HDFC Small Cap Fund: Returns, Risk and Cost

To 16 October 2026, the direct plan returned -4.02% over 1 year, 9.21% over 3 years, 12.71% over 5 years (a year, annualised beyond one year). These are AMFI NAV returns of the Direct-Growth plan; the regular plan’s are lower by roughly the difference in expense ratios. Past returns do not guarantee future returns.

Over 1 year it ranked 31st of 31, against a category average of 9.63%. Over 3 years it ranked 24th of 24, against a category average of 14.60%. Over 5 years it ranked 17th of 23, against a category average of 14.47%. Ranks compare the direct plans of the small cap funds AMFI lists today, by return; they are not ratings.

As disclosed on 16 October 2026, the total expense ratio is 0.79% a year for the direct plan and 1.56% for the regular plan. The 0.77% gap is mostly the distributor’s commission. On ₹10 lakh held for 10 years at an assumed 12% a year before costs, the direct plan would end about ₹1.94 lakh ahead.

Its direct plan NAV fell 48.3% from its high on 30 April 2018 to 24 March 2020, and was back at that high on 4 January 2021. On 23 October 2026 it was 10.5% below its highest NAV, set on 19 September 2025.

Its average assets in July–September 2026 were ₹41,670 crore, across all plans, per AMFI: the 2nd largest of 36 small cap funds.

13 out of 100 as of 23 October 2026, ranking it 27 of the 31 small cap funds Genvest scores. The Genvest AI score is Genvest’s proprietary score that ranks mutual funds within their category using quantitative methods. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any fund.

That depends on your goals, how long you can stay invested and what else you hold, which this page cannot know. What the data shows: its returns against other small cap funds, how far it has fallen, and what it costs. Its rank changes from year to year, so look at several periods rather than one, and at how a fall like its worst would feel for your money. This is education, not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold.