COMPARE
HDFC Small Cap Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan vs ITI Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option
HDFC Small Cap Fund and ITI Small Cap Fund are both in the Small Cap Fund category, from HDFC Asset Management Company Limited and ITI Asset Management Limited respectively. ITI Small Cap Fund has posted a higher 3-year rolling CAGR. HDFC Small Cap Fund has the lower expense ratio. See the full table and FAQ below for the complete real-data comparison.
Basics
HDFC Small Cap Fund has the lower direct-plan expense ratio, by 0.07 percentage points.
| HDFC Small Cap Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan | ITI Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Small Cap Fund | Small Cap Fund |
| AMC | HDFC Asset Management Company Limited | ITI Asset Management Limited |
| Benchmark | BSE 250 SmallCap Index TRI | Nifty Smallcap 250 TRI |
| NAV | ₹150.9 (2026-10-28) | ₹36.137 (2026-10-28) |
| AUM | ₹39,527.9 Cr | ₹3,512.75 Cr |
| Expense Ratio (Direct) | 0.79% | 0.86% |
| Inception | 2008-02-11 | 2020-01-27 |
Returns
ITI Small Cap Fund leads on 3-year rolling CAGR (26.6% vs HDFC Small Cap Fund's 21.2%) - see the FAQ below for percentile context within each fund's own category.
Risk Metrics
ITI Small Cap Fund has been the more volatile of the two by standard deviation.
| HDFC Small Cap Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan | ITI Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option | |
|---|---|---|
| 3Y Sharpe Ratio | 0.03 | 0.62 |
| 3Y Alpha | -1.8474% | 10.4042% |
| 3Y Std Deviation | 17.2596% | 19.3768% |
| 3Y Calmar Ratio | 0.34 | 0.79 |
Portfolio Analytics
ITI Small Cap Fund carries the higher portfolio P/E ratio (a rougher proxy for how richly the underlying holdings are valued) - see the table below for the full comparison.
| HDFC Small Cap Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan | ITI Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option | |
|---|---|---|
| P/E Ratio | 14.8457 | 39.9432 |
| P/B Ratio | 4.9243 | 8.7753 |
| Dividend Yield | 1.1278% | 0.3245% |
| Active Share | 86.09% | 73.15% |
| Portfolio Turnover | 815.9599999999999% | 123% |
| YTM | - | - |
| Duration (Macaulay) | - | - |
Punji Fund Health Score
ITI Small Cap Fund has the stronger Punji Quality grade of the two.
Frequently asked questions
Which has a higher 3-year return, HDFC Small Cap Fund or ITI Small Cap Fund?
ITI Small Cap Fund's 3-year rolling CAGR of 26.6% is higher than HDFC Small Cap Fund's 21.2%. ITI Small Cap Fund sits in the 75th percentile of its category on this metric, versus the 46th percentile for HDFC Small Cap Fund - though note both funds may belong to different categories with different medians, so a raw CAGR comparison doesn't account for how each fund performed relative to its own peers. A higher historical return also doesn't necessarily mean lower risk; check the risk metrics below before concluding either fund is the "better" choice.
Which has a lower expense ratio, HDFC Small Cap Fund or ITI Small Cap Fund?
HDFC Small Cap Fund's direct-plan expense ratio is 0.07 percentage points lower than ITI Small Cap Fund's. Over long holding periods, a persistent expense-ratio gap compounds into a materially different final corpus even if the two funds' gross returns are similar - it's one of the few fund attributes you can compare with total certainty upfront, unlike future returns, since the fee is contractually fixed rather than a historical estimate.
Which fund carries more risk, HDFC Small Cap Fund or ITI Small Cap Fund?
By standard deviation (a measure of how much a fund's returns swing around its own average), ITI Small Cap Fund has been more volatile than HDFC Small Cap Fund over the trailing window. Standard deviation captures total volatility in both directions - up and down - so a higher figure means bigger swings generally, not necessarily bigger losses specifically. Sharpe ratio (0.03 for HDFC Small Cap Fund vs 0.62 for ITI Small Cap Fund) is a better single measure of risk-adjusted return, since it weighs the return earned per unit of volatility taken rather than volatility alone.
Which has higher AUM, HDFC Small Cap Fund or ITI Small Cap Fund?
HDFC Small Cap Fund has ₹39,528 Cr in assets under management, versus ₹3,513 Cr for ITI Small Cap Fund. A larger AUM generally means deeper liquidity and lower per-unit fixed costs for the AMC to spread across investors, but an AUM that's very large relative to a fund's category and strategy (especially in small/mid cap categories, where the investable universe is smaller) can also make it harder for a manager to enter and exit positions without moving the price - bigger isn't automatically better, especially for less liquid categories.
Which fund has a longer track record, HDFC Small Cap Fund or ITI Small Cap Fund?
HDFC Small Cap Fund launched on 2008-02-11, making it older than ITI Small Cap Fund (launched 2020-01-27). A longer track record means more real market cycles (bull runs, corrections, rate cycles) the fund has actually navigated, which is useful context for judging consistency - but it isn't a guarantee of future performance, and a newer fund isn't automatically worse, especially if it's run by an experienced manager or team with a track record at a prior fund.
Data as of 2026-10-29. Source: AMFI disclosures via Punji. Not investment advice.