Is TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity A (WWSAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

If investors are looking at the Small Cap Blend fund category, TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity A (WWSAX) could be a potential option. WWSAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.ObjectiveWWSAX is one of many Small Cap Blend funds to choose from. Small Cap Blend mutual funds allow investors a way to diversify their funds among various types of small-cap stocks. These funds seek companies with market capitalization of less than $2 billion, and aid in reducing volatility inherent in lower market cap stocks.History of Fund/ManagerTETON is based in Rye, NY, and is the manager of WWSAX. TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity A made its debut in November of 2006, and since then, WWSAX has accumulated about $7.91 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Joseph Gabelli, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2025.PerformanceObviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. WWSAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 9.81%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 18.29%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. WWSAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.65% compared to the category average of 12.31%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.98% compared to the category average of 14.04%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.Risk FactorsInvestors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. WWSAX has a 5-year beta of 0.95, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. WWSAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.99, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.ExpensesCosts are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, WWSAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.25% compared to the category average of 0.94%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, WWSAX is actually more expensive than its peers.Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.Bottom LineOverall, even with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity A ( WWSAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.For additional information on the Small Cap Blend area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into WWSAX too for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. Little-known AI firms tackling the world's biggest problems may be more lucrative in the coming months and years.SeeThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks