Value funds invest in securities that are deemed to be undervalued on the basis of fundamental characteristics. There could be many types of value funds, including small-value funds. Such funds focus on small companies with valuations and growth rates less than other small-cap companies. Let’s take a look at the ten best performing small value funds.
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Ten Best Performing Small Value Funds
We have used the one-year return data of the small value funds (from money.usnews.com) to come up with the ten best performing small value funds. Following are the ten best performing small value funds:
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Undiscovered Managers Behavioral Val Fd (UBVAX, 21%)
Undiscovered Managers Behavioral Value Fund (MUTF:UBVAX) invests in common stocks of U.S. companies that the fund manager believes to have value characteristics. The fund has returned almost 10% in the last three months and over 14% in the last three years. UBVAX has more than $8 billion in total assets. The top five holdings of the fund are: JPMorgan Prime Money Market IM, Devon Energy, Graphic Packaging Holding, F N B Corp and First Horizon.
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James Small Cap Fund (JASCX, 21%)
James Small Cap Fund (MUTF:JASCX) primarily invests in equity securities (foreign and domestic) that the fund manager believes to be undervalued. The fund has returned over 1% in the last three months and almost 11% in the last three years. JASCX has more than $37 million in total assets. The top five holdings of the fund are: Piper Sandler, First American Treasury Obligs X, Boise Cascade, Encore Wire and Evercore Class A.
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Hotchkis & Wiley Small Cap Value Fund (HWSAX, 22%)
Hotchkis & Wiley Small Cap Value Fund (MUTF:HWSAX) invests in equity securities of small cap companies and uses the Russell 2000® Index to determine the small cap companies. The fund has returned almost 9% in the last three months and almost 13% in the last three years. HWSAX has more than $590 million in total assets. The top five holdings of the fund are: Range Resources, Popular, Stagwell Class A, Fluor and The ODP.
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Bridgeway Omni Tax-Managed Sm-Cp Val Fd (BOTSX, 23%)
Bridgeway Omni Tax-Managed Small-Cap Value Fund (MUTF:BOTSX) primarily invests in diverse small-cap stocks that the fund manager believes to be value stocks. It may also invest in foreign securities. The fund has returned almost 5% in the last three months and over 13% in the last three years. BOTSX has more than $900 million in total assets. The top five holdings of the fund are: Antero Resources, Dillard’s Inc Class A, Signet Jewelers, Herc Holdings and Century Communities.
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Bridgeway Small Cap Value Fund (BRSVX, 23%)
Bridgeway Small Cap Value Fund (MUTF:BRSVX) uses a statistical approach to select stocks within the small-cap value category. The fund has returned almost 1% in the last three months and over 22% in the last three years. BRSVX has more than $500 million in total assets. The top five holdings of the fund are: Hovnanian Enterprises, Veritiv, Clearwater Paper, Rite Aid and WideOpenWest.
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WPG Partners Small/Micro Cap Value Fund (WPGTX, 23%)
WPG Partners Small/Micro Cap Value Fund (MUTF:WPGTX) invests mainly in common stocks, as well as in securities convertible into common stocks, and uses the Russell 2000® Value Index to determine small cap stocks. The fund has returned over 10% in the last three months and over 14% in the last three years. WPGTX has more than $29 million in total assets. The top five holdings of the fund are: The Mosaic, Tronox Holdings PLC Shs Class A, Univar Solutions, Axis Capital Holdings and Popular.
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Bridgeway Omni Small-Cap Value Fund (BOSVX, 24%)
Bridgeway Omni Small-Cap Value Fund (MUTF:BOSVX) invests in a diverse group of small-cap stocks that the fund manager determines to be value stocks. The fund has returned over 5% in the last three months and over 14% in the last three years. BOSVX has more than $1.20 billion in total assets. The top five holdings of the fund are: Antero Resources, Dillard’s (Class A), United Natural Foods, Signet Jewelers and Herc Holdings.
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Invesco Small Cap Value Fund (VSCAX, 26%)
Invesco Small Cap Value Fund (MUTF:VSCAX) invests in the securities of small capitalization companies, as well as in derivatives and other instruments with similar economic characteristics. The fund has returned over 12% in the last three months and almost 20% in the last three years. VSCAX has more than $1.90 billion in total assets. The top five holdings of the fund are: Sterling Bancorp, American Equity Investment Life Holding, Huntington Bancshares, ManpowerGroup and US Foods Holding.
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Auer Growth Fund (AUERX, 31%)
Auer Growth Fund (MUTF:AUERX) invests in a diversified portfolio of common stocks of companies that report substantial sales and earnings growth. The fund has returned over 12% in the last three months and almost 17% in the last three years. AUERX has more than $26 million in total assets. The top five holdings of the fund are: VAALCO Energy, Diamondback Energy, Encore Wire, AdvanSix and USA Truck.
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Aegis Value Fund (AVALX, 34%)
Aegis Value Fund (MUTF:AVALX) invests in small cap companies. The fund has returned almost 15% in the last three months and almost 24% in the last three years. AVALX has more than $230 million in total assets. The top five holdings of the fund are: Amerigo Resources, Interfor, Kenmare Resources, MEG Energy and Resolute Forest Products.