How much did HDFC Small Cap Fund fall in The COVID Crash?

HDFC Small Cap Fund fell 40.7% from its peak NAV of ₹40.88 (17 Jan 2020) to ₹24.251 (24 Mar 2020), based on published NAV history.

How long did HDFC Small Cap Fund take to recover?

The NAV regained its pre-crash peak on 17 Nov 2020 — 8 months after the bottom.

What happened to ₹1 lakh invested at the worst possible time?

₹1,00,000 invested exactly at the pre-crash peak fell to ₹59,322 at the bottom, was ₹1,14,993 one year after the peak — and is worth ₹3,43,109 today (1 Sept 2026).

Crash case study · real NAV data

How HDFC Small Cap Fund survived The COVID Crash

The fastest crash in history: 38% wiped out in 33 trading days as the world locked down. Then the fastest recovery in history — most equity funds regained their peaks within 9 months. Panic-sellers of March 2020 paid the highest tuition fee ever charged by the market.

The fall

-40.7%

17 Jan 2020 → 24 Mar 2020

Index fell

-38%

Sensex, peak to trough

Recovery time

8 mo

peak regained 17 Nov 2020

₹1L at the peak → today

₹3,43,109

worst-possible timing, held on

The full round trip

NAV from 15 Jan 2020 to 17 Nov 2020 — peak ₹40.88, bottom ₹24.251, peak regained 17 Nov 2020.

The ₹1 lakh stress test — invested at the worst possible moment

Invested at the pre-crash peak (17 Jan 2020)	₹1,00,000
Value at the bottom (24 Mar 2020)	₹59,322
Value one year after the peak	₹1,14,993
Value today (1 Sept 2026)	₹3,43,109

The lesson isn't that crashes don't hurt — it's that selling at the bottom turns a temporary fall into a permanent loss. The investor who bought at the absolute worst day and simply held is in profit today.

The unluckiest SIP experiment

Imagine starting a ₹10,000/month SIP on the exact peak day — the single unluckiest start date possible — and continuing for 24 months straight through the crash:

Invested

₹2,40,000

Worth today

₹7,53,466

Return

+214%

Crash-month installments bought units cheap — that's the whole SIP thesis, demonstrated with real data instead of a brochure.

This fund in other crashes

Other Small Cap funds in this crash

Keep researching

How this page is produced

Every figure above is computed from our archive of published AMFI NAV history for HDFC Small Cap Fund, to NAV dated 1 Sept 2026. Nothing here is copied from a factsheet or a third-party summary. The full method is published, including its limitations.

Drawdown, recovery and rebound figures are measured from the fund's own NAV series across the event window — not from a factsheet summary. Past performance, including past recoveries, does not guarantee future results.

Written and maintained by Azad Mohammed, who built the pipeline these numbers come out of. Found an error? Tell us — corrections are made and the page rebuilds within the hour.

This page describes what each fund has done. It is not investment advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell any scheme. Arthkar is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser and does not provide or arrange investment advice. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risk; read all scheme related documents carefully.