Fund Evaluator:

North Star Small Cap Value Investor Overview

North Star Small Cap Value Investor (WSCVX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Blend fund. North Star launched the fund in 2008.

The investment seeks long-term capital appreciation. The fund invests primarily in common stocks of small capitalization U.S. companies that the adviser believes have the potential for capital appreciation. Small capitalization companies are defined as those with market capitalizations of $2.5 billion or less at the time of purchase. Under normal circumstances, it will invest at least 80% of its net assets plus any borrowing for investment purposes in common stocks of small capitalization companies.

About North Star Small Cap Value Investor (WSCVX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 3.54 years: Peter Gottlieb (2022), Eric Kuby (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 Morningstar US Small Value Mkt TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. North Star Small Cap Value Investor has 51 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 38.9% 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.

North Star Small Cap Value Investor is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. North Star Small Cap Value Investor has 5.8% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 87.7%. There is 5.8% 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). North Star Small Cap Value Investor has 6.5% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $33 million in total assets, which is below the $694 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.

WSCVX 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 North Star Small Cap Value Investor expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Blend category. North Star Small Cap Value Investor has an expense ratio of 1.77%, which is 69% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a F. 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. North Star Small Cap Value Investor has a portfolio turnover rate of 23%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 65% for the Small Blend category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, North Star Small Cap Value Investor returned 6.5%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Small Blend category had an average return of 5.9%. 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.

North Star Small Cap Value Investor has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 0.41% 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.

North Star Small Cap Value Investor Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 29.1%, 7.4 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 48.4% over the past year (grade of A), 21.1% over the past three years (grade of A) and 11.9% per year over the past five years (grade of A) and 11.8% per year over the past 10 years (grade of B).

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