ICICI Prudential Small Cap Fund
Fund basics
Returns
Returns for this scheme are not computed yet — we need at least three years of published NAV. The NAV above is today's, straight from AMFI.
Direct vs Regular — same portfolio, two prices
The same fund, the same manager, the same shares. The only difference is the distributor commission inside the Regular plan's expense ratio — charged every year, on the whole balance.
| Plan | NAV | 1y | 3y | 5y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct (this page) | 104.5900 | 5.32% | 13.68% | 16.33% |
| Regular | 92.1400 | 4.27% | 12.49% | 15.01% |
1.32 percentage points a year separate them over five years. On ₹1,00,000 left for ten years that is ₹453,855 against ₹404,908 — ₹48,947 for holding the same portfolio under a different label.
Everything the NAV says
Computed from 3,331 published NAVs between 3 Jan 2013 and 27 Aug 2026 — 13.6 years of history. Nothing here is an estimate; it is arithmetic on what the fund actually printed.
How it has moved
Return over time (%)
| Fund name | 1M | 3M | 6M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 7Y | 10Y | Since launch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICICI Prudential Small Cap Fund Direct | 4.23 | 6.26 | 8.98 | 6.44 | 13.25 | 16.13 | 22.90 | 16.42 | 16.90 |
| Nifty Smallcap 250 benchmark | 3.98 | 7.97 | 14.97 | 10.14 | 16.81 | — | — | — | 19.57 |
| Small Cap category median · 26 funds | — | — | — | 11.91 | 18.31 | 17.79 | — | 17.70 | — |
Anything over a year is annualised (CAGR); shorter windows are absolute. The benchmark row is the index fund named below, priced daily by AMFI like every other scheme here. The category row is the median Direct plan in Small Cap — the middle fund, not a ranking, and a median rather than an average so that one mis-stated scheme cannot move it. As on 26 Aug 2026.
Risk measures
| Fund name | Volatility | Sharpe | Sortino | Beta | Alpha | Max fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICICI Prudential Small Cap Fund Direct | 14.70 | 0.46 | 0.63 | 0.77 | -1.05 | -45.12 |
| Nifty Smallcap 250 benchmark | 17.60 | 0.59 | 0.79 | — | — | -26.19 |
Risk measures use a risk-free rate of 6.5% and are stated so they can be checked — a ratio quoted without its risk-free rate cannot be. Beta and alpha need an index, so they are blank for the benchmark row itself.
Against its benchmark
Regressed on the 46 months this fund and Nifty Smallcap 250 (via SBI Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund) both have. Alpha is Jensen's — the return left over after the market move this fund's own beta would predict.
| Alpha | Beta | R² | Fund vs index | Up capture | Down capture | Tracking error | Information ratio | Treynor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -1.05% | 0.77 | 91% | -4.55% | 75% | 70% | 6.91% | -0.66 | 13.86 |
Up and down capture are the pair worth reading together: a fund that takes 95% of the rises but only 80% of the falls is doing something a headline CAGR will never show you.
Risk
| Volatility | Downside volatility | Sharpe | Sortino |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14.7% | 10.8% | 0.46 | 0.63 |
Sharpe and Sortino use a risk-free rate of 6.5%, roughly the 10-year government bond. Both are stated so the figure can be checked — a ratio quoted without its risk-free rate cannot be.
The worst it has been
| Deepest fall | Time to recover | Today, from its peak |
|---|---|---|
| -45.1% | 8 months | At a high |
A drawdown is the fall from a previous high to the low that followed it. It is the number that decides whether somebody stays invested — a fund can have an excellent ten-year return and still have been unbearable to hold in year four.
Every one-year period it has lived through
| Best year | Median year | Worst year | Losing years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 131.6% | 14.3% | -30.7% | 20% |
Rolling returns ask a fairer question than a single five-year figure: not "what did it do from this one start date", but "what happened across every start date". A fund whose worst year is −45% is a different proposition from one whose worst is −8%, even if the averages match.
Calendar years
If you had run a SIP
₹10,000 every month for five years — ₹600,000 invested in all — would be worth ₹857,303 today, an XIRR of 14.26% a year.
XIRR, not CAGR. A SIP's money arrives over sixty months, so most of it has been invested for far less than five years — which is why this figure normally sits below the five-year CAGR above in a rising market, and above it in a falling one. It is the return the investor got, not the return the fund got.
What it actually holds
The real portfolio the AMC filed with AMFI. Nothing here is estimated — when a fund has no filing in our store the section simply does not appear. A fund is its holdings; the returns above are only what those holdings did.
Asset allocation
A fund's risk starts here — how much of it is even in the market — before any question of which stocks or which sectors. Cash is not idleness; it is the manager's choice not to be invested, and it shows up as a drag in a rising market and a cushion in a falling one.
Portfolio aggregates
Concentration
| Number of stocks | 132 |
|---|---|
| Top 5 stocks | 14.24% |
| Top 10 stocks | 24.88% |
| Top 20 stocks | 38.71% |
| Largest single holding | 4.08% |
| Largest sector | Industrial Products · 11.92% |
| Number of sectors | 36 |
| Effective stocks | 81.1 |
| Cash & equivalents | 9.03% |
Counting positions overstates diversification. The effective-stocks figure is the honest count: a portfolio can hold seventy names and still have most of its money in twenty.
Sector allocation
Largest holdings
Top 10 are 28.5% of the fund. A high number means a concentrated portfolio — fewer names doing more of the work, for better and for worse.
Disclosed holdings from the AMC's AMFI filing, largest first. A portfolio is filed monthly and shifts between filings — this is the most recent one loaded, not a live book.
How it compares with its closest peers
The same category, the same plan, the same option — the only comparison that means anything. A Small Cap Direct Plan Growth scheme against another of exactly the same kind.
| Scheme | Return | Alpha | Beta | Volatility | Sharpe | Max fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICICI Prudential Small Cap Fund ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund · this scheme | 13.2% | -1.0% | 0.77 | 14.7% | 0.46 | -45.1% |
| Abakkus Small Cap Fund Abakkus Mutual Fund | — | — | — | 13.1% | — | -4.3% |
| BANDHAN Small Cap Fund Bandhan Mutual Fund | 26.5% | 9.6% | 0.91 | 17.1% | 1.17 | -24.3% |
| BANK OF INDIA SMALL CAP FUND Bank of India Mutual Fund | 23.6% | 5.6% | 0.93 | 17.9% | 0.96 | -32.4% |
| Bajaj Finserv Small Cap Fund Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund | — | 9.2% | 1.08 | 15.9% | 0.46 | -16.2% |
| DSP Small Cap Fund DSP Mutual Fund | 19.3% | 3.6% | 0.92 | 16.3% | 0.78 | -49.1% |
| Edelweiss Small Cap Fund Edelweiss Mutual Fund | 17.8% | 3.1% | 0.80 | 17.2% | 0.66 | -37.1% |
| Franklin India Small Cap Fund Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund | 15.3% | 1.7% | 0.86 | 15.6% | 0.56 | -49.9% |
| Groww Small Cap Fund Groww Mutual Fund | — | — | — | 17.9% | — | -9.9% |
Alpha and beta are against Nifty Smallcap 250. Max fall is the deepest peak-to-trough drop in each fund's own history, so a longer-running fund has had more chances to record a bad one. Click a column to sort. This is a sort, not a ranking, and nothing here is a recommendation.
What a Small Cap scheme is
At least 65% in companies ranked 251st and below.
The highest return and the highest pain in Indian equity. These companies are thinly traded, so a fund that grows too large struggles to buy and sell without moving the price — which is why good small-cap funds close to new money.
Who it suits. Only money that will not be needed for a decade, and only alongside steadier funds.
How long money should stay. 10 years or more.
Compare this scheme with others →
Questions people ask
What is the NAV of ICICI Prudential Small Cap Fund — Direct Plan — Growth?
₹104.5900 as on 26 Aug 2026, from AMFI's daily NAV file. NAV is declared once each business day after markets close, so the figure here is the most recent one published.
What is the difference between the Direct and Regular plan of ICICI Prudential Small Cap Fund?
They hold the identical portfolio, run by the same manager. A Regular plan pays a distributor commission out of the fund, inside its expense ratio — commonly 0.5% to 1.2% a year more than Direct. That difference is charged on the whole balance, every year, so it compounds: on ₹1,00,000 held ten years a gap of 1.5 percentage points is roughly ₹1.4 lakh of ending value. Direct is the same fund without the commission.
What does the Growth option mean?
Growth reinvests everything the fund earns back into the NAV. Nothing is paid out, so the NAV rises with returns and you are taxed only when you sell. For anybody who does not need income from the investment, Growth is the simpler and usually the more tax-efficient option.
What kind of scheme is this?
At least 65% in companies ranked 251st and below. The highest return and the highest pain in Indian equity. These companies are thinly traded, so a fund that grows too large struggles to buy and sell without moving the price — which is why good small-cap funds close to new money.
How long should money stay in it?
Typically 10 years or more. Only money that will not be needed for a decade, and only alongside steadier funds.