Generating Mutual Fund SIP Account Statements and Calculating Returns With NAV History

Published: September 12, 2013 at 11:30 am

Last Updated on August 30, 2021 at 3:44 pm

Use this excel tool to generate an account statement and calculate returns for your mutual fund SIP investments using NAV history.

First, a few thoughts about calculating SIP returns.

There are many ways to calculate returns from a SIP investment using Excel. Many prefer to use a function known as XIRR to estimate returns.

Yes, estimate not determine. While returns from a lump sum investment can be determined, returns from a SIP can only be estimated!


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This is because SIP is a monthly lump sum investment. Each SIP instalment will compound at a different pace.

I have an ongoing SIP in HDFC Top 200.  When direct plans were introduced, I shifted part of my corpus from HDFC Top 200 regular to direct. Today the corpus in Top 200 regular is positive/green (i.e. more than the investment amount) while that in Top 200 direct is negative/red.  This has nothing to do with regular or direct options.

SIPS
SIPS (Photo credit: ashley CHILE baz)

This is true for every SIP.  Some instalments will show positive returns and some negative.  If you want to know the net return, then this can only be estimated using Excel functions like XIRR or IRR.

Although XIRR and IRR are extremely simple to use, the math behind them is non-trivial, if not sophisticated –meaning they have some limitations (more on this later.).

XIRR/IRR may or may not give results under certain circumstances.  New SIPs in funds whose NAV has consistently decreased is one example!

It is important to keep in mind that these limitations are characteristic to the SIP process and no fault of Excels!  I will explain the reasons for these limitations in another post.

XIRR is preferred because the function allows any transaction date to be entered.  This is important because actual monthly SIP transactions are not spaced 30 days apart.

Depending on the month and number of business days, it can vary from 28-33 days (approximately).  XIRR is preferred for calculating returns as it can accommodate any transaction interval.

Here is another calculator that estimates SIP returns without using the XIRR function. It uses Excels RATE function, which is another form the IRR function.  However, this assumes each month has 30 days. As estimates go this should do quite fine!

SIP return calculator/account statement generator:

This calculator is an offshoot of my Daily vs. Monthly vs. Quarterly SIP Comparator

My goal is making this calculator is a simple tool that will allow us to generate a SIP account statement and calculate returns.

This calculator template could be used for many kinds of mutual fund analysis (coming soon!)

To use the calculator

  1. The NAV history of the fund is required.  This can be obtained from:  Personalfn NAV History site  or from Yahoo Finance India (much better source. Use the ‘get historical prices’ search bar on the right. Choose daily NAV option)
  2. The start-date should correspond to the date of the first SIP transaction. The end-date can just be yesterday.
  3. Download the data in Excel format.
  4. Select all the columns in the Excel file and arrange in ascending order. That is, the earliest date comes first.
  5. Copy the data (dates and NAV) into the calculator.
  6. Enter SIP amount, transaction dates and click on the macro button to generate the account statement and calculate returns (CAGR)

This seems like a lot of work!  Why can’t we automatically get the NAV history from the web?’

  • This is certainly possible (coming soon!).  However, the above method is much faster, well at least just as fast.
  • In addition, there are several limitations to this.  You may not be able to get NAV history from the date of SIP inception (Yahoo finance does a good job in this regard).

 “I have many SIPs. It is painful to use this for each SIP”

  • Agreed!  This calculator is useful if you want to generate account statements quickly. Especially useful for old SIPs.
  • Why not check my Excel-based Mutual Fund Tracker tool?  With minimal inputs, you can track your mutual fund portfolio.

“There are many online SIP calculators (Money Control, Value Research Online). Why should I use yours?”

  • I made this calculator because websites like MoneyControl seem to assume Sip transactions are spaced 30 days apart. The results of this IRR/RATE calculator match with MoneyControls SIP calculator.
  • Many sources simply take the monthly rate of return and multiply by 12 to get the annual CAGR.  This is wrong and can give wrong results – right way to convert IRR to CAGR.
  •  Therefore, I wanted a tool that will use XIRR with the generated account statement.
  • Of course, the added advantage of having all this within the comforting confines of an Excel sheet is always there!

Download the mutual fund SIP account generator and returns calculator (updated 1st Oct. 2013 after correcting minor bugs)

  • I have included NAV history of Franklin India Blue Chip Fund as an example)
  • I request you to compare the results of this calculator with your SIP account statement and let me know if there are any discrepancies.
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