Fund Evaluator:

Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst Overview

Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst (ESPNX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Value fund. Allspring Global Investments launched the fund in 2010.

The investment seeks long-term capital appreciation. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests: at least 80% of the fund's net assets in equity securities of small-capitalization companies. It invests principally in equity securities of small-capitalization companies, which the managers define as companies with market capitalizations within the range of the Russell 2000® Index at the time of purchase.

About Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst (ESPNX)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 11.05 years: Bryant VanCronkhite (2013), Brian Martin (2020), Tyndale Brickey (2026), James Tringas (2002). 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 2000 Value TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst has 111 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 26.2% 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.

Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst has 3.6% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 94.2%. There is 3.6% allocated to foreign stock, and 1.1% 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). Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst has 1.1% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $1 billion in total assets, which is above the $415 million average for the Small Value 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.

ESPNX 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 Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Value category. Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst has an expense ratio of 0.95%, which is 18% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. 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. Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst has a portfolio turnover rate of 28%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 129% for the Small Value category.

Recently, in the month of August 2026, Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst returned 0.5%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Small Value category had an average return of -0.4%. 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.

Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst has a trailing yield of 0.88%, which is above the 0.77% 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.

Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 14.6%, 5.1 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 11.1% over the past year (grade of F), 8.6% over the past three years (grade of F) and 4.9% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 8.2% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

For more mutual fund grades, analysis and screening tools to help your investment discovery, join AAII for a $2, full-access trial. Learn more here: https://invest.aaii.com/membership.

Otherwise, for more information about Allspring Special Small Cap Value Inst, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.