Cash (liquid fund) Historical Returns
A liquid fund, investing in money-market instruments of up to 91 days, used here as a cash-like reference. It is not a bank deposit. Figures come from the NAV of a fund that tracks it, so returns include dividends and are after fund costs.
Price history
Month-end values. Hover a year-end point for its value.
About Cash (liquid fund)
A liquid fund, investing in money-market instruments of up to 91 days, used here as a cash-like reference. It is not a bank deposit.
What it means for investors. Its steady line shows what short-term money earned. It is the base against which the extra return, and extra ups and downs, of other assets can be judged.
Short-term money market return after costs; used as a cash-like reference; not a bank deposit or an FD rate.
Returns over time
| Series | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y | 15Y | 20Y | Max fall | Data to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash (liquid fund) | 6.4% | 6.8% | 6.3% | 6.0% | 6.9% | 7.0% | 0% | 2 Oct 2026 |
Annualised (CAGR) for periods of a year or more, ending on each series' latest date. “n/a” means the series does not go back that far. Max fall: the largest fall from a previous peak over the whole history.
AMFI NAV history (daily NAV file; earlier history via mfapi.in, which republishes AMFI NAVs), stored and cleaned by MFIC. Proxy: HDFC Liquid Fund (Regular, growth) (total return after fund costs (proxy)). Data 2 Apr 2006 to 2 Oct 2026.
Calendar-year returns
| Year | Return |
|---|---|
| 2026 to 2 Oct | 4.9% |
| 2025 | 6.5% |
| 2024 | 7.3% |
| 2023 | 7.0% |
| 2022 | 4.8% |
| 2021 | 3.2% |
| 2020 | 4.1% |
| 2019 | 6.5% |
| 2018 | 7.2% |
| 2017 | 6.5% |
| 2016 | 7.6% |
| 2015 | 8.4% |
Over 19 complete calendar years since 2007, Cash (liquid fund) rose in 19. Best: 2012 (+9.6%). Worst: 2021 (+3.2%).
Year-end to year-end, from AMFI NAV history (daily NAV file; earlier history via mfapi.in, which republishes AMFI NAVs), stored and cleaned by MFIC.
Falls from peak and recovery
No fall of 10% or more in the data available.
Rolling returns: the range of outcomes
| Holding period | Periods | Median | Worst | Best | Middle half | Positive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 234 | 7.2% | 3.1% | 9.7% | 6.2% to 8.4% | 100% |
| 3 years | 210 | 6.9% | 3.9% | 9.4% | 6.3% to 8.0% | 100% |
| 5 years | 186 | 7.3% | 5.1% | 9.0% | 5.6% to 8.0% | 100% |
| 10 years | 126 | 7.4% | 6.0% | 8.0% | 6.4% to 7.8% | 100% |
Every holding period starting at a month-end in the history (overlapping). Annualised for periods over a year.
How it has moved with other assets
| Compared with | Correlation | Months |
|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | −0.09 | 245 |
| Gold (domestic, ₹) | −0.04 | 233 |
| 10-year G-Sec (bond fund) | 0.26 | 245 |
| USD/INR | 0.07 | 245 |
Correlation of monthly returns over the months both series have: +1 moves together, 0 unrelated, −1 opposite. Relationships change over time.
Questions
- What has Cash (liquid fund) returned over the long run?
- Calculated from HDFC Liquid Fund (Regular, growth), Cash (liquid fund) returned 6.0% a year over the 10 years to 2 Oct 2026, and 6.8% a year over 3 years. Past returns do not indicate future returns.
- What was the biggest fall in Cash (liquid fund)?
- In the data available from Apr 2006, the largest fall from a previous peak was −0.2%, from Mar 2020 to Mar 2020, and it regained the peak in Mar 2020 (<1 months after the bottom). There were 0 falls of 10% or more, 0 of them 20% or more.
- How often has Cash (liquid fund) been positive over one year?
- Across 234 one-year periods starting at month-ends, 100% were positive; the range was 3.1% to 9.7%. Over five-year periods (186), 100% were positive, with annualised returns from 5.1% to 9.0%.
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