Fund Evaluator:

Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv Overview

Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv (FVRMX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Value fund. Franklin Templeton Investments launched the fund in 2005.

The investment seeks high total return, of which capital appreciation and income are components. The fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in investments of small-capitalization and mid-capitalization companies. The fund generally invests in equity securities of companies that the fund’s investment manager believes are undervalued at the time of purchase and have the potential for capital appreciation. The fund may also invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs).

About Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv (FVRMX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.62 years: Steven Raineri (2024), Oliver Wong (2019). 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 2500 Value TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv has 87 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 26.7% 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.

Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv has 9.9% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 86.6%. There is 9.9% 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). Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv has 3.5% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $24 million in total assets, which is below the $417 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.

FVRMX 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 Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Value category. Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv has an expense ratio of 0.91%, which is 22% 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. Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv has a portfolio turnover rate of 104%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 128% for the Small Value category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv returned 0.3%, which earned it a grade of C, 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.

Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv has a trailing yield of 0.55%, which is below 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.

Franklin Mutual Small-Mid Cap Val Adv Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 14.8%, 5.3 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 21.8% over the past year (grade of F), 11.6% over the past three years (grade of D) and 8.6% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 9.2% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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