New Delhi, Oct. 15 -- Small-cap mutual funds are required to invest at least 65% of their assets in small-cap stocks. According to the latest available data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), there are 36 schemes in the category.

An analysis of their year-to-date (YTD) performance shows that HDFC Small Cap Fund is the only scheme to have delivered negative returns in 2026 so far, at -1.2%. In contrast, Bank of India Small Cap Fund has emerged as the top performer in this category, with YTD returns of 32.71% as of 14 October 2026.

The divergence extends to their one-year performance. HDFC Small Cap Fund is the only scheme in the category to have delivered negative returns over this period, at -2.48%. However, no fund i...