3 Top-Ranked Small-Cap Blend Mutual Funds With Growth Potential

Those with a high-risk appetite as well as an interest in growth and value investing, may chose small-cap blend mutual funds to boost their portfolio. While blend funds, also known as “hybrid funds,” aim for value appreciation by capital gains, small-cap funds are expected to have higher growth prospects than their large and medium counterparts.  

Blend funds provide significant exposure to both growth and value stocks and owe their origin to a graphical representation of a fund’s equity style box. Meanwhile, funds investing the majority of their assets in securities of companies with market capitalization lower than $2 billion are generally considered small-cap mutual funds. Though funds investing in small-cap stocks are believed to have more exposure to market volatility than large or medium ones, they are expected to provide diversification across sectors and companies. Moreover, small-cap companies are believed to be less affected by a global downturn thanks to less international exposure.    

Below, we share with you three top-ranked, small-cap blend mutual funds, namely Goldman Sachs Small Cap Eq Insghts GCSAX, Vanguard Strategic Small-Cap Equity Inv VSTCX and Keeley Small Cap Fund WESCX. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of small-cap blend funds. 

Goldman Sachs Small Cap Eq Insghts fund invests its net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes (measured at time of purchase) in a broadly diversified portfolio of equity investments in small-cap U.S. issuers, including foreign issuers traded in the United States, and may invest outside the then-existing small-cap capitalization range. 

Goldman Sachs Small Cap Eq Insghts has three-year annualized returns of 22.2%. As of the end of April 2026, GCSAX had 545 issues and invested 2% of its net assets in Bloom Energy Corp. 

Vanguard Strategic Small-Cap Equity Inv fund invests in small-capitalization domestic equity securities based on the advisor’s assessment of their relative return potential. 

Vanguard Strategic Small-Cap Equity Inv has three-year annualized returns of 21.9%. VSTCX has an expense ratio of 0.21%. 

Keeley Small Cap Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, including any borrowings for investment purposes, in common stocks of smaller companies.

Keeley Small Cap Fund has three-year annualized returns of 21.8%. Joseph Gabelli has been one of the fund managers of WESCX since May 2025. 

To view the Zacks Rank and the past performance of all small-cap blend mutual funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of small-cap blend mutual funds.