This small cap-oriented fund is truly a standout in the mutual fund world. Founded in 1975 by its current CEO, Chairman and Fund Manager, Dr. Sam Stewart, Wasatch seeks out small companies with big growth opportunities. Stewart really is the definition of “smart money”--his credentials are impeccable. Stewart received a master's in business administration and a doctorate in finance from Stanford, he has taught at the prestigious Columbia Graduate School of Business, and he holds a CFA designation. And if those credentials are not convincing enough, his fund’s 5- and 10-year returns have been outstanding, blowing away any indices’ benchmark you choose to compare against.

The Wasatch philosophy is to use solid fundamental, bottom-up investing principles to find small companies with the potential to experience large gains. The premise behind focusing on small-cap companies is simple: smaller companies can grow much more easily than big ones. As long as companies have solid earnings growth, both past and projected, and are trading at reasonable levels, Wasatch is happy to invest. Additionally, by periodically closing its equity funds, Wasatch is able to preserve shareholders' capital, ensuring they won't be forced into any unfavorable investments due to excess cash.

Moreover, Wasatch’s small-cap growth funds all received Lipper’s highest rating for both total and consistent returns (04/30/05), although the praise from fund gurus did not stop there. The Wasatch family was best summarized by Morningstar in its latest Guide to Mutual Funds (2003) when it said: “These small-cap specialists are that rare boutique that can actually manage both growth and value funds well…the firm has produced outstanding results.”