Fund Evaluator:

Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A Overview

Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A (FKASX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Growth fund. Federated launched the fund in 2002.

The investment seeks to provide capital appreciation. The fund invests primarily in the common stocks of small companies that are traded on national security exchanges, the NASDAQ stock market and on the over-the-counter market. It will normally invest at least 80% of its net assets (which include the amount of any borrowing for investment purposes) in small companies and will notify shareholders at least 60 days in advance of any change in its investment policies that would permit the fund to normally invest less than 80% of its net assets in investments in small companies.

About Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A (FKASX)

There are 6 members of the management team with an average tenure of 12.42 years: Barbara Miller (2011), Stephen DeNichilo (2014), Steven Abrahamson (2018), Aditi Singhania (2022), John Ettinger (2003), Thomas Brakel (2012). 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 Growth TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A has 155 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 24.8% 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.

Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A has 11.3% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 87.1%. There is 11.3% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.6% 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). Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A has 0.0% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $692 million in total assets, which is above 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.

FKASX 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 Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Growth category. Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A has an expense ratio of 1.36%, which is 16% 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. Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A has a portfolio turnover rate of 38%, 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, Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A returned 8.1%, 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.

Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 0.07% 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.

Federated Hermes Kaufmann Small Cap A Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 20.1%, 2.0 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 27.8% over the past year (grade of D), 14.4% over the past three years (grade of D) and 1.3% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 13.8% per year over the past 10 years (grade of B).

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