Diamond Hill Small-Mid Cap Fund Class Y DHMYX

Changes to Diamond Hill’s research team and manager changes at other strategies do not affect this fund’s Morningstar Medalist Rating. The firm is restructuring its equity analyst team again. It’s changing from a central research structure, in which a group of 20 researchers supplied ideas to all the firm’s stock strategies, to a sector and specialist approach. Instead of one central bench, the firm will have six sector teams of analysts and managers, plus three sets of analysts assigned to specific strategies: Diamond Hill Long-Short, Small Cap, Small-Mid, and Mid Cap (the same team runs Small-Mid and Mid Cap). Long-Short and Small Cap have already been working with dedicated analysts, so this change does not alter the people who generate most of the ideas for their portfolios. Diamond Hill Small-Mid Cap and Mid Cap managers Chris Welch and Anthony Philipp will formally get dedicated analysts but had mentioned they were working more closely with certain members of the central analyst bench anyway. So, the research team changes do not affect these funds’ People Pillar ratings or overall Morningstar Medalist Ratings. As part of the restructuring, Director of Research Win Murray, who joined Diamond Hill in 2022 to bolster the central research team, will leave the firm in September 2026. The changes follow First Eagle Investments' acquisition of Diamond Hill in April 2026 and is the latest research team evolution going back to when several firm analysts and managers left in 2020 for a startup asset manager formed by a former Diamond Hill founder and CEO. Before then, the firm had analyst-led sector squads that also ran Diamond Hill Research Opportunity, which shut down in August 2020. The research team changes also accompany a manager switch at Diamond Hill Large Cap. Austin Hawley, a team member since 2015 and solo manager since 2024, will step down on June 30, 2026. Former manager Chuck Bath, who had run that strategy for 22 years before retiring two years ago, will step back in to manage the fund with Diamond Hill Long-Short manager Nate Palmer. The Large Cap fund's ratings are under review.