Nippon India Small Cap Fund (Formerly know as Reliance Small Cap Fund) and HDFC Small Cap Fund both of them belong to the small cap category offered by different fund houses. Though both the schemes belong to the same category of Small cap funds under equity category yet, there are differences between both of them. So, let us understand the differences between both the schemes through this article.
This scheme of Nippon India was launched on April 03, 2008. The scheme’s main objective is to attain long-term Capital appreciation by Investing in equity and equity-related instruments of small-cap companies.
The top 10 holdings of Nippon India Small Cap Fund (as on January 31, 2018) include VIP Industries Limited, RBL Bank Limited, Navin Fluorine International Limited, Zydus Wellness Limited, etc.
From October 2019, Reliance Mutual Fund has been renamed as Nippon India Mutual Fund. Nippon Life has acquired majority (75%) stakes in Reliance Nippon Asset Management (RNAM). The company will continue to run its operations without any change in structure and management.
HDFC Small Cap Fund is a part of HDFC Mutual Fund and was incepted on April 03, 2008. The primary aim of the scheme is to achieve capital growth in the long-term by investing a major portion of its corpus in shares of small cap companies.
As on January 31, 2018, the top 10 holdings of HDFC Small Cap Fund’s Portfolio include Sonata Software Limited, TV Today Network Limited, KEC International Limited, Oriental Carbon & Chemicals Limited, etc.
In this section, the parameters compared are current NAV, Fincash Rating, AUM, their category, expense ratio, exit load and so on. To begin with, the category of these schemes, they both belong to equity category. With respect to the current NAV, both the schemes have different NAV though the difference is not much.
Fincash Ratings for both the Nippon India/Reliance Small Cap Fund and HDFC Small Cap Fund are 4-Star
To summarize, the basic parameters are compared below as follows.
Parameters Basics NAV Net Assets (Cr) Launch Date Rating Category Sub Cat. Category Rank Risk Expense Ratio Sharpe Ratio Information Ratio Alpha Ratio Benchmark Exit Load Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details ₹168.648 ↓ -0.40 (-0.23 %) ₹64,821 on 31 Aug 25 16 Sep 10 ☆☆☆☆ Equity Small Cap 6 Moderately High 1.44 -0.65 0.1 -2.55 Not Available 0-1 Years (1%),1 Years and above(NIL) HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details ₹142.019 ↓ -0.36 (-0.25 %) ₹36,294 on 31 Aug 25 3 Apr 08 ☆☆☆☆ Equity Small Cap 9 Moderately High 1.58 -0.33 0 0 Not Available 0-1 Years (1%),1 Years and above(NIL)
After looking at the basic parameters let us now look at the performance aspects of both the funds. With respect to performance aspects, there is not much difference in the areas of 1 Month Returns, 3 Month Returns, 6 Month Returns, and 1 Year returns. However, with respect to 3 Year Returns, 5 Year Returns, and Returns Since Inception, there seems a good difference between both of them. In these parameters, the returns of Reliance Small Cap Fund is higher as compared to HDFC Small Cap Fund. Therefore, though HDFC Small Cap Scheme was launched earlier than Reliance’s scheme yet; its performance is better. The table given below shows the performance of both the schemes.
Parameters Performance 1 Month 3 Month 6 Month 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year Since launch Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details 0.1% 1.3% 9.5% -5.5% 21.9% 31.8% 20.5% HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details 0.4% 1.9% 16% -0.3% 21.7% 29.8% 16.3%
After looking at the 1Y, 3Y, 5Y Performance let us now look at the absolute yearly performance aspects of both the funds in last 5 years. over here Nippon India Small Cap Fund is generating marginally better returns every year in comparison to HDFC Small cap fund.
Parameters Yearly Performance 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details 26.1% 48.9% 6.5% 74.3% 29.2% HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details 20.4% 44.8% 4.6% 64.9% 20.2%
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In this section of other details, some of the parameters compared are Minimum SIP and lumpsum investment. Though the lumpsum investment in case of both the schemes is same, that is, INR 5,000, nevertheless, in case of SIP, the minimum amount of Reliance is lower as compared to HDFC.
Nippon India/Reliance Small Cap Fund is managed by Mr. Samir Rachh
HDFC Small Cap Fund is managed by Mr. Chirag Setalvad
Parameters Other Details Min SIP Investment Min Investment Fund Manager Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details ₹100 ₹5,000 Samir Rachh - 8.75 Yr. HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details ₹300 ₹5,000 Chirag Setalvad - 11.27 Yr.
Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.
Date Value 31 Oct 20 ₹10,000 31 Oct 21 ₹19,480 31 Oct 22 ₹22,272 31 Oct 23 ₹29,220 31 Oct 24 ₹42,673 31 Oct 25 ₹41,342 HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.
Date Value 31 Oct 20 ₹10,000 31 Oct 21 ₹19,409 31 Oct 22 ₹20,456 31 Oct 23 ₹27,227 31 Oct 24 ₹37,047 31 Oct 25 ₹38,152
Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details Asset Allocation
Asset Class Value Cash 4.9% Equity 95.1% Equity Sector Allocation
Sector Value Industrials 20.82% Consumer Cyclical 15.14% Financial Services 14.81% Basic Materials 12.07% Consumer Defensive 9.3% Health Care 8.98% Technology 7.7% Utility 2.67% Energy 1.51% Communication Services 1.42% Real Estate 0.53% Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio
Name Holding Value Quantity Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 28 Feb 21 | MCX2% ₹1,443 Cr 1,851,010 HDFC Bank Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 30 Apr 22 | HDFCBANK2% ₹1,265 Cr 13,300,000 Kirloskar Brothers Ltd (Industrials)
Equity, Since 31 Oct 12 | KIRLOSBROS1% ₹863 Cr 4,472,130 Karur Vysya Bank Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 28 Feb 17 | 5900031% ₹804 Cr 38,140,874 State Bank of India (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Oct 19 | SBIN1% ₹794 Cr 9,100,000 NLC India Ltd (Utilities)
Equity, Since 31 Oct 22 | NLCINDIA1% ₹776 Cr 27,190,940 Tube Investments of India Ltd Ordinary Shares (Industrials)
Equity, Since 30 Apr 18 | TIINDIA1% ₹774 Cr 2,499,222 Zydus Wellness Ltd (Consumer Defensive)
Equity, Since 31 Aug 16 | ZYDUSWELL1% ₹770 Cr 16,848,030 Paradeep Phosphates Ltd (Basic Materials)
Equity, Since 31 May 22 | 5435301% ₹747 Cr 38,089,109 Apar Industries Ltd (Industrials)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 17 | APARINDS1% ₹736 Cr 899,271 HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details Asset Allocation
Asset Class Value Cash 10.19% Equity 89.81% Equity Sector Allocation
Sector Value Industrials 22.54% Consumer Cyclical 19.02% Technology 12.85% Health Care 12.29% Financial Services 11.35% Basic Materials 7.07% Consumer Defensive 2.9% Communication Services 1.79% Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio
Name Holding Value Quantity Firstsource Solutions Ltd (Technology)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 18 | FSL5% ₹1,806 Cr 54,953,617
↑ 341,783 Aster DM Healthcare Ltd Ordinary Shares (Healthcare)
Equity, Since 30 Jun 19 | 5409754% ₹1,513 Cr 24,129,059
↑ 1,925 eClerx Services Ltd (Technology)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 18 | ECLERX4% ₹1,479 Cr 3,688,859
↓ -80,224 Bank of Baroda (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 19 | 5321343% ₹1,211 Cr 46,817,927
↓ -10,865 Gabriel India Ltd (Consumer Cyclical)
Equity, Since 31 Oct 18 | GABRIEL3% ₹1,167 Cr 9,890,488
↓ -1,049,702 Eris Lifesciences Ltd Registered Shs (Healthcare)
Equity, Since 31 Jul 23 | 5405963% ₹1,005 Cr 6,326,172
↑ 248,248 Fortis Healthcare Ltd (Healthcare)
Equity, Since 31 Jul 23 | 5328433% ₹977 Cr 10,068,979
↓ -4,153 Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences Ltd (Healthcare)
Equity, Since 31 Jul 23 | 5433082% ₹779 Cr Sudarshan Chemical Industries Ltd (Basic Materials)
Equity, Since 29 Feb 24 | 5066552% ₹772 Cr 5,789,635
↑ 22,455 Indian Bank (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Jul 16 | 5328142% ₹727 Cr 9,682,969
↓ -5,159
Thus, from the above comparisons, we can find that both the schemes are different in certain parameters while same in certain parameters. However, it is always advised to people that they understand the modalities of a scheme completely and check whether it matches their investment objectives before investing. In addition, they can even consult a financial advisor to ensure that the selected fund is in-line with their objectives and they attain it on time.