Fund Evaluator:

Harbor International Small Cap Investor Overview

Harbor International Small Cap Investor (HIISX) is an actively managed International Equity Foreign Small/Mid Value fund. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc launched the fund in 2016.

The investment seeks long-term growth of capital. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, in the securities of small cap companies. Up to 15% of the fund's total assets may be invested in emerging market companies, which the managers define as those countries included in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which currently includes countries located in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

About Harbor International Small Cap Investor (HIISX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 7.11 years: Jonathan Brodsky (2019), Waldemar Mozes (2019). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: MSCI EAFE NR USD index with a weighting of 100% and MSCI EAFE Small Cap NR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Harbor International Small Cap Investor has 65 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 19.4% 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.

Harbor International Small Cap Investor is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the International Equity fund group. Harbor International Small Cap Investor has 96.9% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0%. There is 96.9% 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). Harbor International Small Cap Investor has 3.1% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $3 million in total assets, which is below the $772 million average for the Foreign Small/Mid 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.

HIISX 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 Harbor International Small Cap Investor expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Foreign Small/Mid Value category. Harbor International Small Cap Investor has an expense ratio of 1.24%, which is 25% 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. Harbor International Small Cap Investor has a portfolio turnover rate of 36%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 43% for the Foreign Small/Mid Value category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Harbor International Small Cap Investor returned -1.9%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Foreign Small/Mid Value category had an average return of -3.8%. 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.

Harbor International Small Cap Investor has a trailing yield of 1.74%, which is below the 2.84% 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.

Harbor International Small Cap Investor Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 11.2%, 6.3 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 15.2% over the past year (grade of C), 12.2% over the past three years (grade of D) and 6.2% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 8.9% per year over the past 10 years (grade of C).

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