If investors are looking at the Small Cap Blend fund category, TETON Westwood Small Cap Equity I (WWSIX) 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.
