Any investors hoping to find a Small Cap Blend fund could think about starting with TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity A (WWSAX). WWSAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify WWSAX in the Small Cap Blend category, an area rife with potential choices. Small Cap Blend mutual funds usually target companies with a market capitalization of less than $2 billion. A small-cap blend mutual fund allows investors to diversify their funds among various types of small-cap stocks, which can help reduce the volatility inherent in lower market cap companies.
History of Fund/Manager
TETON is based in Rye, NY, and is the manager of WWSAX. The TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity A made its debut in November of 2006 and WWSAX has managed to accumulate roughly $10.05 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Joseph Gabelli is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since May of 2025.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12.32%, and it sits 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 21.01%, 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. Over the past three years, WWSAX’s standard deviation comes in at 19.32%, compared to the category average of 12.86%. The standard deviation of the fund 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 not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund’s risk compared to the market as a whole. WWSAX has a 5-year beta of 0.96, which means it 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. WWSAX’s 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.68, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.