How much did Axis Small Cap Fund fall in The 2018 NBFC Crisis?

Axis Small Cap Fund fell 14% from its peak NAV of ₹28.44 (31 Aug 2018) to ₹24.46 (23 Oct 2018), based on published NAV history.

How long did Axis Small Cap Fund take to recover?

The NAV regained its pre-crash peak on 24 May 2019 — 7 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 ₹86,006 at the bottom, was ₹1,00,633 one year after the peak — and is worth ₹4,14,487 today (1 Sept 2026).

Crash case study · real NAV data

How Axis Small Cap Fund survived The 2018 NBFC Crisis

IL&FS defaulted and India's shadow-banking system seized up. While the Sensex fell a modest 14%, mid- and small-cap funds crashed 25-40% — the crash that taught a generation the difference between index pain and portfolio pain.

The fall

-14%

31 Aug 2018 → 23 Oct 2018

Index fell

-14%

Sensex, peak to trough

Recovery time

7 mo

peak regained 24 May 2019

₹1L at the peak → today

₹4,14,487

worst-possible timing, held on

The full round trip

NAV from 1 Aug 2018 to 24 May 2019 — peak ₹28.44, bottom ₹24.46, peak regained 24 May 2019.

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

Invested at the pre-crash peak (31 Aug 2018)	₹1,00,000
Value at the bottom (23 Oct 2018)	₹86,006
Value one year after the peak	₹1,00,633
Value today (1 Sept 2026)	₹4,14,487

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

₹10,03,491

Return

+318%

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

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How this page is produced

Every figure above is computed from our archive of published AMFI NAV history for Axis 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.