How Union 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
-20%
17 Jan 2022 → 20 Jun 2022
Index fell
-17%
Sensex, peak to trough
Recovery time
3 mo
peak regained 7 Sept 2022
₹1L at the peak → today
₹1,89,771
worst-possible timing, held on
The full round trip
NAV from 1 Oct 2021 to 7 Sept 2022 — peak ₹33.24, bottom ₹26.58, peak regained 7 Sept 2022.
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) | ₹79,964 |
| Value one year after the peak | ₹93,923 |
| Value today (3 Jul 2026) | ₹1,89,771 |
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
₹4,54,215
Return
+89%
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 Union 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.