COMPARE
HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND -Direct Plan - Growth Option vs Sundaram Arbitrage Fund (Formerly Known as Prinicpal Arbitrage Fund) - Direct Plan - Growth
HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - and Sundaram Arbitrage Fund are both in the Arbitrage Fund category, from HDFC Asset Management Company Limited and Sundaram Asset Management Company Ltd respectively. Sundaram Arbitrage Fund has posted a higher 3-year rolling CAGR. Sundaram Arbitrage Fund has the lower expense ratio. See the full table and FAQ below for the complete real-data comparison.
Basics
Sundaram Arbitrage Fund has the lower direct-plan expense ratio, by 0.51 percentage points.
| HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND -Direct Plan - Growth Option | Sundaram Arbitrage Fund (Formerly Known as Prinicpal Arbitrage Fund) - Direct Plan - Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Arbitrage Fund | Arbitrage Fund |
| AMC | HDFC Asset Management Company Limited | Sundaram Asset Management Company Ltd |
| Benchmark | Nifty 50 Arbitrage | Nifty 50 Arbitrage |
| NAV | ₹21.915 (2026-10-28) | ₹16.5861 (2026-10-28) |
| AUM | ₹25,552.738 Cr | ₹571.26 Cr |
| Expense Ratio (Direct) | 1.5% | 0.99% |
| Inception | 2007-09-28 | 2016-03-28 |
Returns
Sundaram Arbitrage Fund leads on 3-year rolling CAGR (7.3% vs HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND -'s 6.3%) - see the FAQ below for percentile context within each fund's own category.
Risk Metrics
Arbitrage funds target a small, steady spread rather than market returns, so beta and alpha against an equity index describe nothing useful.
Portfolio Analytics
Sundaram Arbitrage Fund carries the higher portfolio P/E ratio (a rougher proxy for how richly the underlying holdings are valued) - see the table below for the full comparison.
| HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND -Direct Plan - Growth Option | Sundaram Arbitrage Fund (Formerly Known as Prinicpal Arbitrage Fund) - Direct Plan - Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| P/E Ratio | 17.152 | 21.4743 |
| P/B Ratio | 6.656 | - |
| Dividend Yield | 1.3404% | 1.2745% |
| Active Share | - | - |
| Portfolio Turnover | 111242% | 924% |
| YTM | - | 5.8714% |
| Duration (Macaulay) | 0.619 yrs | 0.47 yrs |
Punji Fund Health Score
Sundaram Arbitrage Fund has the stronger Punji Quality grade of the two.
Frequently asked questions
Which has a higher 3-year return, HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - or Sundaram Arbitrage Fund?
Sundaram Arbitrage Fund's 3-year rolling CAGR of 7.3% is higher than HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND -'s 6.3%. Sundaram Arbitrage Fund sits in the 92nd percentile of its category on this metric, versus the 38th percentile for HDFC ARBITRAGE 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, HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - or Sundaram Arbitrage Fund?
Sundaram Arbitrage Fund's direct-plan expense ratio is 0.51 percentage points lower than HDFC ARBITRAGE 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 HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - and Sundaram Arbitrage Fund show risk metrics like Sharpe ratio or alpha?
Arbitrage funds target a small, steady spread rather than market returns, so beta and alpha against an equity index describe nothing useful. 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, HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - or Sundaram Arbitrage Fund?
HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - has ₹25,553 Cr in assets under management, versus ₹571 Cr for Sundaram Arbitrage 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 longer duration (more interest-rate sensitivity), HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - or Sundaram Arbitrage Fund?
HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - has the longer Macaulay duration of the two, meaning its NAV is more sensitive to interest-rate changes - a longer-duration debt fund tends to gain more when rates fall and lose more when rates rise, compared to a shorter-duration fund. Duration is expressed in years but isn't literally about how long you hold the fund; it's a measure of price sensitivity to rate moves. If you expect rates to fall, the longer-duration fund benefits more; if you expect rates to rise or want to minimize that swing, the shorter-duration fund is the more conservative pick.
Which fund has a longer track record, HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - or Sundaram Arbitrage Fund?
HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND - launched on 2007-09-28, making it older than Sundaram Arbitrage Fund (launched 2016-03-28). 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.