Work out the real annualised return on a mutual fund from your own purchases, redemptions, dividends and current value, not from an assumed growth rate.
Why is my return different from the fund’s advertised return?
Because the fund quotes what a unit did and you get what your timing did. If you invested more before a fall than before a rise, your return is lower than the fund’s even though you held the same fund. That gap is real, it is yours, and it is the number this page exists to show.
What does it mean when two returns are shown?
That your cash flows genuinely have more than one solution. Each time money changes direction, in and then out and then in again, the equation gains a possible root. Both figures satisfy the same flows exactly and neither is more correct. When that happens, judge the holding on the absolute gain instead.
How do I enter a SIP?
One line per instalment, with the date and a negative amount. It is tedious for a long SIP, so most people enter the first few years as a handful of lumped entries and the recent ones exactly. That approximates the timing well enough for the annualised figure to be useful.
Where do dividends go?
On the date you received them, as a positive amount. They are money that left the fund and reached you, so they count as a return even though the NAV fell by the same amount. If you reinvested them, put them in as positive and then as negative on the same date, or simply leave both out.
What should I put as the current value?
Units still held multiplied by the latest NAV, which your statement or the AMFI NAV page will give you. If you have exited completely, enter zero and make the final redemption one of your cash flows. Leaving out a holding you still own makes the answer meaningless.
Is this the number for my tax return?
No. This is a performance measure, not a tax computation. Capital gains are worked out per lot, matched oldest first, with different rates for short and long holding periods and a separate treatment for dividends. Use the capital gains calculator for anything you intend to file.