# Your SIP Has Given Almost No Returns in 2 Years. Should You Stop It? - **URL**: https://www.arihantplus.com/blogs/mutual-funds/your-sip-has-given-almost-no-returns-in-2-years-should-you-stop-it - **Category**: Mutual Funds - **Author**: [Arihant Team](https://www.arihantplus.com/author/arihant-team) - **Published**: 2026-11-05 - **Updated**: 2026-11-06 - **Reading time**: 5 minutes read --- ## Introduction You started a SIP two years ago. Every month, without fail, a fixed amount gets deducted from your bank account and invested in a mutual fund. You did what every investment expert tells you to do: stay disciplined, invest regularly and give your money time to grow. But when you check your mutual fund portfolio today, roughly zero returns are staring back at you. According to an[ **Outlook Money** ](https://www.outlookmoney.com/invest/mutual-fund-woes-number-of-schemes-in-the-red-nearly-triples-in-fy26)report, 20 out of 31 large cap schemes delivered negative SIP returns over the last two years, with losses ranging from 0.62% to 4.59%. Across small cap and flexi cap categories, one year SIP losses averaged between 13% and 15%. ## How bad are equity SIP returns in 2026? Across most equity categories, the damage is real. In FY26, 486 out of 556 equity mutual fund schemes posted negative one year returns. Small cap and mid cap took the worst of it, with average one year SIP losses between 13 and 18 per cent. Large cap, traditionally the most stable equity category, saw two year SIP returns turn negative for 20 of 31 tracked schemes. The Nifty 50 fell roughly 14 per cent from its September 2024 peak to its March 2026 low. Any SIP started in that window bought units at prices the market has not revisited, which is exactly why short term returns look the way they do. For an investor checking performance monthly, that chart looks like a broken strategy. ## Why are investors stopping their SIPs? [**AMFI data**](https://www.angelone.in/news/mutual-funds/mutual-fund-sip-stoppage-ratio-hits-over-100-in-march-inflows-touch-record-32-087-crore) provides context. In March and April 2026, the SIP stoppage ratio crossed 100 per cent, meaning more SIPs were being cancelled than started in those months. Most SIP investors understand the product is meant for the long term. The problem is emotional bias. Watching a portfolio sit at zero, or negative 8 per cent, for months on end triggers a very specific fear: that staying invested is compounding a mistake you have already made. No amount of rational understanding fully overrides that instinct, and the data on what it costs is striking. By September 2026, the stoppage ratio had fallen to 78.53 per cent and monthly SIP inflows hit a record INR 32,490 crore, which suggests some of that panic has passed. But the damage from the exits in between shows up clearly in long term return data. ## How much return do investors actually lose to bad timing? An Axis Mutual Fund study covering 2003 to 2022 measured the gap between what funds earned and what investors actually took home. | **Category** | **Fund Return** | **SIP Return** | **Investor Return** | | ------------------------- | --------------- | -------------- | ------------------- | | **Equity (2003 to 2022)** | 19.1% | 15.2% | 13.8% | | **Hybrid (2003 to 2022)** | 11.1% | 9.8% | 8.8% | | **Debt (2009 to 2022)** | 7.7% | 7.1% | 6.9% | The 5.3 percentage point gap in equity is not explained by fund selection or market conditions. It is explained entirely by behaviour: buying after rallies, selling after corrections, stopping SIPs during drawdowns, and restarting once markets have already recovered. ## What happens when you hold a negative SIP for five years? The[ **CRISP Mutual Fund Scorecard**](https://www.businesstoday.in/mutual-funds/story/icici-prudential-tops-large-caps-hdfc-leads-elss-flexi-cap-rankings-in-crisp-scorecard-534359-2026-06-02) for June 2026 analysed over 20 years of rolling SIP data across Indian equity markets. The finding that matters most right now: out of 32 instances where a two year SIP delivered negative returns, not a single one remained negative at the five year mark. And 68.7% of those same SIPs delivered double digit annualised returns when measured over ten years. When markets fall, each SIP instalment buys more units at lower prices. Those units sit quietly in the portfolio until markets recover, at which point they compound aggressively. This is exactly what happened after 2008, 2013 and 2020: the SIPs that started during the worst periods produced some of the strongest long term outcomes in Indian mutual fund history. ## What should you do when your SIP returns are flat? So, should you stop your SIP if it has delivered almost zero returns in two years? Not necessarily. Before making a decision, here are three things worth considering. Don't judge your SIP every month, reduce noise: Stop checking returns weekly. A SIP measured over five months tells you nothing about its five year outcome. Equity mutual funds are meant for long-term goals. Focus on your investment goal and time horizon rather than reacting to every market movement. * **Accumulate cheaper:** A lower NAV means more units at a lower price, and some investors increase their SIP amount during corrections to front load long term wealth creation. * **Review funds:** A flat return might signal a problem with a specific scheme, not with SIPs as a category. Checking whether a fund consistently trails its benchmark is a productive response to poor returns. Stopping a SIP because markets are down is not. ## So, should you stop your SIP? Seeing almost zero or, worse, negative returns after two years of investing can be frustrating. Especially when you've been investing regularly and doing everything you thought you were supposed to do. But a difficult two-year period doesn't necessarily mean your SIP has failed. The historical data shows that some SIPs that the investors who sailed through the short term pain, ended up with positive returns over longer periods. It also highlights how stopping investments during market corrections can affect the returns you eventually earn. The idea isn't to continue every SIP blindly. It's to avoid making a long-term investment decision based on a short-term market phase. Because sometimes, the biggest mistake isn't investing through a market correction. It's giving up on your investment strategy without first understanding what's gone wrong. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Read all scheme-related documents carefully. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. --- *Investments in securities markets are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing. This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Arihant Capital Markets Ltd. is a SEBI-registered stock broker.*