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Interesting. Wish I had found it 15 years ago! Quite an amazing 15-year return. Price tag a bit high, 1.41%, to want to take a stab at it for an unknown future; can't believe that Mario Gabelli is doing much work with this fund but his co-managers look interesting. With a portfolio of 475 microcap stocks, I'd be more interested in finding a low cost microcap index. The most attractive microcap fund I've run across is the DFA US Micro Cap I (DFSCX). Too bad DFA only allows access to their funds if you go through a Registered Investment Adviser which I have no interest in doing.
This has been my main US "small cap" fund for many years....exactly how many is clouded by trimmings that have occurred during annual portfolio rebalancings and by a change in share class I made along the way. Fidelity currently offers it NTF under WEMMX. The fund held up well during the downturn of 2007 to 2009. It declined "only" 37% from 07/01/07 to 02/28/99 vs. 54% for the M* small cap index and 49% for the SP500. Since 2/28/09 it has slightly lagged that small cap index but has keep pace with the SP500. The fund tends to go to cash when the market looks rich. Cash was at 25%+ on 12/31/13 per M*. For me, the "high" fee is offset by the funds positive attributes. Its a good "sleep well" small cap fund.
I didn't mean to imply it goes towards all cash. As I recall it has been at 30% or so cash at times. It is presently towards the high end of the cash range I recall noticing.
I own ICMAX and over the life of this fund, I think the returns are pretty close with much lower volatility for ICMAX. Of course, the fund lags in a high-flying market.
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What % cash do they tend to go to when the market looks rich?