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

Updated on July 6, 2026 , 8747 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
₹176.549 ↓ -3.31   (-1.84 %)
₹74,604 on 31 May 26
16 Sep 10
Equity
Small Cap
6
Moderately High
1.44
0.05
-0.24
2.35
Not Available
0-1 Years (1%),1 Years and above(NIL)
HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
₹135.56 ↓ -2.33   (-1.69 %)
₹38,809 on 31 May 26
3 Apr 08
Equity
Small Cap
9
Moderately High
1.58
-0.31
0
0
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%
11.9%
7.6%
2.2%
16.9%
19.1%
19.9%
HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
3%
6.2%
-1.2%
-4.2%
12.1%
15.2%
15.3%

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%

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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 - 9.5 Yr.
HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
₹300
₹5,000
Chirag Setalvad - 12.02 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
30 Jun 21₹10,000
30 Jun 22₹10,860
30 Jun 23₹15,169
30 Jun 24₹23,621
30 Jun 25₹24,128
30 Jun 26₹25,102
Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.
HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
DateValue
30 Jun 21₹10,000
30 Jun 22₹9,800
30 Jun 23₹14,202
30 Jun 24₹20,070
30 Jun 25₹21,309
30 Jun 26₹20,727

Detailed portfolio Comparison

Asset Allocation
Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
Asset ClassValue
Cash2.9%
Equity97.1%
Equity Sector Allocation
SectorValue
Industrials24.65%
Financial Services15.05%
Consumer Cyclical14.19%
Basic Materials11.05%
Health Care9.49%
Consumer Defensive9.04%
Technology7.05%
Utility3.27%
Communication Services1.65%
Real Estate0.78%
Energy0.43%
Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio
NameHoldingValueQuantity
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Industrials)
Equity, Since 30 Sep 22 | BHEL
2%₹1,438 Cr34,507,422
HDFC Bank Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 30 Apr 22 | HDFCBANK
2%₹1,322 Cr17,754,929
TD Power Systems Ltd (Industrials)
Equity, Since 31 Dec 15 | TDPOWERSYS
2%₹1,277 Cr9,680,747
Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 28 Feb 21 | MCX
2%₹1,169 Cr3,957,067
↓ -342,933
Apar Industries Ltd (Industrials)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 17 | APARINDS
2%₹1,154 Cr879,502
State Bank of India (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Oct 19 | SBIN
1%₹964 Cr10,000,000
↑ 2,000,000
NLC India Ltd (Utilities)
Equity, Since 31 Oct 22 | NLCINDIA
1%₹938 Cr26,990,331
Karur Vysya Bank Ltd (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 28 Feb 17 | KARURVYSYA
1%₹921 Cr31,907,252
Zydus Wellness Ltd (Consumer Defensive)
Equity, Since 31 Aug 16 | ZYDUSWELL
1%₹876 Cr17,273,570
Tube Investments of India Ltd Ordinary Shares (Industrials)
Equity, Since 30 Apr 18 | TIINDIA
1%₹785 Cr2,499,222
Asset Allocation
HDFC Small Cap Fund
Growth
Fund Details
Asset ClassValue
Cash10.14%
Equity89.86%
Equity Sector Allocation
SectorValue
Industrials21.38%
Consumer Cyclical20.81%
Financial Services12.52%
Health Care11.83%
Technology10.13%
Basic Materials7.46%
Consumer Defensive4.05%
Communication Services1.68%
Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio
NameHoldingValueQuantity
Firstsource Solutions Ltd (Technology)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 18 | FSL
4%₹1,522 Cr57,922,189
↑ 1,402,758
Aster DM Healthcare Ltd Ordinary Shares (Healthcare)
Equity, Since 30 Jun 19 | ASTERDM
4%₹1,474 Cr20,240,031
↓ -3,827,000
Bank of Baroda (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 19 | BANKBARODA
3%₹1,257 Cr46,828,792
Gabriel India Ltd (Consumer Cyclical)
Equity, Since 31 Oct 18 | GABRIEL
3%₹1,075 Cr9,775,044
eClerx Services Ltd (Technology)
Equity, Since 31 Mar 18 | ECLERX
2%₹952 Cr6,313,993
↑ 38,545
Eris Lifesciences Ltd Registered Shs (Healthcare)
Equity, Since 31 Jul 23 | ERIS
2%₹918 Cr6,563,458
↓ -200,000
Fortis Healthcare Ltd (Healthcare)
Equity, Since 31 Jul 23 | FORTIS
2%₹876 Cr9,440,132
Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences Ltd (Healthcare)
Equity, Since 31 Jul 23 | KIMS
2%₹845 Cr11,133,566
Indian Bank (Financial Services)
Equity, Since 31 Jul 16 | INDIANB
2%₹807 Cr9,688,128
Apar Industries Ltd (Industrials)
Equity, Since 30 Sep 16 | APARINDS
2%₹663 Cr505,371

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.
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