrics
More Returns methodology from the MFPRO analytics tool: