There are plenty of choices in the Small Cap Growth category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Hartford Small Company HLS IB (HDMBX Quick QuoteHDMBX - Free Report) . HDMBX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

HDMBX is one of many different Small Cap Growth funds to choose from. Small Cap Growth mutual funds build portfolios around stocks with markets caps under $2 billion and large growth opportunities. Additionally, these portfolios typically highlight smaller companies in promising markets and industries.

History of Fund/Manager

HDMBX is a part of the Hartford family of funds, a company based out of Woodbury, MN. The Hartford Small Company HLS IB made its debut in October of 2002 and HDMBX has managed to accumulate roughly $53.17 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Steven C. Angeli who has been in charge of the fund since October of 2002.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. HDMBX has a 5-year annualized total return of 7.81% and it sits in the middle 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 18.35%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

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, HDMBX's standard deviation comes in at 17.4%, compared to the category average of 12.39%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 17.76% compared to the category average of 12.84%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In HDMBX's case, the fund lost 52.83% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 0.21%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. HDMBX has a 5-year beta of 1.34, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. With a negative alpha of -5.2, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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.

The mutual fund currently has 94.32% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $3.75 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

1. Technology
2. Health
3. Other
4. Services

Expenses

Costs 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, HDMBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.03% compared to the category average of 1.22%. From a cost perspective, HDMBX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Hartford Small Company HLS IB ( HDMBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.

Your research on the Small Cap Growth segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.