Aditya Birla SL CRISIL-IBX Financial Services 3 to 6 Months Debt Index Fund Direct Growth Review 2026: NAV, Returns, Portfolio & Should You Invest?

Aditya Birla SL CRISIL-IBX Financial Services 3 to 6 Months Debt Index Fund Direct Growth Plan has a NAV of ₹11.2727 as of 28 Aug 2026 and a scheme AUM of ₹2,570 Cr. Its 1-year, 3-year and 5-year returns are 6.93%, 0% and 0% respectively, and it sits in the Balanced Risk category.

Our view is that this is a short-duration debt index fund that has kept returns steady rather than dramatic, with a modest benchmark relationship and a portfolio focused on high-quality short-term debt instruments. It may suit investors who want a debt-oriented allocation with limited duration exposure and can accept that the recent return pattern is more relevant than the unavailable longer track record.

Quick facts

The fund is managed by Harshil Suvarnkar and Sanjay Pawar.

Source data date: as of 28 Aug 2026

Performance

The fund’s recent pattern is mixed, with a small gain over 1M and a stronger 1Y outcome, but a softer 3M reading than the benchmark. That tells us the fund has not moved in a straight line, even though the broader one-year picture remains positive.

The 1-year return of 6.93% stands well above the benchmark’s -2.29% for the same period. In our view, that gap matters more than the short-run 3M gap because this scheme is meant to be judged through a debt lens, where consistency and capital preservation matter alongside return delivery.

We also see that the fund’s 1M behaviour was resilient when the benchmark was slightly negative. The 3M period is less favourable versus the benchmark, so the recent picture is not uniformly ahead. Still, the 1-year trend suggests the fund has compounded more smoothly than the benchmark over the past year.

Because the scheme launched in December 2024, the unavailable 3Y and 5Y figures limit long-horizon analysis. That makes the near-to-medium term especially important, and on that basis the fund has shown a steadier return profile than the benchmark over 12 months, even if the shorter 3M window was less strong.

Source data date: as of 28 Aug 2026

Peer comparison

This assessment is prepared by Uniapps Investment Adviser Pvt. Ltd. under SEBI Registered Investment Adviser registration INA000017639.

The current fund’s 1-year return is far below the return figures shown by the equity-oriented peers in this table, but that is not surprising because the strategies operate in very different market segments. More importantly for this scheme, its 1-year outcome is positive while its benchmark’s 1-year return is negative, so the fund has delivered a better result than its benchmark over the same horizon.

For 3-year and 5-year comparisons, the current fund cannot be placed on the same footing because those figures are not available for it. Among peers with available longer-period figures, ICICI Pru NASDAQ 100 Index Fund shows stronger 3-year performance, but that observation reflects a different fund category and should not be read as a like-for-like matchup. The short-term and longer-term pictures therefore tell different stories: the present fund’s case rests on its own recent debt-index behaviour, not on matching the equity peer return numbers.

Source data date: as of 28 Aug 2026

Portfolio: where your money goes

The market-cap mix is entirely in the other-cap bucket at 100%, with no large-cap, mid-cap or small-cap allocation shown separately.

The portfolio is concentrated in short-term debt instruments, with certificate of deposit exposure at 41.89% and corporate debt at 37.37%. That mix suggests the fund’s behaviour may be driven more by short-end rate conditions and credit-selection quality than by equity-style market swings.

Certificate of deposit is materially larger than the next sector, but corporate debt is also a substantial block, so the fund is not dependent on a single sleeve alone. Commercial paper at 17.76% adds another short-duration layer, while cash and cash equivalents remain small at 2.98%.

In our view, certificate of deposit and corporate debt are likely to have the greatest influence on day-to-day portfolio behaviour because together they account for most of the allocation. The absence of any separate large-cap, mid-cap or small-cap split also reinforces that this is a debt-first portfolio rather than an equity-style mix.

Source data date: as of 28 Aug 2026

Who should invest

This fund may appeal to investors who are comfortable with a Balanced Risk label but still want a debt-oriented allocation rather than an equity-heavy one. The one-year return is positive, while the 3-year and 5-year figures are unavailable because the scheme is still relatively new, so the main decision point is whether you are comfortable relying on recent performance and a short-duration portfolio structure.

A medium investment horizon is more appropriate than a very short one, because the fund has already shown some variation between 1M, 3M and 1Y periods. The benchmark comparison also shows that the fund can behave differently from the index over shorter windows, so patience matters.

The main trade-off is that this is not a high-growth fund in the equity sense. Investors may get a steadier debt-style experience, but they should accept that returns are likely to remain more modest than the higher-return equity peers in the comparison set.

Tax and exit load

Exit load: No exit load.

Source data date: as of 28 Aug 2026

Frequently asked questions

What is the current NAV of Aditya Birla SL CRISIL-IBX Financial Services 3 to 6 Months Debt Index Fund Direct Growth Plan?

The current NAV is ₹11.2727 as of 28 Aug 2026.

What are the fund’s 1-year, 3-year and 5-year returns?

The 1-year return is 6.93%, while the 3-year and 5-year returns are Data not available.

How has the fund done against its benchmark?

The fund’s 1-year return of 6.93% is ahead of the benchmark’s -2.29% for the same period. Over 3M, the fund’s 2% return is below the benchmark’s 3.39%.

What is the minimum SIP amount?

The minimum SIP amount is ₹1,000.

What is the portfolio mix of this fund?

The portfolio is fully in the other-cap bucket at 100%, and the biggest sector exposure is Certificate of Deposit at 41.89%, followed by Corporate Debt at 37.37% and Commercial Paper at 17.76%.

What tax and exit load apply to this fund?

Units held less than 1 year attract 20% tax, while units held more than 1 year attract 12.5% tax. There is no exit load.

Bottom line

This fund’s recent picture is better than its benchmark over 1 year, but the shorter 3M result is less decisive, so the return pattern is mixed rather than one-way. Compared with the peer table, its return figures are clearly lower than the equity-oriented peers, though that comparison is not like-for-like. The risk label is Balanced Risk, and the portfolio leans heavily into certificate of deposit and corporate debt, which should keep the scheme anchored in the short end of the debt market.

Published on 31 August 2026 at 4:03 PM IST