{"id":114980,"date":"2021-05-24T09:41:12","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T09:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=114980"},"modified":"2021-05-24T09:41:12","modified_gmt":"2021-05-24T09:41:12","slug":"17-of-24-small-cap-funds-deliver-more-than-100-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/business\/17-of-24-small-cap-funds-deliver-more-than-100-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"17 of 24 small-cap funds deliver more than 100% returns"},"content":{"rendered":"
The BSE SmallCap index gained 106 per cent in the one year ended May 12, 2021.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The rally in the Indian equity markets in the past year has propelled strong returns in small-cap funds.<\/p>\n Of the 24 small-cap schemes, 17 have given returns of more than 100 per cent in one year.<\/p>\n The top performer in this pack is Quant Small Cap fund, which has given a return of 214 per cent, followed by Kotak Small Cap fund, which has delivered a 132.4 per cent return, shows the data from Value Research.<\/p>\n All the returns are of direct plans.<\/p>\n Vinay Paharia, chief investment officer (CIO) at Union AMC, says: “Returns of small-cap funds look strong due to the low base of last year.<\/p>\n “If we look at the financial year 2020, all the segments of equity markets (large-caps, mid-caps and small-caps) were weak due to the sharp fall in March last year.<\/p>\n “The inherent nature of small-caps is that they are too volatile and give better returns compared to large-caps and mid-caps over a longer duration.”<\/p>\n In the past year, small-cap stocks have seen a tremendous surge largely due to the economic recovery, coupled with the gush of liquidity and expectations of an improvement in earnings in the years to come.<\/p>\n The BSE SmallCap index gained 106 per cent in the one year ended May 12, 2021.<\/p>\n In comparison, the BSE Sensex surged 55.2 per cent, and the BSE MidCap 81.8 per cent during this period.<\/p>\n Strong returns generated by small-cap funds have attracted investors attention and in the past two months, small-cap schemes have seen net inflows.<\/p>\n According to the data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), small-cap funds had witnessed net inflows of Rs 336 crore and Rs 184 crore in March and April, respectively.<\/p>\n Although the amount might not be significant, it indicated a change in the trend.<\/p>\n Before that, in seven of the eight months, the category had seen outflows of about Rs 4,300 crore.<\/p>\n Schemes, such as Nippon India Small Cap Fund and ICICI Prudential Smallcap Fund, have given returns of 119 per cent and 115 per cent, respectively, in one year.<\/p>\n With assets of around Rs 71,700 crore, small-cap funds are among important categories in equity funds.<\/p>\n The 17 funds that gave returns of more than 100 per cent have assets of approximately Rs 56,000 crore, shows the data from Value Research.<\/p>\n But with such huge returns, the mutual fund industry feels that investors having a long-term investment horizon should only enter at current levels.<\/p>\n Sunil Subramaniam, managing director, Sundaram Mutual, says: “I am not saying that small-cap is overheated now but future expectations are already priced in.”<\/p>\n He further explains that investors need to have a five-year outlook as valuations of small-caps have gone up.<\/p>\n “Small-caps are domestic economy sensitive and given the ongoing crises, we have to give the economy some time to get on track,” says Subramaniam.<\/p>\n Investors need to understand that small-cap schemes are riskier than large- and mid-cap schemes and there can be intense volatility over a shorter timeframe.<\/p>\n In the past three years, returns generated by the small-cap category has been 8.73 per cent, lower than the 10.29 per cent and 10.64 per cent delivered by mid-cap and large-cap categories, respectively.<\/p>\n Market participants fear that investors just look at the past short-term returns and enter funds only to get disappointed with returns.<\/p>\n “Investors just look at the past returns but what has happened in the past cannot probably repeat in the future.<\/p>\n “Investors should understand that returns which we look at today can change going forward,” said Suresh Sadagopan, founder of Ladder7 Financial Advisories.<\/p>\n Despite the sharp run-up in small-cap stocks, fund managers believe that some pockets are attractive and can give good returns in the years to come.<\/p>\n “If we look at not only small-caps but even large-caps and mid-caps in our universe of around 180-200 stocks, none of the segments is cheap or expensive at this point and the markets are reasonably efficient across the cap curve today,” adds Paharia.<\/p>\n