What is portfolio turnover?
The lower of total purchases or total sales during the year, divided by average AUM. It’s a proxy for trading activity - not returns, not risk, just how often the manager is actually changing what’s in the portfolio.
Turnover = min(Purchases, Sales) / Average AUM
AMFI-disclosed figure, reported by each fund house directly.
Real comparison across 6 funds
CHART
Portfolio Turnover - 6 real funds
Total portfolio turnover ratio (%), as disclosed by the AMC.
Funds compared: Canara Robeco Flexi Cap Fund - Direct Plan - Growth · Canara Robeco Large and Mid Cap Fund - Direct Plan - Growth · Bandhan Large Cap Fund - Direct Plan - Growth · Franklin India Small Cap Fund - Direct - Growth · Franklin India Large Cap Fund - Direct - Growth · Canara Robeco Infrastructure Fund - Direct Plan - Growth
Reading the spread
Across these 6 funds, portfolio turnover runs from 0% (Canara Robeco Infrastructure Fund - Direct Plan - Growth) to 38% (Franklin India Small Cap Fund - Direct - Growth), a gap of 38%. The middle value is 1%, with 3 of 6 above it. The highest reading is 130.7 times the lowest, so the choice of fund changes this number a lot. Neither end is better or worse in itself; the number describes how a fund behaves, and what matters is whether that matches what you want.
How to use it in practice
Portfolio turnover shows how much of a fund’s holdings were bought and sold over a year. A low figure suggests a patient, buy-and-hold style and lower trading costs. A high figure suggests active trading, which costs money in brokerage and taxes that ultimately affect your returns. Compare it with peers in the same category, and read it with the expense ratio.
Common mistakes
Turnover can exceed 100%, which simply means the fund traded more than its own size in a year, and arbitrage and hybrid funds often show very high figures because of how they hedge. A high turnover is not wrong in itself if the trading adds value; judge it against returns after costs.
Frequently asked questions
What is a high portfolio turnover?
Turnover above 100% means the fund traded more than its entire portfolio in a year. For most equity funds, a lower figure indicates a longer holding style.
Why do some funds show turnover above 1000%?
Arbitrage and similar funds roll hedged positions often, which inflates the ratio without implying aggressive stock picking.
Does turnover affect my returns?
Indirectly. Trading incurs brokerage and other costs that reduce the fund’s return, and short-term gains realised inside the fund affect its tax position.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU The gap between funds here can be enormous - some funds barely trade year to year (under 1%), others turn over a large share of the book. High turnover isn’t automatically bad, but it does mean more transaction costs and more short-term capital gains events passed through to you, even in a Direct plan.
METHODOLOGY Sourced directly from AMFI’s fund disclosure, not independently recomputed by Punji. Data: July-2026 disclosure via Punji. Not investment advice.