Any investors who are searching for Index funds should take a look at Schwab Small-Cap Index (SWSSX Quick QuoteSWSSX - Free Report) . While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

Schwab Funds is responsible for SWSSX, and the company is based out of San Francisco, CA. The Schwab Small-Cap Index made its debut in May of 1997 and SWSSX has managed to accumulate roughly $5.86 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. SWSSX has a 5-year annualized total return of 13.34% and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.59%, which places it in the middle 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. Over the past three years, SWSSX's standard deviation comes in at 23.48%, compared to the category average of 21.48%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 22.52% compared to the category average of 23.94%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.11, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. With a negative alpha of -5.22, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

This fund is currently holding about 86.77% in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $3.50 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

• Finance
• Industrial Cyclical
• Health
• Technology

With turnover at about 15%, this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, SWSSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.04% compared to the category average of 1.01%. SWSSX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Index, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.