How Parag Parikh ELSS Tax Saver 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
-29.7%
13 Feb 2020 → 23 Mar 2020
Index fell
-38%
Sensex, peak to trough
Recovery time
4 mo
peak regained 24 Jul 2020
₹1L at the peak → today
₹2,67,420
worst-possible timing, held on
The full round trip
NAV from 15 Jan 2020 to 24 Jul 2020 — peak ₹11.1199, bottom ₹7.8198, peak regained 24 Jul 2020.
The ₹1 lakh stress test — invested at the worst possible moment
| Invested at the pre-crash peak (13 Feb 2020) | ₹1,00,000 |
| Value at the bottom (23 Mar 2020) | ₹70,323 |
| Value one year after the peak | ₹1,32,529 |
| Value today (3 Jul 2026) | ₹2,67,420 |
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
₹5,34,070
Return
+123%
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 ELSS Tax Saver funds in this crash
All figures computed from published AMFI NAV history for Parag Parikh ELSS Tax Saver Fund. Past performance — including past recoveries — does not guarantee future results. This is educational research, not investment advice. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks.