Here are the index funds with lowest tracking error and tracking difference - Cafemutual.com (2024)

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An analysis done by Cafemutual on index funds shows that 15 out of 140 index funds recorded a tracking error of less than 0.06%.

Tracking error is the annualized difference between the standard deviation of the fund and its benchmark. Lower the tracking difference, better the fund. It’s calculated in percentage terms.

Among large cap funds, Navi Nifty 50 Index Fund has the lowest tracking error of 0.01% among large cap index funds followed by Navi Nifty Next 50 Index Fund with tracking error of 0.02%.

In the midcap space, Navi Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund has the lowest tracking error of 0.01%. This was followed by SBI Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund, ICICI Prudential Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund with a tracking error of 0.07% each.

SBI Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund with 0.06%, ICICI Prudential Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund with 0.08% and Motilal Oswal Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund with 0.1% were the top three funds in small cap category with the lowest tracking error.

While Nippon India Nifty 50 Value 20 Index Fund has the lowest tracking error of 0.06% in the factor fund category, Navi Nifty Bank Index Fund topped the sectoral/thematic index fund category with the lowest tracking error of 0.01%.

In target maturity fund category, Bandhan CRISIL IBX Gilt June 2027 Index Fund has the lowest tracking error of 0.10% and Motilal Oswal S&P 500 Index Fund has the lowest tracking error of 0.13% in the international category.

Please note that we have taken regular plan of index funds to do this analysis.

Let us look at the table to know the top three index funds in terms of tracking error:
Large Cap:

Rank

Scheme Name

Tracking Error - Regular (%)

1

Navi Nifty 50 Index Fund

0.01

2

Navi Nifty Next 50 Index Fund

0.02

3

DSP Nifty 50 Equal Weight Index Fund

0.05

DSP Nifty 50 Index Fund

0.05

ICICI Prudential Nifty 50 Index Fund

0.05

Motilal Oswal Nifty 500 Index Fund

0.05

Motilal Oswal Nifty 50 Index Fund

0.05

Nippon India Index Nifty 50

0.05

SBI Nifty Index Fund

0.05

SBI Nifty Next 50 Index Fund

0.05

UTI Nifty 50 Index Fund

0.05

UTI Nifty Next 50 Index Fund

0.05

Mid cap

Rank

Scheme Name

Tracking Error - Regular (%)

1

Navi Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund

0.01

2

SBI Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund

0.07

ICICI Prudential Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund

0.07

3

Motilal Oswal Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund

0.08

Small cap

Rank

Scheme Name

Tracking Error - Regular (%)

1

SBI Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund

0.06

2

ICICI Prudential Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund

0.08

3

Motilal Oswal Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund

0.10

Factor

Rank

Scheme Name

Tracking Error - Regular (%)

1

Nippon India Nifty 50 Value 20 Index Fund

0.06

2

UTI Nifty Midcap 150 Quality 50 Index Fund

0.07

3

UTI S&P BSE Low Volatility Index Fund

0.09

Sectoral/Thematic

Rank

Category

Tracking Error - Regular (%)

1

Navi Nifty Bank Index Fund

0.01

Navi Nifty India Manufacturing Index Fund

0.01

2

Motilal Oswal Nifty Bank Index Fund

0.08

3

ICICI Prudential Nifty Bank Index Fund

0.11

Target Maturity

Rank

Category

Tracking Error - Regular (%)

1

Bandhan CRISIL IBX Gilt June 2027 Index Fund

0.10

Nippon India Nifty G-Sec Sep 2027 Maturity Index Fund

0.10

2

Bandhan Crisil IBX Gilt April 2026 Index Fund

0.13

3

Mirae Asset CRISIL IBX Gilt Index - April 2033 Index Fund

0.15

International

Rank

Scheme Name

Tracking Error - Regular (%)

1

Motilal Oswal S&P 500 Index Fund

0.13

2

ICICI Prudential NASDAQ 100 Index Fund

0.65

3

Edelweiss MSCI India Domestic & World Healthcare 45 Index Fund

1.18

Tracking difference


Cafemutual has also released a report on tracking difference of 140 index funds.

Tracking difference is simply the difference between returns generated by the fund and its benchmark. Lower the tracking difference, better the fund. It’s also calculated in percentage terms.

In large cap category, UTI Nifty 50 Index Fund topped the list with a tracking difference of -0.36%, followed by Navi Nifty 50 Index Fund with -0.40% and UTI S&P BSE Sensex Index Fund with -0.42%.

Nippon India Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund, Motilal Oswal Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund, and Aditya Birla Sun Life Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund have the lowest tracking difference of -1.23, -1.25 and -1.30 respectively in mid cap category.

In small cap, SBI Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund has the lowest tracking difference of -1.62%, UTI Nifty 200 Momentum 30 Index Fund led the factor category with lowest tracking difference of -0.82% and Motilal Oswal S&P BSE Financials ex Bank 30 Index Fund topped the sectoral/ thematic category with tracking difference of 0.96%.

Let us look at the table to know more.

Large cap

Rank

Scheme Name

Tracking Difference (1 year) - Regular (%)

1

UTI Nifty 50 Index Fund

-0.36

2

Navi Nifty 50 Index Fund

-0.40

3

UTI S&P BSE Sensex Index Fund

-0.42

Mid cap

Rank

Scheme Name

Tracking Difference (1 year) - Regular (%)

1

Nippon India Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund

-1.23

2

Motilal Oswal Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund

-1.25

3

Aditya Birla Sun Life Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund

-1.30

Small cap

Rank

Scheme Name

Tracking Difference (1 year) - Regular (%)

1

SBI Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund

-1.62

2

Motilal Oswal Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund

-1.65

3

Nippon India Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund

-1.84

Factor

Rank

Scheme Name

Tracking Difference
(1 year) - Regular (%)

1

UTI Nifty200 Momentum 30 Index Fund

-0.82

2

Edelweiss Nifty 100 Quality 30 Index Fund

-0.89

3

UTI Nifty Midcap 150 Quality 50 Index Fund

-0.98

Sectoral/ Thematic

Rank

Category

Tracking Difference (1 year) - Regular (%)

1

Motilal Oswal S&P BSE Financials ex Bank 30 Index Fund

-0.96

2

Motilal Oswal Nifty Bank Index Fund

-1.04

3

ICICI Prudential Nifty IT Index Fund

-1.09

Target Maturity

Rank

Category

Tracking Difference (1 year) - Regular (%)

1

Aditya Birla Sun Life CRISIL IBX Gilt -Apr 2029 Index Fund

-0.09

2

Edelweiss CRISIL PSU Plus SDL 50:50 Oct 2025 Index Fund

-0.14

3

Edelweiss CRISIL IBX 50:50 Gilt Plus SDL Sep 2028 Index Fund

-0.16

International

Rank

Scheme Name

Tracking Difference (1 year) - Regular (%)

1

Edelweiss MSCI India Domestic & World Healthcare 45 Index Fund

-1.33

2

Motilal Oswal MSCI EAFE Top 100 Select Index Fund

-1.38

3

ICICI Prudential NASDAQ 100 Index Fund

-1.50

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Here are the index funds with lowest tracking error and tracking difference - Cafemutual.com (2024)

FAQs

Which index fund has the lowest tracking difference? ›

It's calculated in percentage terms. Among large cap funds, Navi Nifty 50 Index Fund has the lowest tracking error of 0.01% among large cap index funds followed by Navi Nifty Next 50 Index Fund with tracking error of 0.02%. In the midcap space, Navi Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund has the lowest tracking error of 0.01%.

Do all index funds have the same tracking error True or false? ›

As you can see, tracking error is a measure of the volatility in the performance of the Index Fund. As you can see, there is significant variation in the tracking error not only between different Index Funds but also between funds tracking the same benchmark.

What is the tracking error on Freefincal index funds? ›

The tracking error is the standard deviation of the index fund minus index monthly return differences. The lower the tracking error, the more efficiently the fund follows the index. Unlike returns, tracking error data over multiple durations is hard to find.

Which market index is most accurate? ›

Like the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq composite, the S&P 500 is an index of stocks. The S&P is considered by many investors to be the most accurate representation of how the overall stock market is performing, as it uses 500 stocks chosen based on size, industry and other factors to reflect a wide swath of industries.

What is a good tracking error for an index fund? ›

Most of the time, the tracking error of an index fund is small, perhaps only a few tenths of one percent. However, a variety of factors can sometimes conspire to open a gap of several percentage points between the index fund and its target index.

What is the tracking error on the Vanguard index? ›

Tracking error is not how much an ETF's performance deviates from that of its benchmark index for a given period (that's known as excess returns). It's about how much those excess returns oscillate around the portfolio's benchmark during that period.

What is considered a low tracking error? ›

Low errors indicate that the performance of the portfolio is close to the performance of the benchmark. Low errors are common with index funds and ETFs that replicate the composition of major stock market indices.

How safe are global index funds? ›

Lower risk: Because they're diversified, investing in an index fund is lower risk than owning a few individual stocks. That doesn't mean you can't lose money or that they're as safe as a CD, for example, but the index will usually fluctuate a lot less than an individual stock.

What is the best index to track China? ›

Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index (CSI300)

The CSI 300 is considered the blue-chip index for mainland China stock exchanges, as it tracks both the Shanghai and the Shenzhen markets.

Do ETFs have tracking error? ›

ETF returns don't always trail their index though; tracking difference can be small or large, positive or negative. Tracking error is a related but distinct metric. Tracking error is about variability rather than performance.

Which funds have consistently beat the S&P 500? ›

That makes outperforming the S&P 500 on a consistent basis no small task. The one fund that has beaten the index in nine of the past 10 years is the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEMKT: XLK).

Is VOO better than Spy? ›

VOO typically provides a higher dividend yield compared to SPY. This aspect is particularly attractive to investors who prioritize income generation from their investments.

Are some index funds better than others? ›

Each fund may track a different index or do better than another fund, and some indexes do better than others over time. Long-run performance is your best gauge to what you might expect in the future, but it's no guarantee, either.

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