Fund Evaluator:

Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv Overview

Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv (HSMBX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Blend fund. Horizon Investments launched the fund in 2023.

The investment seeks capital appreciation. The fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in the equity securities of small and mid-cap U.S. companies. It employs defensive techniques, including strategic portfolio positioning, to achieve lower overall volatility as compared to the market generally. Under normal circumstances, the fund will invest not less than 80% of the value of its net assets in the equity securities of small and mid-cap U.S. issuers. Its investment adviser generally considers small and mid-cap issuers to be those that are within the range of the S&P 600 and S&P 400 indices, respectively, when purchased.

About Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv (HSMBX)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 3.62 years: Scott Ladner (2022), Michael Dickson (2022), Zachary Hill (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 S&P 1000 TR index with a weighting of 100%. Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv has 297 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 14.1% 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.

Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv has 1.8% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 97.9%. There is 1.8% 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). Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv has 0.3% 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.

HSMBX 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 Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Blend category. Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv has an expense ratio of 1.24%, which is 19% 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. Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv has a portfolio turnover rate of 146%, 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, Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv returned 0.9%, which earned it a grade of A, 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.

Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv has a trailing yield of 0.23%, 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.

Horizon Multi-Factor Small/Mid Cap Adv Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 18.8%, 0.6 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 26.2% over the past year (grade of D) and 18.0% over the past three years (grade of A).

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