Nippon India Small Cap Fund, the largest scheme in the small- cap space with assets of ₹36,540 crore in August 2023, has 196 stocks in its portfolio, compared to 148 a year ago. Bandhan Emerging Businesses, which manages ₹2,014 crore, saw the number of stocks rise to 117 in August compared to 62 last year, while Quant Small Cap saw the number of stocks rise to 80 from 58 a year ago. HDFC Small Cap saw the number of stocks rise from to 75 from 66 last year.
“Given the limited liquidity in most small-cap stocks, a fund’s internal prudential scrip wise exposure limits and the fund manager’s perception on their valuation post the recent run-up, it is imperative for them to look for newer stocks to invest in,” said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities.
Advisors said small-cap funds have received huge inflows in the recent past. Assets under management of these schemes rose 59% to ₹1.86 lakh crore as of August 2023, from ₹1.17 lakh crore a year ago with the number of folios rising 56% from 88.89 lakh to 1.39 crore.
“Given the market cap of some of the small-cap stocks is relatively low, managers prefer to avoid having very high exposure to them,” said Himanshu Srivastava, associate director, fund research, Morningstar Investment Adviser. “Small-cap is a relatively riskier segment, and a concentrated approach could expose the fund to above average volatility during difficult times.”
Given the sharp run-up of 37% in the S&P BSE Small Cap TRI (Total Returns Index) in the last six months, distributors said investors should put money into small-cap schemes only if they are willing to hold for five to seven years.
“Only aggressive investors who can digest volatility should opt for small-cap funds and restrict allocation to 10-20% of their portfolio,” said Anup Bhaiya, MD, Money Honey Financial Services.
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