Fund Evaluator:

Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap Overview

Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap (VVPSX) is an actively managed International Equity Global Small/Mid Stock fund. Vulcan Value Partners launched the fund in 2009.

The investment seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation. The fund seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by purchasing securities of publicly traded small-cap companies that Vulcan Value Partners,LLC believes to be both undervalued and possessing a quality that gives a company a non-temporary advantage over its peers. Under normal circumstances,at least eighty percent (80%) of the fund’s net assets are invested in small-cap companies. It is non-diversified.

About Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap (VVPSX)

There are 5 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.57 years: Stephen Simmons (2024), Colin Casey (2024), Taylor Cline (2024), David Shelton (2025), CT Fitzpatrick (2009). 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 Russell 2000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap has 26 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 52.6% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the International Equity fund group. Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap has 40.1% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 58.8%. There is 40.1% 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). Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap has 1.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $23 million in total assets, which is below the $865 million average for the Global Small/Mid Stock 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.

VVPSX 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 Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Global Small/Mid Stock category. Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap has an expense ratio of 1.15%, which is 8% 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. Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap has a portfolio turnover rate of 29%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 56% for the Global Small/Mid Stock category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap returned 4.9%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Global Small/Mid Stock category had an average return of 1.2%. 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.

Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap has a trailing yield of 2.26%, which is above the 1.34% 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.

Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 5.3%, 8.0 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 12.6% over the past year (grade of D), 6.1% over the past three years (grade of F) and -4.0% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 4.7% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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