SMNCX — Steward Equity Market Neutral Fund

SMNCX Fund Overview

SMNCX — Steward Equity Market Neutral Fund is a US mutual fund managed by Steward Funds, Inc., categorised as United States Mid Cap Blend / Core Equity. ABC INVEST provides holdings, performance, costs, cashflows, risk data, prospectus documents and SEC filings, sourced from SEC filings.

• Type: US mutual fund
• Manager: Steward Funds, Inc.
• Category: United States Mid Cap Blend / Core Equity
• Assets under management: $117.30M
• Ticker: SMNCX
• SEC CIK: 0000092500
• SEC series ID: S000074384
• Share class ID: C000232241

SMNCX Investment Objective and Strategy

Steward Equity Market Neutral Fund describes its objective and strategy as follows, from its latest prospectus filed with the SEC by Steward Funds, Inc..

Investment objective

Investment Objective: Long-term capital appreciation independent of the U.S. equity market.

Principal investment strategy

The Fund pursues its investment objective utilizing a market neutral strategy, the goal of which is to generate absolute returns that are due primarily to stock selection, rather than the returns and direction of the stock market. Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities. * The Fund implements its market neutral strategy by establishing long and short positions in a diversified portfolio of equity securities, subject to the limitations of the Funds values-based screening policies on long positions (see Values-based Screens below). Substantially all of the equity securities in which the Fund takes long and short positions will be included in the Russell 1000 Index at the time of purchase. As a result, the Fund will invest significantly in large-capitalization companies.

The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in small- and mid-cap companies. The Fund may also invest in other investment companies and real estate investment trusts. When the Fund takes a long position in a security, it purchases the security outright. When the Fund takes a short position, it sells a security that the Fund does not own at the current market price and delivers to the buyer a security that the Fund has borrowed. The Fund is obligated to return the security to the lender, which is accomplished by a later purchase of the security by the Fund. Until the borrowed security is replaced, the Fund is required to pay to the lender amounts equal to any dividends or interest that accrue during the period of the loan. In addition, to borrow the security, the Fund may be required to pay a premium to the lender.

The Fund may use all or a portion of the proceeds of its short sales to purchase additional long positions. Portfolio management will invest in long positions that are expected to deliver the overall returns of the stock market, plus additional performance unique to the specific stocks purchased by portfolio management. The short positions selected by portfolio management are expected to deliver the inverse of the overall returns of the stock market, plus additional performance unique to the specific stocks sold short by portfolio management. The goal is that, over time, the stock market exposure of the combined long and short positions will be minimized, producing a net return due primarily to portfolio managements stock selection process, rather than stock market movements. At times, however, the Fund may have more exposure to the stock market (either positive or negative) in order to take advantage of market opportunities.

At any time, the Funds net long exposure to the stock market (long market value minus short market value) could range between -20% and 40%. Portfolio management will select securities using an investment process that combines quantitative techniques, fundamental analysis and risk management. Securities generally are added to the portfolio as long or short positions based both on security rankings provided by multi-factor quantitative models and on fundamental analysis of the securities. In addition, portfolio management will utilize risk management techniques to establish constraints on the amounts invested in individual securities and sectors. Portfolio management generally will decrease or eliminate a short or long position in a security if the securitys model ranking changes significantly or research reveals a significant change in the companys fundamentals.

Crossmark uses data from one or more third-party providers unaffiliated with Crossmark in the multi-factor quantitative models. Through its multi-factor quantitative models and fundamental analysis, portfolio management may consider, among other factors, a companys valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. With respect to the rankings provided by the multi-factor quantitative models, the models also include a component for identifying companies that, through their activities, both externally and internally, seek to reduce risk and create long-term resilience through sustainable and responsible business practices. Crossmark believes that such companies exhibit positive values, including, but not limited to, the fair treatment of employees, respect for the environment, positive engagement with the communities in which they operate, and responsible governance practices.

This component of the multi-factor quantitative models is based on data and ratings generated by one or more third-party providers unaffiliated with Crossmark. Values-based Screens. As noted above, in implementing its investment strategies, the Fund applies a set of values-based screens to use its best efforts to avoid investing in companies that are determined by Crossmark, pursuant to screening guidelines approved by the Funds Board of Directors, to be: (1) materially involved in the production, distribution, retail, supply or licensing of alcohol or related products; (2) materially involved in the production, distribution, retail, supply or licensing of tobacco or related products (to include vaping and other alternative smoking products); (3) materially involved in gambling (to include the manufacture, distribution and operation of facilities and equipment whose intended use is gambling); (4) directly participating in providing abortions and/or the production of drugs that are used to terminate pregnancy; (5) owning and/or operating facilities where abortions are permitted or leasing real estate to such facilities; (6) directly engaged in scientific research using stem cells derived from human embryos, fetal tissue or human embryo cloning techniques; (7) directly involved in the production of adult entertainment or materially involved in the distribution or retail of adult entertainment; or (8) directly involved in the production, distribution, retail, supply or licensing of psychoactive recreational cannabis or derivative products.

The Adviser uses data from one or more third-party providers to create a list of companies that exceed the involvement thresholds set forth below and are thus designated as prohibited investments in which the Fund cannot invest. This prohibited investment list is updated by the Adviser quarterly and compared against current Fund holdings to confirm that the Fund does not hold any prohibited investments. If during a quarterly review, a security held in the Fund is identified as being on the prohibited investments list, the Fund will divest, as further discussed below. Because the Fund uses its best efforts to avoid investments in companies that do not pass the values-based screening criteria, it will divest itself, in a timely manner, of any securities of companies held in the Funds portfolio that are later determined not to pass the values-based screening criteria, although the sale may be delayed if such securities are illiquid or if Crossmark determines that an immediate sale would have a negative tax or other effect on the Fund.

However, the Fund may invest up to 5% of its total assets in certain collective investment vehicles or derivatives that may hold or derive value from securities issued by otherwise excluded companies. The Fund does not apply the values-based screens to the short positions held in the Fund. For purposes of the alcohol, tobacco and gambling screens, material involvement means a company that derives 10% or more of its revenues from any combination of these three categories of screened activities. For purposes of the adult entertainment screen, companies directly involved in the production of adult entertainment (defined as media and materials intended to appeal exclusively to the prurient interest) and companies that derive 2% or more of their revenues from the distribution or retail of adult entertainment are screened.

For purposes of the abortion, abortion facilities, stem cell research and cannabis screens, there is no revenue threshold; any direct involvement in the screened activities will cause a company to be screened out of the investment universe. For purposes of the abortion facilities screen, health care real estate investment trusts are categorically screened out of the investment universe. For purposes of the abortion and abortion facilities screens, a company that is not itself directly involved in the screened activities will be screened out of the investment universe if (a) it owns 20% or more of another company that is directly participating in the screened activities, or (b) it is 50% or more owned by another company that is directly participating in the screened activities.

SMNCX Holdings

Top 10 holdings of Steward Equity Market Neutral Fund by percentage of net assets, from the fund's latest SEC N-PORT filing.

View all SMNCX holdings

SMNCX Portfolio Allocation

Asset-class allocation of Steward Equity Market Neutral Fund by percentage of net assets, from the latest SEC N-PORT filing.

SMNCX Performance

Total returns for SMNCX (as of 2026-10-01), from SEC filings.

SMNCX Risk Information

Risk metrics for SMNCX, derived from monthly returns in SEC filings.

• 1-year volatility (annualised): 9.1%

SMNCX Costs and Fees

SMNCX costs about $350 per $10,000 invested per year in fund expenses.

• Net expense ratio: 3.50%
• Gross expense ratio: 3.50%
• Portfolio turnover: 176%
• Brokerage commissions: 32.46 bps of average net assets (SEC N-CEN)

SMNCX Cashflows

Over the 12 months to 2026-07, Steward Equity Market Neutral Fund had net outflows of $7.25M, from monthly SEC N-PORT filings.

SMNCX Debt Constituents

No individual debt constituents are reported in Steward Equity Market Neutral Fund's latest SEC N-PORT filing.

SMNCX Prospectus and SEC Filings

Official Steward Equity Market Neutral Fund filings on SEC EDGAR — prospectus, portfolio holdings and annual reports.

• Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2026-08-26
• Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2025-08-27
• Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2024-08-27
• Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2026-09-28
• Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2026-06-25
• Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2026-03-26
• Annual census (N-CEN) — filed 2025-07-10
• Annual census (N-CEN) — filed 2024-07-09

Related Funds

Other United States Mid Cap Blend / Core Equity funds tracked on ABC INVEST:

• Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund (VIMSX)
• Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund (NAESX)
• iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH)
• Dodge & Cox Stock Fund (DODGX)
• Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund (VEXMX)

Data Sources

ABC INVEST compiles this page from public filings made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through EDGAR: portfolio holdings and monthly cashflows from Form N-PORT, expenses and returns from fund prospectuses (Form 485BPOS) and the SEC DERA Risk/Return Summary data sets, annual data from Form N-CEN, and shareholder reports from Form N-CSR.