Reading your statement
Two numbers, one portfolio
Your statement shows two returns. Only one of them is yours.
CAGR and XIRR can both be correct and still disagree by four percentage points. They answer different questions. Here is which number to read, and when.
The difference
One measures the fund. One measures you.
CAGR answers a question about the asset: how fast did this fund grow between two dates? It looks at a starting value, an ending value, and the years in between. Nothing else.
XIRR answers a question about you: how fast did your money grow? It takes every instalment, every top-up, every switch and every rupee you withdrew, dates them, and solves for the single rate that ties them together.
CAGR
Measures the fund.
Ignores your timing.
XIRR
Measures your money.
Counts every transaction.
Side by side
CAGR vs XIRR
Which applies to you
Four patterns, four answers
You invested once and never touched it
CAGR is honest here. Arun put ₹11,000 into one fund in November 2013 and left it alone; today it is ₹56,057. His CAGR and XIRR are both 13.97% — there is nothing for them to disagree about.
You run a SIP
Read XIRR. Each instalment has been invested for a different length of time. January's money has compounded for eleven months longer than December's, and only XIRR respects that.
You have booked profits along the way
Read XIRR, and only XIRR. When money leaves the fund, CAGR stops counting it — so the gain you already took home vanishes from the number.
Your investment is under a year old
Read neither percentage. Read the absolute return: "my fund is up 3.72%". Twelve months is the minimum honest measurement window.
A worked example
Why Meera's two numbers differ by four points
Six years of investing, not one purchase
A ₹1,000 SIP begun in late 2019, stepped up to ₹2,000 later, plus a lump-sum top-up during the 2021 dip. Total put in: ₹1,09,663.
One profit booked along the way
In September 2025 she switched out a portion and ₹24,944 reached her bank. That money is hers, and it is real.
CAGR loses sight of it
CAGR compares what is still inside the fund against what is still going in. The ₹24,944 already taken home is outside the fund, so it drops out of the sum. Result: 9.81%.
XIRR keeps all of it
XIRR counts the withdrawal as a cash flow, dated. Total value — in the fund plus already in the bank — is ₹1,49,761. Result: 13.90%. Four percentage points, and the difference is her own booked profit.
Questions
What people ask us
Is one of the two numbers wrong?
Neither. They answer different questions, so they give different answers. The mistake is reading CAGR as though it described your personal return.
My fund shows 36% CAGR after one month. Is that real?
No. Suresh invested ₹25 lakh and after 37 days the fund was up 3.72% — the statement projected that into 36.68% a year. The platform is not lying; the formula simply annualises whatever window it is given. Ignore any CAGR under twelve months old.
Where do I see each number?
In MyMoneyplus, Portfolio Valuation shows CAGR scheme by scheme, and Portfolio Summary shows XIRR across every transaction. Log in at my.moneyplus.in with your registered mobile number and an OTP.
Why is my XIRR lower than the fund's advertised return?
Usually timing, not fund selection. The fund's published return assumes a lump sum held for the whole period. Your money went in gradually, so a strong early stretch you were barely invested in counts for very little in your number.
Does XIRR work across my whole portfolio?
Yes, and that is where it is most useful. One rate across every scheme, every SIP and every redemption tells you how the household's money actually did.
Which number should I judge my adviser or my own decisions by?
XIRR. It is the only one that includes what you did — when you started, whether you stayed, whether you booked out. CAGR judges the fund; XIRR judges the journey.