Category consistency
How often a scheme's 3-year return beat the middle of its own category.
What it measures
A single 3-year return can flatter or punish a scheme depending on the dates chosen. Category consistency asks a steadier question: at every month-end over the last 10 years, how did the scheme's 3-year return compare with the other schemes in the same category and plan at that time?
How MFIC calculates it
From month-end NAVs (completed months only), for every month-end in the last 10 years MFIC computes each scheme's 3-year CAGR, then the category median and each scheme's position. It reports the share of those months in which the scheme was above the category median, in the top quartile (at least 75% of the other schemes lower) and in the top half, plus the same “above median” share for 5-year windows. Schemes that later closed or merged stay in the medians for the months they existed. A month counts only if at least 5 schemes in the category had a 3-year record then; a scheme needs at least 12 such months.
How to read it
70% means that in 7 out of 10 monthly snapshots the scheme's 3-year return was above the category median. Values around 50% are what a typical scheme would show. The number of months compared is shown with it; fewer months means a shorter record.
Limitations
Monthly windows overlap, so they are not independent observations. The comparison is with the category as it existed at each date, which changed after SEBI's 2017 recategorisation. It describes the past only.
Category consistency by category today
Spread of category consistency across Regular-plan schemes in each category, calculated by MFIC from AMFI NAVs as of 2 Oct 2026. The middle half of schemes falls between the 25th and 75th percentiles.
| Category (Regular plans) | Schemes | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large Cap | 31 | 28.2% | 49.2% | 67.1% |
| Large & Mid Cap | 27 | 34.6% | 50.0% | 69.2% |
| Flexi Cap | 31 | 22.0% | 47.5% | 71.7% |
| Multi Cap | 14 | 11.0% | 37.8% | 75.8% |
| Mid Cap | 26 | 34.8% | 44.5% | 65.3% |
| Small Cap | 21 | 33.3% | 52.3% | 62.5% |
| ELSS | 34 | 32.9% | 45.8% | 74.0% |
| Focused | 25 | 24.5% | 47.8% | 65.8% |
| Value | 19 | 22.9% | 45.8% | 65.8% |
| Aggressive Hybrid | 29 | 15.3% | 51.5% | 69.2% |
| Balanced Advantage | 26 | 14.8% | 47.7% | 82.4% |
| Index Fund | 85 | 11.7% | 60.9% | 100.0% |
Use it in MFIC
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Related: Rolling returns · CAGR (compound annual growth rate) · Methodology