How We Work: Data, Methods & Corrections

Where the data comes from

We don't use assumed returns. Our tools and articles read from databases we build ourselves from official public sources:

• Mutual fund NAVs — daily NAVs from AMFI for every live plan (8,700+ plans, history back to 2006).
• Stock and ETF prices — daily closing prices, volume and delivery data from NSE, from 2013 onwards.
• Dividends, splits and bonuses — NSE corporate action records.
• Fund portfolios — the monthly holdings each fund house publishes.
• Expense ratios (TER) — AMFI's published TER data.
• Benchmarks — Nifty Total Return Index values from NSE Indices (dividends included).

Prices and NAVs are refreshed every trading day, and fund portfolios and expense ratios every month. Where a figure comes from somewhere else, the article names the source.

How the numbers are calculated

• Backtests use real history. A SIP backtest buys units at the actual NAV on each SIP date and values them at the latest NAV. Nothing is smoothed or averaged.
• Returns are XIRR or CAGR. SIP returns use XIRR, which accounts for when each instalment went in. Periods shorter than about 11 months show a plain return, never an annualised one.
• IDCW payouts count as cash you received. We work out each payout from the gap between the IDCW and Growth NAVs of the same fund. Before April 2020, funds paid dividend tax out of the NAV, so we count only what reached investors after that tax.
• Stock prices are adjusted for splits and bonuses when we calculate returns, so a 1:10 split doesn't look like a 90% crash.
• Risk figures (volatility, drawdown, beta, alpha, Sharpe) are measured against the Nifty Total Return Index that fits the fund. For debt, gold and international funds we leave out alpha and the benchmark comparison, because a Nifty comparison would mislead.
• ETF premium or discount compares the closing price with the NAV of the same day.

How reviews are tested

App and product reviews are written after we use the product ourselves with real money: sign-up, KYC, fees, support and withdrawal. We include screenshots from our own accounts where we can, and the date of the test, because apps change. When a review relies on someone else's figures (a rating, a complaint count, a regulator's record), we link to it.

How AI is used

AI tools help with drafting, Hindi translation and code. Every number comes from our own data and is checked by Kuldeep before publishing. The conclusions in each article are his.

What our numbers can't tell you

• Past returns don't predict future returns. A backtest shows what happened, not what will happen.
• A small number of plans (mostly segregated portfolios) are missing from our database. For those, tools fall back to a public NAV source.
• We don't have expense-ratio history, so cost figures use today's TER for every past month.
• Very small IDCW payouts (under about 0.1% of NAV) can be missed. Tools that use payouts say so.
• We don't have live intraday prices. ETF and stock figures use the day's closing data.
• Tax figures follow the rules in force when the article was written. Check the current rules before acting.

Corrections

If you spot a mistake, email kuldeep@deepmoneyminds.com with the page link and what's wrong. We check every report. When a fix changes a number or a conclusion, we update the page, add a note saying what changed, and update the page's "last updated" date. We don't change dates for edits that don't change the content.

Independence

The site is funded by ads and a few affiliate links. They don't change what our tools calculate or what we write. See the Affiliate Disclosure and About. Nothing here is investment advice. We're not SEBI-registered advisers; read the Terms & Disclaimer.