If you're evaluating mutual funds for your investment portfolio or retirement account, this list highlights the best small-cap funds to consider now, based on each fund outperforming the S&P 500 over the last one-, three-, five- and 10-year periods. Shaded cells indicate the best-of-the-best funds based on 10-year performance. Of 330 small-cap funds at least 10 years old, 68 of them, or 21%, won awards.
All returns as of Dec. 31, 2020.
View Full Special Report: Best Mutual Funds Awards
View All Award-Winning Funds In Each Category
Best Small-Cap Funds
| Mutual fund | Symbol | 1-year total return (%) | 3-year average annual return (%) | 5-year average annual return (%) | 10-year average annual return (%) | Morningstar category | Closed to new inv |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benchmark: S&P 500 | 18.40 | 14.18 | 15.22 | 13.88 | |||
| Virtus KAR Small-Cap Growth I | PXSGX | 43.28 | 29.91 | 30.13 | 22.11 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Lord Abbett Micro Cap Growth I | LMIYX | 79.62 | 35.46 | 28.55 | 20.20 | Small Growth | No |
| Morgan Stanley Inst Inception I | MSSGX | 150.57 | 51.04 | 33.14 | 19.42 | Small Growth | No |
| Wasatch Ultra Growth | WAMCX | 71.38 | 37.79 | 30.04 | 19.03 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Artisan Small Cap Investor | ARTSX | 61.00 | 32.14 | 25.29 | 18.66 | Small Growth | No |
| Wasatch Micro Cap | WMICX | 64.71 | 33.94 | 28.65 | 18.12 | Small Growth | No |
| Brown Capital Mgmt Small Co Inv | BCSIX | 45.26 | 23.08 | 21.09 | 17.62 | Small Growth | Yes |
| BNY Mellon Small Cap Gr I | SSETX | 71.25 | 30.85 | 25.81 | 17.55 | Small Growth | No |
| VALIC Company II Small Cap Growth | VASMX | 59.82 | 28.02 | 26.20 | 17.53 | Small Growth | No |
| Columbia Small Cap Growth I Inst | CMSCX | 70.18 | 32.94 | 27.81 | 17.49 | Small Growth | No |
| AB Small Cap Growth A | QUASX | 53.59 | 27.37 | 24.24 | 17.45 | Small Growth | No |
| JPMorgan Small Cap Growth A | PGSGX | 59.21 | 27.60 | 25.88 | 17.32 | Small Growth | No |
| Buffalo Early Stage Growth Fd | BUFOX | 47.69 | 23.88 | 21.84 | 17.22 | Small Growth | No |
| Lord Abbett Developing Growth A | LAGWX | 72.57 | 33.74 | 24.77 | 17.11 | Small Growth | No |
| Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A | FKASX | 43.41 | 27.10 | 24.53 | 17.11 | Small Growth | No |
| Alger Small Cap Focus I | AOFIX | 53.29 | 29.51 | 24.84 | 16.77 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Hood River Small-Cap Growth Instl | HRSMX | 60.68 | 22.94 | 20.55 | 16.68 | Small Growth | No |
| Invesco Discovery A | OPOCX | 50.06 | 25.53 | 21.63 | 16.50 | Small Growth | Yes |
| UBS US Small Cap Growth P | BISCX | 60.51 | 25.84 | 20.49 | 16.40 | Small Growth | No |
| Victory RS Small Cap Equity A | GPSCX | 37.99 | 20.52 | 19.50 | 16.27 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Wasatch Small Cap Growth Investor | WAAEX | 54.48 | 30.86 | 23.38 | 16.16 | Small Growth | No |
| Fidelity Small Cap Growth | FCPGX | 36.41 | 21.06 | 20.50 | 16.05 | Small Growth | No |
| Buffalo Small Cap | BUFSX | 66.36 | 30.25 | 24.43 | 15.94 | Small Growth | No |
| Victory RS Small Cap Growth A | RSEGX | 37.84 | 20.06 | 19.03 | 15.90 | Small Growth | No |
| Wells Fargo Emerging Growth Admin | WFGDX | 58.35 | 26.00 | 22.00 | 15.87 | Small Growth | No |
| Wasatch Core Growth | WGROX | 36.56 | 20.61 | 19.24 | 15.80 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Neuberger Berman Small Cap Growth Inv | NBMIX | 42.81 | 26.57 | 22.49 | 15.64 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Lisanti Small Cap Growth | ASCGX | 52.85 | 23.50 | 20.90 | 15.61 | Small Growth | No |
| Invesco Small Cap Growth A | GTSAX | 57.00 | 21.09 | 19.81 | 15.61 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Dunham Small Cap Growth N | DNDGX | 68.51 | 26.57 | 22.86 | 15.61 | Small Growth | No |
| Alger Small Cap Growth I-2 | AASOX | 67.15 | 29.92 | 24.57 | 15.59 | Small Growth | No |
| Wells Fargo Fundamental Sm Cap Gr Gr A | EGWAX | 65.63 | 29.81 | 23.52 | 15.55 | Small Growth | No |
| VALIC Company I Small Cap Agrsv Gr | VSAGX | 37.77 | 20.51 | 19.69 | 15.54 | Small Growth | No |
| American Century Small Cap Growth Inv | ANOIX | 50.88 | 25.20 | 22.29 | 15.53 | Small Growth | No |
| ClearBridge Small Cap Growth A | SASMX | 43.45 | 23.23 | 19.85 | 15.47 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Principal SmallCap Growth I Instl | PGRTX | 42.06 | 21.53 | 19.89 | 15.42 | Small Growth | No |
| Hartford Small Company HLS IA | HIASX | 55.52 | 26.83 | 21.35 | 15.35 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Alger Small Cap Growth Institutional I | ALSRX | 64.87 | 28.87 | 24.11 | 15.32 | Small Growth | No |
| Putnam Small Cap Growth A | PNSAX | 47.65 | 25.58 | 20.89 | 15.29 | Small Growth | No |
| Conestoga Small Cap Investors | CCASX | 30.34 | 17.97 | 19.19 | 15.26 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Emerald Growth A | HSPGX | 38.42 | 16.11 | 17.18 | 15.21 | Small Growth | No |
| Hartford Small Company Y | HSCYX | 54.39 | 26.63 | 21.16 | 15.15 | Small Growth | No |
| Franklin Small Cap Growth Adv | FSSAX | 41.50 | 22.52 | 19.37 | 15.14 | Small Growth | No |
| Nationwide Geneva Small Cap Gr Instl Svc | NWKDX | 32.69 | 19.05 | 17.96 | 15.05 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Janus Henderson Venture D | JANVX | 31.65 | 17.16 | 16.46 | 14.83 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Janus Henderson Triton D | JANIX | 28.47 | 16.09 | 17.04 | 14.82 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Wasatch Micro Cap Value | WAMVX | 40.84 | 18.66 | 18.88 | 14.75 | Small Growth | No |
| MassMutual Select Small Cap Gr Eq R5 | MSGSX | 40.46 | 21.96 | 19.54 | 14.73 | Small Growth | No |
| Needham Small Cap Growth Retail | NESGX | 71.35 | 35.92 | 29.82 | 14.70 | Small Growth | No |
| Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl | LSSIX | 34.11 | 19.45 | 17.98 | 14.66 | Small Growth | No |
| William Blair Small Cap Growth I | WBSIX | 38.68 | 18.57 | 20.34 | 14.63 | Small Growth | No |
| Hartford Small Cap Growth HLS IA | HISCX | 33.20 | 16.90 | 16.60 | 14.62 | Small Growth | Yes |
| MFS New Discovery I | MNDIX | 45.03 | 26.37 | 22.66 | 14.52 | Small Growth | No |
| T. Rowe Price Instl Small-Cap Stock | TRSSX | 25.00 | 17.52 | 17.40 | 14.44 | Small Growth | Yes |
| Hartford Small Cap Growth Y | HSLYX | 32.32 | 16.51 | 16.33 | 14.42 | Small Growth | No |
| T. Rowe Price QM US Small-Cap Gr Eq | PRDSX | 23.84 | 15.26 | 15.79 | 14.40 | Small Growth | Yes |
| TCM Small Cap Growth | TCMSX | 27.92 | 17.13 | 18.38 | 14.36 | Small Growth | No |
| Carillon Scout Small Cap I | UMBHX | 35.69 | 15.89 | 18.22 | 14.32 | Small Growth | No |
| Jacob Discovery Fd Instl | JMIGX | 74.35 | 40.16 | 26.04 | 14.31 | Small Growth | No |
| Harbor Small Cap Growth Instl | HASGX | 38.39 | 20.70 | 18.40 | 14.30 | Small Growth | No |
| AMG Managers Special Equity N | MGSEX | 38.74 | 18.84 | 17.95 | 14.29 | Small Growth | No |
| Optimum Small-Mid Cap Growth Instl | OISGX | 57.33 | 24.11 | 20.20 | 14.25 | Small Growth | No |
| Baron Small Cap Retail | BSCFX | 40.33 | 20.46 | 19.56 | 14.18 | Small Growth | No |
| Value Line Small Cap Opportunities Inv | VLEOX | 26.60 | 14.71 | 15.22 | 14.18 | Small Growth | No |
| Vanguard Explorer Inv | VEXPX | 31.33 | 18.90 | 18.34 | 14.15 | Small Growth | No |
| T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Stock | OTCFX | 25.05 | 17.37 | 17.19 | 14.01 | Small Growth | Yes |
| AMG TimesSquare Small Cap Growth Z | TSCIX | 35.34 | 18.45 | 16.90 | 13.93 | Small Growth | No |
| JPMorgan Small Cap Blend A | VSCOX | 24.72 | 16.07 | 18.99 | 13.90 | Small Growth | No |
