SBI Funds Management's children's scheme hits 52-week high NAV in July: 5 things to know

1. What is SBI Children's Fund-Investment Plan?

SBI Children's Fund-Investment Plan is an open-ended scheme to generate long-term capital appreciation by investing predominantly in equity and equity-related securities of companies across sectors and market capitalisations. The scheme also invests in debt and money market instruments with an aim to generate income. With over 90% allocation towards equity, this scheme is typically an equity scheme that can be used by parents for long-term goals of their children like education or marriage.

Launched on September 29, 2020, the scheme is currently managed by R. Srinivasan and is benchmarked against the CRISIL Hybrid 35+65 - Aggressive Index.

As of June 30, 2026, the scheme's AUM was Rs 6,944.25 crore. There is no entry load, while the exit load is 3% if redeemed within one year, 2% between one and two years, 1% between two and three years, and nil after three years.

2. What does the scheme's portfolio look like?

As of the latest available data, the scheme's portfolio was tilted towards small-cap stocks at 52.96%, followed by 22.21% in others, 21.89% in large-cap stocks and 2.95% in mid-cap stocks. On the asset allocation side, equity made up 90.56% of the portfolio, debt accounted for 9.00%, and the remaining 0.43% was in other instruments.

The top 10 stocks in the scheme's portfolio were the following:

Sector-wise, the fund's top 10 holdings were led by FMCG (12.29%) and banks (12.25%), followed by capital goods (7.90%), diamond & jewellery (6.45%), consumer durables (4.88%), chemicals (4.54%), trading (4.37%), textile (4.04%), finance (3.32%) and hospitality (3.19%).

3. How has this scheme performed?

The direct plan of SBI Children's Fund-Investment Plan touched a 52-week high NAV of 53.59 on July 15, 2026, and a 52-week low NAV of 42.93 on March 30, 2026. As of July 20, 2026, the scheme's NAV stood at 53.56.

The scheme's returns relative to the benchmark, along with its category rank over different periods since inception till July 20, 2026, are as follows:

4. How has the scheme helped an investor with a ₹5,000 monthly SIP?

A monthly SIP of ₹5,000 in this scheme would have grown to ₹5,08,872 in five years and ₹2,39,984 in three years. The scheme does not yet have a 10-year track record, since it was launched in September 2020.

Here's how a monthly ₹5,000 SIP in SBI Children's Fund-Investment Plan grew over different periods:

5. What is the key risk investors should know?

Being a small-cap heavy fund, the scheme's returns may swing sharply over shorter periods, even though it has delivered strong returns since launch.

For instance, the scheme's worst one-month return was -9.74% (December 27, 2024, to January 28, 2025), and its worst three-month return was -13.23% (January 7, 2025, to April 7, 2025). On the other hand, its best one-year return was as high as 130.14% (October 16, 2020, to October 18, 2021), a period that also coincided with the sharp post-pandemic market recovery. Even in its worst one-year stretch (January 17, 2022, to January 17, 2023), the scheme still managed to stay marginally positive at 0.37% (see tables below).

Since this scheme is meant for long-term goals of children, and comes with an exit load structure that discourages early withdrawals, investors should be prepared to stay invested through such periods of volatility rather than react to short-term swings.

Lastly, it is important to consult a SEBI-registered financial advisor for guidance before investing in this or any other equity mutual fund scheme.