Small-Cap Mutual Funds Gain Up to 17.82% Despite Nifty 50 Falling 7.88% in One Year

Key Takeaways

• The Nifty 50 declined 7.88% during the one-year period ending November 2, 2026, while selected equity mutual funds recorded positive returns.
• TRUSTMF Small Cap Fund returned 17.82%, followed by Bank of India Small Cap Fund at 16.26% and Union Small Cap Fund at 11.31%.
• The performance study showed differences between leading schemes and their category benchmarks, but the figures do not represent returns for all funds in the respective categories.

Selected Equity Mutual Funds Outperform Falling Benchmarks

A review of Indian equity mutual fund performance for the one-year period ending November 2, 2026, shows that selected schemes delivered positive returns despite declines in major market benchmarks.

The Nifty 50 fell 7.88% over the period.

Among the equity fund categories examined, some of the highest reported returns came from small-cap mutual funds.

TRUSTMF Small Cap Fund recorded a one-year return of 17.82%, while Bank of India Small Cap Fund and Union Small Cap Fund generated returns of 16.26% and 11.31%, respectively.

The study covered selected leading performers across five equity mutual fund categories.

Small-Cap Fund Performance

The Nifty Smallcap 250 Total Return Index, a more directly relevant category benchmark than the Nifty 50, declined 1.28% during the period.

The difference between TRUSTMF Small Cap Fund's return and the small-cap benchmark was approximately 19.10 percentage points.

This is a simple return differential and should not be confused with a comprehensive risk-adjusted alpha calculation.

Mid-Cap and Multi-Cap Funds Also Showed Return Differences

The analysis found positive returns among selected funds outside the small-cap category.

HSBC Midcap Fund generated a one-year return of 10.16%, compared with a decline of 2.67% in the Nifty Midcap 150 TRI.

WhiteOak Capital Mid Cap Fund returned 3.73%, while Bandhan Mid Cap Fund recorded 2.78%.

Within the multi-cap category, Groww Multicap Fund returned 9.35%, followed by TRUSTMF Multi Cap Fund at 8.23% and ITI Multi Cap Fund at 5.75%.

The corresponding category benchmark declined 4.08%.

Among selected flexi-cap funds, ITI Flexi Cap Fund returned 6.46%, while the Nifty 500 TRI declined 5.33%.

What the Performance Data Shows

The findings demonstrate that mutual fund returns can vary across schemes even when they belong to similar investment categories.

Such differences may reflect variations in stock selection, sector exposure, portfolio concentration and investment strategy.

However, the study examined leading performers rather than the complete distribution of returns across every scheme.

The figures represent historical one-year investment returns, not systematic investment plan XIRRs or rolling returns.

A single year's results are insufficient to establish consistency across different market cycles.

Past performance does not guarantee future returns.