SOLUTIONS
EXPLORE FUNDS
CALCULATORS
fincash number+91-22-48913909Dashboard

Nippon India Small Cap Fund Vs HDFC Small Cap Fund: A Comparative Study

Updated on November 4, 2026 , 8919 views

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.

Nippon India/Reliance Small Cap Fund

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.

Important Information

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

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.

Detailed Comparison of Nippon India/Reliance Small Cap Vs HDFC Small Cap

Basic Parameters

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
BasicsNAV
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
₹176.028 ↓ -1.41   (-0.80 %)
₹80,906 on 30 Sep 26
16 Sep 10
☆☆☆☆
Equity
Small Cap
6
Moderately High
1.41
0.25
-0.03
1.8
Not Available
0-1 Years (1%),1 Years and above(NIL)
HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
₹132.407 ↓ -1.06   (-0.80 %)
₹40,801 on 30 Sep 26
3 Apr 08
☆☆☆☆
Equity
Small Cap
9
Moderately High
1.56
-0.35
-0.49
-8.04
Not Available
0-1 Years (1%),1 Years and above(NIL)

Performance

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
Performance1 Month
3 Month
6 Month
1 Year
3 Year
5 Year
Since launch
Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
-3.4%
-4.5%
1.2%
4.1%
12.4%
16.4%
19.4%
HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
-2.6%
-7.4%
-2.2%
-7%
8.2%
12.1%
14.9%

Yearly Performance

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 Performance2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
-4.7%
26.1%
48.9%
6.5%
74.3%
HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
-0.6%
20.4%
44.8%
4.6%
64.9%

Ready to Invest?
Talk to our investment specialist
Disclaimer:
By submitting this form I authorize Fincash.com to call/SMS/email me about its products and I accept the terms of Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Other Details

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 DetailsMin SIP Investment
Min Investment
Fund Manager
Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
₹100
₹5,000
Samir Rachh - 9.75 Yr.
HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
₹300
₹5,000
Chirag Setalvad - 12.27 Yr.

Growth of 10k Investments over the years

Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.
Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
DateValue
31 Oct 21₹10,000
31 Oct 22₹11,433
31 Oct 23₹15,000
31 Oct 24₹21,906
31 Oct 25₹21,223
31 Oct 26₹21,128
Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.
HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
DateValue
31 Oct 21₹10,000
31 Oct 22₹10,539
31 Oct 23₹14,028
31 Oct 24₹19,087
31 Oct 25₹19,656
31 Oct 26₹17,669

Detailed portfolio Comparison

Asset Allocation
Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
Asset ClassValue
Cash2.65%
Equity97.35%
Equity Sector Allocation
SectorValue
Industrials23.89%
Financial Services15.76%
Consumer Cyclical14.88%
Basic Materials11.09%
Consumer Defensive9.09%
Health Care9.04%
Technology7.3%
Utility3.56%
Communication Services1.12%
Energy0.83%
Real Estate0.79%
Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio
NameHoldingValueQuantity
TD Power Systems Ltd (Industrials)
Equity, Since 31 Dec 15 | TDPOWERSYS
2%₹1,518 Cr19,307,704
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Industrials)
Equity, Since 30 Sep 22 | 500103
2%₹1,434 Cr34,508,595
HDFC Bank Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 30 Apr 22 | HDFCBANK
2%₹1,414 Cr19,954,929
Apar Industries Ltd (Industrials)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 17 | APARINDS
2%₹1,405 Cr808,204
ACME Solar Holdings Ltd (Utilities)
Equity, Since 30 Nov 24 | ACMESOLAR
1%₹1,075 Cr24,487,415
Karur Vysya Bank Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 28 Feb 17 | 590003
1%₹1,036 Cr31,907,252
Sai Life Sciences Ltd (Healthcare)
Equity, Since 31 Dec 24 | SAILIFE
1%₹1,001 Cr6,563,832
Sundaram Fasteners Ltd (Consumer Cyclical)
Equity, Since 30 Apr 24 | 500403
1%₹971 Cr8,522,020
State Bank of India (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Oct 19 | SBIN
1%₹960 Cr10,000,000
ELANTAS Beck India Ltd (Basic Materials)
Equity, Since 28 Feb 13 | ELANTAS
1%₹938 Cr677,636
Asset Allocation
HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
Asset ClassValue
Cash9.94%
Equity90.06%
Equity Sector Allocation
SectorValue
Consumer Cyclical22.04%
Industrials20.82%
Financial Services12.3%
Health Care10.8%
Technology10.74%
Basic Materials7.82%
Consumer Defensive3.6%
Communication Services1.96%
Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio
NameHoldingValueQuantity
Firstsource Solutions Ltd (Technology)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 18 | FSL
4%₹1,502 Cr58,722,189
Aster DM Quality Care Ltd Ordinary Shares (Healthcare)
Equity, Since 30 Jun 19 | ASTERDM
3%₹1,376 Cr19,740,031
Gabriel India Ltd (Consumer Cyclical)
Equity, Since 31 Oct 18 | GABRIEL
3%₹1,259 Cr9,381,123
↓ -100,000
eClerx Services Ltd (Technology)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 18 | ECLERX
3%₹1,192 Cr6,547,683
Bank of Baroda (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 19 | 532134
3%₹1,080 Cr46,828,792
Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences Ltd (Healthcare)
Equity, Since 31 Jul 23 | KIMS
2%₹831 Cr11,133,566
Apar Industries Ltd (Industrials)
Equity, Since 30 Sep 16 | APARINDS
2%₹782 Cr450,044
Indian Bank (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Jul 16 | 532814
2%₹781 Cr9,688,128
Pearl Global Industries Ltd (Consumer Cyclical)
Equity, Since 31 Jul 24 | PGIL
2%₹775 Cr6,042,408
↑ 25,696
Eris Lifesciences Ltd Registered Shs (Healthcare)
Equity, Since 31 Jul 23 | ERIS
2%₹771 Cr6,464,629

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.

Disclaimer:
All efforts have been made to ensure the information provided here is accurate. However, no guarantees are made regarding correctness of data. Please verify with scheme information document before making any investment.
How helpful was this page ?
☆☆☆☆☆
POST A COMMENT