DSP MSCI India ETF vs HDFC Arbitrage Fund
Direct Plan where a fund has one, Growth option · Data as on 30-10-2026
DSP MSCI India ETF is a mutual fund and HDFC Arbitrage Fund is an Arbitrage fund. DSP MSCI India ETF charges 0.16% a year and HDFC Arbitrage Fund 1.48%. Their portfolios overlap 50.5%: they hold 120 of the same securities.
Which is better, DSP MSCI India ETF or HDFC Arbitrage? Key differences
It depends on what you want from the fund. These are the differences in numbers, from the data on this page.
- DSP MSCI India ETF costs less: 0.16% a year against 1.48%.
- HDFC Arbitrage fell less in its worst fall since 25-11-2025: −0.5% against −14.6%.
- DSP MSCI India ETF holds more in large companies: 80.5% of the fund in large caps against 55.6%.
- HDFC Arbitrage is the larger fund: ₹25,407 Cr against ₹3 Cr.
- Their portfolios overlap 50.5%: 120 of the same holdings.
Past returns do not promise future returns. This page is information, not investment advice.
Key facts
From each fund's scheme summary document and AMFI
| Fact | DSP MSCI India ETF | HDFC Arbitrage Fund |
|---|---|---|
| Fund house | DSP Mutual Fund | HDFC Mutual Fund |
| Category | Not available | Arbitrage |
| AUM | ₹3 Cr (30-09-2026) | ₹25,407 Cr (30-09-2026) |
| NAV | ₹27.96 | ₹21.93 (Direct) |
| Expense ratio (Direct) | Not available | 1.48% |
| Expense ratio (Regular) | Not available | 2.02% |
| Riskometer | Not available | Low |
| Benchmark | Not available | Nifty 50 Arbitrage TRI |
| Launch date | Not available | 23-10-2007 |
| Minimum investment | Not available | ₹100 |
| Lock in | Not available | None |
| Fund managers | Not available | Nandita Menezes, Arun Agarwal, Anil Bamboli, Gopal Agrawal |
| Exit load | Not available | • In respect of each purchase / switch-in of Units, an Exit load of 0.25% is payable if Units are redeemed / switched-out within 15 days from the date of allotment of units. • No Exit Load is payable if Units are redeemed/switched-out after 15 days from the date of allotment. |
DSP MSCI India ETF vs HDFC Arbitrage: Returns Comparison
Returns as on 30-10-2026. Up to one year they are absolute returns. Longer periods are a rate per year.
| Fund | 1M | 3M | 6M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSP MSCI India ETF | +0.34% | −5.94% | −3.51% | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| HDFC Arbitrage Fund (Direct) | +0.55% | +1.55% | +3.25% | +6.66% | +7.26% | +6.73% | +6.13% |
| Arbitrage average | +0.56% | +1.52% | +3.20% | +6.62% | +7.18% | +6.68% | +6.31% |
Category average: the average of the 39 Arbitrage funds, same plan type.
DSP MSCI India ETF vs HDFC Arbitrage: Year-wise Returns
| Year | DSP MSCI India ETFDSP MSCI India ETF | HDFC ArbitrageHDFC Arbitrage |
|---|---|---|
| 2026to date | −8.97% | +5.43% |
| 2025 | -- | +6.93% |
| 2024 | -- | +8.22% |
| 2023 | -- | +7.78% |
| 2022 | -- | +4.73% |
| 2021 | -- | +4.17% |
DSP MSCI India ETF vs HDFC Arbitrage: Rolling Returns
Every holding period of both funds
DSP MSCI India ETF vs HDFC Arbitrage: Risk and Drawdowns
How much each fund swings, and the worst fall over the same days
Risk and return
| Measure | DSP MSCI India ETF | HDFC Arbitrage Fund (Direct) |
|---|---|---|
| Return (CAGR) | −8.48% | +6.43% |
| Standard deviation | 14.60% | 1.02% |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.94 | 0.60 |
| Sortino ratio | -1.24 | 0.87 |
| Maximum drawdown | −14.6% (31-03-2026) | −0.7% (25-03-2020) |
| Beta | -- | -- |
| Alpha | -- | -- |
From daily NAVs, 25-11-2025 to 30-10-2026. Standard deviation: how much the daily value swings, scaled to a year. Sharpe: return above the risk-free rate (NSE's overnight rate index) per unit of swing. Sortino: the same, counting only the falls. Beta and alpha compare each fund with its own benchmark's TRI.
Drawdowns
How far below its previous high each one was on every day: the falls an investor had to sit through. 0% means it was at a new high.
DSP MSCI India ETF
HDFC Arbitrage Fund (Direct)
| Fund | Worst fall | High before it | Bottom | Back at the high | Time to climb back | Below its high today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSP MSCI India ETF | −14.6% | 02-01-2026 | 31-03-2026 | Not yet | -- | −10.1% |
| HDFC Arbitrage Fund (Direct) | −0.5% | 03-08-2026 | 06-08-2026 | 31-08-2026 | 25 days | −0.1% |
From daily values since 25-11-2025, the first day every fund has.
DSP MSCI India ETF vs HDFC Arbitrage: Portfolio Overlap
From each fund's latest monthly portfolio: DSP MSCI India ETF, September 2026; HDFC Arbitrage Fund, September 2026
Holdings in common
- Overlap
- 50.5%
- Held by both
- 120
- Only in DSP MSCI India ETF
- 44
- Only in HDFC Arbitrage
- 49
| Security | % of DSP MSCI India ETF | % of HDFC Arbitrage |
|---|---|---|
| HDFC Bank Limited | 6.44% | 5.04% |
| ICICI Bank Limited | 5.59% | 5.04% |
| Reliance Industries Limited | 5.44% | 3.39% |
| Bharti Airtel Limited | 3.93% | 3.31% |
| Axis Bank Limited | 2.25% | 2.87% |
| Bajaj Finance Limited | 1.90% | 1.80% |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited | 1.82% | 1.44% |
| State Bank of India | 1.41% | 2.30% |
| Tata Steel Limited | 1.10% | 1.55% |
| Hindustan Unilever Limited | 1.05% | 1.43% |
| Divi's Laboratories Limited | 0.90% | 1.26% |
| TVS Motor Co Limited | 0.78% | 1.10% |
| NTPC Limited | 1.12% | 0.74% |
| Hindalco Industries Limited | 0.97% | 0.73% |
| Interglobe Aviation Limited | 0.75% | 0.62% |
| JSW Steel Limited | 0.61% | 2.32% |
| Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited | 0.66% | 0.59% |
| ITC Limited | 0.63% | 0.59% |
| Eicher Motors Limited | 0.77% | 0.58% |
| Infosys Limited | 2.41% | 0.57% |
| Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Co Limited | 0.55% | 0.62% |
| Larsen & Toubro Limited | 2.02% | 0.54% |
| Coal India Limited | 0.52% | 0.87% |
| Adani Enterprises Limited | 0.59% | 0.49% |
| Bharat Electronics Limited | 1.07% | 0.46% |
| Varun Beverages Limited | 0.44% | 0.56% |
| Mahindra & Mahindra Limited | 2.05% | 0.43% |
| Maruti Suzuki India Limited | 1.11% | 0.42% |
| Tata Consumer Products Limited | 0.41% | 0.49% |
| Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited | 0.40% | 0.46% |
| HDFC Life Insurance Co Limited | 0.41% | 0.38% |
| Indus Towers Limited | 0.37% | 0.81% |
| Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited | 0.42% | 0.36% |
| Bharat Forge Limited | 0.36% | 0.35% |
| Power Finance Corporation Limited | 0.34% | 0.41% |
| Info Edge (India) Limited | 0.33% | 0.37% |
| Multi Commodity Exchange Of India Limited | 0.33% | 0.44% |
| Marico Limited | 0.32% | 0.57% |
| Jio Financial Services Limited | 0.46% | 0.31% |
| Tata Power Co Limited | 0.43% | 0.30% |
| Indian Oil Corporation Limited | 0.30% | 0.48% |
| Hindustan Aeronautics Limited | 0.63% | 0.29% |
| Cummins India Limited | 0.50% | 0.29% |
| Ashok Leyland Limited | 0.34% | 0.29% |
| Asian Paints Limited | 0.73% | 0.28% |
| Indian Hotels Co Limited | 0.48% | 0.27% |
| Ge Vernova T&D India Limited | 0.42% | 0.27% |
| IDFC First Bank Limited | 0.27% | 0.95% |
| Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited | 0.27% | 0.32% |
| Vodafone Idea Limited | 0.27% | 1.03% |
| Yes Bank Limited | 0.25% | 0.29% |
| Titan Co Limited | 1.29% | 0.24% |
| Adani Power Limited | 0.53% | 0.23% |
| Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited | 0.39% | 0.23% |
| Pidilite Industries Limited | 0.33% | 0.23% |
| APL Apollo Tubes Limited | 0.31% | 0.23% |
| Aditya Birla Capital Limited | 0.22% | 0.33% |
| Ultratech Cement Limited | 0.89% | 0.21% |
| Punjab National Bank | 0.21% | 1.27% |
| Grasim Industries Limited | 0.66% | 0.19% |
| Adani Energy Solutions Limited | 0.22% | 0.19% |
| Bank of Baroda | 0.19% | 0.74% |
| NMDC Limited | 0.19% | 0.67% |
| Bajaj Auto Limited | 0.59% | 0.18% |
| Ambuja Cements Limited | 0.18% | 0.44% |
| Godrej Properties Limited | 0.18% | 0.26% |
| Alkem Laboratories Limited | 0.18% | 0.18% |
| Eternal Limited | 1.22% | 0.17% |
| Aurobindo Pharma Limited | 0.34% | 0.17% |
| Voltas Limited | 0.17% | 0.21% |
| Canara Bank | 0.17% | 1.52% |
| Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited | 0.54% | 0.16% |
| UPL Limited | 0.22% | 0.16% |
| Bajaj Finserv Limited | 0.53% | 0.15% |
| Lupin Limited | 0.37% | 0.15% |
| Samvardhana Motherson International Limited | 0.55% | 0.14% |
| Cipla Limited | 0.54% | 0.13% |
| Federal Bank Limited | 0.46% | 0.11% |
| One 97 Communications Limited | 0.51% | 0.10% |
| IndusInd Bank Limited | 0.41% | 0.10% |
| Shriram Finance Limited | 1.10% | 0.08% |
| Tube Investments of India Limited | 0.19% | 0.08% |
| Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited | 1.30% | 0.07% |
| Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited | 0.46% | 0.07% |
| Avenue Supermarts Limited | 0.44% | 0.07% |
| DLF Limited | 0.33% | 0.07% |
| GAIL (India) Limited | 0.31% | 0.07% |
| Fortis Healthcare Limited | 0.30% | 0.07% |
| Union Bank Of India | 0.21% | 0.07% |
| JSW Energy Limited | 0.18% | 0.07% |
| Supreme Industries Limited | 0.17% | 0.07% |
| SBI Life Insurance Co Limited | 0.61% | 0.06% |
| AU Small Finance Bank Limited | 0.44% | 0.06% |
| Solar Industries India Limited | 0.38% | 0.06% |
| CG Power and Industrial Solutions Limited | 0.43% | 0.05% |
| Jindal Steel Limited | 0.32% | 0.05% |
| United Spirits Limited | 0.31% | 0.05% |
| Muthoot Finance Limited | 0.24% | 0.05% |
| National Aluminium Co Limited | 0.23% | 0.05% |
| Mphasis Limited | 0.21% | 0.05% |
| Tata Consultancy Services Limited | 1.33% | 0.04% |
| Trent Limited | 0.56% | 0.04% |
| GMR Airports Limited | 0.22% | 0.04% |
| HCL Technologies Limited | 0.86% | 0.03% |
| Nestle India Limited | 0.60% | 0.03% |
| BSE Limited | 0.49% | 0.03% |
| Britannia Industries Limited | 0.41% | 0.03% |
| SRF Limited | 0.27% | 0.03% |
| Dabur India Limited | 0.13% | 0.03% |
| Suzlon Energy Limited | 0.32% | 0.02% |
| PB Fintech Limited | 0.30% | 0.02% |
| Oil India Limited | 0.15% | 0.02% |
| Page Industries Limited | 0.14% | 0.02% |
| Power Grid Corporation of India Limited | 0.87% | 0.01% |
| Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited | 0.83% | 0.01% |
| Laurus Labs Limited | 0.55% | 0.01% |
| Hitachi Energy India Limited | 0.35% | 0.01% |
| Polycab India Limited | 0.34% | 0.01% |
| Zydus Lifesciences Limited | 0.17% | 0.01% |
| Colgate Palmolive (India) Limited | 0.16% | 0.01% |
Overlap: for each holding both funds own, the smaller of its two weights, added up. 50.5% means 50.5% of each fund's money sits in positions the other also holds. Matched by ISIN. Cash and hedged positions are left out.
Largest holdings only in DSP MSCI India ETF
| Security | % of fund |
|---|---|
| Tech Mahindra Limited | 0.65% |
| Tata Motors Limited | 0.62% |
| Max Healthcare Institute Limited | 0.52% |
| Hero MotoCorp Limited | 0.51% |
| Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited | 0.49% |
Largest holdings only in HDFC Arbitrage Fund
| Security | % of fund |
|---|---|
| HDFC Money Market Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option | 9.14% |
| Union Bank of India | 3.84% |
| HDFC Liquid Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option | 3.75% |
| HDFC Ultra Short Term Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option | 2.85% |
| HDFC Ultra Short to Short Term Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option | 2.64% |
Asset and sector split
Share of each fund, from its latest monthly portfolio
Asset allocation
| Asset | DSP MSCI India ETF | HDFC Arbitrage |
|---|---|---|
| Equity | 99.5% | 67.5% |
| Debt | 0.0% | 9.0% |
| Cash and others | 0.5% | 23.4% |
Market cap of stocks
| Market cap | DSP MSCI India ETF | HDFC Arbitrage |
|---|---|---|
| Large Cap | 80.5% | 55.6% |
| Mid Cap | 19.0% | 10.3% |
| Small Cap | 0.0% | 1.7% |
Share of the whole fund. Groups follow AMFI's latest list: Large Cap is the 100 largest companies, Mid Cap the next 150, Small Cap the rest.
Largest sectors
| Sector | DSP MSCI India ETF | HDFC Arbitrage |
|---|---|---|
| Banks | 20.3% | 22.2% |
| IT - Software | 6.5% | 0.9% |
| Petroleum Products | 6.4% | 4.4% |
| Finance | 6.3% | 4.3% |
| Automobiles | 6.2% | 3.1% |
| Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology | 5.6% | 3.0% |
| Telecom - Services | 4.7% | 5.2% |
| Ferrous Metals | 2.2% | 4.5% |
The six largest sectors of each fund's stocks, % of the fund.
DSP MSCI India ETF vs HDFC Arbitrage: Expense Ratio
What each plan charges a year, from AMFI's expense ratio file
| Charge | DSP MSCI India ETF | HDFC Arbitrage Fund |
|---|---|---|
| Total expense ratio (Direct) | Not available | 1.48% |
| Base expense ratio (Direct) | 0.11% | 0.34% |
| Total expense ratio (Regular) | Not available | 2.02% |
| Base expense ratio (Regular) | 0.00% | 0.80% |
The expense ratio comes out of the fund's assets every day, so every return on this page is already after it. Base expense ratio: the fund house's own fee. The total adds brokerage, transaction costs, and levies with GST.
More comparisons
Each fund against the others of its category
DSP MSCI India ETF vs HDFC Arbitrage Fund: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between DSP MSCI India ETF and HDFC Arbitrage Fund?
DSP MSCI India ETF is a mutual fund, HDFC Arbitrage Fund is an Arbitrage fund, run by DSP Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund. Their portfolios overlap 50.5%. DSP MSCI India ETF charges 0.16% a year and HDFC Arbitrage Fund 1.48%.
Which has the lower expense ratio, DSP MSCI India ETF or HDFC Arbitrage Fund?
DSP MSCI India ETF charges less: 0.16% a year against 1.48%. These are the total expense ratios reported to AMFI.
How much do DSP MSCI India ETF and HDFC Arbitrage Fund overlap?
50.5%. They hold 120 of the same securities, the largest shared ones being HDFCBANK, ICICIBANK, RELIANCE. From each fund's latest monthly portfolio.
Can I invest in both DSP MSCI India ETF and HDFC Arbitrage Fund?
Yes. 50.5% of each fund's money sits in the same holdings, so a large part of the two investments would move together.
Sources: NAV and expense ratio from AMFI. Holdings from each fund house's monthly portfolio statement. Fund facts from each scheme summary document.
This page is information, not investment advice. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks; read all scheme related documents carefully. Past returns do not promise future returns. Figures come from AMFI, NSE, BSE and each fund house's own documents.