Mutual fund overlap, one company at a time.

Start with a clear denominator and date

Choose the basket you are measuring: for example, your mutual funds, rather than your entire household wealth. Use each fund’s current value as a share of that basket, not the amount originally invested.

For the underlying holdings, find the exact scheme’s portfolio disclosure and its as-of date. Check whether weights are percentages of the scheme’s net asset value (NAV). Compare compatible dates and match security identifiers rather than relying only on similar names.

SEBI’s portfolio-disclosure framework provides for scheme portfolios with security identifiers on AMC and AMFI websites. A publication or download date is different from the date of the holdings.

A fictional ₹1,00,000 basket

Assume Fund A and Fund B make up the whole basket. Both own fictional Company P. All values below use the same assumed date; none describe an actual fund or company.

Your company exposure through a fund = your basket weight in that fund × the company’s weight inside the fund.

Combined exposure to Company P: 6% + 2% = 8%, or ₹8,000. Adding the funds’ holding weights, 10% + 5%, would give the wrong answer for this investor’s basket.

If these funds were only half of your household investments, their ₹8,000 contribution would be 4% of that larger ₹2,00,000 total. Other investments could add further exposure to P. Always name the denominator and scope.

An “overlap” number needs a definition

Company exposure answers “How much of my basket reaches P?” Here the answer is 8%.

Repeated-company exposure, as used in our fictional portfolio sample, counts exposure to companies held through more than one selected fund. All 8% in P qualifies here. It does not mean 8% is wasted or should be removed.

Pairwise holdings overlap can instead be defined by taking the smaller holding weight in each shared security, then adding those smaller weights. P contributes min(10%, 5%) = 5 percentage points to the A-versus-B measure. This compares the funds’ holdings; it does not use your 60/40 allocation.

The two measures answer different questions. They are not return correlation, a prediction of losses or a universal threshold for having too many funds.

Keep the unseen portion visible

We mapped only Company P: 8% of this basket. The other 92% is unexamined in this example, not proven distinct or safe. The identified shared holding contributes 5 percentage points to pairwise overlap, but the funds’ complete overlap cannot be calculated from this one row.

A top-holdings list, missing fund or unmatched security can hide further common exposure. Do not scale the visible 8% up to 100% and present it as a complete portfolio view.

Cash, bonds, derivatives and overseas holdings need their own treatment. A fund of funds invests in other schemes, so its company exposure needs another layer of holdings data. This simple equity example does not measure those risks.

Use the finding to ask a better question

Overlap can be intentional when funds share a benchmark or investment universe. Different company names can still leave a basket exposed to the same sector or economic risk. SEBI’s investor guidance places diversification alongside goals, time horizon, risk and liquidity.

• What role does each fund serve, and is the combined company or sector exposure intentional?
• How complete and recent are the holdings, and what has not been mapped?
• Would a change improve the whole basket after considering objectives, risk, liquidity, costs and implementation consequences?

Overlap alone is not a switch instruction. This example does not assess your holdings or suitability and does not recommend buying, selling or replacing a fund.

Keep building your understanding

Overlap describes exposure. Costs answer a different question: see what a fund’s expenses mean in rupees →

Find more guides, examples and market breakdowns in the learning library →

Sources and scope

The calculations and fictional example are original AInvestX education. The official sources below explain disclosures, fund structures and investment considerations; they do not endorse AInvestX or prescribe these overlap measures.

• SEBI Master Circular for Mutual Funds, 20 March 2026: portfolio-disclosure provisions in section 6.1. Check the rules applicable to the particular scheme; disclosure frequency can differ.
• AMFI: Categorization of Mutual Fund Schemes: the fund-of-funds structure.
• SEBI Investor: Factors to Consider Before Investing: diversification and the wider investment decision.

Sources checked 24 October 2026. No actual scheme holdings, performance results or customer outcomes are used.