Small Cap Growth Fund

The Small Cap Growth Fund seeks long-term capital growth from investments in common stocks or other equity securities
Total Assets $2.2 billion As of 11/30/2025
Asset Class Equity
Daily YTD Return 5.74% As of 12/26/2025
Inception Date 12/31/1996

Overview

Fund Details

Primary Benchmark
Russell 2000® Growth Index
Lipper Category
Small-Cap Growth Funds
Morningstar Category
Small Growth

Portfolio Managers

Mark Burns, CFA

Portfolio Manager

29 yearsIndustry Experience
26 yearsTenure at Loomis Sayles

John Slavik, CFA

Portfolio Manager

34 yearsIndustry Experience
20 yearsTenure at Loomis Sayles

Fund Facts

As of 11/30/2025
Ticker LCGRX
Class Inception Date 12/31/1996
CUSIP 543487680
Minimum Initial Investment $2,500
Gross Expense Ratio1 1.19%
Net Expense Ratio1 1.19%
Net Asset Value 26.13

About the Team

Specialty Growth Strategies

A lower volatility approach to high growth investing.

$5.6B assets under management (as of 9/30/2025)

Our Performance data shown represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and value will vary and you may have a gain or loss when shares are sold. Current performance may be lower or higher than quoted. For most recent month-end performance, please see the tab labeled “Performance”.

Why Choose This Fund?

  • For a lower-volatility approach to investing in high-growth companies.
  • Repeatable, disciplined process from idea generation through portfolio construction.
  • Active risk management approach integrated throughout the process.

Investment Strategy

  • Our goal is a lower volatility approach to high growth investing
  • Active stock selection primarily drives returns by focusing on what we define as high quality “emerging winners” that may benefit from secular growth stories
  • Bottom-up portfolio construction is based on fundamental research and discounted cash flow valuation analysis
  • Idea generation includes an internally developed growth screen
  • Risk management approach integrated throughout the process, including a clear stop/loss discipline to help manage downside risk
  • Turnover typically 30-80%; typically 90 to 110 stocks; position size: typically 0.5% to 2.0%
  • Sector weightings limited to +/-50% of sectors greater than 10% of benchmark allocation
  • Stock selection focuses primarily on companies with a market capitalization between 75% to 125% of the benchmark’s weighted average market cap
  • Recent IPOs and early-stage (unprofitable) companies are limited* in the portfolio
  • The fund normally will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings made for investment purposes) in the equity securities of “small-cap companies,” including preferred stocks, warrants, securities convertible into common or preferred stocks and other equity-like interests in an entity
  • The fund may invest any portion of its assets in securities of Canadian issuers and up to 20% of its assets in other foreign securities, including emerging markets securities

About Risk

  • Equity securities are volatile and can decline significantly in response to broad market and economic conditions.
  • Smaller company investments can be more volatile than those of larger companies.​
  • Growth stocks may be more sensitive to market conditions than other equities as their prices strongly reflect future expectations.
  • Foreign and emerging market securities may be subject to greater political, economic, environmental, credit, currency and information risks. Foreign securities may be subject to higher volatility than US securities due to varying degrees of regulation and limited liquidity. These risks are magnified in emerging markets.

Performance

Cumulative Total Return (%)
As of 11/30/2025
Class R Return
3 Months 2.55%
Year-To-Date 4.94%
Annualized Total Return (%)
As of 11/30/2025
Class R Return
1 Year -2.62%
3 Years 8.66%
5 Years 4.29%
10 Years 9.37%
Since Inception 7.36%
Inception Date 12/31/1996
Cumulative Total Return (%)
As of 9/30/2025
Class R Return
3 Months 5.60%
Year-To-Date 2.93%
Annualized Total Return (%)
As of 9/30/2025
Class R Return
1 Year 4.52%
3 Years 12.43%
5 Years 6.79%
10 Years 10.01%
Since Inception 7.33%
Inception Date 12/31/1996

Performance data shown represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Total return and value will vary and you may have a gain or loss when shares are sold. Current performance may be lower or higher than quoted. Returns include changes in share price and reinvestment of dividends and capital gains, if any.

Rankings

Lipper Ranking
As of 11/30/2025
Class R Rank Percentile
1 Year 399/524 76%
3 Years 384/503 76%
5 Years 263/486 54%
10 Years 218/382 57%
Lipper Category: Small-Cap Growth Funds
Morningstar Ranking
As of 11/30/2025
Class R Rank Percentile
1 Year 415/537 77%
3 Years 388/524 74%
5 Years 274/502 55%
10 Years 211/394 54%
Morningstar Category: Small Growth

Lipper rankings are based on total returns calculated by each ranking entity. Rankings do not take into account sales charges, if applicable, but include reinvestment of dividends and capital gains, if any.

Morningstar Percentile Rankings are based on total return and do not account for sales charges. Percentile ranks are based on absolute rank within specific fund categories and time periods. Within a category, all funds’ percentile rankings range from 1 (best) to 100 (worst), with all intermediate values spread evenly over that range. The fund’s absolute peer ranking may not be available for all time periods. Morningstar does not calculate an absolute peer ranking when a fund’s performance has been linked to a preexisting share class.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Characteristics

Characteristics
As of 11/30/2025
Number of Holdings 89
P/E (trailing 12 months) 27.86
P/E (forward 12 months) 26.97
3-5 Year EPS Growth 13.77
ROE (1 year equal weighted) 4.31
Annual Portfolio Turnover as of 9/30/2024 38.68%

Sector Distribution

As of 11/30/2025
LabelFund
Health Care 26.8%
Industrials 25.7%
Information Technology 18.5%
Consumer Discretionary 11.6%
Financials 8.6%
Energy 3.0%
Consumer Staples 1.6%
Communication Services 0.6%
Cash 3.6%
Characteristics
As of 9/30/2025
Characteristic Fund Index
Number of Holdings 95 1105
P/E (trailing 12 months) 29.37 23.11
P/E (forward 12 months) 28.22 22.09
3-5 Year EPS Growth 13.38 11.59
ROE (1 year equal weighted) 3.53 -3.23
Median Active Share (since manager tenure) 84.8%
Annual Portfolio Turnover as of 9/30/2024 38.68%
Market Capitalization
As of 9/30/2025
Fund Index
> $6 Billion 36.7% 30.1%
$4 to 6 Billion 23.8% 21.1%
$2 to 4 Billion 27.3% 29.0%
< $2 Billion 9.3% 19.8%
Cash & Equivalents 2.8% 0.0%

Sector Distribution

As of 9/30/2025
LabelFundIndex
Industrials 25.2%22.1%
Health Care 24.4%22.1%
Information Technology 19.4%22.2%
Consumer Discretionary 13.8%9.3%
Financials 9.4%10.4%
Energy 3.0%3.0%
Consumer Staples 1.3%2.2%
Communication Services 0.7%2.5%
Materials –3.5%
Real Estate –2.0%
Utilities –0.6%
Cash 2.8%–

Holdings

Top 10 Holdings
As of 11/30/2025
Holding % of Assets
MACOM TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS HOLDINGS INC 2.2%
LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC 2.0%
STERLING CONSTRUCTION CO INC 1.9%
ADVANCED ENERGY INDUSTRIES INC 1.9%
ESCO TECHNOLOGIES INC 1.8%
REGAL BELOIT CORP 1.8%
ESTABLISHMENT LABS HOLDINGS INC 1.8%
ALLEGHENY TECHNOLOGIES INC 1.7%
CONSTRUCTION PARTNERS INC 1.7%
CORINTHIAN COLLEGES INC 1.6%
Total 18.5%
Top 10 Holdings
As of 9/30/2025
Holding % of Assets
CONSTRUCTION PARTNERS INC 2.0%
STERLING CONSTRUCTION CO INC 2.0%
KRATOS DEFENSE & SECURITY SOLUTIONS INC 1.9%
ESCO TECHNOLOGIES INC 1.8%
LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC 1.8%
VARONIS SYSTEMS INC 1.7%
MACOM TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS HOLDINGS INC 1.6%
REGAL BELOIT CORP 1.6%
ADVANCED ENERGY INDUSTRIES INC 1.5%
PJT PARTNERS INC 1.5%
Total 17.4%

Documents

*Typically, unprofitable companies or recent IPOs are limited to the greater of 10% of the portfolio or 50% of the benchmark weighting.

1As of the most recent prospectus, the investment advisor has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (with certain exceptions) once the expense limitation of the fund has been exceeded. This arrangement is set to expire on 1/31/26. When an expense limitation has not been exceeded, the fund may have similar expense ratios.

Important Disclosures

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. 

There is no guarantee that the investment objective will be realized or that the fund will generate positive or excess return.

Diversification does not ensure a profit or guarantee against a loss.

The Russell 2000® Growth Index measures the performance of those Russell 2000® companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. Indices are unmanaged and do not incur fees. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

Portfolio composition statistics are from the adviser’s internal system and may not match the fund’s regulatory documents.

Due to rounding, market capitalization and sector distribution totals may not equal 100%. This portfolio is actively managed and holdings are subject to change. There is no guarantee the Fund continues to invest in securities referenced. Reference to specific securities or holdings should not be considered recommendations for action by investors.

P/E (trailing) is the sum of a company’s price-to-earnings, calculated by dividing current stock price by trailing earnings per share for the past 12 months. P/E (forward) measures price-to-earnings ratio using forecasted earnings for the price-to-earnings calculation; the forward measure is not a forecast of the fund’s performance. 3-5 Year EPS Growth is sourced from FactSet and based on long-term EPS growth rate estimates gathered directly from brokers. The portfolio and benchmark statistic is a weighted average of company level estimates. ROE (1-year equal weighted) is the 1-year ROE of all holdings divided by number of holdings. Median active share indicates the proportion of the portfolio’s holdings (by market value) that is different than the benchmark. A higher active share indicates a larger difference between the benchmark and the portfolio.

Top 10 holdings may not be representative of current or future holdings and will evolve over time.

Lipper Analytical Services Inc., a Thomson Reuters Company, is a nationally recognized organization that provides performance information for mutual funds. Copyright 2025 © Reuters. All rights reserved. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Lipper content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Lipper. Lipper shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

© 2025 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers (2) may not be copied or distributed and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. 

Class N shares of the Fund are subject to a $1,000,000 initial investment minimum. There is no initial investment minimum for Certain Retirement Plans and funds of funds that are distributed by Natixis Distribution, LLC (the “Distributor”).

Before investing, consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. You may obtain a prospectus or a summary prospectus containing this and other information on this website. Read it carefully.

Natixis Distribution, LLC (fund distributor, member FINRA|SIPC) and Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. are affiliated.

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