What crashes actually did to your funds
Everyone shows you the good years. We document the worst ones — how far each fund really fell, how long recovery really took, and what happened to investors who held on versus those who sold. Because knowing the pain in advance is what makes staying invested possible.
Lehman Brothers collapsed, global credit froze, and the Sensex fell from 21,000 to under 8,200 in 14 months — the deepest crash in modern Indian market history. FIIs pulled out ₹53,000 crore. Investors who fled locked in their losses; those who stayed saw one of the greatest recoveries ever.
China devalued the yuan, crude collapsed, and global growth fears dragged the Sensex down 23% over 11 slow, grinding months. No single dramatic day — just a long test of patience that shook out momentum chasers.
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 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.
Inflation surged after the pandemic, the US Fed hiked at the fastest pace in 40 years, and FIIs sold Indian equities for 9 straight months. A slow-bleed correction that punished the frothiest corners of the 2021 bull run.