Risk-loving investors, who give precedence to capital appreciation along with dividend payouts, may consider small-cap blend mutual funds to derive healthy returns. These funds focus on realizing an appreciable amount of capital growth by investing in stocks that are projected to rise over the long term.
Meanwhile, small-cap funds are good choices for investors seeking diversification across different sectors and companies. Small-cap funds generally invest in companies having a market cap lower than $2 billion.
The companies, smaller in size, offer growth potential and their market capitalization may increase subsequently. Also, due to their less international exposure, small-cap funds offer higher protection than their large and mid-cap counterparts in any global downturn.
Below, we share with you three top-ranked, small-cap growth mutual funds, namely Fidelity Series Small Cap Opportunities Fund FSOPX, Federated Hermes Mdt Small Cap Core Fund QASCX and T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Stock OTCFX. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of small-cap blend funds.
Fidelity Series Small Cap Opportunities Fund invests most of its net assetsin common stocks of domestic and foreign small-cap companies with growth or value or both. FSOPX advisors generally invests in small market-cap companies.
Fidelity Series Small Cap Opportunities Fund has three-year annualized returns of 18.3%. As of the end of July 2025, FSOPX had 220 issues and invested 2% of its net assets in IES Holdings.
Federated Hermes Mdt Small Cap Core Fund invests most of its assets along with borrowing if any, in small-cap domestic equity securities listed in the Russell 2000 Index. QASCX advisors may also invests in non-limited issues.
Federated Hermes Mdt Small Cap Core Fund has three-year annualized returns of 18.2%. QASCX has an expense ratio of 1.13%
T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Stock fund invests most of its assets, along with borrowings, if any, in stocks of small-cap companies. OTCFX advisors consider small-cap companies as those with market capitalization within or below the current range of companies listed on either the Russell 2000 Index or the S&P SmallCap 600 Index.
T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Stock fund has three-year annualized returns of 13.4%. Alex Roik has been one of the fund managers of OTCFX since the end of July 2023.
To view the Zacks Rank and the past performance of all small-cap blend mutual funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of small-cap blend mutual funds.