Upside Capture Ratio
Does your fund keep pace — or fall behind — in bull markets?
What is it?
The Upside Capture Ratio tells you how much of a benchmark's gains a fund captured when the market was rising. An Upside Capture of 110 means when the Nifty 50 rose 10%, this fund rose 11%. A ratio of 90 means the fund captured only 9% out of a 10% market gain.
It is calculated only during periods when the benchmark had a positive return. Always interpret it alongside the Downside Capture Ratio — a fund that captures 120% of gains is impressive, unless it also captures 130% of losses.
The ideal scenario: a high Upside Capture paired with a low Downside Capture. This means the fund participates strongly in rallies and holds up relatively well during sell-offs — asymmetric performance in your favour.
Formula
Upside Capture = (Fund return in up markets ÷ Benchmark return in up markets) × 100Up marketsAll periods where the benchmark return was positiveReal Example
Tracking performance during months when Nifty 50 rose over 3 years.
Given
Calculation
Upside Capture Ratio = (98 ÷ 85) × 100 ≈ 115
What this means
The fund captured 115% of the market's gains during rising periods — it outperformed the benchmark on the upside.
Good vs Bad Benchmarks
Above 110
Fund consistently outperforms in bull markets
100 – 110
Fund keeps pace with and slightly beats the market during rallies
85 – 100
Fund participates in most of the upside but lags slightly
Below 85
Fund misses a significant portion of market gains — a warning sign
Check this ratio for a real fund
MFLens shows Upside Capture Ratio across 1Y / 3Y / 5Y / 7Y / 10Y rolling windows for every Indian mutual fund.
Rolling metrics on MFLens show how each ratio evolves across all historical windows of the selected period. This provides consistency insights beyond traditional trailing calculations. For informational purposes only — not financial advice.