Fund Evaluator:

Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl Overview

Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl (LSSIX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Growth fund. Loomis Sayles Funds launched the fund in 1996.

The investment seeks long-term capital growth. The fund normally will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings made for investment purposes) in the equity securities of "small-cap companies," including preferred stocks, warrants, securities convertible into common or preferred stocks and other equity-like interests in an entity. Currently, the manager defines a small-cap company to be one whose market capitalization falls within the capitalization range of the Russell 2000® Index, an index that tracks stocks of 2,000 of the smallest U.S. companies.

About Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl (LSSIX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 21.47 years: Mark Burns (2005), John Slavik (2005). 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 2000 Growth TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl has 98 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.

Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl has 3.4% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 93.2%. There is 3.4% 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). Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl has 3.4% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $980 million in total assets, which is above the $431 million average for the Small Growth 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.

LSSIX 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 Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Growth category. Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl has an expense ratio of 0.93%, which is 21% 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. Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl has a portfolio turnover rate of 41%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 78% for the Small Growth category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl returned -7.0%, which earned it a grade of C, as the Small Growth category had an average return of -6.7%. 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.

Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 0.06% 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.

Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 19.6%, 5.9 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 26.6% over the past year (grade of B), 12.8% over the past three years (grade of C) and 4.5% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 11.7% per year over the past 10 years (grade of B).

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