Fund Evaluator:

Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional Overview

Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional (CSMCX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Growth fund. Congress launched the fund in 1999.

The investment seeks long-term capital growth. The fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in the common stocks of small‑capitalization companies. The advisor defines small‑capitalization companies as those companies with market capitalizations not exceeding the highest market capitalization in the Russell 2000® Growth Index during the preceding 12 months. It may invest in companies across all sectors of the economy, but may favor companies in particular sectors or industries at different times.

About Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional (CSMCX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 5.15 years: Gregg O’Keefe (2017), Daniel Lagan (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100% and Russell 2000 Growth TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional has 43 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 33.2% 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.

Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional has 1.5% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 96.9%. There is 1.5% 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). Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional has 1.6% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $1 billion in total assets, which is above the $431 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.

CSMCX 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 Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Growth category. Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional has an expense ratio of 1.01%, which is 14% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. 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. Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional has a portfolio turnover rate of 34%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 78% for the Small Growth category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional returned -5.4%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Small Growth category had an average return of -6.7%. 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.

Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 0.06% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains 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.

Congress Small Cap Growth Institutional Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 14.3%, 0.7 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 17.8% over the past year (grade of D), 13.1% over the past three years (grade of B) and 7.9% per year over the past five years (grade of A) and 15.2% per year over the past 10 years (grade of A).

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