Fixed Income on WebNotes

CRISIL Composite Bond Fund Index

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The CRISIL Composite Bond Fund Index is a fixed income benchmark published by CRISIL Research, a division of CRISIL Limited (a subsidiary of S&P Global). It is designed to represent the performance of a blended portfolio of government securities and investment-grade corporate bonds with medium-to-long duration profiles, reflecting the mandate of composite or dynamic bond mutual fund schemes in India. The index is used by asset management companies (AMCs) to benchmark debt mutual fund schemes that do not confine themselves to a single maturity segment.

CRISIL Short-Term Bond Fund Index

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The CRISIL Short-Term Bond Fund Index is a fixed income benchmark published by CRISIL Research (a division of CRISIL Limited, majority-owned by S&P Global) that represents the performance of a blended portfolio of government securities and investment-grade corporate bonds with residual maturities broadly in the 1-3 year range. It serves as the standard benchmark for SEBI-categorised short-duration debt mutual fund schemes, which are required to maintain a Macaulay duration of 1-3 years.

CRISIL Ultra Short-Term Bond Fund Index

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The CRISIL Ultra Short-Term Bond Fund Index is a fixed income benchmark published by CRISIL Research (a division of CRISIL Limited, majority-owned by S&P Global) designed to represent the performance of an investment portfolio with a Macaulay duration of 3-6 months – the precise range mandated by SEBI for the ultra short duration debt mutual fund category. The index bridges the gap between the very short-dated CRISIL Liquid Fund Index (maturity up to 91 days) and the CRISIL Short-Term Bond Fund Index (Macaulay duration 1-3 years).

Indexation removal for debt MFs (Finance Act 2023)

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Indexation removal for debt mutual funds refers to the legislative change effected by the Finance Act 2023 that eliminated the benefit of indexation – the inflation-adjustment of the cost of acquisition using the Cost Inflation Index (CII) – for units of “specified mutual funds” acquired on or after 1 April 2023. Simultaneously, the Finance Act 2023 abolished the concept of long-term capital assets for such funds, treating all gains (irrespective of holding period) as short-term capital gains taxed at the investor’s slab rate. The change fundamentally altered the competitive tax advantage that long-term debt mutual fund investment had over bank fixed deposits for investors in the higher income-tax brackets.

Navneet Munot

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Navneet Munot is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HDFC Asset Management Company Limited, one of India’s two largest mutual fund houses by assets under management, a position he has held since February 2021. He succeeded Milind Barve, who led HDFC AMC for many years. Before joining HDFC AMC, Munot served for over a decade as Chief Investment Officer at SBI Funds Management Private Limited (SBI Mutual Fund), which he joined in 2008 and where he oversaw one of the most sustained periods of growth in SBI AMC’s history. He is regarded as one of India’s most accomplished fixed income investors, though his responsibilities span the full spectrum of equity, debt, and hybrid asset management at HDFC AMC.

NIFTY 10-Year G-Sec Index

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The NIFTY 10-Year G-Sec Index is a fixed income benchmark published by NSE Indices Limited that tracks the total return performance of the on-the-run 10-year benchmark Government of India (GoI) security. The on-the-run benchmark is the most recently issued 10-year central government bond, which trades with the highest liquidity among all GoI securities. The index represents the pure sovereign credit risk-free segment of the Indian fixed income market and is used as the benchmark for gilt mutual fund schemes, long-duration debt funds, and other investment products with exposure to the long end of the Indian yield curve.

NIFTY 5-Year G-Sec Index

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The NIFTY 5-Year G-Sec Index is a fixed income benchmark published by NSE Indices Limited that tracks the total return performance of the on-the-run 5-year benchmark Government of India (GoI) security. The 5-year G-sec represents the middle segment of the Indian sovereign yield curve, sitting between shorter-dated money market instruments and long-dated gilt bonds. The index is used as a benchmark for medium-duration gilt mutual fund schemes and as the reference for 5-year target maturity fixed maturity plan (FMP) products in India.

Short-duration mutual fund

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A short-duration mutual fund in India is an open-ended debt scheme that must maintain a portfolio Macaulay duration of 1 to 3 years, under SEBI’s October 2017 scheme categorisation circular. The Macaulay duration is a measure of the weighted average time to receive a bond’s cash flows, and serves as a proxy for interest rate sensitivity. A portfolio with Macaulay duration of 1 to 3 years is moderately sensitive to interest rate changes – more sensitive than ultra-short duration or money-market funds but significantly less sensitive than medium-duration, medium-to-long-duration, or long-duration funds.

SIP vs recurring deposit (RD)

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) and a Recurring Deposit (RD) are both monthly savings mechanisms that require the investor to commit a fixed amount periodically. A SIP invests in mutual fund units at the prevailing NAV, while an RD is a bank deposit product earning interest at a predetermined rate. The two instruments differ fundamentally in risk profile, return potential, and tax treatment.

Definitions

SIP in a mutual fund

A SIP is an instruction to invest a fixed amount (minimum typically Rs 100-500) at a recurring date in a specified mutual fund scheme. The amount is debited via NACH or UPI AutoPay and invested in units of the scheme at the NAV on the execution date. SIPs are available for equity, debt, hybrid, and other fund categories.

Taxation of debt mutual funds (post-April 2023)

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Taxation of debt mutual funds in India underwent a fundamental change with effect from 1 April 2023 under the Finance Act 2023. Before that date, debt mutual fund units held for more than 36 months qualified as long-term capital assets and were taxed at 20% with the benefit of indexation under Section 48 of the Income Tax Act 1961. The Finance Act 2023 inserted the third proviso to Section 50AA (later renumbered as applicable amendments in the Schedule), which provides that the capital gains on specified mutual funds – those investing less than 65% of their assets in domestic equity – shall be treated as short-term regardless of the actual holding period, and shall be included in total income and taxed at the investor’s applicable income-tax slab rate. The regime for units acquired on or after 1 April 2023 is now uniformly slab-rate taxation with no indexation and no concept of long-term holding for such funds.

GoldenPi (bonds and fixed income platform)

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

GoldenPi is an online marketplace for bonds and fixed income instruments in India, operated by GoldenPi Technologies Private Limited and accessible at goldenpi.com. GoldenPi enables retail investors to purchase government securities, corporate bonds, non-convertible debentures (NCDs), tax-free bonds, and sovereign gold bonds through a digital interface. Zerodha partnered with GoldenPi to provide bond investment access to its clients from within the Kite ecosystem, addressing a gap in the direct equity-and-mutual-fund-focused Zerodha product suite.