Investors interested in comparatively less risky returns through exposure to both growth and value securities may opt for mid-cap blend mutual funds. While mid-cap funds are expected to offer the best of both large- and small-cap ones, blend funds, also known as "hybrid funds," aim for value appreciation by capital gains. Companies with market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion are generally considered mid-cap firms.
Moreover, mid-cap funds are believed to provide higher returns than their large-cap counterparts while witnessing a lower level of volatility than the small-cap ones. Meanwhile, blend funds offer significant exposure to both growth and value stocks. These funds owe their origin to a graphical representation of a fund's equity-style box.
Below, we share with you three top-ranked mid-cap blend mutual funds, namely JPMorgan SMID Cap Equity Fund PECAX, FMI Common Stock Investor FMIMX and DFA U.S. Vector Equity DFVEX. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of funds.
JPMorgan SMID Cap Equity Fund primarily invests in stocks of smaller and mid-sized companies, focusing most of its resources on equity securities with market values comparable to those in the Russell 2500 Index, including assets gained through investment-related borrowing. The fund has returned 9.3% over the past three years.
As of June 2025, PECAX held 104 issues, with 2% of its assets invested in MSA Safety.
FMI Common Stock Investor primarily invests in small to medium-sized companies listed on major exchanges, allocating most assets to common stocks, including U.S.-traded shares of foreign firms through American Depositary Receipts or American Depositary Shares. The fund has returned 17.2% over the past three years.
FMIMX has an expense ratio of 0.95%.
DFA U.S. Vector Equity primarily invests in a diversified range of U.S. operating companies, emphasizing smaller, lower-priced and more profitable firms within a market-cap-weighted universe of U.S.-listed companies. The fund has returned 18.4% over the past three years.
John A. Hertzer has been one of the fund managers of DFVEX since February 2022.
To view the Zacks Rank and the past performance of all mid-cap blend mutual funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of mid-cap blend mutual funds.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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