Fund Evaluator:

First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A Overview

First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A (FEMAX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Blend fund. First Eagle launched the fund in 2022.

The investment seeks long-term growth of capital. The fund invests, under normal circumstances, in equity securities of small- and mid-cap (“smid cap”) companies in an attempt to take advantage of what the Adviser believes are opportunistic situations for undervalued securities. Normally, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in the equity securities (e.g., common stocks, warrants, rights and preferred stocks) of U.S. smid cap companies.

About First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A (FEMAX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 3.96 years: William Hench (2022), Suzanne Franks (2022). 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 2500 TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A has 79 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 29.7% 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.

First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A has 9.1% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 81.4%. There is 9.1% 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). First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A has 9.5% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $6 million in total assets, which is below the $685 million average for the Small Blend 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.

FEMAX 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 First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Blend category. First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A has an expense ratio of 1.20%, which is 15% 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. First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A has a portfolio turnover rate of 66%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 66% for the Small Blend category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A returned -6.8%, which earned it a grade of F, as the Small Blend category had an average return of -2.8%. 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.

First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A has a trailing yield of 0.09%, which is below the 0.42% 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.

First Eagle U.S. SMID Cap Opportunity A Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 23.6%, 5.4 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 32.9% over the past year (grade of B) and 15.3% over the past three years (grade of B).

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