Equity Regular Fund Returns — All Periods with Category Ranking

How are the category ranks calculated for each return period on this page?

For every return period — from 1 day to 10 years — all active Small Cap regular plan funds are sorted by return from highest to lowest. The fund with the highest return in that period receives rank 1. Ranks are calculated independently for each period, so a fund can rank #2 on 1-year return but #15 on 3-year CAGR depending on its consistency across market cycles.

The colour coding — green for top third, gold for middle third, red for bottom third — gives an instant visual of where each fund stands relative to its Small Cap peers. A fund showing predominantly green across multiple periods is demonstrating broad consistency, while one that is green on 1-month but red on 3-year may have benefited from a short-term sector move rather than genuine quality.

All data is for the Regular Plan, Growth option sourced from AMFI India NAV data, updated every trading day. Funds with insufficient history for a specific period show a dash — they remain in the table and are ranked on available periods only. See all categories on the mutual fund returns page.

What do the Sharpe ratio, Sortino ratio and Standard Deviation columns mean for Small Cap funds?

These three columns measure risk-adjusted performance using the last 3 years of daily NAV data. Standard Deviation measures how much a fund's daily returns vary from its average — a lower number means smoother, more consistent returns. For Std Dev, rank 1 means the least volatile fund in the category, so lower is better. Funds with Std Dev below the category average tend to experience smaller drawdowns during market corrections.

Sharpe Ratio measures how much return a fund has delivered per unit of total risk taken, using 6.5% as the risk-free rate (approximate India T-bill rate). A Sharpe above 1.0 is generally considered good — it means the fund is earning meaningfully more than a risk-free instrument after adjusting for volatility. A fund with a high 3-year return but low Sharpe has achieved that return by taking on disproportionate risk. Rank 1 here means highest Sharpe in the category.

Sortino Ratio is similar to Sharpe but only penalises downside volatility — upward swings are not counted as risk. This is arguably more relevant for investors who only fear losing money, not gaining it. A fund with a high Sortino relative to peers has generated returns with less downside pain. Funds with fewer than 3 years of NAV history show a dash for all three risk metrics — this is the industry standard minimum window for reliable risk calculation.

Which Small Cap funds have shown the most consistent performance across all periods?

Consistency across multiple return periods is one of the most reliable indicators of fund quality. A fund that ranks in the top third of its Small Cap category across 1-year, 3-year and 5-year periods has demonstrated the ability to outperform peers through different market conditions — not just a single favourable cycle. This is far more meaningful than a high 1-month return driven by a sector rally.

When reviewing the table, scan horizontally across the rank columns for a fund. If the rank cells stay predominantly green from 1Y onwards, that fund has been a consistent outperformer within its category. If ranks are mixed — green on short periods, red on long ones — the fund may have benefited recently from momentum or style rotation without a long track record of delivery.

The age column helps put this in context. A fund launched in 2022 will show dashes for 5Y and 10Y ranks — not because it is underperforming, but because it has not yet accumulated enough history. For such funds, focus on 1Y and 3Y ranks as primary indicators. Cross-referencing the return ranks with the Sharpe and Sortino ranks gives a fuller picture — a fund green on both return and risk metrics is the strongest signal of quality.

What does the AUM column show and why does it matter for MFDs?

The AUM column shows each fund's Total Average Assets Under Management (AAUM) in Crores for the most recent quarter (Apr-Jun 2026), sourced from AMFI India's official quarterly disclosure. This is the combined figure across both Direct and Regular plans — the same methodology used by Value Research and Morningstar India. AUM rank 1 means the largest fund in the Small Cap category by total corpus.

For MFDs, AUM matters for several reasons. Very small funds (under ₹100 Cr) may have liquidity concerns and higher impact cost on large redemptions. Very large funds in categories like Small Cap can face deployment challenges — a fund managing ₹20,000 Cr in small caps has a much harder task finding quality stocks than one managing ₹500 Cr. Mid-sized funds with strong return and risk ranks often represent the sweet spot of manageable size and proven performance.

AUM alone should never drive a recommendation — a small new fund may outperform a large established one. Use the AUM column alongside the return ranks and risk metrics to build a complete picture. A fund with top-third returns, strong Sharpe, and reasonable AUM is a more robust recommendation than one with high AUM but mediocre risk-adjusted performance.

What does the 1-day return column tell an MFD about a fund?

The 1-day return shows how the fund's NAV moved on the most recent trading day relative to the previous day's NAV. A high 1-day rank means the fund outperformed most of its Small Cap peers on that specific session — useful for identifying short-term momentum or spotting which fund manager's positioning benefited from a particular day's market move.

For client-facing recommendations, MFDs should focus primarily on the 3-year and 5-year CAGR rank columns rather than short-term periods. The 1-day and 1-week columns are most useful for internal monitoring — for example, if a fund consistently ranks in the bottom third on 1-day returns during market rallies, it may signal a defensive portfolio construction that underperforms in bull runs.

The combination of short-term and long-term rank columns on this page gives MFDs a complete picture across every time horizon — from yesterday's session to a full decade of compounding. Click any column header to sort the entire table by that period and instantly see which funds lead or lag on that specific horizon.