Motilal Oswal Small Cap Fund
Fund basics
Everything the NAV says
Computed from 656 published NAVs between 29 Dec 2023 and 27 Aug 2026 — 2.7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motilal Oswal Small Cap Fund Direct | 5.40 | 16.17 | 27.84 | 27.38 | — | — | — | — | 23.90 |
| Nifty Smallcap 250 benchmark | 2.98 | 9.05 | 16.58 | 11.75 | 16.72 | — | — | — | 19.67 |
| 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 27 Aug 2026.
Risk measures
| Fund name | Volatility | Sharpe | Sortino | Beta | Alpha | Max fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motilal Oswal Small Cap Fund Direct | 17.29 | 1.01 | 1.42 | 0.90 | 13.63 | -23.69 |
| Nifty Smallcap 250 benchmark | 17.59 | 0.58 | 0.78 | — | — | -26.19 |
Risk-free rate 6.5%. Beta and alpha need an index, so the benchmark's own row leaves them blank.
Against its benchmark
Regressed on the 32 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13.63% | 0.90 | 90% | 12.91% | 111% | 68% | 6.91% | 1.87 | 22.22 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17.3% | 12.3% | 1.01 | 1.42 |
Risk-free rate 6.5%, roughly the 10-year government bond.
The worst it has been
| Deepest fall | Time to recover | Today, from its peak |
|---|---|---|
| -23.7% | 14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 47.9% | 13.5% | -7.4% | 8% |
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
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 | 58 |
|---|---|
| Top 5 stocks | 19.67% |
| Top 10 stocks | 33.21% |
| Top 20 stocks | 54.14% |
| Largest single holding | 4.41% |
| Largest sector | Retailing · 9.20% |
| Number of sectors | 26 |
| Effective stocks | 47.6 |
| Cash & equivalents | 4.79% |
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 35.5% 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 in its category
Against the Small Cap Direct schemes with the highest three-year return. Same category, same plan — the only comparison that means anything. The list re-sorts itself as returns move; it is an ordering by one number, not a view on which fund anyone should hold.
| Scheme | Return | Alpha | Beta | Volatility | Sharpe | Max fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motilal Oswal Small Cap Fund Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund · this scheme | — | 13.6% | 0.90 | 17.3% | 1.01 | -23.7% |
| ITI Small Cap Fund ITI Mutual Fund | 27.1% | 10.3% | 0.85 | 19.8% | 1.04 | -39.9% |
| BANDHAN Small Cap Fund Bandhan Mutual Fund | 26.5% | 9.6% | 0.90 | 17.1% | 1.17 | -24.3% |
| Invesco India Smallcap Fund Invesco Mutual Fund | 24.9% | 7.9% | 0.83 | 18.0% | 1.02 | -37.7% |
| BANK OF INDIA SMALL CAP FUND Bank of India Mutual Fund | 23.7% | 5.6% | 0.93 | 17.9% | 0.96 | -32.4% |
| Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund | 22.5% | 9.3% | 0.87 | 16.8% | 0.95 | -26.0% |
| LIC MF Small Cap Fund LIC Mutual Fund | 20.1% | 3.3% | 0.95 | 18.9% | 0.72 | -27.0% |
| Union Small Cap Fund Union Mutual Fund | 19.2% | 2.9% | 0.84 | 16.9% | 0.75 | -44.7% |
| DSP Small Cap Fund DSP Mutual Fund | 19.2% | 3.6% | 0.92 | 16.3% | 0.78 | -49.1% |
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.
Questions people ask
What is the NAV of Motilal Oswal Small Cap Fund — Direct Plan — Growth?
₹17.8415 as on 27 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 Motilal Oswal 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.