Fund Evaluator:

DWS Small Cap Growth A Overview

DWS Small Cap Growth A (SSDAX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Growth fund. DWS launched the fund in 2002.

The investment seeks long-term capital growth. The fund invests at least 80% of its assets, determined at the time of purchase, in stocks and other securities with equity characteristics of U.S. smaller capitalization companies. The fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in the stocks of non-U.S. companies, including those in emerging markets, and large capitalization stocks.

About DWS Small Cap Growth A (SSDAX)

There are 1 members of the management team with an average tenure of 9.18 years: Peter Barsa (2017). 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%. DWS Small Cap Growth A has 112 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 26.4% 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.

DWS Small Cap Growth A is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. DWS Small Cap Growth A has 0.2% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 97.4%. There is 0.2% 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). DWS Small Cap Growth A has 2.3% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $114 million in total assets, which is below 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.

SSDAX 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 DWS Small Cap Growth A expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Growth category. DWS Small Cap Growth A has an expense ratio of 1.20%, which is 2% 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. DWS Small Cap Growth A has a portfolio turnover rate of 12%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 78% for the Small Growth category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, DWS Small Cap Growth A returned -6.4%, 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.

DWS Small Cap Growth A 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.

DWS Small Cap Growth A Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 16.0%, 2.4 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 26.2% over the past year (grade of C), 10.7% over the past three years (grade of D) and 3.0% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 8.0% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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