Fund Evaluator:

Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv Overview

Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv (HHDVX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Large Value fund. Hamlin Funds launched the fund in 2012.

The investment seeks high current income and long-term capital appreciation. Under normal circumstances, the fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in equity securities. The equity securities in which the fund invests are primarily common stocks, but may also include shares of real estate investment trusts ("REITS") and interests in master limited partnerships ("MLPs"). The fund may invest in companies of any market capitalization range, although the Adviser expects to invest fund assets mostly in mid- and large-capitalization companies.

About Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv (HHDVX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 10.30 years: Christopher D'Agnes (2012), Michael Tang (2020). 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 Lipper Equity Income Fund index with a weighting of 100%. Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv has 30 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 46.2% 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.

Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv has 3.7% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 95.8%. There is 3.7% 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). Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv has 0.5% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $29 million in total assets, which is below the $1 billion average for the Large 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.

HHDVX 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 Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Large Value category. Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv has an expense ratio of 1.15%, which is 24% 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. Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv has a portfolio turnover rate of 23%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 63% for the Large Value category.

Recently, in the month of August 2026, Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv returned -1.2%, which earned it a grade of F, as the Large Value category had an average return of 1.6%. 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.

Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv has a trailing yield of 1.98%, which is above the 1.17% category average. The fund normally distributes its income semi-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.

Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 11.1%, 5.0 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 12.3% over the past year (grade of F), 14.5% over the past three years (grade of F) and 10.7% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 10.9% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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 Hamlin High Dividend Equity Inv, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.