Small cap: ITI vs Bandhan vs Bank of India vs Invesco

Why these four

Twenty-four small-cap funds have a three-year record, and four of them sit well ahead: ITI Small Cap at 23.32% a year, Bandhan Small Cap at 23.07%, Bank of India Small Cap at 21.74% and Invesco India Small Cap at 21.54%. The fifth-placed fund made 18.99%, and the category median is 14.88%. In money: ₹1 lakh three years ago is about ₹1.88 lakh in ITI's fund today, and about ₹1.80 lakh in Invesco's, against ₹1.52 lakh at the median.

Figures are for the Direct plan, Growth option, from NAVs to Friday 9 October 2026.

Returns

All are compounded annual rates. None of the four is ten years old.

Bank of India leads on one and five years, ITI on three. Bank of India's 28.19% over the past year is second of 31 funds, and its five-year 19.00% is first of 21. The three-year race is close at the top: ITI against Bandhan is a quarter of a point, and Invesco against Bank of India a fifth of one.

Risk

Everything here covers three years. The worst fall is the deepest peak-to-trough drop in NAV; down capture compares the fund with the Nifty Smallcap 250 TRI in the months that index fell.

All four are more volatile than the category's median of 16.98%, yet all four lost less than the index in its down months. Bandhan and Invesco also fell less from a peak than the median fund's 24.13%, and ITI about the same. Bandhan has the best Sharpe ratio in the category at 0.95. ITI is the odd mix: the most volatile of the four, but with a down capture of 65.5%, it lost about two-thirds of what the index lost in falling months. Bank of India had the deepest fall, 27.08%. Bank of India against Bandhan sets the higher one-year return against the steadier record. Our study of small-cap drawdowns covers the whole category's falls this year.

Fees, size and exit load

Expense ratios are AMFI's, dated 7 and 8 October 2026; exit loads are from each Scheme Summary Document.

Size is the widest gap here. Bandhan's fund is more than ten times the size of Bank of India's and nine times ITI's, and it is also the cheapest. Invesco against Bandhan pairs the two large funds; the two small ones meet in Bank of India against ITI. Small caps trade thinly, so a large fund has more to buy and sell in each name. The exit load differs too: ITI and Bank of India free you after three months, Bandhan and Invesco after a year.

What they own

From each house's monthly portfolio disclosure. The cap split is of equity holdings, by current market value against AMFI's July 2026 cut-offs, rounded.

These are four different ways to run a small-cap fund. Bandhan spreads across 255 stocks with 13.3% in cash; its largest holding, REC, is 2.42%. Bank of India is the purest small-cap book, 86% by this measure, with 14.3% outside equity in cash and debt. Invesco is fully invested and the most concentrated: Sai Life Sciences is 5.14% and Eternal, now a large company, 4.38%. Invesco against ITI shows the trading gap: Invesco reports 26% portfolio turnover, ITI 125% and Bank of India 91%.

Invesco's 59% in small caps is not a breach. SEBI's 65% floor is measured on AMFI's list, which ranks companies by six months of average market value; a stock that has grown since stays a small cap for the rule until the next list. The concentration study compares the whole category.

Who runs them

• ITI: Dhimant Shah since 8 August 2022 and Alok Ranjan since 8 May 2026, at ITI Mutual Fund.
• Bandhan: Manish Gunwani since 28 January 2023 and Kirthi Jain since 5 June 2023. Bandhan's large & mid-cap fund is also his.
• Bank of India: Alok Singh since 27 April 2022, at Bank of India Mutual Fund.
• Invesco India: Taher Badshah since 30 October 2018, with Aditya Khemani since 9 November 2023, at Invesco.

Dates are from the summary documents filed between August and October 2026.

What the numbers do not tell you

Three good years in small caps say little about the next three. Funds of ₹3,000 crore can change faster than one of ₹32,000 crore, for better and worse. Cash cuts both ways: it softens a fall, and it is money not invested when the market rises. The Nifty Smallcap 250 valuation page shows how expensive the hunting ground is now, and the high-Sharpe small caps screen lists every small-cap fund with a Sharpe ratio above 0.8, a bar all four clear.

None of this is a recommendation to buy or sell any fund.