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CeylonFunds

Lowest volatility: unit trusts in Sri Lanka

As at 26 Aug 2026. Ranked on annualised volatility of daily price movements, lowest first, measured over each fund’s available record. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

In short

Of the 81 funds we hold enough daily prices for, CAL Islamic Money Market Fund has moved the least, with annualised volatility of 0.18%, followed by CAL Medium Risk Debt Fund at 0.20%. Volatility describes how much the price has moved, not how likely a loss is. Measured to 26 Aug 2026.

Every fund we hold enough daily prices for, ordered by how much its unit price has actually moved. Volatility here is the annualised standard deviation of daily price changes: a small number means the price has moved in small steady steps, a large one means it has swung.

This is a measurement we can make only because we collect prices daily. The monthly reports every other comparison in this market runs on cannot produce it, which is why no competitor publishes this ranking.

81 funds ranked

Ranked on annualised volatility of daily price movements, lowest first, measured over each fund’s available record.

Prices as at 26 Aug 2026

What volatility measures, and what it does not

It measures how much the price has moved, in both directions, over the period we hold prices for. It is not a measure of how likely a fund is to lose money, it is not a credit assessment, and it says nothing about what the fund holds. A fund can be steady for a year and then move sharply when something in its portfolio reprices. Past steadiness is not a promise of future steadiness.

Why the order looks like the category order

It largely does, and that is the measurement working correctly rather than a fault in it. Money market funds hold instruments maturing inside a year, so their prices barely move; equity funds hold listed shares, so theirs move a great deal. The interesting comparisons on this page are therefore between funds in the same category, where a genuine difference in how a manager runs the fund shows up as a difference in how much its price moved.

The largest fall column

Alongside volatility we show the largest peak-to-trough fall in each fund’s price over the period we hold. Volatility describes the typical day; the largest fall describes the worst stretch. A fund can have modest volatility and still have had one bad run, and for most people the second number is the one that matters more.

Blank means unknown, not zero

Some funds show no figure in some columns. That is because our daily price record for that fund does not yet reach back far enough to cover the window, or because the fund is not priced publicly at all. We leave those blank rather than substituting a zero, because a fund we cannot measure and a fund that returned nothing are different things and showing them the same way would be misleading.

Common questions

What does volatility mean for a unit trust?

How much the unit price moves from day to day, expressed as an annualised percentage. A fund with 0.5% volatility has moved in very small steps; one with 20% has swung substantially. It is a description of past price behaviour, not a prediction and not a risk rating.

Which Sri Lankan unit trust is the least volatile?

The fund at the top of this table over the period we hold prices for, which is stated on the page. Because we have been collecting prices since October 2025, these figures cover that period rather than a full market cycle.

Is a low-volatility fund a safe fund?

Low volatility means the price has moved little, which is not the same as safe. It does not account for the credit of what the fund holds, and no fund on this site guarantees your capital. A fund that has been steady can still fall.

How do you calculate it?

From the daily buying prices we collect: we take the daily percentage changes over the fund’s available record, compute their standard deviation, and annualise it over 252 trading days. Days we have flagged as implausible source data are excluded. The method is set out in full on our methodology page.

This page ranks funds on one stated measure over one stated period. It is not a recommendation and not advice about your circumstances, and CeylonFunds is not a licensed investment adviser. How we calculate every figure is set out in our methodology.

Other rankings

Highest 180-day return: money market fundsHighest 180-day return: income / fixed income fundsHighest 180-day return: balanced fundsHighest 180-day return: equity fundsHighest 180-day return: gilt / short-term treasury fundsHighest 180-day return: index fundsHighest 180-day return: shariah-compliant fundsLowest management feesLowest minimum investment

Daily unit prices published by the Unit Trust Association of Sri Lanka (utasl.lk). Performance figures as published by the respective fund managers.