COMPARE
Axis Credit Risk Fund - Direct Plan - Growth vs HDFC Credit Risk Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan
Axis Credit Risk Fund and HDFC Credit Risk Fund are both in the Credit Risk Fund category, from Axis Asset Management Co. Ltd. and HDFC Asset Management Company Limited respectively. HDFC Credit Risk Fund has posted a higher 3-year rolling CAGR. Axis Credit Risk Fund has the lower expense ratio. See the full table and FAQ below for the complete real-data comparison.
Basics
Axis Credit Risk Fund has the lower direct-plan expense ratio, by 0.19 percentage points.
| Axis Credit Risk Fund - Direct Plan - Growth | HDFC Credit Risk Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Credit Risk Fund | Credit Risk Fund |
| AMC | Axis Asset Management Co. Ltd. | HDFC Asset Management Company Limited |
| Benchmark | CRISIL Credit Risk Debt B-II Index | NIFTY Credit Risk Bond Index B-II |
| NAV | ₹26.4245 (2026-10-28) | ₹28.2763 (2026-10-28) |
| AUM | ₹370.282 Cr | ₹7,569.711 Cr |
| Expense Ratio (Direct) | 0.82% | 1.01% |
| Inception | 2014-06-25 | 2014-03-06 |
Returns
HDFC Credit Risk Fund leads on 3-year rolling CAGR (8.2% vs Axis Credit Risk Fund's 7.4%) - see the FAQ below for percentile context within each fund's own category.
Risk Metrics
Risk metrics aren't shown for debt funds. Their NAV starts near Rs 10 and compounds steadily, so CAGR, beta and drawdown measure the arithmetic rather than the manager.
Portfolio Analytics
Axis Credit Risk Fund carries the higher portfolio YTM.
Punji Fund Health Score
HDFC Credit Risk Fund has the stronger Punji Quality grade of the two.
Frequently asked questions
Which has a higher 3-year return, Axis Credit Risk Fund or HDFC Credit Risk Fund?
HDFC Credit Risk Fund's 3-year rolling CAGR of 8.2% is higher than Axis Credit Risk Fund's 7.4%. HDFC Credit Risk Fund sits in the 69th percentile of its category on this metric, versus the 31st percentile for Axis Credit Risk Fund - though note both funds may belong to different categories with different medians, so a raw CAGR comparison doesn't account for how each fund performed relative to its own peers. A higher historical return also doesn't necessarily mean lower risk; check the risk metrics below before concluding either fund is the "better" choice.
Which has a lower expense ratio, Axis Credit Risk Fund or HDFC Credit Risk Fund?
Axis Credit Risk Fund's direct-plan expense ratio is 0.19 percentage points lower than HDFC Credit Risk Fund's. Over long holding periods, a persistent expense-ratio gap compounds into a materially different final corpus even if the two funds' gross returns are similar - it's one of the few fund attributes you can compare with total certainty upfront, unlike future returns, since the fee is contractually fixed rather than a historical estimate.
Why don't Axis Credit Risk Fund and HDFC Credit Risk Fund show risk metrics like Sharpe ratio or alpha?
Risk metrics aren't shown for debt funds. Their NAV starts near Rs 10 and compounds steadily, so CAGR, beta and drawdown measure the arithmetic rather than the manager. This is a deliberate methodology choice, not missing data - risk metrics like alpha and Sharpe ratio are most meaningful for actively-managed funds where a manager makes decisions that can add or subtract value versus a benchmark. For a fund that mechanically tracks an index, the equivalent useful metric is tracking error (how closely it follows its index), not alpha.
Which has higher AUM, Axis Credit Risk Fund or HDFC Credit Risk Fund?
HDFC Credit Risk Fund has ₹7,570 Cr in assets under management, versus ₹370 Cr for Axis Credit Risk Fund. A larger AUM generally means deeper liquidity and lower per-unit fixed costs for the AMC to spread across investors, but an AUM that's very large relative to a fund's category and strategy (especially in small/mid cap categories, where the investable universe is smaller) can also make it harder for a manager to enter and exit positions without moving the price - bigger isn't automatically better, especially for less liquid categories.
Which has a higher yield to maturity (YTM), Axis Credit Risk Fund or HDFC Credit Risk Fund?
Axis Credit Risk Fund's portfolio YTM (9.0326%) is higher than HDFC Credit Risk Fund's. YTM is the weighted-average return a debt fund's current bond holdings would earn if held to maturity, assuming no defaults and coupons reinvested at the same rate - a useful forward-looking yield estimate for debt funds the way rolling CAGR is for equity funds, though it's an estimate based on today's portfolio, not a guaranteed return, and can move as bonds are bought/sold or as interest rates change.
Which fund has a longer track record, Axis Credit Risk Fund or HDFC Credit Risk Fund?
HDFC Credit Risk Fund launched on 2014-03-06, making it older than Axis Credit Risk Fund (launched 2014-06-25). A longer track record means more real market cycles (bull runs, corrections, rate cycles) the fund has actually navigated, which is useful context for judging consistency - but it isn't a guarantee of future performance, and a newer fund isn't automatically worse, especially if it's run by an experienced manager or team with a track record at a prior fund.
Data as of 2026-10-29. Source: AMFI disclosures via Punji. Not investment advice.