How Kotak-Small Cap Fund survived The 2022 Rate-Hike Correction
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.
The fall
-19.1%
17 Jan 2022 → 20 Jun 2022
Index fell
-17%
Sensex, peak to trough
Recovery time
11 mo
peak regained 2 Jun 2023
₹1L at the peak → today
₹1,54,411
worst-possible timing, held on
The full round trip
NAV from 1 Oct 2021 to 2 Jun 2023 — peak ₹174.205, bottom ₹141.012, peak regained 2 Jun 2023.
The ₹1 lakh stress test — invested at the worst possible moment
| Invested at the pre-crash peak (17 Jan 2022) | ₹1,00,000 |
| Value at the bottom (20 Jun 2022) | ₹80,946 |
| Value one year after the peak | ₹92,632 |
| Value today (3 Jul 2026) | ₹1,54,411 |
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
₹3,79,061
Return
+58%
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
All figures computed from published AMFI NAV history for Kotak-Small Cap 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.