3 Small-Cap Blend Mutual Funds for Spectacular Returns

Investors with a high-risk appetite and an interest in growth and value investing may choose small-cap blend mutual funds to boost their portfolio. While blend funds, also known as "hybrid funds," aim for value appreciation by capital gains, small-cap funds have higher growth prospects than their large and medium counterparts. Blend funds provide significant exposure to both growth and value stocks, and owe their origin to a graphical representation of a fund's equity style box.

Funds investing the majority of their assets in securities of companies with a market capitalization below $2 billion are generally considered small-cap mutual funds. Although funds investing in small-cap stocks are believed to have more exposure to market volatility than large or medium ones, they are also expected to provide diversification across sectors and companies. Moreover, small-cap companies are believed to be less affected by a global downturn, thanks to less international exposure.

Below, we share with you three top-ranked small-cap blend mutual funds, namely Fidelity Series Small Cap Discovery Fund FJACX, Davenport Small Cap Focus Fund DSCPX and Vanguard Strategic Small-Cap Equity Fund Investor Shares VSTCX. 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.

Fidelity Series Small Cap Discovery Fund invests most of its net assets in small-cap companies with a market cap similar to the Russell 2000 Index or the S&P SmallCap 600 Index at the time of purchase. FJACX chooses to invest in growth or value stocks by using fundamental analysis of factors like financial condition, industry position, as well as market and economic conditions. The fund has returned 11.7% over the past three years.

As of April 2022, FJACX held 83 issues, with 3.5% of its assets invested in Insight Enterprises.

Davenport Small Cap Focus Fund invests most of its assets in common stocks of small-cap companies, which its advisor believes have the potential for significant capital appreciation. DSCPX also invests in shares of registered investment companies that invest primarily in stocks of small-cap companies. The fund has returned 12.6% over the past three years.

DSCPX has an expense ratio of 0.88% compared with the category average of 1.03%.

Vanguard Strategic Small-Cap Equity Fund Investor Shares invests in small-cap domestic equity securities based on their return potential. VSTCX selects securities that offer a balance between strong growth prospects and reasonable valuations relative to their industry peers by using a quantitative process to evaluate all of the securities in the MSCI US Small Cap 1750 Index. The fund has returned 12% over the past three years.

Cesar Orosco has been one of the fund managers of VSTCX since 2021.

To view the Zacks Rank and the past performance of all small-cap blend mutual funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of small-cap blend mutual funds.

Want key mutual fund info delivered straight to your inbox?

Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing mutual funds, each week. Get it free >>

Special Report: The Top 5 IPOs for Your Portfolio

Today, you have a chance to get in on the ground floor of one of the best investment opportunities of the year. As the world continues to benefit from an ever-evolving internet, a handful of innovative tech companies are on the brink of reaping immense rewards - and you can put yourself in a position to cash in. One is set to disrupt the online communication industry. Brilliantly designed for creating online communities, this stock is poised to explode when made public. With the strength of our economy and record amounts of cash flooding into IPOs, you don’t want to miss this opportunity.