Fund Evaluator:

Conestoga Discovery Institutional Overview

Conestoga Discovery Institutional (CMIRX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Growth fund. Conestoga Capital Advisors launched the fund in 2021.

The investment seeks to provide long-term growth of capital. Under normal market circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of micro-capitalization companies. Equity securities include common and preferred stocks, both domestic and foreign, convertible securities, rights, warrants and American depositary receipts (“ADRs”). The fund may invest in securities of any market sector and may, from time to time, hold a significant amount of securities of companies within a single sector.

About Conestoga Discovery Institutional (CMIRX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.54 years: David Neiderer (2021), Robert Mitchell (2021). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Russell 3000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Russell Micro Cap Growth TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Conestoga Discovery Institutional has 29 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 47.2% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Conestoga Discovery Institutional is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Conestoga Discovery Institutional has 8.8% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 90.6%. There is 8.8% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Conestoga Discovery Institutional has 0.6% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $3 million in total assets, which is below the $454 million average for the Small Growth category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

CMIRX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Conestoga Discovery Institutional expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Growth category. Conestoga Discovery Institutional has an expense ratio of 1.25%, which is 6% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Conestoga Discovery Institutional has a portfolio turnover rate of 31%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 76% for the Small Growth category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Conestoga Discovery Institutional returned 9.9%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Small Growth category had an average return of 6.5%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Conestoga Discovery Institutional has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 0.07% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Conestoga Discovery Institutional Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 13.6%, 8.5 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 25.0% over the past year (grade of D) and 13.2% over the past three years (grade of D).

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