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| Quarter | Letter Date | Fund Name | QTD | YTD | Tickers | Themes | Quick Take |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Buyside Digest is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, Alger Small Cap Focus Fund. This analysis is provided for institutional research purposes only and is not investment advice.
"Constructive on secular small-cap innovators across healthcare diagnostics, synthetic biology, and aerospace services, selectively absorbing volatility in industrial detractors while maintaining high conviction in specialized market leaders."
During the third quarter of 2026, the Alger Small Cap Focus Fund (Class A shares without sales charge) returned -3.19% net of fees, outperforming the Russell 2000 Growth Index benchmark net return of -9.39%. On a year-to-date basis, the fund generated 17.54% net of fees compared to 10.71% for the benchmark. The strategy maintained a concentrated structure of approximately 50 holdings, with the portfolio's largest absolute weightings positioned in Health Care and Industrials. Relative to the benchmark, Health Care stood as the largest active overweight, while Financials remained the largest sector underweight. The Health Care and Information Technology sectors contributed positively to relative performance, offsetting relative drag from Industrials and Energy allocations. Macroeconomic conditions remained choppy despite modest broad equity gains. While resilient consumer spending, corporate earnings growth, and ongoing artificial intelligence capital expenditures supported markets, overall breadth was exceptionally narrow, with roughly 60% of S&P 500 components posting negative quarterly returns. Middle East geopolitical conflicts pushed crude oil above $100 per barrel, fueling persistent inflation above the Federal Reserve's target. Consequently, the Fed implemented a 25 basis point rate increase in September, driving the 10-year Treasury yield up 83 basis points to levels not seen since 2007 amid elevated sovereign and corporate borrowing. Portfolio activity and single-stock performance reflected solid idiosyncratic contributions alongside episodic multiple compression. Top performance contributors included clinical biopharma holding Forte Biosciences, which was acquired by a global immunology firm following positive Phase 1b trial results, as well as synthetic biology player Twist Bioscience and diagnostics specialist Adaptive Biotechnologies. Conversely, performance was dampened by Cardinal Infrastructure Group, RBC Bearings, and VSE Corporation, where transient margin pressures, integration expenses, and general small-cap valuation multiple compression weighed on share prices despite healthy underlying backlogs and secular demand.
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