Investors looking to invest in a portfolio that provides significant exposure to both value and growth stocks, and wanting to diversify their investments across a wide range of sectors and companies, may consider small-cap blend mutual funds. Blend funds or “hybrid funds” owe their origin to a graphical representation of a fund’s equity style box and aim for value appreciation by capital gains.

Meanwhile, small-cap companies are believed to be less affected by a global downturn, thanks to limited international exposure. Though funds investing in small-cap stocks are believed to be more volatile than funds with a more large or mid-cap focus, these are expected to have higher growth prospects than their large and medium counterparts. Companies with market capitalization lower than $2 billion are generally considered small-cap firms.

Below we will share with you 4 buy-rated small-cap blend mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) as we expect these mutual funds to outperform their peers in the future. To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all small-cap blend mutual funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of funds .

Fidelity Stock Selector Small Cap (FDSCX - MF report) seeks capital growth by investing its assets across a wide range of sectors. FDSCX invests a major portion of its assets in common stocks of companies having market capitalizations within the universe of the Russell 2000 Index or the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. The Fidelity Stock Selector Small Cap fund has a three-year annualized return of 7.2%.

As of October 2015, FDSCX held 207 issues, with 1.75% of its total assets invested in Bank of the Ozarks Inc.

SSgA Dynamic Small Cap N (SVSCX - MF report) invests a large chunk of its assets in equity securities of companies listed in the Russell 2000 Index. SVSCX may also invest a maximum of 20% of its assets in securities of companies that are not included in the index. The SSgA Dynamic Small Cap N fund has a three-year annualized return of 8.9%.

SVSCX has an expense ratio of 1.10% as compared to the category average of 1.24%.

JPMorgan US Small Company C (JTUCX - MF report) seeks total return. JTUCX invests a large portion of its assets in equity securities of small-cap U.S. companies. These small-cap companies have market capitalization similar to those companies listed in the Russell 2000 Index during the time of purchase. The JPMorgan US Small Company C fund has a three-year annualized return of 7.6%.

As of January 2016, JTUCX held 371 issues, with 1.48% of its total assets invested in Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.

Vanguard Strategic Small-Cap Equity Investor (VSTCX - MF report) invests the majority of its assets in small-cap domestic equity securities. VSTCX invests in securities that have strong growth prospects and reasonable valuations compared to their industry peers. VSTCX achieves this balance by applying a quantitative process to evaluate all of the securities in the MSCI US Small Cap 1750 Index. The Vanguard Strategic Small-Cap Equity Investor fund has a three-year annualized return of almost 10%.

VSTCX has an expense ratio of 0.34% as compared to the category average of 1.24%.