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Is TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity I (WWSIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If investors are looking at the Small Cap Blend fund category, TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity I (WWSIX - Free Report) could be a potential option. WWSIX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes WWSIX as Small Cap Blend, which is an area packed with options. Usually targeting stocks with market caps of less than $2 billion, a Small Cap Blend mutual fund lets investors diversify their funds among other kinds of small-cap equities. This can help reduce risk found in companies that have a lower stock market valuation.
History of Fund/Manager
WWSIX is a part of the TETON family of funds, a company based out of Rye, NY. TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity I made its debut in October of 2008, and since then, WWSIX has accumulated about $141.56 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Joseph Gabelli who 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. WWSIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.6%, and is 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 21.31%, 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 19.32% compared to the category average of 12.86%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.81% compared to the category average of 14.49%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.96, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. WWSIX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.93, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 75.13% of its assets in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $4.53 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Industrial Cyclical
Other
This fund's turnover is about 24%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than its comparable peers.
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 0.95%. From a cost perspective, WWSIX is actually more expensive than its peers.
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, worse 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.
Want even more information about WWSIX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
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Is TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity I (WWSIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Small Cap Blend fund category, TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity I (WWSIX - Free Report) could be a potential option. WWSIX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes WWSIX as Small Cap Blend, which is an area packed with options. Usually targeting stocks with market caps of less than $2 billion, a Small Cap Blend mutual fund lets investors diversify their funds among other kinds of small-cap equities. This can help reduce risk found in companies that have a lower stock market valuation.
History of Fund/Manager
WWSIX is a part of the TETON family of funds, a company based out of Rye, NY. TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity I made its debut in October of 2008, and since then, WWSIX has accumulated about $141.56 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Joseph Gabelli who 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. WWSIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.6%, and is 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 21.31%, 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 19.32% compared to the category average of 12.86%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.81% compared to the category average of 14.49%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.96, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. WWSIX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.93, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 75.13% of its assets in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $4.53 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
This fund's turnover is about 24%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than its comparable peers.
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 0.95%. From a cost perspective, WWSIX is actually more expensive than its peers.
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, worse 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.
Want even more information about WWSIX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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.