How Dhanik Ranks Mutual Funds — Methodology & Disclaimers

Dhanik is built to be transparent. Nothing on this site is a buy/sell recommendation — every score and list is generated mechanically from publicly disclosed fund data, using the rules below. We are not paid by any AMC to rank a fund higher.

1. The Dhanik Score (0–100)

Each fund's score is a weighted blend of three objective signals. We only score the components a fund actually discloses, then re-weight across what's available:

• Rating — 50%. The fund's 1–5 percentile rank within its own sub-category (so a large-cap is judged against large-caps, not debt funds).
• Risk-adjusted return (Sharpe ratio) — 30%. Return earned per unit of risk taken. A higher Sharpe means the fund's returns came with less volatility.
• Cost (expense ratio) — 20%. Lower is better — fees are one of the few things about a fund that are guaranteed and compound against you over time.

The blended result maps to a plain-English verdict:

2. What the score does not do

• It is not a prediction of future returns. Past performance and risk metrics describe history only.
• It does not consider your goals, time horizon, tax situation or risk appetite — those are personal.
• It can't capture qualitative factors like a manager change, mandate drift or AMC-level risk.
• A low score isn't "sell" and a high score isn't "buy" — they're a starting point for your own research.

3. "Best Funds" lists

Our curated lists (large cap, mid cap, ELSS, index, etc.) rank the Direct-Plan, Growth-option variant of each scheme by the Dhanik Score within that category, after filtering out schemes with too little history or missing data. Lists are regenerated from live data — they are not hand-picked or sponsored.

4. Returns & backtests

• Trailing & rolling returns are computed from the fund's actual historical NAV. Rolling returns annualise the return from every start date in a window to show consistency, not one lucky stretch.
• SIP backtests use real dated NAVs with a proper XIRR (internal rate of return), not a smoothed average.
• Returns over 1 year are annualised (CAGR); under 1 year are absolute.

5. Data sources & freshness

Fund data (NAVs, returns, holdings, risk metrics, expense ratios, manager details) comes from public mutual-fund data providers and is refreshed regularly; market-index quotes come from Yahoo Finance. NAVs are typically end-of-day and may be delayed. Despite our best efforts, data can occasionally be incomplete, delayed or inaccurate — always verify against the official scheme document or the AMC before acting.

6. Regulatory disclaimer (AMFI / SEBI)

Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Read all scheme-related documents carefully before investing.

• Dhanik is an independent information, research and tracking tool. We are not a SEBI-registered investment adviser, research analyst, broker or mutual-fund distributor, and we do not earn commissions on any fund.
• Nothing on this site constitutes investment, legal or tax advice, or an offer/solicitation to buy or sell any security or scheme.
• Past performance is not indicative of future results. The NAV of mutual fund units can go up or down with market movements.
• Please consult a SEBI-registered investment adviser for advice tailored to your circumstances before making any investment decision.

7. Conflicts of interest

Dhanik makes no money from fund sales. The site may display third-party ads (e.g. Google AdSense), but ads never influence a fund's score or its position in any list.

8. Feedback

Spotted an error in our data or methodology? Tell us at dhanik.screener@gmail.com — we take corrections seriously.