InvestVerdict· Mutual Funds

LIC MF Small Cap Fund

Regular Plan IDCW Small Cap LIC Mutual Fund Code 152006 ISIN INF397L01JT9

Fund basics

Launched31 Jul 2023 3.1 years of history
CategorySmall CapSEBI classification
Plan & optionRegular · IDCW code 152006
BenchmarkNifty Smallcap 250 used for alpha & beta below
NAV as on26 Aug 2026source AMFI

Returns

No CAGR is shown for an IDCW scheme, and that is deliberate. Its NAV falls by every payout it makes, so a return computed from NAV alone understates it by exactly the amount distributed — and AMFI's daily file carries no payout history to add back. A wrong number wearing the right label is worse than an honest gap. The Growth option of this same fund is the one to compare on returns.

Regular vs Direct — 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.

PlanNAV1y3y5y
Regular (this page) 35.1960
Direct 39.9818

The two NAVs are 12.0% apart today. They started life at the same ₹10 — the whole of that gap is what the commission has taken out of the Regular plan since launch.

Everything the NAV says

Computed from 756 published NAVs between 31 Jul 2023 and 26 Aug 2026 — 3.1 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 1M3M6M1Y3Y5Y7Y10YSince launch
LIC MF Small Cap Fund Regular 6.1410.0923.52 18.6118.55 18.29
Nifty Smallcap 250 benchmark 3.987.9714.97 10.1416.81 19.57
Small Cap category median · 28 funds 10.6016.8016.13 16.50

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 Regular 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
LIC MF Small Cap Fund Regular 18.87 0.64 0.87 0.95 1.89 -27.21
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.

Risk

VolatilityDownside volatilitySharpeSortino
18.9%13.9%0.640.87

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 fallTime to recoverToday, from its peak
-27.2%17 monthsAt a high
0%-10%-20%-30%20242026
How far below its own record high the fund sat, on every single day it has existed. Flat along the top means it was making new highs; every dip is a stretch where somebody who bought at the wrong moment was down.

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 yearMedian yearWorst yearLosing years
57.8%5.1%-17.4%34%
Worst-17.4%Median5.1%Best57.8%now
The full spread of one-year outcomes, with the fund's actual last twelve months marked. It answers the question a single number cannot: is right now an ordinary year for this fund, or an unusual one?

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

40.0%2024-13.4%202519.5%2026
Each year on its own, January to December. Losing years hang below the line — averages hide them, and the years somebody actually had to sit through are the ones that decide whether they stayed.

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 Regular Plan IDCW scheme against another of exactly the same kind.

Return window
Scheme Return Alpha Beta Volatility Sharpe Max fall
LIC MF Small Cap Fund LIC Mutual Fund · this scheme 18.6% 1.9% 0.95 18.9% 0.64 -27.2%
Aditya Birla Sun Life Small Cap Fund Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund 8.4% -7.5% 0.89 19.5% 0.10 -69.7%
BANDHAN Small Cap Fund Bandhan Mutual Fund 16.5% -0.4% 0.91 18.0% 0.56 -27.7%
BANK OF INDIA SMALL CAP FUND Bank of India Mutual Fund 21.9% 3.8% 0.93 18.4% 0.84 -32.5%
Bajaj Finserv Small Cap Fund Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund 7.4% 1.08 15.9% 0.35 -17.0%
DSP Small Cap Fund DSP Mutual Fund 8.7% -8.8% 1.03 17.7% 0.12 -60.7%
Edelweiss Small Cap Fund Edelweiss Mutual Fund 16.2% 1.3% 0.80 17.6% 0.55 -37.2%
Franklin India Small Cap Fund Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund 3.6% -11.5% 0.97 20.3% -0.14 -71.4%
Helios Small Cap Fund Helios Mutual Fund 17.8% -17.3%

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 LIC MF Small Cap Fund — Regular Plan — IDCW?

₹35.1960 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 LIC MF 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 IDCW option mean?

An IDCW option pays part of the fund's gains out to you, and the NAV falls by exactly what it pays. It is not extra return — it is your own money returned, taxed at your slab rate. That also means a return computed from NAV alone understates an IDCW scheme, which is why no CAGR is shown here for it.

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.