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Hi guys! I'm looking for micro funds. Does anybody have any or do you know where I can find a list of them? I want to put it on a buy list (when the interest rates go up). I've found these so far: PREOX, WAMVX, RYDFX, and RMCFX. Thanks. Pudd p.s. Have also picked out a railroad line (Norfolk Southern) on a pull back.
Driehaus has a micro-cap growth fund DMCRX Oberweis has one also OBMCX
According to M*'s fund screener I found 31 funds with 'micro' in the name that are open to new investment. Most of them I don't recognize the name of the fund company but if you'd like a list I'll make one for you.
I wonder why the interest in micro-caps when rates rise? I would have thought low rates are great for micro-caps and rates moving higher would hurt those stocks more than most others. Is it a contrarian play or am I missing something?
Hey, Pudd. I hope it's just some spare funny money you want to play with. I mean, a small bet. A quick look at the Royce fund doesn't impress me RYDFX. My small-cap fund MSCFX includes a goodly bite of micros: it's one-third of the fund's portfolio. Railroads? Yes. I'm liking Canadian banks, for the long haul. Wish I had a slug of money in them already: BNS, BMO, RY, TD, CM. They are profitable and highly regulated. No "London Whale" stuff. In the States, JP Morgan is a criminal enterprise. Fines, penalties, settlements with the SEC, etc. Of course, uncle Jamie is not alone in that regard.
Hi LLJB! A list if you could ..... I don't have M -- thought about it, but read too many stories about them. As to why the interest rate reaction will be overdone, common knowledge as they backed up this week. All I hear is bigger is better....have enough big. Went into mid caps in the beginning of the year. Now, I want to go smaller 1-8 hundred mill...small stuff...good home grown companies. As QE kicks in and interest rates rise, maybe there'll be some bargains to be had. All the small companies in my area are doing great. I don't think interest rates will hurt them, but, again, only to form a buy list for now. At one time, they were the rage, but now hopefully forgotten. God bless. the Pudd p.s. Yeah! Even Duke doesn't like the idea, but I gave him what fer. LOL
FAMFX is micro in market cap and quite small in size. Only a couple of years old and only holds a small number of stocks (23 last time I checked). Not too expensive, either, for a microcap fund.
Thomson Horstmann & Bryant, Inc. Microcap Fund (THBVX/THBIX), Bridgeway UltraSmall Company Market Fund (BRISX), Pinnacle Value Fund (PVFIX), Satuit US Emerging Companies Fund (SATMX).
Also, here is a 2013 link regarding the same question:
Lord Abbett has two funds, LMIYX and LMVYX, that seem to be institutional in nature but I never trust M*'s purchase information so I'm listing them just in case
Allianz has GMACX that carries a load but maybe there are places you can get it with the load waived
AMG Managers Essex fund, MBRSX, seems to be more widely available and without a load.
DFA has a fund, DFSCX, but I think DFA funds are only available through advisors. M* says its available at Scottrade with a transaction fee but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me considering what I've read about DFA.
RBC offers TMVAX with a load, and the institutional class without a load, but its offered broadly so maybe someone waives the load.
Perritt offers a couple of funds that are on Ted's list, PRCGX (bronze fund at M*) and PREOX
Rice Hall James, who I've never heard of, has RHJSX which seems to be broadly available.
Jacob has a tiny fund, JMCGX, that again I've never heard of but with an expense ratio over 2% and only $13 MM in assets I imagine a guy sitting in his basement managing money for his brother-in-law
Victory Integrity has a fund, MMEAX, that normally carries a load but might be load-waived at Schwab. Alternative class MMECX seems to be more broadly available with a deferred load but a much higher expense ratio
Robeco offers WPG Small/Microcap Value, WPGTX, which seems to be only an institutional class but available at the major fund supermarkets so maybe someone drops the minimum initial investments
Those, along with the Royce and Wasatch funds you mentioned and the Oberweis fund I mentioned, have all been around at least 10 years. It seems Wasatch has a second micro-cap fund, WMICX, that has also been around for 10 years and Royce has an international micro-cap fund, ROIMX that has less than 5 years of history.
Acuitas has a fund, AFMCX, that seems to be offered at Fidelity but there's only an institutional class with $100K minimum, unless someone waives that. History? Less than one year.
AlphaOne has a fund, AOMAX, that's supposedly available at Fidelity and has been around more than 3 years
Ancora has a fund, ANCCX, that is theoretically available to Fidelity retail customers. This is the institutional class, but according to M* it has the same minimum $5K investment, its available the same places, but it has a much lower expense ratio and no 12b-1 fee. It has more than 5 years of history.
BMO has a fund, BMMYX that seems to be available at Fidelity NTF but only $4MM in assets and between 1 and 3 years old
Foundry's FMCIX seems only to be a TD Ameritrade Trust fund so not sure you'll find it anywhere
Ivy has a fund, IGWAX, that seems to have a lot of share classes, but they look like other funds I've research more where those other classes are historical in nature and only available to investors who hold those classes. The symbol I included refers to the share that carries a load which may be waived at a few places like Schwab and/or JP Morgan. History is more than 5 years but less than 10
James has a fund, JMCRX, with 3 years of history but not 5. It seems to be available on most of the fund supermarkets but not without a transaction fee if I'm reading things right (and if M* has their information right)
Morgan Dempsey, another name I've never heard before, has MITYX which seems to be available at a handful of places and for a tiny little fund actually has a reasonable expense ratio
North Star has NSMVX, which has been around for a couple years but M* doesn't even list an expense ratio. Not sure what's going on there
Paradigm has a fund, PVIVX, that seems to be available on most fund supermarkets and has more than 5 years of history
Thomson Horstmann & Bryant, which sounds more like a law firm than a money manager, has THBVX which has somewhere between 1 and 3 years of history
Finally, Westcore has WTMIX which has been around for more than 5 years.
The Driehaus fund I mentioned has only been around a few years. Some of the funds mentioned above, and probably others, didn't come up on my list because they don't have 'micro' in the name. The Franklin funds on Ted's linked list also didn't come up, but maybe they're close because I screened for funds that are open. In theory Grandeur Peak will eventually offer a global micro cap fund and it seems like the consensus has it being later this year but who knows.
Good hunting! Maybe if you tell Duke you're going hunting for a good micro-cap fund he'll be more excited
OMG! Are you guys serious? Now, I know how Santa feels with his lists. Man, this is going to take a while....the plan: 1 case cold 16lb-ers and a plate of nachos. I sure am glad football's over (Monday night games). Who knew there were so many? Thanks, guys for all the help. God bless! the Pudd p.s. If you don't hear from me for awhile, you know why.
Since I like the combination of humor and insight in your posts so much, here's where I would start if I was undertaking the effort:
I screened for open equity funds with average market cap less than $500MM this time and Perritt Microcap Opportunities, PRCGX and Bridgeway Ultra Small Companies Market, which is still open, are the two positively rated funds by M*. They are bronze funds.
When I look at category ranks, and they would be ranked against small cap growth, blend or value funds, there's a lot of consistently low ranks. RBC Microcap Value, TMVAX, seems to be the most consistently well ranked of the crowd. The Ancora fund, ANCCX, also does pretty well. Over 10 years, there are only 3 funds ranked in the top 50%, Teton, Wasatch Microcap Value and the Satuit fund. Over 5 years, its a little better, there are 5 better than average, including the RBC and Ancora funds. Over 3 years there are 10 in the top half with 3 of those by the skin of their teeth. The RBC and Ancora funds are again in the mix.
My impression is that these funds are pretty volatile and not very often better than small cap funds with higher average market caps. If you think about small cap funds generally you would expect 1 out of every 5 to be in the top 20%. In the case of these funds, its running more like 1 out of 5 or 1 out of 10 being in the top 50%. I would prefer to see better performance for the extra risk.
Puddn --- WEMMX has markedly better performance both longterm and downside (08-09) than most of these, but (= because, one supposes) its avg company size is $480M, not smaller. Do you have a range in mind about market cap?
Thank you for your exhaustive efforts with this subject. You are an additional example of the many here who continue to make this site so worthy of reading and contemplation.
The personal avatar's here: Visual images can have a strong impact upon folks, especially with repeated viewing. You do need to know, that if we were ever to meet, I would expect to find you in the image, mannerism and voice of "Curly". I grew up with a fondness for The Stooges; and they remain imbedded in my brain cells.
Hi guys! You're making me blush! Jeez! If you lay it on any thicker, I won't be able to get through the doorway. LOL. Thanks for all the help, especially LLJB for your time and interest in this. I'm still working on the fund list. I, like you guys, grew up with the Boys. It was a time when comedy was funny with no bad words or sex or violence. Yes, but no one died. It was a space in time when we led the world and the world wanted it that way. It was a time that came this way once and will never be seen again. God bless! the Pudd p.s. Please don't tell Duke about this. You know how the li'l Putin gets when he feels left out.
HDSVX, Hodges Small Intrinsic Value, has about 57% in microcaps. The average market cap of the fund's holdings is around 849 million. Seems to be same management team as the successful HDPSX, but with way fewer AUM.
@BenWP: HDSVX looks very interesting. New funds run by successful managers tend to do outperform their older brothers, I believe. Have you done any research on it?
I have held HDPSX for a while, but I am concerned about its asset bloat (approaching 2 bil). Other than what's on M* and the Hodges website, I don't know much about the new fund. It did very well last year. I agree with you about new funds from successful managers. I own some AKREX and quite a lot of Walthausen's two funds. I got burned in Bridgeway's microcap fund a few years ago; it got rolled into BRUSX, I think. However, I am a believer in small value in small packages, so I'm likely to move some dough over to HDSVX.
@BenWP Thanks. I hold BRUSX too. Bridgeway had a couple of miserable years, but they've come back recently. In general I like the way Bridgeway runs things and intend to stick around.
@BenWP- be aware that Don Hodges founder of the firm and co-managed each fund has recently passed away. His son has been co-manager all along, and I hold HDPSX too, and I have a wait and see attitude as to the impact of this. Craig Hodges has been the face you see on tv, and in the press, so his father may have been more of a figurehead lately, not sure. I am surprised the website still shows his father as head of the firm, co-manager of funds with no mention of his passing.
Good point about Don Hodges dying. Craig and two other Texans joined the HDPSX team in 2007. It's hard to know how much Hodges père was contributing in his later years or how much his absence will affect the funds.
Hi guys! I have a list. The criteria are: must play on Fidelity platform, NOT be closed, and reasonable E.R. Also, must be buying companies of less than $1 billion net worth. I have FSCRX. They do $2.4 billion, so I want smaller ones. WEMMX - I always liked Mario. He's a good stock picker. I think someone else on here said that also. His companies are $500 million on average.....it shows. He holds lots of cash (25%)....these are old numbers though. I'll give Mario one thing---he likes to hold a lot of companies. BMMYX - very small size-wise, and the managers can't find much of a track record. And for being so small, they seem to have a lot of holdings, a lot of healthcare....with bio in there. It worries me some. Any comments on this fund would be appreciated. WTMIX - small fund size....lots of holdings....financial and healthcare are the two biggest parts. I'm not a big fan of Westcore for the most part. This fund holds really small stuff. After looking it over, I must say I like this fund. Any comments would be appreciated. The managers haven't done much more than than this fund. FAMFX - $65 million, only 29 holdings. I like that. I want your best ideas. With so little money to use, it's like, "Show me what you got!" I really, really like this fund. What say you? Next to MAMO, I like this. I know it's new. Please let me know if I missed any...... God bless! the Pudd
Glad you find WEMMX appealing. For larger smalls, GABSX is good. But I think you have too many and are approaching an indexlike soup. I am sure you know how that works. I could (and would) live with two only, in my case WEMMX and FSCRX.
Hi davidrmoran! Yes, on the soup thing....this is an area I've never been in before....like emerging markets and frontier markets.....so a name I know is good. I owned Mario before. GABAX, GABEX some time back. I am very, very bullish on this country. The American can do spirit still lives in smaller companies. And I do believe this market has years to go. God bless! the Pudd
Comments
Oberweis has one also OBMCX
According to M*'s fund screener I found 31 funds with 'micro' in the name that are open to new investment. Most of them I don't recognize the name of the fund company but if you'd like a list I'll make one for you.
I wonder why the interest in micro-caps when rates rise? I would have thought low rates are great for micro-caps and rates moving higher would hurt those stocks more than most others. Is it a contrarian play or am I missing something?
Regards,
Ted
M* Microcap Funds:
http://www.morningstar.com/invest/categories/microcap-funds
Going Micro ? Skip The ETF's:
http://online.barrons.com/articles/SB50001424052748704836204578360490916076164#printMode
The Linkster Favorite: LMIYX:
http://performance.morningstar.com/fund/performance-return.action?t=LMIYX®ion=usa&culture=en-US
A list if you could ..... I don't have M -- thought about it, but read too many stories about them. As to why the interest rate reaction will be overdone, common knowledge as they backed up this week. All I hear is bigger is better....have enough big. Went into mid caps in the beginning of the year. Now, I want to go smaller 1-8 hundred mill...small stuff...good home grown companies. As QE kicks in and interest rates rise, maybe there'll be some bargains to be had. All the small companies in my area are doing great. I don't think interest rates will hurt them, but, again, only to form a buy list for now. At one time, they were the rage, but now hopefully forgotten.
God bless.
the Pudd
p.s. Yeah! Even Duke doesn't like the idea, but I gave him what fer. LOL
Also, here is a 2013 link regarding the same question:
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/25862/#Comment_25862
Allianz has GMACX that carries a load but maybe there are places you can get it with the load waived
AMG Managers Essex fund, MBRSX, seems to be more widely available and without a load.
DFA has a fund, DFSCX, but I think DFA funds are only available through advisors. M* says its available at Scottrade with a transaction fee but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me considering what I've read about DFA.
RBC offers TMVAX with a load, and the institutional class without a load, but its offered broadly so maybe someone waives the load.
Perritt offers a couple of funds that are on Ted's list, PRCGX (bronze fund at M*) and PREOX
Rice Hall James, who I've never heard of, has RHJSX which seems to be broadly available.
Jacob has a tiny fund, JMCGX, that again I've never heard of but with an expense ratio over 2% and only $13 MM in assets I imagine a guy sitting in his basement managing money for his brother-in-law
Victory Integrity has a fund, MMEAX, that normally carries a load but might be load-waived at Schwab. Alternative class MMECX seems to be more broadly available with a deferred load but a much higher expense ratio
Robeco offers WPG Small/Microcap Value, WPGTX, which seems to be only an institutional class but available at the major fund supermarkets so maybe someone drops the minimum initial investments
Those, along with the Royce and Wasatch funds you mentioned and the Oberweis fund I mentioned, have all been around at least 10 years. It seems Wasatch has a second micro-cap fund, WMICX, that has also been around for 10 years and Royce has an international micro-cap fund, ROIMX that has less than 5 years of history.
Acuitas has a fund, AFMCX, that seems to be offered at Fidelity but there's only an institutional class with $100K minimum, unless someone waives that. History? Less than one year.
AlphaOne has a fund, AOMAX, that's supposedly available at Fidelity and has been around more than 3 years
Ancora has a fund, ANCCX, that is theoretically available to Fidelity retail customers. This is the institutional class, but according to M* it has the same minimum $5K investment, its available the same places, but it has a much lower expense ratio and no 12b-1 fee. It has more than 5 years of history.
BMO has a fund, BMMYX that seems to be available at Fidelity NTF but only $4MM in assets and between 1 and 3 years old
Foundry's FMCIX seems only to be a TD Ameritrade Trust fund so not sure you'll find it anywhere
Ivy has a fund, IGWAX, that seems to have a lot of share classes, but they look like other funds I've research more where those other classes are historical in nature and only available to investors who hold those classes. The symbol I included refers to the share that carries a load which may be waived at a few places like Schwab and/or JP Morgan. History is more than 5 years but less than 10
James has a fund, JMCRX, with 3 years of history but not 5. It seems to be available on most of the fund supermarkets but not without a transaction fee if I'm reading things right (and if M* has their information right)
Morgan Dempsey, another name I've never heard before, has MITYX which seems to be available at a handful of places and for a tiny little fund actually has a reasonable expense ratio
North Star has NSMVX, which has been around for a couple years but M* doesn't even list an expense ratio. Not sure what's going on there
Paradigm has a fund, PVIVX, that seems to be available on most fund supermarkets and has more than 5 years of history
Thomson Horstmann & Bryant, which sounds more like a law firm than a money manager, has THBVX which has somewhere between 1 and 3 years of history
Finally, Westcore has WTMIX which has been around for more than 5 years.
The Driehaus fund I mentioned has only been around a few years. Some of the funds mentioned above, and probably others, didn't come up on my list because they don't have 'micro' in the name. The Franklin funds on Ted's linked list also didn't come up, but maybe they're close because I screened for funds that are open. In theory Grandeur Peak will eventually offer a global micro cap fund and it seems like the consensus has it being later this year but who knows.
Good hunting! Maybe if you tell Duke you're going hunting for a good micro-cap fund he'll be more excited
LLJB
God bless!
the Pudd
p.s. If you don't hear from me for awhile, you know why.
Since I like the combination of humor and insight in your posts so much, here's where I would start if I was undertaking the effort:
I screened for open equity funds with average market cap less than $500MM this time and Perritt Microcap Opportunities, PRCGX and Bridgeway Ultra Small Companies Market, which is still open, are the two positively rated funds by M*. They are bronze funds.
When I look at category ranks, and they would be ranked against small cap growth, blend or value funds, there's a lot of consistently low ranks. RBC Microcap Value, TMVAX, seems to be the most consistently well ranked of the crowd. The Ancora fund, ANCCX, also does pretty well. Over 10 years, there are only 3 funds ranked in the top 50%, Teton, Wasatch Microcap Value and the Satuit fund. Over 5 years, its a little better, there are 5 better than average, including the RBC and Ancora funds. Over 3 years there are 10 in the top half with 3 of those by the skin of their teeth. The RBC and Ancora funds are again in the mix.
My impression is that these funds are pretty volatile and not very often better than small cap funds with higher average market caps. If you think about small cap funds generally you would expect 1 out of every 5 to be in the top 20%. In the case of these funds, its running more like 1 out of 5 or 1 out of 10 being in the top 50%. I would prefer to see better performance for the extra risk.
Good luck!
LLJB
WEMMX has markedly better performance both longterm and downside (08-09) than most of these, but (= because, one supposes) its avg company size is $480M, not smaller. Do you have a range in mind about market cap?
Thank you for your exhaustive efforts with this subject. You are an additional example of the many here who continue to make this site so worthy of reading and contemplation.
Hi @Puddnhead
Glad you're here, eh? Now, git to ur studies !
The personal avatar's here: Visual images can have a strong impact upon folks, especially with repeated viewing. You do need to know, that if we were ever to meet, I would expect to find you in the image, mannerism and voice of "Curly".
Take care,
Catch
You're making me blush! Jeez! If you lay it on any thicker, I won't be able to get through the doorway. LOL. Thanks for all the help, especially LLJB for your time and interest in this. I'm still working on the fund list. I, like you guys, grew up with the Boys. It was a time when comedy was funny with no bad words or sex or violence. Yes, but no one died. It was a space in time when we led the world and the world wanted it that way. It was a time that came this way once and will never be seen again.
God bless!
the Pudd
p.s. Please don't tell Duke about this. You know how the li'l Putin gets when he feels left out.
I have a list. The criteria are: must play on Fidelity platform, NOT be closed, and reasonable E.R. Also, must be buying companies of less than $1 billion net worth. I have FSCRX. They do $2.4 billion, so I want smaller ones. WEMMX - I always liked Mario. He's a good stock picker. I think someone else on here said that also. His companies are $500 million on average.....it shows. He holds lots of cash (25%)....these are old numbers though. I'll give Mario one thing---he likes to hold a lot of companies. BMMYX - very small size-wise, and the managers can't find much of a track record. And for being so small, they seem to have a lot of holdings, a lot of healthcare....with bio in there. It worries me some. Any comments on this fund would be appreciated. WTMIX - small fund size....lots of holdings....financial and healthcare are the two biggest parts. I'm not a big fan of Westcore for the most part. This fund holds really small stuff. After looking it over, I must say I like this fund. Any comments would be appreciated. The managers haven't done much more than than this fund. FAMFX - $65 million, only 29 holdings. I like that. I want your best ideas. With so little money to use, it's like, "Show me what you got!" I really, really like this fund. What say you? Next to MAMO, I like this. I know it's new. Please let me know if I missed any......
God bless!
the Pudd
I could (and would) live with two only, in my case WEMMX and FSCRX.
Yes, on the soup thing....this is an area I've never been in before....like emerging markets and frontier markets.....so a name I know is good. I owned Mario before. GABAX, GABEX some time back. I am very, very bullish on this country. The American can do spirit still lives in smaller companies. And I do believe this market has years to go.
God bless!
the Pudd