The top three best-performing small-cap mutual fund schemes in calendar year 2026, all of which gave at least a 23% return, have an overlap of five stocks: Acutaas Chemicals, Anand Rathi Wealth, Sky Gold and Diamonds, Syrma SGS Technology and TD Power Systems.

Bank of India Small Cap Fund gained 27% in 2026, followed by Samco Small Cap Fund and TrustMF Small Cap Fund at 24%. The overlap, however, does not mean the funds have identical portfolios. Their exposure to these stocks varies, but the presence of the same five names points to a shared preference for industrial growth, capital markets, manufacturing and domestic investment themes.

Sky Gold and Diamonds is one of the largest holdings for Bank of India Small Cap Fund, at 3.01% of its portfolio. TrustMF Small Cap Fund has a 2.07% exposure to the stock, while Samco Small Cap Fund holds 0.85%.

Anand Rathi Wealth accounts for 3.23% of Samco Small Cap Fund’s portfolio, compared with 1.40% in Bank of India Small Cap Fund and 0.98% in TrustMF Small Cap Fund. Syrma SGS Technology is another significant position for Samco, with a 2.79% allocation.

TD Power Systems has a 1.72% weight in TrustMF Small Cap Fund, while Bank of India Small Cap Fund and Samco Small Cap Fund have allocations of 1.10% and 0.73%, respectively.

The common exposure across the five stocks is roughly 7% to 8% for each of the three funds. That makes the overlap meaningful, while still leaving room for differences in stock selection and portfolio construction.

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Long-term themes, not short-term bets

Trust Mutual Fund CIO Mihir Vora told ET Markets that the fund’s investment approach is built around long-term themes rather than short-term market movements.

“These are long-term themes, nothing short-term — things like CDMO, specialty pharma, diagnostics, and aerospace,” Vora said, adding that the biggest source of alpha for the fund has been the power sector and the broader power-capex opportunity.

“The biggest source of alpha for us has been the power sector — power capex — roughly 30-40% of our total alpha,” Vora said.

According to Vora, this includes domestic transmission and distribution, exports linked to global data-centre demand, the rollout of T&D infrastructure in India, power equipment and data centres, including backup generators.

The other themes that have worked for the fund include contract development and manufacturing organisations, auto ancillaries, electric vehicles, automobiles, new-age platform companies and capital markets.

“So, in order: industrials (including auto/auto ancillaries and gold-linked players), healthcare (mostly CDMO, some diagnostics and hospitals), and capital markets,” Vora said.

The five common holdings of the three funds cut across several of these investment preferences, including industrials, power-related businesses, gold-linked companies and capital markets.

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Axis Mutual Fund said its preferred themes include banks, consumer discretionary, manufacturing-linked businesses, domestic capex, power and transmission and distribution, industrials, defence and electronic manufacturing services.

“Our preferred themes continue to include banks, consumer discretionary, manufacturing linked businesses, domestic capex, power and transmission & distribution, industrials, defense and electronic manufacturing services (EMS),” the fund house said.

Axis Mutual Fund said it favours companies positioned to benefit from India’s ongoing investment cycle, manufacturing expansion and the formalisation of the economy, while remaining resilient to global macroeconomic and commodity-related volatility.

The fund house said it remains cautious on consumer staples, where margins are vulnerable to input-cost pressures or where the earnings outlook remains unclear.

(Data: Surbhi Khanna, ACE MF)