Hodges Small Intrinsic Value Fund (HDSVX) is off to a good start, thanks to its three-heads-are-better-than-one management style and an appetite for leading stocks such Emergent BioSolutions (EBS), Consolidated Tomoka (CTO), Westwood Holdings (WHG) and U.S. Concrete (USCR).
Open less than five years, the $106.6 million fund topped the S&P 500 in 2016, and its average annual gain topped the broad market bogey over the three years ended last Dec. 31.
The fund’s outperformance won it recognition as an “Upstart” in IBD’s 2017 Best Mutual Fund Awards. And it did so in three categories: diversified equity, blend and small-cap stock mutual funds.
Now we’ll see if the fund can earn full Best Mutual Fund Awards winner status once it’s been open long enough by adding outperformance over the market benchmark over the trailing five and 10 years as well as the most recent calendar year.
This year through Aug. 31, the fund was down 1.22% due in part to a rocky first quarter vs. an 11.93% gain by the S&P 500, according to Morningstar Direct. But over the most recent three months the fund is up 5.10% vs. 3.01% for the bogey and 1.53% for its small-cap peer group.