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Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan - Growth vs Nippon India Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan Growth Plan - Growth Option
Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund and Nippon India Small Cap Fund are both in the Small Cap Fund category, from Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Pvt Ltd and Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited respectively. Nippon India Small Cap Fund has posted a higher 3-year rolling CAGR. Nippon India Small Cap Fund has the lower expense ratio. See the full table and FAQ below for the complete real-data comparison.
Basics
Nippon India Small Cap Fund has the lower direct-plan expense ratio, by 0.23 percentage points.
| Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan - Growth | Nippon India Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan Growth Plan - Growth Option | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Small Cap Fund | Small Cap Fund |
| AMC | Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Pvt Ltd | Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited |
| Benchmark | BSE 250 SmallCap Index TRI | Nifty Smallcap 250 TRI |
| NAV | ₹22.5855 (2026-10-28) | ₹194.7185 (2026-10-28) |
| AUM | ₹5,132.03 Cr | ₹77,271.195 Cr |
| Expense Ratio (Direct) | 0.92% | 0.69% |
| Inception | 2022-11-21 | 2010-08-26 |
Returns
Nippon India Small Cap Fund leads on 3-year rolling CAGR (25.6% vs Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund's 24.2%) - see the FAQ below for percentile context within each fund's own category.
Risk Metrics
Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund has been the more volatile of the two by standard deviation.
| Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan - Growth | Nippon India Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan Growth Plan - Growth Option | |
|---|---|---|
| 3Y Sharpe Ratio | 0.46 | 0.24 |
| 3Y Alpha | 6.0361% | 2.7336% |
| 3Y Std Deviation | 18.8572% | 17.4663% |
| 3Y Calmar Ratio | 0.60 | 0.46 |
Portfolio Analytics
Nippon India 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.
| Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan - Growth | Nippon India Small Cap Fund - Direct Plan Growth Plan - Growth Option | |
|---|---|---|
| P/E Ratio | 27.1985 | 28.4763 |
| P/B Ratio | 4.5144 | 9.034 |
| Dividend Yield | 0.6241% | 0.8296% |
| Active Share | 85% | 71.14% |
| Portfolio Turnover | - | 21% |
| YTM | - | - |
| Duration (Macaulay) | - | - |
Punji Fund Health Score
Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund and Nippon India Small Cap Fund carry the same Punji Quality grade.
Frequently asked questions
Which has a higher 3-year return, Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund or Nippon India Small Cap Fund?
Nippon India Small Cap Fund's 3-year rolling CAGR of 25.6% is higher than Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund's 24.2%. Nippon India Small Cap Fund sits in the 71st percentile of its category on this metric, versus the 67th percentile for Mahindra Manulife 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, Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund or Nippon India Small Cap Fund?
Nippon India Small Cap Fund's direct-plan expense ratio is 0.23 percentage points lower than Mahindra Manulife 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, Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund or Nippon India Small Cap Fund?
By standard deviation (a measure of how much a fund's returns swing around its own average), Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund has been more volatile than Nippon India 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 (0.46 for Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund vs 0.24 for Nippon India 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, Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund or Nippon India Small Cap Fund?
Nippon India Small Cap Fund has ₹77,271 Cr in assets under management, versus ₹5,132 Cr for Mahindra Manulife 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, Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund or Nippon India Small Cap Fund?
Nippon India Small Cap Fund launched on 2010-08-26, making it older than Mahindra Manulife Small Cap Fund (launched 2022-11-21). 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.