Fund Evaluator:

Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I Overview

Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I (KSDIX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Value fund. Gabelli launched the fund in 2009.

The investment seeks capital appreciation. The advisor intends to pursue its investment objective by investing in equity securities of companies with a small market capitalization and that currently pay, or are reasonably expected to pay, dividends to shareholders. Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest no less than 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in "dividend-paying" common stocks and other equity type securities (including preferred stock, convertible debt securities and warrants) of "small cap" companies.

About Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I (KSDIX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 16.76 years: Thomas Browne (2009), Brian Leonard (2009). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 1 primary benchmark: Russell 2000 Value TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I has 87 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 21.3% 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.

Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I has 4.8% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 92.8%. There is 4.8% 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). Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I has 2.4% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $122 million in total assets, which is below the $415 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.

KSDIX 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 Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Value category. Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I has an expense ratio of 1.04%, which is 11% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. 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. Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I has a portfolio turnover rate of 19%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 129% for the Small Value category.

Recently, in the month of August 2026, Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I returned 0.5%, which earned it a grade of A, 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.

Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I has a trailing yield of 1.64%, which is above the 0.77% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly 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.

Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 22.3%, 2.7 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 20.7% over the past year (grade of C), 16.9% over the past three years (grade of B) and 10.2% per year over the past five years (grade of A) and 9.8% per year over the past 10 years (grade of C).

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 Keeley Gabelli Small Cap Dividend I, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.