Best Small Cap Funds
Highest growth potential and the deepest drawdowns. For long horizons only.
Data updated · 36 direct-growth funds ranked by a transparent 0–100 Smart Score
| ⚖ VS | Fund | Score ↓ | Verdict | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | Sharpe | Sortino | Std Dev | Alpha | Beta | VR★ | P/E | Expense | AUM | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bandhan Small Cap Bandhan | 85 | Strong Buy | 6.2% | 28.0% | 20.7% | 1.12 | 1.66 | 20.9 | 9.1 | 0.90 | 5★ | 18.1 | 0.63% | ₹28.2k Cr | 6.4y | |
| Invesco India Small Cap Invesco | 83 | Strong Buy | 10.6% | 24.2% | 20.6% | 0.99 | 1.35 | 17.9 | 5.0 | 0.89 | 5★ | 36.2 | 0.67% | ₹13.4k Cr | 7.7y | |
| Motilal Oswal Small Cap Motilal Oswal | 78 | Strong Buy | 16.4% | — | — | 0.89 | 1.23 | 17.8 | 10.3 | 0.84 | — | 34.4 | 0.66% | ₹7.2k Cr | 2.6y | |
| Bank Of India Small Cap Bank of India | 72 | Buy | 16.4% | 23.2% | 20.3% | 0.83 | 1.17 | 21.9 | 3.5 | 0.92 | 5★ | 36.2 | 0.70% | ₹2.6k Cr | 7.6y | |
| ITI Small Cap ITI | 71 | Buy | 14.3% | 26.6% | 18.1% | 1.00 | 1.36 | 19.8 | 6.6 | 0.84 | 4★ | 41.0 | 0.84% | ₹3.3k Cr | 6.4y | |
| Quant Small Cap Gr Quant | 70 | Buy | 10.4% | 20.4% | 20.0% | 0.79 | 1.06 | 20.6 | 2.5 | 0.87 | 5★ | 33.1 | 0.81% | ₹33.5k Cr | 13.6y | |
| MahIndra Manulife Small Cap Mahindra Manulife | 68 | Buy | 10.7% | 22.9% | — | 0.91 | 1.18 | 20.0 | 4.6 | 0.86 | 5★ | 27.4 | 0.88% | ₹4.9k Cr | 3.6y | |
| Edelweiss Small Cap Edelweiss | 65 | Buy | 6.5% | 18.4% | 18.8% | 0.76 | 0.96 | 18.4 | 1.5 | 0.79 | 4★ | 34.1 | 0.62% | ₹6.6k Cr | 7.5y | |
| Nippon India Small Cap Nippon India | 64 | Buy | 4.3% | 17.7% | 20.1% | 0.76 | 0.91 | 19.6 | 1.4 | 0.85 | 5★ | 29.1 | 0.73% | ₹78.4k Cr | 13.6y | |
| DSP Small Cap DSP | 58 | Hold | 10.5% | 18.7% | 18.6% | 0.72 | 1.01 | 21.5 | 1.1 | 0.90 | 4★ | 31.7 | 0.82% | ₹19.6k Cr | 13.5y | |
| Mirae Asset Small Cap Mirae Asset | 58 | Hold | 6.7% | — | — | 0.55 | 0.80 | 16.0 | 3.9 | 0.82 | — | 32.3 | 0.73% | ₹4.8k Cr | 1.6y | |
| Union Small Cap Union | 55 | Hold | 17.5% | 19.7% | 17.8% | 0.79 | 0.92 | 19.8 | 2.6 | 0.83 | 4★ | 40.3 | 1.14% | ₹2.3k Cr | 12.1y | |
| Axis Small Cap Axis | 55 | Hold | 5.5% | 17.2% | 17.3% | 0.70 | 0.93 | 16.9 | 0.3 | 0.73 | 4★ | 32.4 | 0.74% | ₹29.2k Cr | 12.7y | |
| Sundaram Small Cap Sundaram | 52 | Hold | 10.0% | 19.0% | 17.9% | 0.78 | 0.61 | 19.7 | 2.0 | 0.84 | 3★ | 28.7 | 0.89% | ₹3.9k Cr | 13.6y | |
| HSBC Small Cap HSBC | 48 | Hold | 3.1% | 16.4% | 18.6% | 0.45 | 0.63 | 17.3 | — | — | 4★ | 35.4 | 0.76% | ₹17.8k Cr | 12.2y | |
| TrustMF Small Cap Trust | 48 | Hold | 25.7% | — | — | 0.56 | 0.76 | 19.0 | 14.0 | 0.92 | — | 46.5 | 1.28% | ₹2.5k Cr | 1.7y | |
| LIC MF Small Cap LIC | 45 | Hold | 7.7% | 18.3% | 18.7% | 0.68 | 0.81 | 21.6 | 0.3 | 0.90 | 4★ | 23.6 | 1.44% | ₹743 Cr | 9.1y | |
| FranklIn India Small Cap Franklin | 44 | Avoid | 1.5% | 16.3% | 18.0% | 0.59 | 0.80 | 16.3 | -1.9 | 0.82 | 3★ | 29.3 | 1.05% | ₹14.3k Cr | 13.6y | |
| PGIM India Small Cap PGIM India | 44 | Avoid | 7.8% | 16.3% | — | 0.59 | 0.81 | 15.4 | -1.5 | 0.75 | 3★ | 46.2 | 0.85% | ₹1.6k Cr | 5.0y | |
| UTI Small Cap UTI | 43 | Avoid | 4.2% | 17.0% | 16.9% | 0.61 | 0.82 | 16.7 | -1.7 | 0.84 | 3★ | 29.0 | 0.87% | ₹5.2k Cr | 5.6y | |
| Canara Robeco Small Cap Canara Robeco | 40 | Avoid | 2.5% | 14.8% | 17.0% | 0.49 | 0.66 | 16.3 | -3.7 | 0.83 | 3★ | 33.0 | 0.65% | ₹14.0k Cr | 7.4y | |
| SBI Small Cap SBI | 38 | Avoid | 3.1% | 13.7% | 15.2% | 0.51 | 0.69 | 14.2 | -2.8 | 0.70 | 3★ | 33.3 | 0.79% | ₹37.4k Cr | 16.9y | |
| Helios Small Cap Helios | 37 | Avoid | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 39.0 | 0.82% | ₹1.2k Cr | 0.7y | |
| Quantum Small Cap Quantum | 37 | Avoid | 5.6% | — | — | 0.44 | 0.62 | 14.6 | -1.6 | 0.69 | — | 22.7 | 0.82% | ₹243 Cr | 2.7y | |
| Kotak Small Cap Gr Dir Kotak | 36 | Avoid | 1.4% | 14.1% | 14.5% | 0.49 | 0.65 | 15.3 | -3.3 | 0.76 | 3★ | 34.0 | 0.65% | ₹18.7k Cr | 13.6y | |
| ABSL Small Cap Gr Dir Aditya Birla Sun Life | 35 | Avoid | 10.1% | 17.0% | 14.2% | 0.67 | 0.82 | 20.3 | -0.2 | 0.87 | — | — | 1.03% | ₹5.5k Cr | 13.6y | |
| Bajaj FInserv Small Cap Bajaj Finserv | 32 | Avoid | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 35.4 | 0.92% | ₹2.2k Cr | 1.1y | |
| HDFC Small Cap HDFC | 31 | Avoid | -1.3% | 13.6% | 16.5% | 0.44 | 0.59 | 16.1 | -4.3 | 0.81 | 3★ | 21.4 | 0.77% | ₹40.4k Cr | 13.6y | |
| Baroda BNP Paribas Small Cap Baroda BNP Paribas | 27 | Avoid | 5.7% | — | — | 0.45 | 0.59 | 17.4 | -2.9 | 0.85 | — | 31.0 | 1.16% | ₹1.3k Cr | 2.7y | |
| Tata Small Cap Tata | 26 | Avoid | -7.1% | 13.3% | 16.1% | 0.37 | 0.51 | 17.5 | -5.6 | 0.86 | 2★ | 29.9 | 0.51% | ₹12.5k Cr | 7.7y | |
| JM Small Cap JM | 26 | Avoid | 13.3% | — | — | 0.07 | 0.09 | 21.1 | 3.1 | 1.05 | — | 31.4 | 1.00% | ₹800 Cr | 2.1y | |
| ICICI Pru Small Cap ICICI Pru | 23 | Avoid | 0.2% | 13.0% | 15.0% | 0.44 | 0.60 | 14.4 | -3.7 | 0.72 | 3★ | — | 1.14% | ₹9.4k Cr | 13.6y | |
| Abakkus Small Cap Abakkus | 13 | Avoid | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 27.7 | 1.67% | ₹1.5k Cr | 0.4y | |
| Groww Small Cap Groww | 13 | Avoid | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1.17% | ₹440 Cr | 0.5y | |
| Samco Small Cap Samco | 6 | Avoid | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 28.2 | 1.58% | ₹141 Cr | 0.7y | |
| The Wealth Company Small Cap The Wealth Company | 1 | Avoid | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 31.5 | 2.40% | ₹88 Cr | 0.4y |
Small Cap funds — quick answers
›Which is the best Small Cap mutual fund right now?
Bandhan Small Cap currently ranks #1 of 36 Small Cap funds with a FundLens Smart Score of 85/100 (Strong Buy). It returned 28.0% over 3 years and 20.7% over 5 years at a 0.63% expense ratio (direct plan). Rankings are recomputed from data updated 22 Jul 2026.
›Which Small Cap fund has the best risk-adjusted returns?
Bandhan Small Cap leads the category on the Sortino ratio at 1.66 (Sharpe 1.12) — meaning it has delivered the most return per unit of downside risk among Small Cap funds.
›Which Small Cap fund has the lowest expense ratio?
Tata Small Cap charges 0.51% a year (direct plan) — the lowest in the category. Lower fees compound in your favour over long holding periods.
›Which is the smallest Small Cap fund by AUM?
The Wealth Company Small Cap manages ₹88 Cr, the smallest in the category. Smaller funds can be nimbler, but check track record and costs before treating size alone as an edge.
›How long should I stay invested in a Small Cap fund?
Small Cap funds carry very high risk, so a horizon of 7+ years is generally sensible. Highest growth potential and the deepest drawdowns. For long horizons only. This is research, not investment advice.
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