Needham Small Cap Growth Fund Institutional (NESIX) Sharpe Ratio: 1.34

NESIX's Sharpe Ratio of 1.34 indicates that for each unit of volatility, it generates 1.34 units of excess return above the risk-free rate. The ratio is calculated using historical daily returns over the past 12 months (as of Apr 1, 2026).

Sharpe uses total volatility (standard deviation) which includes both upside and downside price movements, making it useful for comparing risk-adjusted returns across different assets.

NESIX Sharpe Ratio Rank

Above Average

NESIX ranks above 75.4% of all investments in our database based on Sharpe Ratio over the past 12 months, indicating above-average returns relative to volatility. Securities are ranked from 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

What moves the rank

Strong returns with low total volatility → Higher rank
High volatility (both upside and downside) → Lower rank
Consistent returns → Higher rank than volatile returns of same magnitude
Sharp drawdowns increase volatility → Lower rank

What you can do with this information

Above-average risk-adjusted returns with room for improvement
Compare against category peers to gauge relative positioning
Monitor for movement toward top tier or decline toward median
Consider pairing with top-tier holdings to improve portfolio efficiency

NESIX Sharpe Ratio Market Positioning

The chart shows NESIX's Sharpe Ratio relative to all mutual funds on our platform, with color zones indicating percentile rankings. Higher ratios indicate better risk-adjusted returns.

Red zone (bottom 25%): 0.66 or lower
Yellow zone (middle 50%): 0.66 to 1.37
Green zone (top 25%): 1.37 or higher
Top 1%: 3.58+
Median: 1.00 — half of all investments score higher

How it compares to other similar mutual funds

The table compares Needham Small Cap Growth Fund Institutional's Sharpe Ratio with other mutual funds in the Small Cap Growth Equities category across multiple time periods, showing how NESIX's risk-adjusted performance compares to similar funds.

Data shows 1-, 5-, and 10-year periods, plus each fund's all-time average, as of Apr 1, 2026.

Symbol	Name	1Y Sharpe Ratio
NEAIX	Needham Aggressive Growth Fund Institutional Class	1.89
NEAGX	Needham Aggressive Growth Fund	1.86
DMCRX	Driehaus Micro Cap Growth Fund	1.73
OBMCX	Oberweis Micro Cap Fund	1.57
HRSMX	Hood River Small-Cap Growth Fund	1.48
DSCIX	Dana Epiphany ESG Small Cap Equity Fund	1.43
FGROX	Emerald Growth Fund Institutional Class	1.41
HSPGX	Emerald Growth Fund	1.40
ODIIX	Invesco Discovery Fund Class R6	1.39
NESIX	Needham Small Cap Growth Fund Institutional	1.34

Benchmark Against

Benchmark

S&P 500 Index

Lookback Period

How to choose period

Historical Sharpe Ratio

The chart shows NESIX's rolling Sharpe ratio over time compared to your chosen benchmark. Rising trends indicate improving returns relative to total volatility, while declining trends may signal deteriorating risk-adjusted performance or increased volatility. Use multiple timeframes to distinguish short-term fluctuations from long-term patterns.

Identify market cycles by observing when NESIX consistently outperforms (line above benchmark), underperforms (below benchmark), or aligns with the benchmark.

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Explore NESIX risk-adjusted metrics in detail

Dive deeper into individual metrics with historical trends, benchmark comparisons, and performance across different time periods.

NESIX Sortino Ratio