If you're evaluating mutual funds for your investment portfolio or retirement account, this list highlights the best small-cap stock fund to consider now, based on the fund outperforming the S&P 500 over the past one-, three-, five- and 10-year periods.
Of 361 small-cap stock funds at least 10 years old, only one of them was named to IBD's 2025 list of the Best Mutual Funds. None of the others outperformed in all four of the time periods.
Small-cap stocks trailed large-cap stocks in 2024, with the Russell 2000 gaining 11.5% compared with the Russell 1000's gain of 24.5%. Recession and interest-rate worries, along with flows into the megacap Magnificent Seven stocks, also impacted small-cap stocks. Small-cap stocks are stocks of public companies with a market capitalization of about $250 million to $2 billion.
For more details, read about how the best mutual funds deliver benchmark-beating returns, and see the full 2025 list of IBD's Best Mutual Funds in every category, including bond funds, diversified stock funds, blend and index funds, and breakouts of large-cap and funds.
All returns are as of Dec. 31, 2024.
Best Small-Cap Stock Fund
| Fund | Symbol | 1-year total return | 3-year total return | 5-year total return | 10-year total return | Morningstar category | Annual report net expense ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benchmark: S&P 500 | 25.02% | 8.94% | 14.53% | 13.10% | |||
| Kinetics Small Cap Opportunities No Load | KSCOX | 68.52 | 23.79 | 23.88 | 17.74 | Small Growth | 1.64% |
Sources: IBD, Morningstar Direct
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