Fund Evaluator:

William Blair Mid Cap Value I Overview

William Blair Mid Cap Value I (WVMIX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Mid-Cap Value fund. William Blair launched the fund in 2022.

The investment seeks long-term capital appreciation. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of medium capitalized ("mid cap") companies. For purposes of the fund, the Adviser considers a company to be a mid cap company if it has a market capitalization no smaller than the smallest capitalized company, and no larger than the largest capitalized company, included in the Russell Midcap® Index at the time of the fund's investment.

About William Blair Mid Cap Value I (WVMIX)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 3.30 years: Matthew Fleming (2022), Mark Goodman (2025), William Heaphy (2022). 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 Mid Cap Value TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. William Blair Mid Cap Value I has 56 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 23.1% 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.

William Blair Mid Cap Value I is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. William Blair Mid Cap Value I has 5.5% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 90.4%. There is 5.5% 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). William Blair Mid Cap Value I has 4.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $137 million in total assets, which is below the $650 million average for the Mid-Cap 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.

WVMIX 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 William Blair Mid Cap Value I expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Mid-Cap Value category. William Blair Mid Cap Value I has an expense ratio of 0.75%, which is 27% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. 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. William Blair Mid Cap Value I has a portfolio turnover rate of 28%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 51% for the Mid-Cap Value category.

Recently, in the month of August 2026, William Blair Mid Cap Value I returned 0.4%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Mid-Cap Value category had an average return of 1.1%. 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.

William Blair Mid Cap Value I has a trailing yield of 1.05%, which is above the 0.85% 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.

William Blair Mid Cap Value I Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 15.1%, 1.8 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 17.7% over the past year (grade of C) and 13.5% over the past three years (grade of D).

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