Have you been searching for a Small Cap Blend fund? You might want to begin with Schwab Small-Cap Index (SWSSX). The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
SWSSX is one of many Small Cap Blend funds to choose from. Small Cap Blend mutual funds allow investors a way to diversify their funds among various types of small-cap stocks. These funds seek companies with market capitalization of less than $2 billion, and aid in reducing volatility inherent in lower market cap stocks.
Schwab Funds is responsible for SWSSX, and the company is based out of San Francisco, CA. The Schwab Small-Cap Index made its debut in May of 1997 and SWSSX has managed to accumulate roughly $6.43 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.82%, and is in the bottom 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 13.12%, 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. The standard deviation of SWSSX over the past three years is 19.38% compared to the category average of 18%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund’s standard deviation is 19.91% compared to the category average of 18.67%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a 5-year beta of 1.09, the fund 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -7.46. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
