Having trouble finding a Small Cap Blend fund? TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity I (WWSIX Quick QuoteWWSIX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. WWSIX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

WWSIX 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/Manager

WWSIX finds itself in the TETON family, based out of Rye, NY. The TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity I made its debut in October of 2008 and WWSIX has managed to accumulate roughly $64.46 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Joseph Gabelli, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2025.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 10.09%, and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 18.58%, 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. WWSIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.65% compared to the category average of 12.31%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund 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 Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.95, the fund is likely to be less 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -0.74, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, WWSIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.00% compared to the category average of 0.94%. WWSIX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $500,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity I ( WWSIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.

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